WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.360 Psalm 45 says, 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:06.660 To the choir master according to lilies, 00:00:07.219 --> 00:00:10.480 a mascal of the sons of Korah, a love song. 00:00:11.900 --> 00:00:14.120 So let me pray and I'll read. 00:00:16.280 --> 00:00:25.580 Heavenly Father, we are amazed that we are objects of your love. 00:00:25.579 --> 00:00:31.199 That from eternity past, you set your affection on us. 00:00:33.259 --> 00:00:34.920 You pursued us. 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:43.739 And Lord, we want to grow in a measure of that love this evening. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.459 As we learn from Psalm 45. 00:00:50.359 --> 00:00:52.980 So please speak to us and lead us. 00:00:55.579 --> 00:00:58.460 Spur us on to prayer, Lord, from this Psalm. 00:01:00.879 --> 00:01:02.780 So we may pray according to your will. 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:10.459 So that our prayer time may be guided and filled just by your spirit. 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:16.120 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:16.219 Amen. 00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:29.459 So let me read Psalm 45 out loud. 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:35.799 It says, 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:38.899 My heart overflows with a pleasing theme. 00:01:39.679 --> 00:01:42.019 I address my verses to the king. 00:01:43.319 --> 00:01:46.659 My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:51.379 You are the most handsome of the sons of men. 00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:54.359 Grace is poured upon your lips. 00:01:55.099 --> 00:01:57.340 Therefore, God has blessed you forever. 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:03.640 Gird your sword on your thigh, almighty one, in your splendor and majesty. 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:09.719 In your majesty, ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness. 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:13.400 Let your right hand teach you awesome deeds. 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:17.240 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies. 00:02:18.199 --> 00:02:19.980 The peoples fall under you. 00:02:19.979 --> 00:02:23.939 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. 00:02:24.899 --> 00:02:28.000 The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. 00:02:29.419 --> 00:02:32.379 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. 00:02:33.219 --> 00:02:38.839 Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. 00:02:39.659 --> 00:02:44.819 Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. 00:02:45.339 --> 00:02:48.620 From ivory palaces, stringed instruments make you glad. 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:53.039 God, daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:56.379 At your right hand stands the queen in gold of a fear. 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:01.539 Hear, O daughter, and consider and incline your ear. 00:03:02.340 --> 00:03:07.319 Forget your people and your father's house, and the king will desire your beauty. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:10.620 Since he is your lord, bow to him. 00:03:11.480 --> 00:03:16.040 The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people. 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:22.259 All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:28.180 In many colored robes she is led to the king with her virgin companions following behind her. 00:03:28.859 --> 00:03:33.539 With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. 00:03:33.539 --> 00:03:37.560 In place of your fathers shall be your sons. 00:03:37.939 --> 00:03:40.180 You will make them princes in all the earth. 00:03:40.799 --> 00:03:43.680 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations. 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:47.419 Therefore, nations will praise you forever and ever. 00:03:47.419 --> 00:03:54.759 This is entitled a love song. 00:03:54.899 --> 00:03:56.239 It's a wedding song. 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:03.039 And weddings are really some of the happiest occasions that we get to experience as humans. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:14.319 And I recall at many weddings, the groom or the bride or both, and even just some members of the audience will cry, just tears of joy and gratefulness. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:22.339 And I think that's because there's something about a wedding that's just profoundly moving and strikes a chord deep in our hearts. 00:04:22.339 --> 00:04:34.920 Because it's just so beautiful to see one man and one woman give of themselves to each other in a total and unreserved manner. 00:04:35.139 --> 00:04:36.759 Just exclusive manner. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:40.519 Like to no one else I give you this affectionate commitment but to you. 