Psalm 45:1

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves. My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(1) Inditing.—A most unhappy rendering of a word, which, though only used here, must, from the meaning of its derivative (a “pot,” or “cauldron”), have something to do with a liquid, and means either to “boil over” or to “bubble up.” The LXX. and Vulg. have apparently thought of the bursting out of a fountain: eructavit. Symmachus has, “been set in motion.” The “spring,” or “fountain,” is a common emblem of inspired fancy:—

“Ancient founts of inspiration well through all my fancy yet.”

TENNYSON: Locksley Hall.

A good matter.—That is, a theme worthy a poet’s song. Luther: “A fine song.”

I speak of the things which I have made touching the king.—This rendering follows the LXX., Vulg., and most of the older translations. Perhaps, however, we are to understand Aquila and Symmachus as rendering “my poems;” and undoubtedly the true rendering is, I am speaking: my poem is of a king (not the king, as in Authorised Version).

My tongue . . .—So lofty a theme, so august a subject, inspires him with thoughts that flow freely. The ready or expeditious scribe (LXX. and Vulg., “A scribe writing quickly”) was, as we learn from Ezra 7:6, a recognised form of praise for a distinguished member of that body, one of whose functions was to make copies of the Law.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 45:1. My heart is enditing a good matter — I am about to utter, not rash, vain, or foolish, much less false words, but such as proceed from my very heart, and most cordial affections; and are the result of my most deliberate and serious thoughts: things not only pleasant and delightful, and fit for the nuptial solemnity here intended, but excellent, as the word שׂוב, tob, often signifies: or holy and spiritual, as it is most commonly used: things heavenly and divine, and full of majesty, as is manifest from the matter of the Psalm. Surely this magnificent preface is too sublime and spiritual for such a carnal and earthly subject as Solomon’s marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter. The word רחשׁ, rachash, here rendered is enditing, properly means boiling, or bubbling up, and is here used metaphorically, for meditating deeply, with fervour and vehemency, in allusion either to water boiled over a fire, or else springing forth from a fountain. I will speak of the things I have made — Hebrew, מעשׂי, magnasi, my work, or composition; touching the king — The King Messiah and his government. The Hebrew, למלךְ, lemelech, is literally, to the king, and the clause is translated by the Seventy, λεγω εγω τα εργα μου τω βασιλει, I rehearse my works to the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer — That is, as some interpret it, “I will recite what I have composed with so much fluency, as shall equal the style of the most skilful and diligent writer.” Or, rather, he means, I am but the pen or instrument in uttering this song. It has another and higher original, namely, the Spirit of God, by whose hand this pen is guided.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

45:1-5 The psalmist's tongue was guided by the Spirit of God, as the pen is by the hand of a ready writer. This psalm is touching the King Jesus, his kingdom and government. It is a shame that this good matter is not more the subject of our discourse. There is more in Christ to engage our love, than there is or can be in any creature. This world and its charms are ready to draw away our hearts from Christ; therefore we are concerned to understand how much more worthy he is of our love. By his word, his promise, his gospel, the good will of God is made known to us, and the good work of God is begun and carried on in us. The psalmist, ver. 3-5, joyfully foretells the progress and success of the Messiah. The arrows of conviction are very terrible in the hearts of sinners, till they are humbled and reconciled; but the arrows of vengeance will be more so to his enemies who refuse to submit. All who have seen his glory and tasted his grace, rejoice to see him, by his word and Spirit, bring enemies and strangers under his dominion.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

My heart is inditing - That is, I am engaged in inditing a good matter; though implying at the same time that it was a work of the heart - a work in which the heart was engaged. It was not a mere production of the intellect; not a mere work of skill; not a mere display of the beauty of song, but a work in which the affections particularly were engaged, and which would express the feelings of the heart: the result or effusion of sincere love. The word rendered is "inditing" - רחשׁ râchash - is rendered in the margin, boileth or bubbleth up. It means properly to boil up or over, as a fountain; and the idea here is that his heart boiled over with emotions of love; it was full and overflowing; it found expression in the words of this song. The Hebrew word does not occur elsewhere in the Bible.

A good matter - literally, a good word; that is, it was something which he was about to say which was good; something interesting, pure, important; not only a subject on which his heart was engaged, but also which was worthy of attention.

I speak of the things which I have made - literally, "I say my works to the king." That is, My work - that which I meditate and am about to compose - pertains to the king.

