The Hero

December 13th, 2024

The Hero

Psalm 45

1 My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

2 You are the most handsome of the sons of men;
grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your splendor and majesty!

4 In your majesty ride out victoriously
for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!
5 Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king's enemies;
the peoples fall under you.

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

10 Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
forget your people and your father's house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him.
12 The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
the richest of the people.

13 All glorious is the princess in her chamber,
with robes interwoven with gold.
14 In many-colored robes she is led to the king,
with her virgin companions following behind her.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.

16 In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
you will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

Spiderman

When I asked the little boy what he wanted for Christmas, he immediately launched into a litany of Spiderman-themed items. He could tell me all about the greatness of Spidey—the speed, the agility, the web, the wit, the youthful vigor. The kid was spring-loaded to tell me about his hero, much as I’ve heard young ladies praise their favorite pop star, or a middle-aged man gush about the Vols’ latest bluechip recruit.

Longing for the Messiah

That’s the idea behind Psalm 45. If you look at the context, great King David is long-gone, and Israel has fallen on hard times. Psalms 42–44 have all expressed longing for God to lift the grief, sorrow, and the pain of his people. That setting gets the poet of Psalm 45 to thinking about his hero: the promised Messiah of 2 Samuel 7, who would save the people and reign on David’s throne forever. This psalmist has been mining the Scriptures like a scribe for God’s promises about this perfect king who will resolve all of his troubles; he has stewed on the Scriptures until his heart “overflows” in praise.

The Ultimate Hero

Our Scribe exults over this Ultimate Hero’s appearance: he’s “the most handsome of the sons of men (2).” It’s the kind of language we find in Song of Solomon, which praise the king as the “fairest of ten thousand” and “the lily of the valley.” The point is, this King stands apart from all of his rivals; no one can compare to him (you may recognize these lines from certain old gospel songs about Jesus). But this king is more than a handsome face: he has a heart and character to match. “Grace is poured upon your lips (2),” meaning he speaks what is true, right, and good. The King is also a mighty warrior. His sword is strapped to his thigh and he knows how to use it; he has a quiver full of arrows and they always find their mark. He’s not a bloodthirsty conqueror, fighting for selfish or unjust purposes. But he is valiant for truth and righteousness, defending the cause of the meek people of God. All of his enemies fall before him.

When the king is home from battle, he rules with a scepter of uprightness. His heart is perfectly aligned with the righteous character of God! Yet he is also full of joy and gladness, the key themes in the description of his splendid court: a magnificent ivory palace, beautiful music delighting him from stringed musicians, princesses from around the world admiring him, and his own queen standing at his right hand “in the gold of Ophir.” This is a King you want to be around.

Not Just A Human Descendant

As incredible as the King sounds, we wonder if this Scribe doesn’t get a little carried away in v6, when he calls him “God (v6)!” Did he just break the first commandment? But the Scribe receives no correction. Somehow he understands that this promised King won’t just be a human descendant of David. Somehow, he will also be God. No wonder Hebrews 1 quotes this verse to tell us about the glory of Jesus (Heb 1:8–9).

Psalm 45:1–8 is a profile of the ideal king our hearts long for. He is the ultimate Hero behind every other hero this world has ever celebrated. But this Scribe doesn’t know the half of how glorious King Jesus is! When he came at Christmas, he laid aside all the trappings of glory: no adoring scribe, no stringed instruments, no ivory palace—not even a comely appearance. But he was riding out to conquer. He became a man of sorrows, but will return as the king of joy! At Christmas we feel about Jesus just as Peter said: “Though you have not seen him, you love him, and though you have not seen him you rejoice in him with joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8).”

FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT, SEE:

A Christmas Wedding