Psalm 45 is our study this evening. I'm calling this message, Christ
Our King. Christ Our King. This is the subject of this Psalm.
It is the subject of the book of Psalms. God said, I've set
my King upon my holy hill, Zion. Furthermore, it is a message
of God's entire book we call the Bible, Holy Scripture. It's all about Him. the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is our King. He is our Kinsman
Redeemer. Christ is God our Savior. In
verses 6 and 7 of this psalm quoted in Hebrews chapter 1 verse
8 and 9 and applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not our king by some democratic
process. We didn't vote on this. He's
not king by some majority of the vote. He's not a king by
a democratic process, but rather He is King by the eternal, unchanging
decree of God Almighty. He is King. He is God, our Savior. I like the words that Peter preached
to the people there in Acts chapter 2. He said, This same Jesus,
whom you crucified, God had made Him both Lord, God had made Him
Lord. We don't make Him Lord. We hear
religious folks say, well, make Jesus your Lord. You can't do
that. God beat you to it in eternity. God had decreed from all eternity
that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. God had made
that same Jesus whom you crucified. God had, excuse me, God had made
Him both Lord and Christ. We bow to Him. as believers,
we submit unto His rule and His reign, and we do so gladly, willingly,
lovingly. We bow to Him. Now notice in
the title of this psalm, it's called, A Song of Loves. A Song of Loves. His love for us, and our love
for Him. We do love Him. I like what old
John Newton said, we do love the Lord, not like we ought to,
not like we want to, not like we will someday, but by His grace
we do love the Lord Jesus Christ. And John put it this way, we
love Him because He first loved us. Had He not first loved us,
we never would have loved Him. Had He not called us in love,
we never would have bowed unto Him. Now, His love for us and
our love for Him. There are many enemies of the
gospel, of God's true sovereign grace in Christ, many enemies
of the gospel that would accuse us, falsely so, but nevertheless
they would accuse us of not preaching love. when we talk about God's
sovereign love, God loving whom He will, and some who were opposed
to God's sovereign mercy and sovereign love would accuse us
of not preaching love. A dear friend of mine, Todd Nybert,
had been preaching Lexington for a long time, and someone
accused him of having a hate-based ministry because he dared to
declare the truth of God's sovereign mercy. God's love is not universal
love. He doesn't love all men without
exception. The love of God is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's where the love of God
is manifested. Someone recently said to me,
well, there's no love in what you call or what is known as
the doctrines of grace. Well, the man was dreadfully
mistaken that made such a statement like that. Because we are chosen
in love, election is the doctrine of love. Beloved, we are bound
to give thanks because God hath from the beginning chosen you
unto salvation. We're chosen in love. His election
is electing love. That's what John Warburton, the
first time I ran into that statement in his book, God's electing love. mercies of a covenant God. Get
it and read it sometime. It's a very good, good grace
book. We're chosen in love. We are
redeemed because He loved His own and gave Himself for us.
Is that not so? Here in His love, here in His
love, not that we love God, but He loved us and sent His Son
to be the sacrifice for our sin. We are affectionately called
in love, having loved his own with an everlasting love, therefore
with loving kindness he does draw us to himself." Now, what
an audacious statement to say that there's no love manifested
in God's true gospel. That's a straw man that someone
has tried to put forth, but it's not so, because the love of God
is manifested in the gospel of God's grace. We are saved and
regenerated, made new creatures in Christ because He's loved
us with an everlasting love. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called sons
of God. God commanded His love toward
us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. But God,
who is rich in mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved
us." Now there's three powerful scriptures that make true statements
of God's love for His own in Christ Jesus. So we can truly
say in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only place
where the true love of God is manifested. and made known."
To say that God loves everybody is not a good statement. It's
a lie. To say that God loves everybody, He's trying to save
everybody, yet some perish in hell, well, that's no love of
God. That's no love at all. If God loves all men, truly loves
them, then they cannot perish. They cannot perish. That's another gospel that's
not the gospel that says God loves all men and yet some men
perish. That's not good news. If you
love your child and have the ability to save her from danger,
What would you do if she was in peril and in danger? If you
loved your daughter, wouldn't you go down there and rescue? If you loved her, you would.
You wouldn't say, well, I'll just leave at your own free will.
