[0:00] But let's spend this evening, let's look at Sam 45. And as I said earlier, we will spend this evening in Sam 45. We'll spend tomorrow looking at Luke 22 and 23. And I understand as I read Sam 45, that it's an unusual place to go.
[0:14] There's kind of a strangeness to what is going on. It's kind of feels different for what we do. But the hope is this weekend we will come away with a deeper love for the Lord Jesus, seeing who he is and just knowing his character better.
[0:27] But as I start, as we start today and tomorrow, as I ask this question and mention the name of Jesus, where is your heart this weekend as you come?
[0:40] As you mentioned Jesus and who he is, as your heart filled with a warmth and a love for who he is, as your heart filled with a questioning, maybe maybe you were once much closer than you are.
[0:53] And you found yourself just drifting over the last while. Is there a distance between yourself and Jesus as we speak about him and as we sing about him? Is he someone who feels like a Facebook friend, someone you were really close to a long time ago?
[1:08] But actually just time has gone on and it's not someone who you feel as close as you used to feel. Or is it someone who has maybe seen someone who has overpromised and kind of under-delivered that you became a Christian, you were promised these things or thought these things would happen in life?
[1:26] Just hasn't panned out in that way. How is it when we speak of Jesus that you feel towards him this weekend? Because the hope is that we will come away with a real and genuine love for him.
[1:37] The next passage will be asking us to turn back to him if we've walked or wondered. And he asked us really clearly and in a really helpful and unusual way because Psalm 45 is a love song.
[1:48] It is something that is different. If there was a tone that had to be out in, it would be more kind of gushing, kind of more kind of flamboyant, not the right word, but just kind of more lovey-dovey than we're used to in society.
[2:00] It's funny Neil mentioned that I worked with him. There was one time I worked in the council and these older men were working in the office and they were really great older men, but they were talking about public displays of affection and their lack of...
[2:13] And he said that the only time that they would hold hands is if they were on holiday or in a particularly good mood with their wife. That would be the only times that they would show any kind of public displays of affection. As we read something like this, as Scottish people, it makes us feel steer when he writes, just in the gushing nature of all that is going on, but the Sammest here when he writes, he tells us in verse one, that he is gushing with his love for this person.
[2:39] My heart overflows with a pleasing theme. I address my verses to the king. You are the most handsome of the sons of men. If you jump down to verse seven, you see, therefore, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.
[2:54] Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. It feels really kind of lovey-dovey and that's because it is a love song that is written.
[3:04] It says it at the top of the Sam. You don't have it on the screen, I don't think, but it says at the top of the Sam that it is a love song. And so what do we do with this? It's in the Bible for one, so we should kind of figure out what to do.
[3:17] We're actually going to sing it at the end of the service, so we'd have some sort of idea what we do with this. Well, the hope is this evening that these verses will invoke and inspire a greater love for the Lord Jesus.
[3:30] Just seeing what his character is like, seeing who he is, how we should respond to him. And I think this lays out in a deliberately emotive way, just to hit our souls and our being in a different way.
[3:45] Some of us kind of are logical people and we'll go through things in order. Some of us are emotional people. You can think of probably a few emotional people in your own life if you know them. They work in just a slightly different way and I think Sam 45 is exactly like that.
[4:00] So we're going to split up the passage in two ways. First, verse 1 down to 9 and it speaks all about the king. And then verse 10 down to 17 speaks of the bride.
[4:13] Verse 1 to 10 is speaking of the king and then verse 10 down to 15 speaks of the bride. And then 16 and 17 kind of add on to that. So this is a love song. It is written as a love song.
[4:24] If you couldn't tell, it is written of not just a love song, but of a wedding day. And the wedding day we're meant to kind of imagine is this royal wedding, similar to Will and Kate, similar to Megan and Harry.
[4:36] That's kind of the picture we're meant to have that's going on in this Sam. But I wonder if you noticed the oddness in this Sam, the oddness in this wedding. If you take you back six years, I got married in October 2018 and we were married.
[4:51] And imagine you were there and on one side is my side of the family and on the other side is my wife Liana's side of the family. And the groomsmen are sitting standing up the front. The bridesmaids are there and the minister stands and the minister says they're here.
[5:04] And so you get up to stand up to have a look around. And as you get up, you just catch a glimpse up the front that it's not me that's standing up there as the groom, it's the bride that's standing up the front. And I come bouncing in the hall as the groom.
[5:18] It would be utterly preposterous that the focus would be on me on my wedding day. But in this Sam, the focus is on the groom. The focus is on the king. And you see that in the verses that are written.
