John Gill Commentary Psalms 45

My heart is inditing a good matter
What is valuable and excellent, concerning the excellency of Christ's person, of his kingdom, of his love to the church, and of the church itself; what is pleasant and delightful, comfortable, useful, and profitable: this his heart was inditing; which shows that it was under the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, and denotes the fervour of it; it "boiling up", as the word ^F24 signifies; being heated by the fire of the divine Spirit, whereby it was hot within him, and caused him to speak with his tongue; and also the abundance that was in it, it "bubbling up" ^F25 , as some choose to render it: from which this good matter flowed like water out of a fountain;

I speak of the things which I have made touching the King ;
the King Messiah; the King of the whole world, and of the kings of it, and of the saints in it; over whom he reigns in a spiritual manner, and in righteousness; concerning whom this psalm or poem was composed by David under divine inspiration, and which he here delivers:

my tongue [is] the pen of a ready writer ;
or as ^F26 one; such an one as Ezra was, (Ezra 7:6) , that writes swiftly and compendiously; suggesting, that as he was; full of matter, he freely communicated it, being moved by the Holy Spirit, who spoke by him, and whose word was in his tongue; which made him so ready and expert in this work. The allusion is to scribes and notaries, and such like persons, that are extremely ready and swift in the use of the pen.

The word for "pen" is derived either from (jwe) , which signifies "to fly" ^F1 , and from which is a word used for a "flying fowl"; yet we are not to imagine that here it signifies a pen made of a bird's quill, as now in common use with us: for this did not obtain until many hundred years after David's time. It seems that Isidore of Seville, who lived in the seventh century, is the first person that makes mention of "penna", a "pen", as made of the quill of a bird ^F2 , but rather the pen has its name in Hebrew, if from the above root, from the velocity of it, as in the hand of a ready writer;

or rather it may be derived from (hje) , "to sharpen", in which sense it seems to be used, (Ezekiel 21:15) ; and so a pen has its name from the sharp point of it: for when the ancients wrote, or rather engraved, on stone, brass, lead, and wood, they used a style or pen of iron; see (Job 19:24) (Jeremiah 17:1) ; so when they wrote on tables of wood covered with wax, they used a kind of bodkin made of iron, brass, or bone; (See Gill on Habakkuk 2:2); and when upon the rind and leaves of trees, and on papyrus and parchment, they made use of reeds, particularly the Egyptian calamus or reed; and the word here is translated calamus or reed by the Targum, Septuagint, and all the Oriental versions.

Now as the Jews had occasion frequently to copy out the book of the law, and other writings of theirs, their scribes, at least some of them, were very expert and dexterous at it; but whether the art of "shorthand" was to any degree in use among them is not certain, as it was in later times among the Romans, when they used marks, signs, and abbreviations, which seems to have laid the foundation of the above art, and had its rise, as is said, from Cicero himself, though some ascribe it to Mecaenas {c}: and in Martial's time it was brought to such perfection, that, according to him, the hand could write swifter than a man could speak ^F4 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: (vxr) "ebullit", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Ainsworth.
• F25: "Eructavit", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Munster.
• F26: So the Targum, Tigurine version, Gejerus, & Michaelis.
• F1: Vid. Kimchi Sepher Shorash. rad. (je) .
• F2: Origin. l. 6. c. 13.
• F4: "Currant verba licet, manus est velociter illis; nondum lingua suum, dextra peregit opus", Martial. Epigr. l. 14. ep. 189. of the origin of shorthand with the Romans, and among us, with other curious things concerning writing, and the matter and instruments of it, see a learned treatise of Mr. Massey's, called, "The Origin and Progress of Letters", p. 144. printed 1763.

You are fairer than the children of men
Here begins the psalm, and this is an address to the King Messiah, the subject of it, commending him for his beauty and comeliness; which is not to be understood of his divine beauty or his glory, as the only begotten of the Father, in which he is the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person; for this admits of no comparison, nor is the beauty of angels and men to be mentioned with it; but of the beauty of his human nature, both in body and soul, which being the immediate produce of the Holy Spirit, and without sin, and full of wisdom, grace, and holiness, must transcend that of any or all the sons of Adam.

They are all deformed by sin; and whatever spiritual beauty there is in any of them, they have it from Christ; they are comely through his comeliness the outward beauty of men is vain and deceitful, and soon perishes; but Christ is ever the same, and he esteemed of by all that know him, as exceeding precious, altogether lovely, and transcendently excellent and glorious. The Hebrew word here used is doubled in its radicals, which denotes the exceeding great fairness and beauty of Christ, especially as Mediator, and as full of grace and truth. It follows,

grace is poured into your lips ;
by which is meant the matter of his speech, or the Gospel preached by him; these words of grace, as Kimchi on the text expresses himself; or gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, (Luke 4:22) . The Gospel of the grace of God was given him to preach; it was put into his mouth, and that in great abundance; it was given at sundry times and in divers manners, and by piecemeal, to the prophets before him; but it was poured into his lips, and he was abundantly qualified for preaching it, by having the Spirit without measure given him; and so was poured out in a graceful manner, with great authority, and as never man before him spoke, in doctrines of grace, gracious invitations, precious promises, excellent prayers, and even words of eternal life; see (Song of Solomon 5:13) ;

therefore God has blessed you for ever ;
or, "because ^F5 God has blessed you for ever"; in his human nature, with the grace of union to the Son of God, and with all the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God; and as Mediator, with all spiritual blessings, with grace and glory for his people. Hence all his comeliness, grace, and gracefulness.