Go out there and run in the street and see if it's okay. You know,
I don't want to interfere with her will. Man, you better, if
you will, if you love her. You see, aren't you glad God
interferes with our stubborn, hard-hearted, darkened will of
rebellion? The truth of the gospel says
that all that are elected in love, all that Christ died for
out of love, all that are called in love shall be eternally saved
in Christ Jesus. He said, all that the Father
hath given to me, they will come to me. And those that come to
me I will in no wise cast out." You see, I like this true love
of God. It cannot fail. This saving love,
this effectual love. Oh, this drawing love. This dying
love. This sacrificial love. He loved
the church and gave himself for it. Having loved his own, he
loved them to the end, it says in John 13. So this is a song
of love in the gospel. In the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we see the true love of God manifested, don't we?
Of which Paul says, nothing can separate us from the love of
God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the love that
this book talks about. That special, special love for
God's own people. Now because of that, because
of this song of love, it says here in verse 1 in Psalm 45,
my heart My heart now. He's not talking
here about the old wicked hard hearted heart. He's talking here
about the new heart given in the new birth in regeneration.
He's taken away that stony heart and he's given us a new heart.
He's made us new creatures in Christ. Therefore my heart is
bubbling over with Good news. Christ died for sinners. This
is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that the
Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. And Paul said, I'm the
chief one. My heart, therefore, is bubbling
over with good news. And I speak about something.
I speak of things concerning the king, is a better rendering
there. I speak of things which I've
made, or concerning, touching, concerning the king, the king.
Therefore my tongue, my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe,
like Ezra of old, he was called, known as a ready scribe. I've
made, I speak of things concerning the king, And my tongue is ready
to speak about Him. I like what the Apostle Paul
said in Romans 1 15, for as much as in me is, as much as in me
is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you who are at Rome. And I'm
ready as much as in me is to preach the gospel to you here
this evening in this little fair community of the Kingsport. This is where the King dwells.
Here in Kingsport. I like the name of that city.
The King City. Kingsport. Therefore we speak
about Him. We are determined, therefore,
to declare and preach Christ and Him crucified as the wisdom
of God and the power of God, who accomplished the salvation
of His covenant people. We are ready, yea, willing, and
made able ministers of the gospel by His purpose, power, and pleasure. And we say with the Apostle Paul,
we come not preaching ourselves, I didn't come up here to talk
about me. I came up here to talk about Him. We preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves, your servant, for
His sake. Paul said in another place, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I'm ready to preach Him. Him. Him. And you know what? I'm ready to hear about Him.
When we come to the worship service, oh, may God prepare our hearts
as we come, yea, before we come, the day before we come, the night
before we come, may God prepare our hearts to be ready to hear. James says something about that,
doesn't he? Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger,
oh, to be ready to hear Him. As much as in me is, I'm ready
to talk to you about Him. And I trust that you're ready
to hear about the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no better message.
No better message. Our Lord said He charged the
church and His disciples to go into all the world and preach
the gospel. Preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes the gospel shall
be baptized. He that believeth The gospel
and it's baptized shall be saved. So my tongue is a pen of a ready
writer. Now, what are we going to talk
about? Look at verse 2. Thou art fairer than all. He's fairer. That is,
he's prettier. He's better. He's the best. He's
fairer than any children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips.
Therefore God hath blessed him for just a little while. Oh,
He's blessed forever, isn't He? From everlasting to everlasting.
He's God. Our Lord said, I'm the Lord,
I change not. He's the same yesterday, today,
forever. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God. Therefore
God hath blessed thee forever and ever. And you know what?
We're blessed in Him. Not temporarily. We're blessed
in Him forever and ever. And we're blessed in Him as believers
with all spiritual blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ
is better. Christ is better. Three things
are given in this verse. Christ is better. The Lord Jesus
Christ is greater. The Lord Jesus Christ is superior
than any other. For we read in Scripture there
is none like Him. There's none like Him. He's the
only one that took humanity to His deity. He's the God, man,
mediator. One God, one mediator between
God and men, not man, men, The man, Christ Jesus, he's fairer. Oh, he's fairer than none like
him. It says in Isaiah, God said, I am God, beside me there is
no other. Neither is there any salvation
in any other. There's no other name. in heaven and earth, whereby
we must be saved, neither is there salvation in any other."