[5:30] The king is the focus. You see that in verse two. The Samus speaks of his joy for this king. I mean, just follow from verse one, actually. My heart overflows with a pleasing theme. I address my verses to the king. My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
[5:42] He says, you are the most handsome of the sons of men. Grace is poured upon your lips. Therefore God, your God has blessed you. He writes with this like exuberant joy.
[5:56] He is so excited about what he is seeing. And he speaks of this king who is blessed above all others. He isn't a league of his own. He is the most handsome. Favor comes from his lips.
[6:07] He's blessed by God. And he carries on. Look at verse three down to five. He is not just blessed by God. He is this majestic, righteous warrior.
[6:17] Gird your sword on your thigh, almighty one in your splendor and majesty. And your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness.
[6:28] Let your right hand teach you awesome deeds. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies. The people's fall under you. He's this majestic, righteous warrior.
[6:40] The image is kind of like a really muscular navy seal. That's kind of the image we have. He's someone who is strong, who is a warrior. He's not just kind of a strong and righteous warrior.
[6:52] He does it for all of the right reasons. You see, he does it for truth, for gentleness, for righteousness that he rides out. When he does things, they are awesome.
[7:04] And just keep coming down the verses. Learn more about who he is. Verse six, in verse two, you have your the most handsome of men. Verse six, he turns again and says, your throne, oh God, is forever and ever.
[7:14] The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of righteousness. He starts speaking about this king as this forever anointed king. Just building up who he is and what he is like.
[7:27] His scepter is a scepter of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. You have loved all that is right. You have hated what is wrong. He rules and he kind of purges out evil.
[7:41] He's kind of, if he was like a navy seal, he's kind of like Batman purging out the evil of Gotham. He's getting rid of all of it. Walking around, bringing justice where he goes.
[7:53] And he's God's anointed as he does it. And I wonder if you notice in verse seven and eight, he kind of says, your robes, he says in verse eight, are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
[8:05] Do you know when you meet someone who just has stature, it's not just that their clothes and suit are good. They smell incredible. And that is what it's saying here. It is all of our kind of senses are seeing this king as someone who is to be worshipped and adored.
[8:22] He says, ivory palaces play your music. You have celebrities all around you. From ivory palaces, stringed instruments make you glad. Daughters of the king are among your ladies of honour.
[8:33] At your right hand stands a queen in gold of offere. I mean, imagine someone like this. Imagine a king and a ruler who is like this. This one, he stands tall above all others.
[8:45] He is the king or kind of the prince that every girl wants to marry. That's the kind of image we have. I mean, even if you think of a leader on our day, a prime minister or a president, even to someone who is a leader or a boss in work, imagine if they were respected and revered, not because they strike fear into anybody who doesn't fall in line, but because they are upright, kind, they are strong and brave leader.
[9:11] That's the image of the king. He is this beautiful specimen. He is strong, courageous, victor over perverse evil. And does it all for good.
[9:22] Imagine somebody like that. Because at every royal wedding where they sung this, they too would have to imagine someone like this. They would sing this at all of the royal weddings throughout the history of the Old Testament.
[9:34] And they would sing it looking at the people who were getting married. And we know if we know our Old Testament that some kind of stand up to this statue, but not all. In fact, some folks stand up to it, but their whole character does not.
[9:47] We think of Solomon and he's wise we learn, but his character doesn't follow up. We learn that David is really prosperous and the land is really good under him. He defeats his enemies, but he too seems to fall.
[9:59] And so at every wedding that they would have sung this Sam, they would have sung it wanting more, wishing that this was true of the king that they were singing about.
[10:10] Longing and looking forward to someone who was going to live out this statue of a king. Derek Gidner, who you wrote a commentary on this Sam, is really helpful what he describes the Sam as is this.
[10:24] He says, this is an example of the Old Testament bursting its banks to demand a more human fulfillment. This is kind of speaking of someone who is to come and longing for a more human fulfillment.
[10:39] So let's find out where this comes. If you have your Bible, it's turned to Hebrews one. Hebrews one tells us where this comes. And it's because Hebrews one quotes this Sam. It tells us exactly who this is about.
[10:52] Hebrews chapter one verse one down to eight. Hebrews one speaks, it speaks them, the first four verses say this, long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.
[11:05] But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things and that son is Jesus, through whom he also created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.
[11:17] And he upholds the universe by the power of his word. It speaks so highly of who Jesus is. And it builds him up and says that he holds everything together. He is all of these things. And the rest of Hebrews one speaks about how Jesus is greater than angels.
[11:31] And if you look at verse eight, it tells us more. He is the Jesus, the one who has appointed heir of all things. He, the whole of creation hangs together by him. He's the radiance of the glory of God, really bigging him up.
