The King's Splendour (Psalms 45:2).
‘You are fairer than the children of men,
Grace is poured into your lips,
Therefore God has blessed you for ever.'
‘You are fairer than the children of men.' David himself appears to have been a splendid looking man (1 Samuel 16:12), a trait which he passed on to his children (consider Absalom - 2 Samuel 14:25). Thus while flattering this was probably not totally untrue. And dressed in his royal finery he must well have seemed so, especially to his admirers.
‘Grace is poured into your lips.' This may indicate that he was well known for the gracious way in which he spoke to people (compare Proverbs 22:11), or it may have reference to the special gift of wisdom which God gave to him after his coronation (1 Kings 3:5-15).
‘Therefore God has blessed you for ever.' The God-given gifts above stress that God has blessed him, and his wisdom became a legend that was never forgotten. And he was blessed because of them. We still speak of ‘the wisdom of Solomon'. But primarily in mind here is the promise of the everlastingness of his house. Kingship would belong to his house for ever (2 Samuel 7:13; 2 Samuel 7:16; 2Sa 7:25; 2 Samuel 7:29; Psalms 2; Psalms 18:50; Psalms 89:2 ff).
These words even more were descriptive of the Messiah when He came. He grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men (Luke 2:52), and on the Mount of Transfiguration His full beauty was made known (Mark 9:2-8). Men wondered at the gracious words that came from His lips (Luke 4:22). And He was ‘over all, God, blessed for ever' (Romans 9:5).
2). The King, A Mighty Warrior (Psalms 4:3-4).
Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one,
Your glory and your majesty.
And in your majesty ride on prosperously,
Because of truth and meekness and righteousness,
And your right hand will teach you terrible things.'
All kings were supposed to be mighty warriors, and certainly sought to depict themselves as such. Even when they did not lead their troops into action they would regularly appear on the battlefield and loose an arrow at the enemy in order to impress on men their warlikeness. And they would dress for battle, sword on their thigh, and arrive on their splendid warhorse or in their war chariot. Solomon was not famed for his warlike activity but we have no need to doubt that he was present at times in the defence, and even extension, of his realm.
Here he is seen in the wedding procession both as bridegroom and warrior, sword girded on his thigh as a ‘mighty one', glorious in majesty, riding majestically either on his war horse or in his chariot with a glorious future before him because he sought truth, meekness and righteousness (compare and contrast Zechariah 9:9; and see Song of Solomon 3:9-11). The future looked rosy, until he frittered it away.
For the king of Israel truth was to be the central pillar of his life (Deuteronomy 17:18-20; Isaiah 11:1-5; Isaiah 29:19; contrast Isaiah 59:14-15). Meekness was expected of a king as he considered the needs and petitions of the poor of the land (2 Samuel 15:3-4; Isaiah 29:19; Psalms 22:6; Psalms 37:11; Psalms 76:9). Righteousness was a prerequisite for a king of Israel (Isaiah 11:1-5).
‘Your right hand will teach you terrible things.' From the activities of his sword arm he would achieve greatness and glory, and prove his appointment by God, and learn much about himself. And he would learn too the perils and dangers of greatness, as with his right hand he administered justice, and made his mistakes.
The Messiah would also go forward with His sword of truth (Isaiah 49:2; Revelation 1:16), and was called ‘the Mighty God' (Isaiah 9:6). And he too would enter Jerusalem gloriously, even though on an asses colt (Zechariah 9:9. This was the normal mount for a king of Israel in times of peace). And truth and meekness and righteousness would prosper at His hand (Isaiah 11:1-4). While His right hand would achieve the greatest things of all as He healed all who came to Him, and healed the souls of men. Indeed the final picture of the Messiah in the New Testament is a glorious one of Him riding to victory with His sharp two edged sword at the consummation of the age, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:11-16). It was, of course, a symbolic description indicating His supreme Kingship and power. He did not literally fight a battle. His victory was won by His word of mouth. The enemies just crumbled before Him as they fought each other.
The King An Impeccable Marksman (Psalms 45:5)
‘Your arrows are sharp,
The peoples fall under you,
They are in the heart of the king's enemies.'
The idea here is that Solomon and his armies are regularly victorious, and that his bowmen especially are always effective, so that his enemies cannot stand against him. It is an indication of the power and effectiveness of the hosts of Solomon.
But the Messiah is Himself like a polished arrow (Isaiah 49:2). And His shafts too are directed accurately into men's hearts so that as a result men fall at His feet and cry mercy. And they reach into the very hearts of His enemies, bringing them into subjection to Him, by His word. We can compare how both Job and David saw their troubles as ‘arrows of the Almighty' (Job 6:4; Psalms 38:2; compare Lamentations 3:12).
The picture of arrows as a means of God's judgment is found in Deuteronomy 32:23; Deuteronomy 32:42; 2 Samuel 22:15; Psalms 77:17; Psalms 144:6; Zechariah 9:14, often in parallel with the idea of His lightning.
The King Reigning In Glory And Equity As God's Unique Representative (Psalms 45:6-7).
The prestigious position of the king in God's eyes is now made clear. His rule will be everlasting, he will rule with equity, he will be elevated by God above all his fellow kings.
‘Your throne is of God (or ‘O God is') for ever and ever,
A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness,
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you,
With the oil of gladness above your fellows.
The essential divine nature of his kingship is now expressed. He has been adopted by God as His son, and God has promised to be his Father (2 Samuel 7:14; Psalms 2:7). Thus his throne is the one on earth appointed and established by God to have overall lordship, and its everlasting nature is guaranteed.
But having said that the king must rule as befits God's appointee, in righteousness. His rule must demonstrate that he loves righteousness and hates all that is morally wrong. Thus his sceptre as king must be a sceptre of equity. He must rule justly and fairly, showing special favour to none. And it is for that reason that Elohim, his God (Elohim), has anointed him with joyous gladness above all others (compare 1 Kings 3:12-13). He is to rejoice in being king of kings as the anointed of God.
Such a hope lay at the root of ideas about the Messiah, and it is the ideal kingship of the Messiah that is really in the prophet's mind. There was only One Who was really fitted for these words. It is our Lord Jesus Christ, and He alone, Who is worthy to be addressed as the Mighty El (Isaiah 9:6), Whose reign is from everlasting (Micah 5:2), Who will be exalted above all (Philippians 2:9-11), and of whose kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:33). He above all was worthy to be anointed above His fellows as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). And in His case we may therefore translate as, ‘Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever', for He not only sits on a divine throne, but is Himself the Almighty God.
Note on ‘Your Throne Is Of God For Ever and Ever'.
There is here an interesting translation problem. The literal Hebrew is ‘your throne God for ever and ever'. We might thus translate:
1) ‘Your throne O God is for ever and ever', seeing ‘God' as a vocative, and thus as either addressing God or addressing the king..
2) ‘Your throne is elohim (divine) for ever and ever', seeing God as intended adjectivally.
3) ‘Your throne is of God for ever and ever', seeing God as descriptive of Who the real possessor of the throne is.
4) ‘God is your throne for ever and ever.' Seeing God as the subject of the sentence (unlike in English, and similarly to Greek and Latin, word order in Hebrew does not indicate the order of meaning).
The Aramaic paraphrase in the Targum is, ‘the throne of your majesty, O YHWH, abides for ever and ever'. It thus sees ‘O God' as referring to YHWH and not the king. But it must be seen as unlikely that the Psalmist would switch to addressing God in this way, and then immediately switch back again, in a passage where he is constantly addressing the king. It does, however, bring out how difficult the translators saw the Hebrew to be when they eschewed 1) above. They clearly did not like the idea of the king as being addressed as Elohim.
The writer to the Hebrews in Hebrews 1:8 follows LXX which could be rendered as any of the above, apart possibly from the third (because Greek is able to indicate a genitive, and here it does not). But it should be noted that the writer to the Hebrews is concentrating more on His superiority to the angels in His mission than on His actual Godhead, and ‘your throne is divine' fits well in parallel with ‘a sceptre of righteousness'.
One factor that should be borne in mind is that in this group of Psalms Elohim is very much the Name used of God, which would favour referring elohim here to God. However some have argued that elohim is elsewhere used of earthly authorities. Examples cited are Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:7; Psalms 82:1; Psalms 82:6; compare Psalms 138:1, and it is said to be because they are God's representatives and the bearers of His image on earth. However, only Psalms 82:1; Psalms 82:6 can be said to be conclusive out of these verses, and there it is clear that the word is being used in the plural (as elsewhere it is also used of the angels). It is not therefore strictly parallel with here. It must be considered how unlikely it is that a man, even a great king, would be addressed as Elohim, especially in such a context in the Elohistic Psalms.
On the other hand the use of Elohim adjectivally in this way would be unique in the Old Testament. Where a noun is used adjectivally it usually indicates the constituent nature of what is being described, and that would not be the case here.
It would appear to us therefore that initially the text should be translated, ‘your throne is of God' indicating that he does rule with God as his Overlord, although possibly with the intention of indicating some kind of special exaltation of the king. Compare 2 Samuel 7:14; Psalms 2:7 where he had received his throne directly from God. When applied to the Messiah therefore it can be seen as being given its fuller significance.
End of note.