RIDE PROSPEROUSLY
Key Verse: “And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and justice; And Your right hand shall teach you awesome things.” (v.4)
Key Theme: A Lovesong of the King and His Bride.
Key Descriptives of God: Mighty Warrior; Glorious; Majestic; Fairest of All
What a task or privilege we have today as Psalm 45 is absolutely a treasure field of revelation. The Psalm is an otherworldly love song put together by the most skilled lyricists of the sons of Korah. As verse 1 suggests, “My heart is stirred by a noble theme”, this song is product of a very special occasion which I believe to be the coming wedding of the King and His Bride. The writing is romantic and extravagant. Though we assume it is about King David and a wedding at hand, it clearly goes into something much beyond that speaking of the Messiah, His glory, His majesty, and His attributes— and His Bride.
YOU ARE FAIRER THAN THE SONS OF MEN (v.2)
Jesus came to earth as the Son of Man, but He was and is “fairer” than what only has humanity as its source. The word “fairer” is YAPHAH and it means “to be bright; to shine; beautiful”. Our Lord’s awesome beauty is product of the light that shines from inside of Him. There has never been a beautifully lighted one that compares. This is the first thing the songwriter notes.
A SWORD, GLORY, AND MAJESTY(v.3)
“Gird your SWORD upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, with Your GLORY and MAJESTY.” (v.3) The next thing the skilled poet/songwriter notices is His SWORD. Our beautiful Lord comes ready for battle. He is a lover but He knows there are enemies and He is ready for them. The SWORD is noted even before His GLORY and His MAJESTY but it is all about the whole picture here. The SWORD does not distract but rather enhances the appearance of His GLORY and MAJESTY. The Hebrew words used here for GLORY and MAJESTY have a lot of overlap and also mean “magnificence, honor, splendor, grandeur, beauty, excellency”. This is who we serve.
RIDE PROSPEROUSLY(v.4)
“And in Your majesty RIDE PROSPEROUSLY”. I love that term. The Hebrew word for “prosperously” is RAKAB and it means “to push forward, break out, breakthrough, go over, be good, be profitable, make to send prosperity, TO GO OVER OR THROUGH A RIVER.” When He rides among us we cross over into Promised Land realities that are all about the thorough meaning of prosperity. The fact that He rides with a sword tells us He is not doing so to just take us away, but rather to help us fight our enemies. The Promise Land was not “heaven” but a Land of Promise yet full of enemies. Today, I hear the steps of His horse and I feel Him riding prosperously among us.
TRUTH, HUMILITY, AND JUSTICE (v.4)
“…Ride prosperously BECAUSE OF TRUTH, HUMILITY, AND JUSTICE.” This is what makes His ride among us prosperous and we are to make way for it. The Hebrew words are again powerful. “Truth” is EMETH and it means “firmness, stability, trustworthiness, perpetuity, faithfulness”. Often when we hear the word “truth” we idealize finger-pointing of sin as something we must do but note how different this feels. “Humility” is ANVAH and it means “royal mildness, gentleness, meekness” and comes from a root word meaning “lowly and humble”. Remember in Mt. 21 when Jesus made His triumphal entry as King? What was the description? “Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, LOWLY and sitting on a donkey” (Mt.21:3). Our King’s FIRST description is “lowly”. God doesn’t “resist the proud” because He is a glory-hog. He resists the proud, must-have-all-the-attention/applause ones because He is so unlike that. He is in the basement hanging with all the normal-folk while you are drawn to the high chambers of the elite, self-important ones. He is just not even there (symbolically speaking). “Justice” is TSEDEQ and it means “justice, rectitude, straight paths.” It is unfortunate that in most English translations it is usually written as “righteousness” which has an entirely different connotation, especially when coming from a Puritan inheritance of thought. I notice it because I speak and preach in Spanish as well, where the word is always translated “justicia” or justice. See how different Mt. 6:33 comes out when you quote, “Seek you first the kingdom of God and His JUSTICE.” An inferior translation has caused us to be a bit luke-warm with a very foundation of who He is. “The kingdom of God is JUSTICE, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”(Rom. 14:17)
OIL OF GLADNESS (v.7)
For time’s sake, we have to skip all kinds of exciting truth. In verse 7 we are told of “the oil of gladness” and this is so insightful. Oil was something that signified both an anointing and a joy. Our area of anointing is supposed to be an area of our joy. If we are not enjoying what we are doing we either are in the wrong assignment or we missed out on getting the “oil”. In this 2020 reset of all resets, let’s make that adjustment. It is time to serve the Lord with gladness. The intensity of the season has made some of us want to serve the Lord with madness— but that is not an actual anointing.
THE KING WILL GREATLY DESIRE YOUR BEAUTY (v.11)
In verses 10-14 there is a shift from speaking of the King/Bridegroom to speaking of the Queen/Royal Bride. The use of the word “daughter” is just another way of saying “woman”. In verse 10,11 she/us is told “Forget your own people also, and your father’s house; So the KING will greatly desire your beauty.” The “forget” word used here is not about negligence but about being distracted. In other words, be so distracted with the King that even your closest loved ones represent a lesser love. This is what makes the King “greatly desire you.”
HER CLOTHING IS WOVEN WITH GOLD (v.13)
We as the “Bride of Christ” have a glorious clothing that allows us to approach the King. It is a “robe of His righteousness”. Jesus, on the cross, provided for the gold in our dress. We do not enter on our own merit. We are being clothed with whom we will marry. Jesus is both our righteousness and our Bridegroom.
ROBES OF MANY COLORS (v.14)
“She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors.” Oh, would so like to explore this deeper. My wife and I wrote a book called “Rainbow God: The Seven Colors of Love”. There is a color associated with each of the 7 Mountains of society where we are to display the nuanced beauty of our God. We are ready to be brought before the King when we are wearing these robes of carrying His influence (salt and light) into every area of society. We are beautified by fulfilling assignment (“Occupy”) rather than by simply waiting (Speculate). We aren’t wearing the right robes when we only live in conjecture on when will Jesus return.
WITH GLADNESS AND REJOICING
Ah, so much more from this chapter to still extract for those who love to treasure hunt the scriptures. For now, as we close lets just read verse 15. “With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; They shall enter the King’s palace.” Elsewhere, it will speak of “the joy of harvest”. Rejoicing and gladness are often mentioned in the context of harvest. “Entering the King’s palace” is not preceded by gloom and difficulty. It is preceded by “gladness and rejoicing.” We are entering a major harvest season and the joy of it all is to be our strength. Today join in praying that in.
Written by: Johnny Enlow
Featured Image by chris ganser on Unsplash
67 DAY COUNTDOWN SERIES
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The 67 Day Countdown Series is brought to you by Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow, founders of Restore7 ministry, as well as international speakers and best-selling authors. Among Johnny’s books are The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, Rainbow God, The Seven Mountain Renaissance, Becoming A Superhero, and RISE. Elizabeth serves as CEO and penned Rainbow God: The Seven Colors of Love and God in Every Season.