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:47.680 And there's that covenant love that I think we long for because God put that in us to desire it. 00:04:47.740 --> 00:04:51.180 Because it's been his intention all along to marry us. 00:04:51.659 --> 00:04:54.120 Really to redeem a people for himself and to marry them. 00:04:54.299 --> 00:04:56.819 He uses that language throughout the Bible. 00:04:57.560 --> 00:05:04.779 And that's why Ephesians 5.31-32, quoting the first marriage between Adam and Eve in Genesis 2.24, says, 00:05:04.779 --> 00:05:10.839 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:12.739 This mystery is profound. 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:16.319 And I'm saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 00:05:16.939 --> 00:05:17.099 Right? 00:05:17.179 --> 00:05:23.259 So that self-giving love of marital union is supposed to point to Christ's relationship with the church. 00:05:23.379 --> 00:05:29.500 So there's something about a wedding that's eternal that points to our eternal reality and union with God. 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:33.819 And so Psalm 45 is a divinely inspired wedding song. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:34.180 Right? 00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:36.879 I mean, who gets to have that at their wedding day? 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:37.160 Right? 00:05:37.779 --> 00:05:41.319 But I mean, I guess we could use this psalm in people's wedding names. 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:47.180 But it's praising an idealized marriage of a Davidic king to a princess. 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:56.639 And because the Davidic king, or the whole line of Davidic kings, prefigured and pointed to Jesus Christ, 00:05:56.699 --> 00:06:02.600 who is the ultimate, the greater David, the final, ultimate king in the line of David, 00:06:03.280 --> 00:06:06.680 that it's appropriately applied to Jesus. 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:09.240 And that's, in fact, what the author of Hebrews does. 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:15.759 In Hebrews 2, verses 8-9, it quotes verses 6-7 of this psalm, and it applies it to Jesus. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.219 It says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. 00:06:18.639 --> 00:06:22.139 The scepter of the kingdom. 00:06:22.439 --> 00:06:24.819 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:28.860 Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companion. 00:06:29.180 --> 00:06:31.839 And so it's appropriate, even though this psalm was written, 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:38.120 to really kind of elevate the king and his marriage in the sight of all the peoples. 00:06:38.420 --> 00:06:41.879 For us, it's an appropriate application to elevate Christ 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:45.459 and his relationship with the church in the sight of all peoples. 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:47.199 And that's what I'm hoping to do. 00:06:47.319 --> 00:06:48.300 And it's in verse 1. 00:06:49.060 --> 00:06:50.639 The psalmist dedicates this poem to the king. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:51.599 He starts by saying, 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:53.879 My heart overflows with the pleasing theme. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:55.759 I address my verses to the king. 00:06:55.860 --> 00:06:58.360 My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. 00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:00.459 So this is a time when poets, 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:03.139 maybe it takes more gifting to do this, 00:07:03.219 --> 00:07:06.420 but they didn't take time, hours, to write the poem 00:07:06.420 --> 00:07:08.519 and to change, go back and scribble it back and forth. 00:07:08.599 --> 00:07:10.120 They composed orally. 00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:13.300 So he's singing a poem as he goes. 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:17.259 And so that's why he says his tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. 00:07:17.340 --> 00:07:19.259 He's writing through speaking. 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:22.660 But even though that would be a difficult task, 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:26.860 because the king is so praiseworthy and this marriage so beautiful, 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:31.100 he's able to flow just freely and unhaltingly. 00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:33.060 It flows like a ready scribe, 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:34.980 just writing down something that someone dictates. 00:07:34.980 --> 00:07:37.540 He's able to praise the king in that manner. 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:39.280 And then in verses 2 to 5, 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:42.240 he describes this Davidic king in superlative terms. 