Wisp #12
Psalm 45 (New International Version)
For the director of music. To the tune of "Lilies." Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A wedding song.
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 upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. 4 In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds. 5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet...
10 Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear: Forget your people and your father's house. 11 The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord. 12 The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift, men 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 and are brought to you. 15 They are led in with joy and gladness;they enter the palace of the king.
Of all of my favorite verses, this may be the most unique. This is a Psalm, but it isn't a worship song...it's a wedding song. I was first drawn to this piece of literature when I was teaching a series on masculinity and femininity and the heart's desire of both genders. The more I looked at this passage, the more I fell in love with it's transcendent themes of love expressed through the valiant strength of a man and the radiant beauty of the woman.
"My heart is stirred by a noble theme..." There is something powerful about a man who has a heart that is deeply affected by noble ventures. A man who allows himself to feel the rapture of a piece of art or the impression left by a conversation or the aftertaste of a good movie. A man who is an unabashed romantic. A man who knows the value of language and the power of poetry. A man who carries himself with humble strength and isn't afraid to shed a tear in the face of danger or delight. Men whose hearts are stirred by noble themes are becoming extinct. Men who are moved inside at the mention of finer things. Men who are taken by the beauty of their brides. The man in this section of Scripture fascinates me with his penchant for the deeper things.
"...my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer." I'm becoming somewhat annoyed with the base level of communication in our age. We are cultural clods rarely challenged to ascend to a higher plain of language. When you read old books you get the sense that they still held words in high regard. They treated vocabulary with respect and uttered precisely what they wanted to say. So much of what fills the mouths of the masses these days is nothing but slang-filled rubbish. I admire how this lover was a writer, a poet. I've been moved in the last year to make more time for poetry. It's not easy to labor over words and wrestle with thoughts to say something just so. It's easy to blurt out something relatively close to your heart's stirrings. But I'm finding more joy in the toil of crafting words to represent my truest feelings. I feel like this is the lost art of the masculine heart.
He then goes on to describe the duty of every warm-blooded man: To gird up sword and fight for the things that matter...1. Truth 2. Humility 3. Righteousness. As I look at myself and take an inventory of my time, I want these themes to be the anthem of my life. I want to search for and stand for the truth no matter what that costs me along the way. I want have a humble heart as seek to encourage and impassion others around me. I want to pursue purity zealously fighting for my heart, my family and my friends. And as I approach the end of my life, nothing would please me more than to say I "rode forth victoriously on behalf" of these virtues.
Then it gets to the juicy center speaking of the woman's heart and her glory. "The king is enthralled by your beauty..." It is my desire to be enthralled with my wife. As it says in Pride and Prejudice I would have her "bewitch me body, soul and spirit." I know that my wives greatest desire and fear orbits around this question of beauty. She wants to know that I want her and that I would look deeper than the skin that envolopes her to find the crowed jewel within. She wants to render me thunderstruck with her tender touch and her airy whisper. She wants to leave me weak in the knees and faint with desire. Every day I wake to make a vow of trust between me and the wife of my youth. I desire to herald her beauty wherever I go holding her high. I want to answer her question of beauty with affirmation and validation.
"All glorious is the princess within her chamber..." Every young girl dreams of being a princess. I have three; I assure you, they are captivated by this thought every moment of the day. There is something God has woven into the fabric of the feminine heart that cries out to be treated like a princess. They long to be fought for, pursued and carried away into an adventure. They love to be spoken to softy in the late hours and carried upon the wind of our loving words. I so desire to free my wife with this kind of affection. I want to adorn her heart with my love. I want her to feel like a princess in my presence.
There is something amazing about the Word of God. It speaks to all manner of subjects. It leaves no stone unturned in its declaration of truth. This passage shows me that romance and worship aren't mutually exclusive. Sometimes the greatest Psalm you could ever sing is to your wife. My heart is stirred by a noble theme...my wife.