[11:44] And then it quotes Sam 45. It says of the son who is Jesus, you're thrown, oh God is forever and ever. Quoting Sam 45 verse five and six, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
[11:59] You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.
[12:11] What Hebrews one tells us is that Sam 45 versus one to nine that we've been walking through is all about Jesus. He's the one who fulfills exactly what Sam 45 is looking at.
[12:22] He is the one who fulfills the kind of odd description that we have of this glorious splendor, this character, this person who was God himself.
[12:34] Jesus is the king of Sam 45. When they sung it and when we sing it, we're singing about the Lord Jesus. Sam 45 was written well before Jesus came and it was looking forward to him who was to come.
[12:48] We get to sing it, looking back across scripture, seeing how he lived up to all of these things. Just follow through verse one down to 10 with me again and see how Jesus fulfills these things.
[12:58] Verse two, it speaks that he is the one who brings blessings to the world. He was above all others, says that grace is poured out from his lips. We know in the New Testament when the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, they wanted to arrest Jesus and so they sent their soldiers to go get him and they came back and they didn't have him and they said, why didn't you get him?
[13:19] Why were you not able to bring this man to me? It says in John 7 verse 45, no one has ever spoken like this man. Favour and grace fall from his lips.
[13:30] We learn that he is the majestic, righteous warrior who girds his sword in his thigh, who's the mighty one in splendor and majesty. He is the one who is true righteousness.
[13:46] He is held up as this beautiful character who is the apex and the kind of climactic kind of character of humanity, the pinnacle.
[13:56] And it's not just in his character that he is this, it's in his actions. Because he was the one who rode victoriously into Jerusalem and he did so for battle.
[14:08] Gird, your sword and your thigh, oh mighty one, in your splendor and majesty, in your majesty, ride out victorious. And we read that and even when we read that now, we imagine he's leading an army, but we know in Matthew 19-20 that he rides in on a donkey and he rides into the city to do battle.
[14:28] Because the battle that he speaks of is not kind of a future one in our sight. The battle that he speaks of is the one where the king rides out in truth and righteousness and splendor and majesty, all this is most clearly seen at the cross.
[14:46] Where for you and for me, he, the splendid, glorious king died in our place that we might know God, that we might know God and be known by him. The kind of painful irony and the painful depth of the Bible is that the crowning glory of the king that we read about in Psalm 45 was when he, the one who was above all others, who was innocent and sinless, whose teaching was unparalleled, whose kindness just reverberated from him, whose only cause was goodness and righteousness, who had the world at his feet.
[15:28] His crowning glory was upon the cross, where he was victorious over sin, over death, and over the devil. The writing out for the battle is where he rode in on a donkey and he rode in truth we read and meekness and for our righteousness.
[15:49] The writing out for battle is where he hung his head on a cross and died so that we might be victorious over death. The comfort of the battle that Jesus goes to in verses three, four and five is that we never have to go to that battle.
[16:03] The death is utterly and truly defeated by this great and awesome king of Psalm 45, where justice is brought, where evil is defeated.
[16:18] He brings true justice, where evil is defeated, he brings true justice, he is anointed forever, he is the king of the wedding.
[16:33] And I wonder if one of the applications is just that we're just to appreciate who he is, appreciate him and his character, appreciate who he is and what he has done for us. And this great is a really helpful Psalm to unpack, to see Jesus as the glorious and beautiful savior of all who trust in him.
[16:54] Whenever I spoke about teaching on Psalm 45, some people thought, what on earth is that? I've never heard of it, but any people who had heard of it just had a, there was a warmth to it. There's a joy in what we read of who our savior is in Psalm 45.
[17:11] But he's not the only person in this Psalm, there are two people in this Psalm. The second person helps us in how we respond to this and this is verses 10 down to 17. If we would appreciate who he is, that is one of the great applications that we can take from this.
[17:28] But the Psalm tells us how we should respond. So have a look at the bride in verse 10 down to 11. Do you see how it changes? It says in verse 10, here, oh, daughter, consider and incline your ear, forget your people, your father's house.
[17:43] The bride that speaks of and that Israel, as they sung it, would have been themselves. The bride is Israel and the bride today is this church. We learn that in Ephesians chapter five.
[17:55] Carlyle Free Church is the bride that it speaks to today. All believers is who it speaks to today. And if the first oddness is that at my wedding day, you see me walking down Nile.
[18:07] The second oddness comes that if you're at our wedding and on the morning of our wedding, as Leanna was getting ready in her hotel room, she was putting on her makeup and getting her hair done and getting all nice.