00:07:42.780 --> 00:07:42.860 He says, 00:07:42.939 --> 00:07:45.319 You are the most handsome of the sons of men. 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:47.560 Grace is poured upon your lips. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:49.160 Therefore God has blessed you forever. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:51.420 Gird your sword on your thigh, almighty one, 00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:53.200 in your splendor and majesty. 00:07:53.620 --> 00:07:56.580 In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth 00:07:56.580 --> 00:07:58.000 and meekness and righteousness. 00:07:58.520 --> 00:08:00.439 Let your right hand teach you awesome deeds. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:02.860 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies. 00:08:02.860 --> 00:08:04.759 The people fall under you. 00:08:04.759 --> 00:08:06.560 I mean, he's got everything, right? 00:08:06.659 --> 00:08:09.579 The king is the most handsome in his appearance. 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:11.680 He's gracious in his words. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.639 He's mighty in his power. 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:15.819 And he's splendid in his majesty. 00:08:16.139 --> 00:08:18.819 He's victorious in championing the cause of truth 00:08:18.819 --> 00:08:19.959 and meekness and righteousness. 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:22.259 He's awesome in all his deeds. 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:26.620 I mean, so this is an amazing king and husband. 00:08:27.339 --> 00:08:29.300 And then suddenly in verse 6, 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:32.220 the psalmist interrupts his praise of the king 00:08:32.220 --> 00:08:34.360 by addressing God himself directly. 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:37.879 He says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:39.360 And so this is a little bit interesting 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:43.899 because he's talking about Davidic king. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.759 Why does he all of a sudden address God directly? 00:08:45.879 --> 00:08:47.180 He says, your throne is with us. 00:08:47.179 --> 00:08:53.120 And the reason seems to be that it's because the Davidic kings 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:55.239 were representatives of God himself, right? 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:58.059 They reigned in really God's stead 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:00.799 because they were appointed by God to reign over God's people. 00:09:01.459 --> 00:09:03.819 And so because of that, he's applying, 00:09:04.539 --> 00:09:06.239 even though he's praising the king in his reign, 00:09:06.299 --> 00:09:07.939 he's applying that ultimately to God, 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:10.039 that it's his throne that's established forever. 00:09:10.039 --> 00:09:13.740 And that promise really echoes 00:09:13.740 --> 00:09:17.679 what God had promised David in the first place 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:19.799 from 2 Samuel 7, 16. 00:09:20.139 --> 00:09:21.459 He's promised, David, 00:09:21.599 --> 00:09:25.259 your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:28.099 Your throne shall be established forever. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:31.099 So the king's throne will endure forever 00:09:31.099 --> 00:09:33.639 because it's the throne that represents God's eternal reign. 00:09:33.639 --> 00:09:35.699 So those of you guys who just got here, 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:36.620 we're in Psalm 45. 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:43.139 And then Psalmist resumes praising the king directly 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:44.179 in verses 6 to 9. 00:09:45.220 --> 00:09:47.879 And the way he describes it, right, 00:09:48.220 --> 00:09:50.559 that this Davidic king is really all that has, 00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:52.199 possesses all that you could desire 00:09:52.199 --> 00:09:55.860 in a prospective husband and a king. 00:09:57.259 --> 00:10:00.700 And all these positive, superlative descriptions of the king 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:03.900 are ultimately fulfilled by Christ our king 00:10:03.900 --> 00:10:05.680 because he's the one that David 00:10:05.680 --> 00:10:07.980 and all the kings in the line of David pointed to. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:10.300 And so this is helpful for us 00:10:10.300 --> 00:10:12.820 because we are often in our Christian lives 00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:16.800 lured by, you know, others who possess power, right? 