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45. Psalm 45

¹ My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

    ² You are the most excellent of men
   and your lips have been anointed with grace,
   since God has blessed you forever.

    ³ Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;
   clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
⁴ In your majesty ride forth victoriously
   in the cause of truth, humility and justice;
   let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.
⁵ Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;
   let the nations fall beneath your feet.
⁶ Your throne, O God, Here the king is addressed as God’s representative. will last for ever and ever;
   a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
   therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
   by anointing you with the oil of joy.
⁸ All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
   from palaces adorned with ivory
   the music of the strings makes you glad.
⁹ Daughters of kings are among your honored women;
   at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

    ¹⁰ Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
   Forget your people and your father’s house.
¹¹ Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
   honor him, for he is your lord.
¹² The city of Tyre will come with a gift, Or A Tyrian robe is among the gifts
   people of wealth will seek your favor.
¹³ All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
   her gown is interwoven with gold.
¹⁴ In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
   her virgin companions follow her—
   those brought to be with her.
¹⁵ Led in with joy and gladness,
   they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶ Your sons will take the place of your fathers;
you will make them princes throughout the land.

¹⁷ I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

12 And the daughter of Tyre with a gift. This also is a part of the recompense which the prophet promises to the queen in order to mitigate or rather to extinguish entirely, the longing desire she might still feel after her former condition. He says: that the Tyrians will come humbly to pay her reverence, bringing presents with them. Tyre, we know, was formerly a city of great renown, and, therefore, he accounts it a very high honor that men will come from a city so distinguished and opulent to greet her and to testify their submission to her. It is not necessary for us to examine every word minutely, in order to apply to the Church every thing here said concerning the wife of Solomon; but in our own day we realize some happy fruits of this prophecy when God has so ordered it, that some of the great men of this world, although they themselves refuse to submit to the authority of Christ, act with kindness towards the Church, maintaining and defending her.