[18:19] She was much nicer than nice, she was beautiful, but she was getting all dolled up. And then someone came in and just said, listen up, Leanna, this is what you need to do. You just started barking orders at her.
[18:30] Again, we'd think utterly preposterous. But that's what happens in these verses. Look at this in verse 10, here, oh, daughter, consider and incline your ear, forget your people and your father's house, since he is your Lord, bow to him.
[18:46] We get command after command after command. And it's almost like the Samus begins and looks at the King and who he is, and then it turns to the bride. It turns to us and it tells us how we're meant to respond.
[18:59] Here, consider and incline. And the last one I think is what we're meant to do. Forget your people and your father's house. What we're meant to do with the Sam is to never take our eyes off the King, never lift our eyes away from him, understand who Jesus is and keep our eyes on him, because if we don't, what we do is we turn for the bride and the Sam is forget your people and your father's house.
[19:25] The call is, is don't turn back to your old life. Whatever it is that might be drawing you back, whatever it is that seems to be calling you back, the Samus tells us turn from that, forget your old life.
[19:40] And again, you may come this evening and as we speak about Jesus, it is someone that you love and adore and you praise and that is a wonderful place to be. But you also may be someone this evening who's just found themselves wandering slightly, because we're all prone to wonder.
[20:00] There may be something in that is just there's a sin or something in your old life that just draws you back again, where life is easier, it just seems like less hassle.
[20:12] That seems to offer something that being in church or following Jesus and following the Bible just doesn't seem to offer anymore, where you're cold or angry or annoyed, it might even be that you're annoyed at the rest of the bride.
[20:27] You know, it's something that has happened at church. What the Sam says, the Sam says is forget your old ways and turn back to the King, look at who he is, appreciate his character, love him and worship him for all that he's done for you.
[20:45] And the Sam's great because the Samus could say, you need to do that because who Jesus is, but he doesn't. What the Samus says is if you turn back to him, you will not be disappointed and you see it in this really odd verse in verse 12.
[21:01] Verse 11 says, since he is your Lord, bow to him and then it says, the people of Tyre will seek you, your favor with gifts, the richest of the people. And the best way to sum this up is in my really poor Spanish, I did you a lingo for about a week.
[21:15] It says, mi casa su casa, or su casa mi casa. What it means is what is mine is yours. What my house is your house. And that's what it's saying here in the Sam, when it says the people of Tyre, it says the people that are his people, the people of Tyre who are rich, his rich friends, they'll be yours too.
[21:35] You will not be disappointed when you turn back to him. Everything that is his will be yours. Mi casa su casa, turn from your old ways, see his beauty and the inheritance that is yours.
[21:48] And then just follow through the verses. This is what it builds up to the wedding. Verse 13, all glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
[22:00] The bridal procession kind of just leads us to where we are with our lover of our soul. All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with winter woven with gold.
[22:10] In many colors and robes, she has led to the king with her virgin companions following behind her. The bride is in the room getting ready. She's all dressed, ready to go dressed in his clothes.
[22:23] Her bridesmaids follow along with her as they get ready to go to her husband. Then listen to verse 15. Is this not one of the great future hopes and promises that all of us have who believe in Jesus?
[22:36] With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king. These are the wonderful truths that the Bible teaches. The Psalm 45 teaches that with Jesus as our savior, king and love, you will joyfully and gladly one day walk into the palace of the king.
[22:59] Because of the battle that he went through, because of his good character and not ours. The Samesthen finishes just with those last two verses.
[23:11] It's almost like the Samesthen just kind of speaks in himself, in place of your fathers shall be your sons. You will make them princes in all the earth. You will cause them to have dominions, what it's saying.
[23:23] And it finishes with how we were meant to finish. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.
[23:34] Our only response upon seeing and appreciating who Jesus is is to praise him forever. That's what Psalm 45 says.
[23:47] It's a call for us, the people of God, to appreciate who he is and what he has done for us. That is, that is Carly Free Church, that is all believers, to realize who he is and what he has done.
[24:00] That we are his bride, loved by him. We remember his great character and the act that he did on the cross.
[24:12] And we his bride are to praise his name forever. We his bride will praise his glorious and gracious beautiful character forever.
[24:22] We will one day walk into the palace of the king. I wanna finish by reading a verse from a song that takes this Psalm and uses most of the words of the Psalm and then just puts in the final two for us that I think are just really, really helpful.
[24:37] And it says this, this king will reign forever, his sons upon the earth, and every generation will tell of his great worth. All nations will soon praise him and fall down at his feet.
[24:51] His kingdom is established where truth and mercy meet. O Jesus, we adore you, our lover and our king, your church, your bride is waiting.
[25:04] And so to you, we sing. We sing. Nice prayer.