Psalm 45 Publications

Context of the Prophecy

The prophet Hosea, as indeed all the other prophets in some manner or another, was concerned most especially with the terrible coming exile first predicted by Moses, which would actually be brought about because of the people’s hardheartedness and impenitent breaking of the Law; and yet, as strongly as Hosea thundered his threatenings of this fearful judgment of exile against the people, God did not leave them entirely without hope, but by many strong and sure consolations promised to them a later restoration which, however his Law may have been broken, was nevertheless promised by the Gospel, which from the beginning assured the elect remnant of God’s free mercy and salvation, and which the Law, coming four hundred and thirty years after, could never abrogate (Gal. 3:17). Continue Reading

At the beginning of the third chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, Paul begins to formulate an intercessory prayer for the church in Ephesus, upon the basis of the rich truths of the gospel which he had just been revealing to them in the first two chapters; but before he is able to express his prayer, he is drawn aside again to the greatness of the gospel mystery, and exults in the message which he has been entrusted with bringing to the Gentiles. This message is the gospel of the unsearchable riches of Christ, which in their depths and expansiveness had been hidden from the previous ages, but were finally being made known to all the world, viz., how all the nations of men, according to God’s eternal purpose, were now being brought in to become full heirs of all the promises made to the saints, and how they had even more direct access to God the Father, and boldness to approach him such as even Abraham and Moses and other great men of God had never known. It is Paul’s joy and passion to proclaim so great a gospel to every creature under heaven, not just so that many sinful men could come to know the free grace and boundless goodness of God, but so that, through this Church of redeemed sinners, the infinite and manifold wisdom of God might be displayed even before the highest angels and authorities in all creation. Continue Reading

It is a commonly accepted notion, and doubtless true, that the first and second psalms stand together as an introduction to the entire psalter, and provide all the information necessary to interpret and make sense of all which follows. Thus, there is contained in these two psalms every major doctrine that the remaining one-hundred forty-eight unfold so variously and wonderfully, from the lives of so many different psalmists, in so many different conditions. But not only is there a true summary of all the major heads of the psalter; there is contained in the first two, moreover, the very root from which those doctrines all spring, the one immovable foundation upon which the entire house is built. So that, if one were to attempt to interpret the things contained in the one-hundred and forty-eight without first being familiar with the two, he would doubtless cast himself into many needless snares and discover certain foolish and dangerous doctrines, that ought not at all to be derived from the psalms, when they are treated of as they should be. Continue Reading

This text comes at the conclusion of the fourth chapter of Lamentations, which is a difficult and enigmatical book in some respects, containing five songs of lament over the destruction of the people of God that are nearly unparalleled in their vivid and gruesome presentation of the terrible judgments and miseries that God was pleased to bring upon them, in accordance with what he had first threatened in the books of Moses, of which we can read in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. The exile and captivity of which God had forewarned in many different ways, for many years sending the people prophets to show them their grave and imminent danger, had now been accomplished in very fact; and the writer of this book, who is very likely the prophet Jeremiah, is now detailing and mourning the shocking extent of this promised judgment of exile. Continue Reading

It is the year 2008. The gospel has been spreading and the Kingdom of Christ has been growing for nearly two thousand years. But not without setbacks. For almost a thousand years, in the middle ages, the gospel was slowly obscured by the corruptions of a satanically-influenced medieval church. The light was almost entirely extinguished. But then God raised up a man, shaken to the core by a sudden insight into the inexpressably glorious truth proclaimed in Romans 1:17, “The just shall live by faith,” and the whole world was again turned upside down with the divine power of the gospel. Two hundred years later, when hypocrisy and self-motivated will-religion had nearly swallowed up the good effects of the Reformation, a diverse and unlikely group of men, including John Bunyan, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and even John and Charles Wesley trumpeted the joyful news that once again shook up the sleeping world, and fueled a missions movement that has reached across the globe for the sake of the Name. And now, more than two hundred years later, the gospel that has once more been attacked and suppressed, and has given way on many fronts to the false gospels of prosperity, self-esteem, inclusivism, and tolerance, is on the rise again. The heavenly insights of Edwards, Owen, and others on the sovereignty of God, his unconquerable grace, and the joy which his glory produces in those who are his has fueled another generation of outnumbered but unfailingly victorious men and women ready to give up their lives for the King. A last, great missions-minded movement is preparing for a final thrust into the heart of unconquered territories, and the trumpet sound which announces that the kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of our Savior can almost be heard. Continue Reading