00:10:17.100 --> 00:10:19.500 Maybe we're lured by, you know, political power 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:22.440 or by just verbal power 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:24.600 or military power, physical power, 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.600 or, you know, just we want to be able to control our lives, right? 00:10:27.700 --> 00:10:29.440 So we long for that. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:32.140 But then in those times when we're tempted by power, 00:10:32.260 --> 00:10:32.860 lured by power, 00:10:32.900 --> 00:10:35.560 we have to remember that our royal bridegroom, 00:10:35.680 --> 00:10:37.780 the king to whom we are betrothed, 00:10:37.820 --> 00:10:41.480 the king to whom we are married, really, through Christ, 00:10:41.660 --> 00:10:43.700 surpasses everyone in power. 00:10:44.660 --> 00:10:47.020 And sometimes we're lured by beauty, right, 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:49.100 by the fleeting beauty of this world, 00:10:49.180 --> 00:10:50.800 whether it's to trying to beautify ourselves 00:10:50.800 --> 00:10:53.860 or to draw on to beauty in other things. 00:10:54.160 --> 00:10:57.420 And when we're lured by those things away from Christ, 00:10:57.419 --> 00:11:01.259 then we also have to remember that Christ surpasses all in his beauty. 00:11:02.459 --> 00:11:04.179 And Christ is worthy, 00:11:04.439 --> 00:11:07.919 is the worthy bridegroom who deserves our exclusive worship. 00:11:08.500 --> 00:11:10.019 And that's really the main point of this passage. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:11.899 And because Christ is the worthy bridegroom, 00:11:12.360 --> 00:11:14.139 the bride that is brought forth here 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:18.360 gives total commitment to this king. 00:11:18.419 --> 00:11:20.719 And we see that in verses 10 to 12. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:23.660 In verse 10, the psalmist turns from addressing the king 00:11:23.660 --> 00:11:26.080 to addressing the princess that's about the mayor to the king. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:26.779 It says, 00:11:27.139 --> 00:11:28.420 Hear, O daughter, and consider, 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:29.920 and incline your ear. 00:11:30.300 --> 00:11:32.399 Forget your people and your father's house. 00:11:33.040 --> 00:11:36.540 That's quite a stark thing to say, right? 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:39.940 But it's what Genesis 2.24 teaches, right? 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:42.720 Therefore, a man shall leave his father's household, right, 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:44.120 and cleave to his wife, 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:47.300 and hold fast to his wife, 00:11:47.320 --> 00:11:49.220 and they shall become one flesh, right? 00:11:49.220 --> 00:11:51.259 So then in a marriage, right, 00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:52.540 after getting married, 00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:54.580 the wife no longer looks to her father 00:11:54.580 --> 00:11:57.160 as the primary male figure in her life. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:59.340 She now looks to her husband, right? 00:11:59.420 --> 00:12:02.540 And the husband likely no longer looks to his mother 00:12:02.540 --> 00:12:05.320 as the primary female figure in his life. 00:12:05.580 --> 00:12:08.240 He now looks to his own wife, right? 00:12:08.340 --> 00:12:12.680 And that doesn't mean that we no longer honor our parents. 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:16.379 I mean, we're called to honor our parents all our lives, right? 00:12:16.660 --> 00:12:18.180 That's one of the Ten Commandments. 00:12:18.179 --> 00:12:22.839 But it does mean that we leave our old allegiances behind 00:12:22.839 --> 00:12:26.000 to form a new allegiance in a new family, right? 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:27.399 And that's what marriage means. 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:29.839 And so then in the same way, 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:31.339 this is addressed to this princess. 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:34.000 Leave your, forget your people and your father's house. 00:12:34.039 --> 00:12:36.059 It's really similar to what Jesus tells 00:12:36.059 --> 00:12:37.919 one of the people who are interested in following him 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:39.179 in Matthew 10.37. 00:12:39.620 --> 00:12:42.279 Whoever loves father or mother more than me 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:44.459 is not worthy of me, right? 00:12:44.460 --> 00:12:47.920 So whatever our former allegiances were, right? 00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:50.980 Whether it's to family, to ethnicity, to country, 00:12:51.400 --> 00:12:55.580 like we must forget our people and our father's house 00:12:55.580 --> 00:12:58.960 and then give exclusive allegiance to our king 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:00.420 to whom we are married, right? 