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Ver. 4. And in thy majesty ride prosperously] Heb. Prosper thou, ride thou upon the word of truth, Equita super verbum veritatis, of meekness and of righteousness, q.d. Ride thou in thy triumphant chariot, as it were, drawn by those three glorious graces, truth, meekness, and righteousness; and governed by the word, as by the chariot man. Cui divinissimae allegoriae explicandae pro rei gravitate ac dignitate integro vohmine opus esset, saith Beza, for the explaining of which most divine allegory, according to the worth of it, a whole volume might well be full written. The kings of the earth for the most part have their chariots drawn by other horses, viz. pride, ambition, cruelty, &c., as Sesostris, king of Egypt, Qui Pharios currus regum cervicibus egit. And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things] i.e. Shall enable thee to perform them. Christ, riding on his white horse (his apostles and preachers), went forth conquering and to conquer, Revelation 6:2. Solomon was no such swordman as was Jesus Christ. Αμφοτερος Βασιλευς τ αγαθος, κρατερος τ αιχμητης.
Ver. 5. Thine arrows are sharp, &c.] Peter’s converts were pricked at heart; and Stephen’s hearers were cut to the heart, Acts 2:37 7:54. Christ can fetch in his rebels afar off; he hath arrows as well as a sword, to wound them; that men may either bend or break, yield or become his footstool; one way or other he will surely have the better of them.
Ver. 6. Thy throne, O God] Here the pro phet directeth his speech not to Solomon (who never took upon him the name of God, as did Sesostris, king of Egypt, Antiochus Θεος, Caligula, and some other proud princes), but to Christ, Hebrews 1:8, who is God, blessed for ever, αυτοθεος, not so called by an excellence only, as the angels are, Psalms 8:5 Heb 2:1-9, nor by office and title only, as magistrates are gods, Psalms 82:6, nor catachrestically and ironically so called, as the heathen gods, nor a diminutive god, inferior to the Father, as Arius held, but God by nature, every way co-essential, co-eternal, and co-equal with the Father and the Holy Ghost, John 1:1 Php 2:6 1Jo 5:20. Hold this fast; for it is the rock, Matthew 16:16; it is of the very foundation; so that if we believe it not there is no heaven to be had, 1 John 5:20. As for his kingly office here described, it belongeth to him as Mediator, and what is here spoken of him is to be understood of his whole person; for so is he Head of the Church, and King of Israel, for ever. The sceptre of thy kingdom, &c.] Thy government is not with rigour, but with righteousness; thou camest rightly by it, casting out Satan the usurper, Matthew 12:29 Heb 2:14; and dost most righteously administer it, Deuteronomy 4:8.
Ver. 7. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedhess] Solomon did so for a great while (nay, Nero’s first five years were such that Trajan was wont to say that none ever attained to the perfection of them), but Christ continually; neither can he do otherwise, Haec vere heroica est nemesis. See Matthew 3:10-12 Joh 5:30 Mt 12:18-20. Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed] i.e. For which purpose God hath anointed thee his Messiah, or Christ, Psalms 2:2. With the oil of gladness] Quia totus mundus in unctione Christi et eius missione laetabitur, saith Kimchi; so called because the whole world should be cheered up by the unction and mission of Messiah; he received the Spirit without measure, that of his fulness we might all receive, and grace for grace, righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Above thy fellows] i.e. Ex reliquorum regum numero eximendus, above all earthly potentates (Beza); the best whereof (as David, Josiah) had their faults and flaws; or rather, above thy saints, thy fellow brethren by grace, and co-heirs of glory; they have Plenitudinem Vasis, but thou, Fontis; neither only art thou anointed Prae consortibus, above thy fellows, but Pro consortibus, for those thy fellows, as some render it, and it is very comfortable.
Ver. 8. All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia] Things not only of good savour, but of great price. Myrrh some take to be musk, aloes amber, cassia a kind of cinnamon, which in Galen’s time was very rare and hard to be found, except in the storehouses of great princes. And Pliny reporteth that a pound of ci nnamon was worth a thousand denarii, that is, a hundred and fifty crowns of our money. This description, then, of Christ’s clothing doth allegorically set forth the sweetness and pleasure that the Father findeth in him (εν ω ευδοκησα, Matthew 3:17), and that we also find, while he is made unto us of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 1 Corinthians 1:30, [confer 2 Corinthians 2:15] and that out of his ivory palaces, i.e. his heavenly habitation, from which he beholdeth us, and raineth down righteousness upon us. Whereby they have made thee glad] i.e. Servi et sodales tui, thy fellow friends and servants, who stand and hear the bridegroom, and rejoice greatly by reason of his voice, John 3:29, yea, make him glad by their ready obedience, setting the crown upon his head, and adorning him, as it were, with all his bravery in the day of his espousals, Song of Solomon 3:11, and making him say, How fair, how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! Song of Solomon 7:6.