You see, Christ is better, greater, superior than any other. There's
nothing like Him. He's the only Savior of sinners.
Secondly, grace is treasured up in him. You see that? Grace
is poured into his lips. He's a storehouse of grace. It
says over in John 1.16, you ever read that? I know you have. John
1.16, of his fullness have we all received grace for grace? You know, there's a reason for
grace. Of his fullness have we all received grace because of
grace. The only reason for grace is
grace. He will have mercy on whom he
will. Of his fullness have we all received grace for grace.
It says in Colossians Chapter 1, in him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. In him, you see, see what it
says there? He's better than all, he's greater, he's superior
than all, all men put together. Well, he's far superior than
any, for he is God. God our Savior. And then it says,
Grace is poured into his lips. Grace is treasured up in him.
Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ there is no grace, no salvation
for sinners. You don't want anything to do
with God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I'm the
way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. No man comes unto the Father
but by me. by me he is the door he is he
said I'm the door by me if any man enter in he shall be saved
and then it says here that God as God and the Lord Jesus Christ
is God blessed forever says in John 335 the father loveth the
son and given all things in his hand he is blessed forever and
his people in him are blessed forever Colossians 2 you familiar
with this in him dwells all the fullness of a Godhead bodily
and we are we are Mmm, you know, we might be saved or maybe you
know, no, we are complete in him completely justified completely
sanctified He is our sanctification. He is our justification. Completely
made one with Him. Completely whole. Completely
forgiven. Completely pardoned. You could
have a whole outline on that, couldn't you? We're complete
in Him. God says so. Nothing lacking. Nothing lacking. You see why
this is one of my favorite psalms? Thou art fairer than the children
of men. Grace is poured into thy lips,
therefore God hath blessed thee forever. The father loveth his
son, giving all things into his hand. Now watch this. You hold
your seat now. You hold your seat. As old A.D.
Muse used to say, when he'd get the attention of them old, them
people back, he said, now get a hold of your pew, we're gonna
jump a creek. Look what it says right there.
We see in verse 3, 4, and 5, the Lord conquering his enemies
and saving his elect. upon thy thigh, O most mighty,
and with glory and majesty ride in majesty. And in your majesty
ride or prosper because of three things, truth, meekness, righteousness,
and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows
are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies whereby the people
fall. They fall down in submission.
Now let's see what we can do with these three verses here.
The sword here is a symbol of power. The power of His Word. We read in Hebrews that the Word
of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.
So His sword, gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty. In Revelation 19, again it talks
about the Lamb glorified having this sword coming out of His
mouth. His sword, His power is mighty, for none can defeat His
power. None can stop His sword. His sword is glorious in power. His sword is full of majesty,
full of splendor, full of beauty. You imagine this sharp, two-edged
sword, not in the hand of a novice, not in the hand of a rookie,
not in the hand of an amateur, but one who is an expert swordsman. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He knows how to operate upon the heart. He knows how to operate
upon the soul and quicken us and make us new creatures in
Christ Jesus. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh,
O Most Mighty, and do it with glory. and do it with majesty. Everything he does is full of
majesty, and everything he does is for his own glory, and for
the good of his covenant people. Look at verse 4. And in your
majesty, where he has all majesty, all power, all glory, and in
your majesty, with your sword girded on thy thigh. I get a
picture here of a mighty warrior, don't you? This warrior that
has this glorious sword that's sharp and cutting and powerful
and none can stop it, operating upon the hearts of God's people. And in thy majesty ride prosperously
because of truth, because of meekness, and because of righteousness,
and thy right hand shall teach thee all to be taught of God.
All who have heard and learned of the Father, who have been
taught of God, and have heard and learned from the Father,
they come unto the Lord Jesus Christ. John 6, 45. Our Lord
is glorious in His majesty, and He rides in complete victory.
His victory is one of prosperity. It's a prosperous victory for
he accomplishes all of his pleasure. He knows nothing of defeat. He's
never lost a battle. He's conquered every foe, every
enemy. God says, sit at my right hand till I make all your enemies
your footstool. We read that earlier, didn't
we? He rides in victory, accomplishing
all of His pleasure, all of His purpose. He knows nothing of
failure, nothing of defeat, for He is the conquering King. It
says that in Revelation 6. He went forth conquering and
to conquer. It says in Isaiah 42,4 that He
cannot fail. He shall not fail. He shall not
be discouraged. You see, He's a conquering King.