Before I saw Christ, oh, how I feared to come to God! He was holy and I was sinful. He was righteous and I was guilty. He was wrathful and I was a child of wrath, deserving of every eternal torment. But then God’s merciful Spirit opened my eyes to the King of Glory, and my heart was changed forever. Before, I had seen every reason to flee from God, and was overcome with despair at the realization that I could not escape his presence. Afterwards, I saw every reason to come to God, and found no other delight than that I could never be out of his sight. Jesus changed my perspective entirely, so that what had been my misery and despair became my only joy and unshakeable hope. I found in him every reason to come to God, and no reason to forbear. Continue Reading

In his letter to the Hebrews, the author goes to some lengths to describe the superior position, and the many greater blessings and assurances, that God’s people enjoy today, which their fathers did not possess to nearly so great a degree; and everywhere throughout the letter, he makes considerable effort to show how that superior position is founded upon the coming of an eminently superior person, and in consequence of the eminently superior office which he has entered into. In the first four verses of his letter, which in the original comprise a single introductory sentence, he accordingly lays out the basic premise which will take the rest of the letter to unfold, viz., that God has never dealt so well with the saints before the coming of Christ as he has with those who lived afterward; and that the coming of Christ itself is the sole factor by which this latter superiority of blessedness has come about. From these verses, we may derive the two following heads of doctrine:

1. That the dispensation and gifts of God to mankind are better in this age than in all ages previous, by as much as that which is perfect is better than that which is desultory and incomplete;

2. That the sole reason for this culminative advance in blessedness is the coming of the eternal Son of God, and his entering into his redemptive office.

Both of these propositions in turn we will now demonstrate by an examination of the text before us. Continue Reading

1. Jesus is frequently referred to as the Son who “was sent into the world,” “comes into the world,” etc.; the implication is clear that he was the Son before his incarnation. See especially the parable in Matthew 21:33-41 (also included in Mark and Luke). Also, Romans 8:3; John 3:17, 10:36, 11:27; Galatians 4:4; 1 John 3:8; 4:9-10,14; 5:20. Continue Reading

Those passages in which Christ is spoken of as containing within himself all the fullness of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9), or else all fullness in general (Colossians 1:19); together with those passages which indicate that all things are, in some sense, summed up in him (e.g. Ephesians 1:10), are, by virtue of the mind-bending comprehensiveness of their subject, very difficult to come away from with any grasp of their basic intent, while at the same time disallowing any pantheistic tendency to equate the fullness of the substantial world with the essence of God. But might we not be helped in this endeavor by John’s descriptive title the Word (see John 1:1-18), particularly given the context in which this title finds expression? Continue Reading

It has been, as of today, eighteen months since I first began posting articles on this web page. This significant lapse of time, combined with the frequently tiresome labor by which it has been characterized, has caused me to spend some considerable time, over the past few days, reflecting on my original motivation and goals in launching the enterprise, as well as the extent to which those goals have been carried out, and the degree to which that motivation has remained unchanged. Following is a summative restatement of my original motivating desire, a recollection of the various means, whether successful or not, that I have employed in attempting to realize that desire, and a brief, encapsulating meditation on that foundational truth which I hope has under-girded and directed all of my efforts throughout this past year and a half. Continue Reading

If there is one theme that runs the entire course of scripture, binding everything together in a united whole, it is the fundamental truth of all reality that, what God does, he does for his own glory. All that God created, he created for his glory (Revelation 4:11, Isaiah 43:7); and all that God does with his creation, he does, ultimately, so that he may be glorified (Isaiah 46:9-13). Every rivulet of history is so planned out by the sovereign God of the universe that, when its course is ended, it will issue forth with all of creation in a mighty tide that testifies to nothing other than the glory of God. This is true of the final outcome of the wicked, who will glorify God’s wrath and justice (Proverbs 16:4; Romans 9:22); and especially of the final outcome of the people of Christ, who for all eternity will glorify the greatness of God’s faithfulness, love, mercy, and grace (Romans 9:23-24; Ephesians 1:3-6; 2:7). Continue Reading