Psalm Meditation 849
Proper 21
September 25, 2016

Psalm 45
1 My heart overflows with a goodly 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 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 glory and majesty.
4 In your majesty ride on victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right; let your right hand teach you dread deeds.
5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity;
7 you love righteousness and hate 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, 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 with all kinds of wealth. The princess is decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes;
14 in many-colored robes she is led to the king; behind her the virgins, her companions, follow.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.
16 In the place of ancestors you, O king, shall have sons; you will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will cause your name to be celebrated in all generations; therefore the peoples will praise you forever and ever.
(NRSV)

For those in the biblical age the king was the direct agent of God. In some cultures the king was considered divine during his reign and certainly after his death. For the people of YHWH, the king was God’s agent on earth and could be addressed as God due to the close association of the two. At the same time there was no illusion that the king was anything beyond a human being who served in the name of God. While this psalm is addressed to the king, at the time of a wedding, there are otherwise confusing references to God.

Historical records were not kind to some of the kings. There are stories of kings who were to act as agents of God who acted more as if they were gods, with no one to hold them accountable for their actions. They did what they wanted and felt no responsibility to act according to the rules and laws of YHWH. For some of those kings the biblical/historical record is only long enough to give his name, the number of years he reigned and that he did what was evil in the sight of God.

While most of us will not be named in history books that will be studied in schools across the world, we do well to choose whether we will follow the laws, rules, testimonies and examples of God and those who have gone before us in service to God or not. We may do well to follow the advice given to the bride in this psalm, “Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house,” By forgetting our people and houses we give ourselves over to God as those who serve God with a wholeness and holiness of heart.

September 19, 2016
LCM