He rides in prosperity, in prosperity. The Lord Jesus Christ rides the
war chariot of the gospel, defeating all that oppose Him. Every knee
will bow, every tongue will confess that He's Lord to the glory of
God the Father. He prospers as He conquers. He
prospers in His kingdom as He conquers because of three things
that are given unto us here. It says of Joseph of old, being
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in Genesis 39, the Lord, it says
of Joseph, made all that he did to prosper. You remember the
scripture in Isaiah 53? The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He rides in victory. He rides
in prosperity, and he mentions three things here, and I got
a picture in my mind here of the Lord Jesus Christ as a mighty
warrior, riding in the war chariot of the gospel with his mighty
sword, and this chariot is drawn by three horses, known as meekness,
truth, and righteousness. The Lord shall prosper because
of truth. He is truth. That's His name. He's truth personified. You shall
know the truth and the truth shall set you free. This chariot
is also drawn by meekness, by meekness, which is mercy. It
is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because
His compassions fail not, not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. And because
of righteousness. Because of righteousness. This
is the righteousness that he has established for us in the
gospel. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
will impute, or imputed righteousness without works. These are the
tremendous things that the Lord is pleased to reveal unto us
as He makes Himself known. He's not a defeated, frustrated
Reformer. He's a mighty, conquering, prospering
King. And we read in the Gospels and
in the Epistles, thanks be to God who has given us the victory
through the Lord Jesus Christ. We are more than conquerors to
Him that loved us. Saved us by His grace. This is
the education we need. Right here. He'll teach us tremendous,
terrible things. The education we need, oh, to
be taught of God. How He can be a just God and
Savior. How He can be a just God. How He can be a justifier. How
He can justify the ungodly. Being both just and the justifier. Them who believe the gospel now
look at verse 5 Still talking about this mighty warrior the
Lord Jesus Christ Here he talking about we've talked about his
sword talked about his riding in the chariot and here it talks
about the arrows the arrows are sharp and In the heart, the king's
enemies, whereby the people fall, they fall down in submission
unto him. The gospel is not only a mighty
sword, but also a penetrating arrow, piercing the heart of
the enemy, subduing the rebel into submission. Thy people shall
be willing in the day of his heart, when God Almighty takes
aim at the heart of the object of his love, and when he draws
back his bow with an arrow of his grace and lets it go, he
never misses the intended target. He's not out there just practicing,
he's shooting at the heart of his people. And you know what
happens when you're shot in the heart with the gospel arrow of
God's grace aimed at your heart, decreed in purpose of God Almighty? I'll tell you what happens. you
bow. I'd like to see you stand and fight
God with an arrow shot in your heart. Just speaking naturally,
if someone drew a bow back and shot you in the heart, that would
take all the fight out, wouldn't it? You wouldn't stand and fight.
You'd lay down and probably die. I tell you, that's what God does
in salvation. He shoots us in the heart. He
breaks our hard heart, our stubborn heart, and He causes us to bow
unto Him and cry out for mercy. You ever been shot in the heart? You ever been operated on the
heart by the sword of the Spirit of God? That's what God does when He
saves a sinner. He breaks his heart. He strips
him. He puts him in the dust. Before He clothes him, He strips
him. Before He heals him, He wounds him with the gospel. Look at verse 6 now. Who is the
Lord Jesus Christ? Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? God says to the Son, Sit at my
right hand, till I make all your enemies thy footstool. God said
unto the Son, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter
of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. It says that
in Hebrews 1.8, referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. So who
is the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, you know, He's that prophet
from over there at Nazareth. We've heard about Jesus of Nazareth.
Our Lord said, You've seen me, you've seen the Father. I and
my Father are one. He is the mighty God. Who is
the Lord Jesus Christ? He's God Almighty. He is God
Almighty. We firmly believe and declare
unto all that will hear the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is the eternal God. For unto us a child is born,
a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
That's who the Lord Jesus Christ is. He's God Almighty. And He's
come to save His people. You reckon He'll get it done?