Ver. 9. Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women] Thy ladies of honour attending upon thy royal consort (for after the description of Christ, the bridegroom, followeth another, of the queen, his bride, and of the royal nuptials): or, Kings’ daughters are in thy preciousnesses, that is, in thy comeliness that thou hast put upon them, Ezekiel 16:14; for all the Church’s bravery is borrowed, and all her daughters, i.e. members, are adorned not with their own proper attire, Sed regio mundo et ornatu, out of the King Christ’s wardrobe; this is the righteousness of the saints, Revelation 19:8, viz. imputed and imparted. Upon thy right hand] Which is a place of dignity and safety. As Christ is at the Father’s right hand, so the Church is at Christ’s right hand; where, as his wife, she shineth with her Husband’s beams. This is very comfortable. Did stand the queen] Heb. the wife, adiutorium illi exacte respondens, as Genesis 2:18, saith Aben Ezra. Of our Edward III the chronicler saith, that he was happy in his wife, a lady of excellent virtue, who drew evenly with him in all the courses of honour that appertained to her side; and seemed a piece so just cut for him, as answered him rightly in every joint (Daniel’s Hist.).
Ver. 10. Hearken, O daughter, and consider; incline thine ear] The prophet’s, or rather Christ’s, counsel to the Church, and each member thereof, wholly to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, Titus 3:12; to leave all, and to cleave to Christ. This, because it is soon said, but not so soon done, he presseth in many words all to one purpose, Hearken, see, incline thine ear. Self-denial is a most difficult duty, and yet so necessary, that if it be not done we shall be undone. Forget also thine own people, &c.] All evil opinions must be unlearned, and all evil practices abandoned, and all our love transferred and transfused upon Christ; or we cannot be a fit spouse for him. Christ’s spouse must [as Deuteronomy 21:11-13] shave her head, pare her nails, and bewail her father and mother, that is, her natural inbred evils and corruptions.
Ver. 11. So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty] If thou deny thyself and forego all others to please him alone he shall set his whole heart upon thee, and be ravished with thy love, as Proverbs 5:19. How could that Persian lady’s husband do less than love her, who, having been at Cy rus’s wedding, and asked how she liked the bridegroom? Like him? said she, I know not how I like him; for I looked upon no man there but mine own husband. Aspasia Milesia was very dear to Cyrus, because she was καλη και σοφη, fair, and wise (Aelian). For he is thy Lord] And, therefore, not to be slighted by thee for his great love, as many of the Persian monarchs were (Ahasuerus, for instance), but reverenced and obeyed, as Augustus was by his wife Livia.
Ver. 12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift] Isaiah 23:18. The Tyrians, that wealthy people, when once converted (think the same of other nations) shall leave hoarding and heaping; and find another manner of merchandise and employment of their substance, viz. to feed and clothe God’s saints, and maintain his ministers.
Ver. 13. The king’s daughter is all glorious within] In the inner man, Ephesians 3:16, the hidden man of the heart, 1 Peter 3:4. Great is the glory of the new creature; but not discerned by the world, through which the saints must be content to pass as concealed persons; and not think much to have the greater part of their ware in the inner part of their shop, and not all on the board or stall. Her clothing is of wrought gold] Ex vestibus auro ocellatis. Clothed she is with humility, and other golden graces; as with that party-coloured garment, whereby kings’ daughters, as Tamar, were anciently distinguished from others.
Ver. 14. She shall be brought] [See Trapp on “Ps 45:13”] she shall be presented to Christ a glorious Church, not having spot, wrinkle, or any such thing, Ephesians 5:27 Re 21:2.
Ver. 15. With, gladness and rejoicing] As at marriages is usual. Samson’s wife, solecised in weeping at such a feast. Oh the joy! said that dying saint. But what in the meanwhile?
Ver. 16. Instead of thy fathers, &c.] The Church shall still bring forth children to her husband Christ, and there shall be a succession of his name, Psalms 72:17. Whom then mayest make princes] The saints are kings in righteousness, though somewhat obscure ones, as was Melchisedec.
Ver. 17. I will make thy name, &c.] This is a second benefit promised to the Church, viz. everlasting renown, with highest estimation and imitation to the world’s end. Upon Alamoth] i.e. Upon the Virginals. Virgins with their shrill treble tune, 1 Chronicles 15:20, used (belike) to sing this triumphant psalm, and to play it on the instrument; and their hearts were somewhat suitable to it. The penman some think to have been David, upon occasion of those notable victories, 2 Samuel 8:1-14; others, Solomon, for the virgins to sing and play at his wedding, Psalms 45:8,9 So 1:2; others, Isaiah, either upon the overthrow of those two kings, Rezin and Pekah, 2 Kings 16:5 Isa 7:8, confer Judges 5:11, or else after the slaughter of Sennacherib’s army by an angel; then the virgin daughter of Zion (much more than before) despised him, and laughed him to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem shook her head at him, Isaiah 37:22, and sang as followeth: