Royal Bridal Love

Committed to praying the entire Psalter (in March) through the eyes of Jesus, using the Book of Common Prayer schedule, I was most curious how I would pray the royal psalms consisting of around 10 Psalms. Maybe the most famous of those are Psalm 2 and 110. You can find the project explained more fully below.

Psalm 45 was experientially rich this morning. The first section contains pleasing verses of praise to the handsome, well-spoken, and victory-winning king who, “In your majesty ride[s] out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness.” The throne of said king is established by God and this king is messianic, anointed by God with glad oil, with the residual smell of “myrrh and aloes and cassia.”

I’m picturing Jesus, the son of David and son of God who comes with heaven’s gracious fragrance and is anointed by the Magi. The atmosphere of heaven goes where Jesus goes. “Grace is poured upon your lips.” Jesus grew in favor with God and other humans, and must have derived at least a sense of confirmation in his royal messianic identity when praying Psalm 45.

The second section is addressed to the king’s waiting bride (“O daughter”). The psalmist tells her, “Forget your people and your father’s house, and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him.” What a word to the church, the bride. Forget your past, that is not what occupies the king’s imagination. He doesn’t look with disdain or judgment at your broken family of origin. He knows that you have come as a daughter of Eve, but isn’t focused on where you came from, but only has eyes for where you are going. You are going to be his. He is not indifferent about you, holy bride, but has “desire [for] your beauty.” The beloved spouse of Jesus is a “princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. In many-colored robes she is led to the king...with joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.”

How often do I think I’m impressing the king with my pious focus on how broken I’ve been, as if the king is fixated on my old rags and my broken family of origin? This psalm helped me hear the voice of my beloved who says, “Hush, dear one. Forget about your past — I have! Our day of celebration is upon us. Your brokenness has been transformed into beauty. Your rags have been exchanged for robes interwoven with gold.”

Psalter: Praying with Jesus for a Month

“Jesus Christ has brought every need, every joy, every gratitude, every hope of men before God. In his mouth the word of man becomes the Word of God, and if we pray his prayer with him, the Word of God becomes once again the word of man.” (14).

“If we want to read and pray the prayers of the Bible and especially the Psalms, therefore, we must not ask first what they have to do with us, but what they have to do with Jesus Christ.” (14). Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s 

Psalms: The Prayerbook of the Bible

For the next month, I’m going to follow the Psalm-praying rhythm set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. This divides the psalter into 60 pretty evenly distributed readings. If you read through them at normal speed, you can finish in 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening. Add five minutes to each time, and you can linger longer around a section of the reading. I am going to do the following two things for every Psalm:

1. I am sitting with Jesus, and reflecting on his earthly life and current session at God’s right hand (Ephesians 2.5-6). How is Jesus praying verse(s) from this Psalm? Write down the verse(s) that stand out, and an event from his life or something going on in the world right now that this verse communicates.
2. Pray this verse yourself. How does it communicate what your heart is saying to the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit.

For instance, I prayed Psalm 132 this morning. In sitting with Jesus I was drawn to the middle of the Psalm where it says, “For your servant David’s sake, do not turn away the face of your Anointed. The Lord has sworn an oath to David; in truth, he will not break it; “A son, the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne.” I was thinking of young Jesus, the offspring of David hearing this Psalm in the home or synagogue and letting the promise of God’s unbreakable oath to David and to “a son, the fruit of your body” who God will “set upon your throne.” I can imagine Jesus made confident by this promise.

My prayer: Oath-making and keeping Father, As you ministered confidence to Jesus, the son of David through your word, minister the same confidence in me as I trust in Jesus, the fulfillment of every oath you have ever made. In Jesus’ name, Amen.