FOOTNOTES:

• F5: (Nk-le) "eo quid", Tigurine version; "propterea quod", Musculus, Piscator; "quia", Gejerus.

Gird your sword upon [your] thigh, O [most] mighty
As Christ is, the mighty God, even the Almighty, and which appears by his works of creation and providence; by the redemption of his people; by his care and government of them; by succouring them under all their temptations and afflictions; by strengthening them for every service, duty, and suffering; by pleading their cause, and supplying their wants; by preserving them to his kingdom and glory; by raising them from the dead at the last day, and by introducing them into the possession of the heavenly inheritance. This mighty One is called upon to "gird [on his] sword": by which is meant either the sword of the Spirit, the word of God; which is sharp in convincing of sin, reproving for it, and threatening on account of it, as well as in refuting error and heresy; and a twoedged one, consisting of law and Gospel, and which Christ made use of to great purpose, against Satan in the wilderness, and against the Scribes and Pharisees; and which he will make further use of in the latter day, against the man of sin, and his followers: or else the power of Christ, which, as the Leader and Commander of his people, and the Captain of their salvation, is called upon to exert, by preparing to engage with, and by destroying his and their enemies; and which he did put forth when the year of the redeemed was come, which was the day of vengeance in his heart; when he combated with and destroyed Satan, and spoiled his principalities and powers; when he abolished death itself, and took away sin the sting of it, and the law, the strength of sin; overcame the world, and delivered his people from it, and out of the hand of every enemy. It is added,

with your glory and your majesty ;
which may be connected either with the phrase "and most mighty", and so be expressive of the glory and majesty of Christ, as the mighty God; or with his sword, as an emblem of his authority and majesty as a King, and may denote the glory of his Gospel and of his power; or may point at the end of his girding his sword upon his thigh, which was to show forth the glory of his majesty, or to obtain honour and glory: though the word "gird" may be supplied and repeated, and so make a distinct proposition, "gird with your glory and your majesty"; which was done when he was raised from the dead, and had glory given him; was crowned with it, and had the glory put upon him he had with his Father before the world was.

And in your majesty ride prosperously
Not literally, as was prophesied of him he should, and as he did, (Zechariah 9:9) (Matthew 21:7Matthew 21:9Matthew 21:16) ; but mystically and spiritually, either in the chariots of angels up to heaven, (Psalms 68:17Psalms 68:18) ; or on the white horse of the Gospel, with his bow and arrows after mentioned, conquering and to conquer, (Revelation 6:2) ; and where he rides "in [his] majesty", showing forth his glory both as a divine Person and as Mediator; and which is very conspicuous in the Gospel, and the ministry of it; and also "prosperously", as he did in the first preaching of the word by the apostles, when it was made the power of God to salvation to multitudes, and the Lord caused them to triumph in Christ everywhere; and as he will in the latter day, when the Jews will be converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles brought in;

because of truth, and meekness, [and] righteousness ;
either because he himself is "truth", the truth of all types, promises, prophecies, and doctrines; or because of the Gospel of truth which comes by him; or on account of his truth and faithfulness in fulfilling his own engagements, and the promises of his father: and because of the "meekness" which was so apparent in him, in taking upon him the form of a servant; in his marriage to sinners, and conversation with them; in ministering: to his disciples; in his conduct towards his enemies; and in seeking not his own glory, but his Father's: and because of "righteousness", the holiness of his nature, the purity of his life and actions; and because of the righteousness he is the author of to his people, and of his righteous administration of his offices, especially as a King;

and your right hand shall teach you terrible things ;
or your power, which the right hand is a symbol of, shall perform terrible things; as it did in the work of redemption, by conquering and destroying the enemies of his people, and of himself; and as it does in the conversion of men, which makes terrible work in their consciences, as the instances of the three thousand, of Saul, and of the jailer show; and as it has in his judgments on his enemies the Jews, in the utter ruin of their nation, city, and temple; and will do on all the antichristian powers in the latter day. The Targum paraphrases it,

FOOTNOTES:

• F6: "Dextra mihi Deus" Virgil. Aeneid. 10. prope finem.

Your arrows [are] sharp in the heart of the king's enemies ,
&c.] Meaning either the Jews, who were the implacable enemies of Christ, and who would not have him to reign over them; in the midst of whom were sent his arrows, of the sword, famine, and pestilence, and which were very sharp, and made sad havoc among them, and caused such a time of tribulation as was not before, or has been since, (Matthew 24:21) ;

or else the doctrines of the Gospel. The Scriptures are the quiver out of which they are taken; the Gospel is the bow into which they are put, and out of which they are shot; and ministers are the archers that draw the bow at a venture, and shoot them; and which are compared to "arrows" for their swift, sudden, and secret motion, and for their piercing and penetrating power and efficacy: and these are Christ's, which he is the author of, and which he makes use of to good purpose, by striking the hearts of his people with them, who in their state of unregeneracy are enemies to him; which appears by their wicked works, and as they were when he died for them, and reconciled them to God; by means of which arrows fixed in them, and with which their hearts are pricked and wounded, they submit unto him, signified by the next clause:

[whereby] the people fall under you :
acknowledge themselves sinners; fall down at his feet; humbly implore his grace and mercy; submit to his righteousness; depend on him alone for salvation; adore him, and give him the glory of it, as well as become subject to his laws and ordinances. This is to be understood of those who are God's covenant people, whom he has given to Christ, and he has redeemed by his blood; and particularly the Gentiles, who were not a people, but now openly are, in distinction from the Jews, the enemies of the King Messiah.