The Warrior Poet King
Introduction: A Crisis of Kingship
We live in an age that has domesticated the Lion of Judah. The modern evangelical imagination, when it thinks of Jesus at all, tends to picture a gentle, soft-spoken teacher, a sort of first-century guidance counselor whose primary message was to be nice to one another. We have traded the conquering King for a Mr. Rogers in a bathrobe. We have kept the meekness and the gentleness, which are true attributes of our Lord, but we have stripped them of their context, which is His majesty, His glory, and His raw, untamable power. We have kept the Lamb, but forgotten that He is the wrath of God.
Psalm 45 is a strong corrective to this sentimentalism. It is a full-throated, masculine, and robust portrait of the Messiah. On the surface, it is a royal wedding song, a song of loves. But the Spirit of God, through the author, is aiming at something far grander than the wedding of some Israelite king. The writer to the Hebrews settles the matter for us, quoting this very psalm and applying it directly to the Son of God (Hebrews 1:8-9). This is about Jesus. This is a song for the wedding of the great King to His bride, the Church.
And what we find here is not a neutered deity, but a warrior poet. We see a King who is supremely beautiful, whose words are grace itself, and who is at the same time a mighty conqueror, girded with a sword, riding out for the cause of truth and righteousness. This is the King we serve. He is not safe, but He is good. And this psalm is a summons for our hearts to overflow with His praise, and to see Him as He is: the majestic, victorious Lord of all.
The Text
My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a skillful scribe. You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, In Your splendor and Your majesty! And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things. Your arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under You; Your arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies.
(Psalm 45:1-5 LSB)
The Overflowing Heart (v. 1)
The psalm begins not with a description of the King, but with the psalmist's reaction to Him.
"My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a skillful scribe." (Psalm 45:1)
The first thing to notice is the source of this praise. It "overflows." This is not a duty being grudgingly performed. This is not a task on a checklist. This is an artesian well of adoration. The psalmist has been so captivated by the vision of the King that he cannot contain it. His heart is bubbling over. True worship is never something that has to be coerced or squeezed out of us. When we see the King in His glory, the praise is irrepressible.
The subject is a "good theme." And what is that theme? It is the King Himself. All good theology, all true worship, all lasting art, has Christ as its central theme. He is the good theme. When our hearts are full of Him, our words will be also.
And notice the craftsmanship. "My tongue is the pen of a skillful scribe." There is a place for spontaneous praise, absolutely. But there is also a place for skillful, careful, excellent work offered to God. God is not honored by shoddy work, whether it is in the pulpit, in our music, or in our daily vocations. The psalmist sees his poetic skill not as a monument to himself, but as a tool to be used in service of the King. The Spirit does not override our gifts; He heightens them. This is a call for Christian excellence in all things, for the glory of the King.
The Incomparable King (v. 2)
From the state of his own heart, the psalmist turns to the object of his affection.
"You are fairer than the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever." (Psalm 45:2)
The King's beauty is superlative. He is "fairer than the sons of men." This is not a comment on His physical appearance, though we know He was a man. This is about the beauty of His character, the perfection of His holiness, the glory of His being. In a world that chases fleeting, superficial beauty, the psalmist directs our gaze to the source of all true beauty. Christ is the standard. All that is good, true, and beautiful finds its definition in Him.
His beauty is not just in His being, but in His speech. "Grace is poured upon Your lips." This is a direct prophecy of the Lord Jesus, of whom the crowds said, "No one ever spoke like this man!" (John 7:46). His words brought healing, forgiveness, and life. The gospel itself is the ultimate gracious speech, the word of unmerited favor to rebels. His lips proclaim the good news that sinners can be reconciled to a holy God.
And because of who He is, the Father has blessed Him. "Therefore God has blessed You forever." The Father’s love and blessing for the Son is not arbitrary. It is a direct result of the Son's own infinite worthiness and perfection. This is a glimpse into the inner life of the Trinity. The Father eternally delights in the Son, and His blessing upon Him is everlasting.
The Warrior in Majesty (v. 3)
The portrait now shifts dramatically. The beautiful, gracious King is also a mighty warrior.
"Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One, In Your splendor and Your majesty!" (Psalm 45:3)
This is a command, a summons to war. "Gird Your sword." Our King is not passive. He is not a bystander in the affairs of men. He is a warrior, and He has a sword. The book of Revelation tells us what this sword is: "from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword" (Rev. 1:16). It is the Word of God. It is the sword of the Spirit that discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb. 4:12). With this sword, He executes judgment and brings salvation.
He is addressed as "O Mighty One," El Gibbor, one of the great titles of the Messiah in Isaiah 9:6. He is clothed "in Your splendor and Your majesty." These are not the attributes of a mere man; they are the royal robes of God Himself. This is the God-man, fully divine and fully human, prepared for battle.
The Righteous Conquest (v. 4)
The King is not a warlord fighting for plunder or personal glory. His campaign has a moral foundation.
"And in Your majesty ride on victoriously, For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things." (Psalm 45:4)
He rides on "victoriously." His victory is assured. The outcome of history is not in doubt. This is the engine of a robust, postmillennial confidence. Christ is riding now, and His kingdom is advancing, and it will not fail. He is not wringing His hands in heaven, hoping we can hold the line. He is riding victoriously.
And look at the cause for which He fights: "truth and meekness and righteousness." This is the platform of His kingdom. He fights for truth in a world of lies. He fights for righteousness in a world of injustice. And, paradoxically, He fights for meekness. This is not weakness; it is power under absolute control. It is the character of the one who said, "I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Matt. 11:29), and yet is the sovereign ruler of the cosmos. His right hand, the symbol of His power and authority, accomplishes "awesome things," deeds that inspire terror in His enemies and awe in His people.
The Piercing Arrows of the King (v. 5)
The psalm concludes this section with the effectiveness of the King's warfare.
"Your arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under You; Your arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies." (Psalm 45:5)
His weapons are not for show. "Your arrows are sharp." Like His sword, these arrows represent His words, His judgments, and the convicting power of the gospel. When the gospel is preached, it is not a polite suggestion. It is a sharp arrow aimed at the heart. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, and the people were "pierced to the heart" (Acts 2:37).
The result is conquest. "The peoples fall under You." This is the fulfillment of the Great Commission. As the gospel goes forth, the nations, the peoples, are brought into submission to Christ. Some fall in repentance and are raised to new life. Others fall in judgment and are broken. But either way, every knee will bow. The arrows find their mark "in the heart of the King's enemies." The gospel confronts our rebellion at its source. It does not just trim the hedges of our sin; it lays the axe to the root. It demands unconditional surrender of the heart, the very citadel of our being.
Conclusion: Riding in His Army
This is our King. He is more beautiful than we can imagine, more gracious than we deserve, and more powerful than all His enemies combined. And He is not a static king, sitting on a distant throne. He is riding, right now, in majesty, for the cause of truth, meekness, and righteousness.
The question for us is not whether He will be victorious. The question is whether we are riding with Him. We are called to be the skillful scribes whose hearts overflow with His praise. We are called to speak His gracious words to a dying world. And we are called to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and participate in His righteous conquest.
The sharp arrows of the gospel have been placed in our hands. Every time we share the truth of Christ, we are firing one of the King's arrows. It will not return void. It will strike the heart. It will cause men and women and nations to fall before Him. Let us therefore shake off our lethargy and our small, sentimental views of Jesus. Let us see the Warrior Poet King in all His glory, and let us ride with Him.