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:01.300 To Christ the king. 00:13:01.920 --> 00:13:04.700 And exclusive in the sense that all the other loyalties 00:13:04.700 --> 00:13:06.500 and loves and commitments that we have 00:13:06.500 --> 00:13:10.440 must flow from our exclusive allegiance to Christ, right? 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:12.380 So that's how we should live 00:13:12.380 --> 00:13:14.400 and that's how Christians should be defined. 00:13:15.760 --> 00:13:17.700 And then the psalmist promises, 00:13:17.880 --> 00:13:19.540 then the king will desire your beauty. 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:22.000 Since he is your Lord, bow to him. 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:24.320 That's our duty as the church, as his bride, 00:13:24.580 --> 00:13:27.240 to submit to him as our head, as our king. 00:13:28.160 --> 00:13:30.900 Worship him and love him. 00:13:31.660 --> 00:13:34.740 And as befitting this amazing king, 00:13:35.280 --> 00:13:39.840 the bride also seems to be quite a worthy match here. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:43.379 So the psalmist praises the bride in verses 13 to 14. 00:13:44.019 --> 00:13:47.200 All glorious is the princess in her chamber, 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:49.399 same word that was used to describe the king, glory. 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.340 And with robes interwoven with gold. 00:13:52.800 --> 00:13:54.740 So that's, she is glorious. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:56.720 And then it says in many colored robes, 00:13:56.759 --> 00:13:57.820 she is led to the king. 00:13:58.160 --> 00:13:59.860 So it says she's beautiful, right? 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:03.120 And then with her virgin companions following behind her, 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:04.200 with joy and gladness, 00:14:04.259 --> 00:14:06.379 they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. 00:14:06.540 --> 00:14:09.639 So the bride is leading a train of virgin companions 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:13.519 because she is herself a pure, unblemished virgin, 00:14:14.139 --> 00:14:18.799 preserved in holiness for basically the wedding night with the king, right? 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:22.120 And this is how basically all the bride, 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:24.939 the bride of the royal groom should be. 00:14:24.940 --> 00:14:30.240 They should be glorious, beautiful, and holy. 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:34.780 But unfortunately, God's people throughout history, 00:14:35.380 --> 00:14:37.540 and as you see over and over again in the Old Testament, 00:14:37.780 --> 00:14:39.280 are unfaithful, right? 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:42.959 And they are described over and over again as adulterous. 00:14:43.740 --> 00:14:47.279 They're not faithful to the king to whom they are betrothed. 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:51.439 And prophet Hosea describes it in the first three chapters of his book. 00:14:51.579 --> 00:14:56.120 He says God's people have been a wife of whoredom, Hosea 1-2. 00:14:56.659 --> 00:14:58.980 That's ultimately us. 00:14:59.319 --> 00:15:00.519 That's who we have been. 00:15:00.860 --> 00:15:03.000 We have been wives of whoredom. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:04.939 We whored after other gods. 00:15:04.940 --> 00:15:07.540 Instead of trusting in God for our security, 00:15:07.660 --> 00:15:11.520 we have run to idols of money for security, right? 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:13.920 Instead of running to God for our identity and acceptance, 00:15:14.140 --> 00:15:16.780 we have idolized how others perceive us. 00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:21.480 The smart one, the athletic one, the pretty one, right? 00:15:21.500 --> 00:15:22.800 Even the godly one. 00:15:22.920 --> 00:15:25.360 We turn to things other than God to define us. 00:15:29.060 --> 00:15:32.940 Instead of delighting in God and his eternal pleasures, right? 00:15:32.940 --> 00:15:36.600 We have wallowed in the shallow and fleeting pleasures of earth. 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.020 Things that will not be in heaven. 00:15:39.160 --> 00:15:40.140 Things that will not last. 00:15:41.040 --> 00:15:45.380 And even though God himself gave himself to us in a total way, 00:15:45.500 --> 00:15:49.060 in an unreserved way, in an exclusive way to his people, 00:15:49.600 --> 00:15:51.260 we have been unfaithful. 00:15:51.900 --> 00:15:54.280 We've denied him and not been committed to him. 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:55.800 We have shamefully cheated on him. 00:15:55.880 --> 00:15:58.040 And then we have to ask, then what can we do? 00:15:58.160 --> 00:16:01.680 Then this ideal picture of this marriage is totally broken. 