You reckon he'll get it done? He said he would. He said it.
He said it. It's finished. All that the Father
has given me to do. It's done. Well done. Pleasure
of the Lord will prosper in his hand. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. His throne. His throne. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion. An everlasting dominion. Take
a look over here at Psalm 72. It's an everlasting dominion.
Psalm 72 describes also the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 72 verse
6 says, "...he shall come down like rain upon the mown grass,
as showers that water the earth. In his day shall righteousness
flourish, and the abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river
to the ends of the earth." Is there any place where he doesn't
reign as king? He's king in Kingsport. But he's
king up there in Pikeville too. He's king down here in Knoxville,
Nashville. He's king everywhere. It says
in Psalm 47 or Psalm 74, one of those, that he's king of all
the earth. I bow to him as king. I worship him as king. I worship
him as Thomas said, my Lord and my God. Thy throne, O God, is
forever and ever. And the scepter, the reign of
thy kingdom, is a right scepter. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? He loves righteousness. He hates wickedness. Therefore
God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows. We can trust the Lord Jesus Christ
without suspicion. We can rely upon Him without
distrust. He'll do right. All He does is
right. Verse 7. Our blessed Lord lived as a God-man
mediator, demonstrating these blessed truths, loving righteousness,
hating wickedness. He loves righteousness, always
has, always will. It says in Hebrews 7, you know
the scripture of him, it says in Hebrews 7.27, such a high
priest became us. Think about that. He became us,
who were holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin. He loved
righteousness. He lived in righteousness. He
had no sin, the scripture says of Him. He did no sin, and He
knew no sin. But He was made sin for us, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He hates wickedness,
always has, always will. He died to put away sin. because
he hated wickedness. He died to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the anointed one with the oil of gladness. It says that in
Psalm, or rather Isaiah 61, he said, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me. And he had the Spirit of the Lord without measure.
He is the appointed mediator. God hath anointed him with oil
of blood above above thy fellows, above thy fellows. He is the
anointed one in all this office. That's what the word Christ means.
He's the anointed one of God. Now there's no one in the Old
Testament that ever held, ever held all three of those offices.
Prophet, priest, and king. No one held all those, all three
of those offices. The Lord Jesus Christ is a fulfillment
of the prophet, the priest, and the king. He is anointed priest. What does the priest do? He's
an appointed priest to redeem us with his blood. He is appointed
prophet to reveal salvation unto us. And he is the appointed anointed
king to rule and reign over us. He's prophet, priest, and king.
And he's my prophet, priest, and king. In closing, verse 8,
all thy garments All thy garments, all of his robe of righteousness,
they smell like myrrh pleasant. Allos, cassia, out of the ivory
palaces whereby they have made thee glad. All of his garments
or all of his priestly works have a sweet smell of salvation
and life unto them. His righteousness is pleasing
unto the Father. God speaks from heaven and said,
this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. His redemption,
His blood redemption is a satisfying sacrifice, a sweet savor unto
the Lord. The Lord God Almighty smells
of that glorious sacrifice and says, I'm satisfied, I'm satisfied. They smell wonderful to God Almighty
and they have a sweet aroma unto God's elect. All of that so-called
self-righteousness produced of sinful men have a foul odor of
death about them. In Isaiah 65, he talks about
those who say, come not thou near to me, for I'm holier than
thou. Have you read that? It's Psalm 65. You remember the
rest of it? God said, there's smoke in my
nose. It's a stink. Anybody who claim that they have
righteousness in and of themselves, produced by themselves, God take
it away with it. It's filthy rags. But the Lord,
God Almighty, smells of that sweet, satisfying sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ and says, I'm satisfied. I'm satisfied. All our efforts to put away sin
will never make atonement for sin. Not at all. We need His righteousness to
justify. We need His blood to put away
sin. I need both of those. I need
a justifying righteousness and I need my sin put away. And in the Lord Jesus Christ
we have complete a complete justifying righteousness freely given unto
us, and we have a glorious sacrifice for sin. For he appeared once
in the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself, whereby they have made thee glad." I'm glad to hear
about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm always excited
and interested in hearing more about Christ, more about the
Lord Jesus Christ.