For the director of music. To the tune of "Lilies." Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A wedding song.
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 upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. 4 In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds. 5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies; let the nations fall beneath your feet...
10 Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear: Forget your people and your father's house. 11 The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord. 12 The Daughter of Tyre will come with a gift, men 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 and are brought to you. 15 They are led in with joy and gladness;they enter the palace of the king.
Of all of my favorite verses, this may be the most unique. This is a Psalm, but it isn't a worship song...it's a wedding song. I was first drawn to this piece of literature when I was teaching a series on masculinity and femininity and the heart's desire of both genders. The more I looked at this passage, the more I fell in love with it's transcendent themes of love expressed through the valiant strength of a man and the radiant beauty of the woman.
"My heart is stirred by a noble theme..." There is something powerful about a man who has a heart that is deeply affected by noble ventures. A man who allows himself to feel the rapture of a piece of art or the impression left by a conversation or the aftertaste of a good movie. A man who is an unabashed romantic. A man who knows the value of language and the power of poetry. A man who carries himself with humble strength and isn't afraid to shed a tear in the face of danger or delight. Men whose hearts are stirred by noble themes are becoming extinct. Men who are moved inside at the mention of finer things. Men who are taken by the beauty of their brides. The man in this section of Scripture fascinates me with his penchant for the deeper things.
"...my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer." I'm becoming somewhat annoyed with the base level of communication in our age. We are cultural clods rarely challenged to ascend to a higher plain of language. When you read old books you get the sense that they still held words in high regard. They treated vocabulary with respect and uttered precisely what they wanted to say. So much of what fills the mouths of the masses these days is nothing but slang-filled rubbish. I admire how this lover was a writer, a poet. I've been moved in the last year to make more time for poetry. It's not easy to labor over words and wrestle with thoughts to say something just so. It's easy to blurt out something relatively close to your heart's stirrings. But I'm finding more joy in the toil of crafting words to represent my truest feelings. I feel like this is the lost art of the masculine heart.
He then goes on to describe the duty of every warm-blooded man: To gird up sword and fight for the things that matter...1. Truth 2. Humility 3. Righteousness. As I look at myself and take an inventory of my time, I want these themes to be the anthem of my life. I want to search for and stand for the truth no matter what that costs me along the way. I want have a humble heart as seek to encourage and impassion others around me. I want to pursue purity zealously fighting for my heart, my family and my friends. And as I approach the end of my life, nothing would please me more than to say I "rode forth victoriously on behalf" of these virtues.
Then it gets to the juicy center speaking of the woman's heart and her glory. "The king is enthralled by your beauty..." It is my desire to be enthralled with my wife. As it says in Pride and Prejudice I would have her "bewitch me body, soul and spirit." I know that my wives greatest desire and fear orbits around this question of beauty. She wants to know that I want her and that I would look deeper than the skin that envolopes her to find the crowed jewel within. She wants to render me thunderstruck with her tender touch and her airy whisper. She wants to leave me weak in the knees and faint with desire. Every day I wake to make a vow of trust between me and the wife of my youth. I desire to herald her beauty wherever I go holding her high. I want to answer her question of beauty with affirmation and validation.
"All glorious is the princess within her chamber..." Every young girl dreams of being a princess. I have three; I assure you, they are captivated by this thought every moment of the day. There is something God has woven into the fabric of the feminine heart that cries out to be treated like a princess. They long to be fought for, pursued and carried away into an adventure. They love to be spoken to softy in the late hours and carried upon the wind of our loving words. I so desire to free my wife with this kind of affection. I want to adorn her heart with my love. I want her to feel like a princess in my presence.
There is something amazing about the Word of God. It speaks to all manner of subjects. It leaves no stone unturned in its declaration of truth. This passage shows me that romance and worship aren't mutually exclusive. Sometimes the greatest Psalm you could ever sing is to your wife. My heart is stirred by a noble theme...my wife.
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