Psalm 45

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad. Kings’ daughters are among Your honorable women; at Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir. Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your own people also, and your father’s house; so the King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him.” Psalm 45:6-11 (NKJV)

Several years ago, while I was teaching Bible studies in coffeehouses around Southern California, a young man who was quite upset approached me. His rub was that I had taught how a particular Psalm was about the Messiah. He said, “The psalms don’t have anything to do with Jesus!” Short answer: he was wrong. Many of the psalms are about Messiah Jesus, and today’s psalm is directly attributed to Jesus by the New Testament writer of the book of Hebrews.

“But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’” Hebrews 1:8-9 (NKJV)

The fact that the psalmist addresses Messiah as “O God” is supporting evidence (like Isaiah 9:6 and Micah 5:2) of Messiah’s (Jesus’) deity and that He has existed forever. Furthermore, Psalm 45’s instruction of foreign “daughters” to “forget your own people also, and your father’s house” reminds us of the story of Ruth.

“Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. And she said, ‘Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said: ‘Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.” Ruth 1:14-17 (NKJV)

God’s heart has always been for Gentiles to repent of pagan ways to follow Him.

“‘Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants - everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant - even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.’ The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, ‘Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him.’” Isaiah 56:6-8 (NKJV)