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Lenten Season · Annunciation of the Lord · Year C

Psalm 45 or Psalm 40:5-10

A Song for the Royal Wedding

March 25, 2028

The Russian Bride's Attire, Konstantin Makovsky
The Russian Bride's Attire, Konstantin Makovsky, 1889Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
A large, deliberately theatrical reconstruction of a seventeenth-century Russian wedding preparation, painted for an American buyer. Makovsky collected the costumes and furnishings himself and dressed the scene from his own hoard.In many-coloured robes she is led to the king; behind her the virgins, her companions, follow. With joy and gladness they are led along.Konstantin MakovskyA Russian painter who broke with the academy, grew rich on society portraits, and spent the money on historical costume he then painted.Fine Arts Museums of San FranciscoThe city's two museums, the de Young and the Legion of Honor, holding American and European painting respectively.Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelLuke 1:26-38Lk 1:26-38
EpistleHeb. 10:4-10Heb 10:4-10
Old TestamentIsa. 7:10-14Is 7:10-14
PsalterPs. 45Ps 45 orPs. 40:5-10Ps 40:5-10

Overview & Insights

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever… you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.” (Psalm 45:6-7)

Psalm 45 belongs to the genre of royal psalms, which celebrate the king and his reign, not as a lone-standing king, but as a stand-in for Yahweh as king. It is better to think of these psalms as constituting two subgenres, psalms of the heavenly King, which celebrate Yahweh as king, providing the model for all kingship, and psalms of the earthly king, which shine the spotlight on Yahweh’s representative in this world (see the sidebar). The latter, according to the form critics, were performed either in the sanctuary or in the royal palace. Psalm 45 falls into this category and was most likely performed, perhaps even by its author, in the palace on the occasion of the royal wedding (45:1). At the same time, it is reflective of the heavenly King as the model and defender of truth and justice (45:4, 6–7).

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Commentary

Psalm 45Ps 45 Enduring Word · David Guzik

A verse-by-verse evangelical commentary on this royal wedding song read messianically.

Psalm 45:1 CommentariesPs 45:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Aggregated classic commentaries on the royal psalm verse by verse.

Psalm 45:1 Verse-by-Verse CommentaryPs 45:1 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight

A large library of expositors stacked verse by verse for a further voice on the passage.

Background & Word Study

Psalm 45 (Hebrew and English)Ps 45 (Hebrew and English) Sefaria

The Hebrew text with classical Jewish commentary on the royal wedding psalm.

The Church Fathers

Psalm 45 (Catena)Ps 45 (Catena) Catena

Patristic reading of the royal psalm as a song to the messianic King.

Questions preachers ask

What is Psalm 45?

A wedding song for the king in his splendor, applied by the New Testament to Christ the eternal King and to the church as his bride.

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