00:16:01.679 --> 00:16:04.539 And though we have played a whore, 00:16:05.079 --> 00:16:08.039 Christ, our royal bridegroom, redeems us, as we know. 00:16:08.419 --> 00:16:10.120 And then he reconciles us to himself. 00:16:10.239 --> 00:16:13.879 And we see a picture of that again in Ephesians 5, 25 to 27. 00:16:14.259 --> 00:16:16.239 Husbands, love your wives, 00:16:16.579 --> 00:16:19.620 just as Christ also loved the church 00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:22.019 and gave himself up for her, 00:16:22.539 --> 00:16:24.559 so that he might sanctify her, 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:28.179 having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 00:16:28.179 --> 00:16:31.579 that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, 00:16:32.199 --> 00:16:35.799 having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, 00:16:36.099 --> 00:16:39.279 but that she would be holy and blameless. 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:40.799 Isn't that amazing? 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:44.079 I mean, Christ gave himself for us 00:16:44.079 --> 00:16:47.000 so that even though we messed it all up 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:48.639 and we whored after other gods 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:51.899 and we don't deserve to be married to this perfect king, 00:16:51.899 --> 00:16:55.620 we can now be a glorious bride again 00:16:55.620 --> 00:16:57.139 because of Christ's grace, 00:16:57.459 --> 00:16:58.779 because of what he's done for us. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:00.279 And we could again be a bride 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:02.939 that has no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, 00:17:03.019 --> 00:17:04.759 but holy and blameless. 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:06.379 That's the grace of God, right? 00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:09.200 And because of what he has done for us, 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:12.339 we overflow with praise toward him 00:17:12.339 --> 00:17:17.659 and we bear many spiritual children, right? 00:17:18.379 --> 00:17:19.939 It's for Christ. 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:22.139 And it's verses 16 to 17. 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:23.559 It's because of Christ's overture, 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:25.819 our marriage to Christ can also be fruitful 00:17:25.819 --> 00:17:27.379 like the marriage that's described here. 00:17:27.819 --> 00:17:28.740 It says in verse 16, 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:30.959 in place of your fathers shall be your sons. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:32.899 You will make them princes in all the earth. 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:34.959 So that's basically the psalmist is saying 00:17:34.959 --> 00:17:38.000 that this Davidic king will always have a son 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:39.059 to reign in his place. 00:17:39.339 --> 00:17:41.259 So his fathers will be replaced with his sons. 00:17:41.259 --> 00:17:43.019 His sons will be the princes of the land. 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:45.720 And for us, this promise is fulfilled in Christ 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:47.379 because Christ reigns forever. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:49.619 And he promises in his word 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:52.220 that his people will reign with him, right? 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:53.759 So we reign with him as his, 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:57.160 and as we continue to grow, 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:01.859 as people are continually brought into his kingdom 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:03.920 and people are adopted to him, 00:18:04.019 --> 00:18:05.339 to the father as sons, right? 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:07.980 So this kingdom continues and goes forth. 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:10.359 And then we praise him as the psalmist does 00:18:10.359 --> 00:18:13.399 and he concludes in the same way he started in verse one 00:18:13.399 --> 00:18:16.159 with first person language, praising God. 00:18:16.399 --> 00:18:17.719 He concludes in verse 17, 00:18:17.899 --> 00:18:21.099 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generation. 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:24.419 Therefore nations will praise you forever and ever. 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:27.779 And so that's our calling too, to praise him. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:31.399 And because Christ is the worthy bridegroom, 00:18:31.740 --> 00:18:35.740 we should be a worthy bride in worshiping him. 00:18:35.740 --> 00:18:38.279 And that's really the main point of this psalm. 00:18:38.279 --> 00:18:38.359 Thank you.