Touching the king - He is to be the main subject of my song. Compare the notes at Isaiah 5:1. If the remarks made in the introduction to the psalm are correct, then the "king" here referred to was the future Messiah - the great personage to whom all the writers of the Old Testament looked forward, and whose glory they were so anxious to see and to describe. Compare the notes at 1 Peter 1:10-12.

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer - Let my tongue in speaking of him be as the pen of a rapid writer. That is, let my tongue rapidly and freely express my thoughts and feelings. The word rendered "pen" - עט ‛êṭ - means a stylus, usually made of iron, used for the purpose of inscribing letters on lead or wax. See the notes at Job 19:24. The idea is that the psalmist's mind was full of his subject, and that he desired to express his thoughts in warm, free, gushing language - the language of overflowing emotion.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

PSALM 45

Ps 45:1-17. Shoshannim—literally, "Lilies," either descriptive of an instrument so shaped, or denoting some tune or air so called, after which the Psalm was to be sung (see on [589]Ps 8:1, title). A song of loves, or, of beloved ones (plural and feminine)—a conjugal song. Maschil—(See on [590]Ps 32:1, title, and [591]Ps 42:1, title) denotes the didactic character of the Psalm; that it gives instruction, the song being of allegorical, and not literal, import. The union and glories of Christ and his Church are described. He is addressed as a king possessed of all essential graces, as a conqueror exalted on the throne of a righteous and eternal government, and as a bridegroom arrayed in nuptial splendor. The Church is portrayed in the purity and loveliness of a royally adorned and attended bride, invited to forsake her home and share the honors of her affianced lord. The picture of an Oriental wedding thus opened is filled up by representing the complimentary gifts of the wealthy with which the occasion is honored, the procession of the bride clothed in splendid raiment, attended by her virgin companions, and the entrance of the joyous throng into the palace of the king. A prediction of a numerous and distinguished progeny, instead of the complimentary wish for it usually expressed (compare Ge 24:60; Ru 4:11, 12), and an assurance of a perpetual fame, closes the Psalm. All ancient Jewish and Christian interpreters regarded this Psalm as an allegory of the purport above named. In the Song of Songs the allegory is carried out more fully. Hosea (Ho 1:1-3:5) treats the relation of God and His people under the same figure, and its use to set forth the relation of Christ and His Church runs through both parts of the Bible (compare Isa 54:5; 62:4, 5; Mt 22:3; 25:1; Joh 3:29; Eph 5:25-32, &c.). Other methods of exposition have been suggested. Several Jewish monarchs, from Solomon to the wicked Ahab, and various foreign princes, have been named as the hero of the song. But to none of them can the terms here used be shown to apply, and it is hardly probable that any mere nuptial song, especially of a heathen king, would be permitted a place in the sacred songs of the Jews. The advocates for any other than the Messianic interpretation have generally silenced each other in succession, while the application of the most rigorous rules of a fair system of interpretation has but strengthened the evidences in its favor. The scope of the Psalm above given is easy and sustained by the explication of its details. The quotation of Ps 45:6, 7 by Paul (Heb 1:8, 9), as applicable to Christ, ought to be conclusive, and their special exposition shows the propriety of such an application.

1. An animated preface indicative of strong emotion. Literally, "My heart overflows: a good matter I speak; the things which I have made," &c.

inditing—literally, "boiling up," as a fountain overflows.

my tongue is the pen—a mere instrument of God's use.

of a ready writer—that is, it is fluent. The theme is inspiring and language flows fast.

The Treasury of David

1 My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the King: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

"My heart." There is no writing like that dictated by the heart. Heartless hymns are insults to heaven. "Is inditing a good matter." A good heart will only be content with good thoughts. Where the fountain is good good streams will flow forth. The learned tell us that the word may be read overfloweth, or as others, boileth or bubbleth up, denoting the warmth of the writer's love, the fulness of his heart, and the consequent richness and glory of his utterance, as though it were the ebullition of his inmost soul, when most full of affection. We have here no single cold expression; the writer is not one who frigidly studies the elegancies and proprieties of poetry, his stanzas are the natural outburst of his soul, comparable to the boiling jets of the geysers of Hecla. As the corn offered in sacrifice was parched in the pan, so is this tribute of love hot with sincere devotion. It is a sad thing when the heart is cold with a good matter, and worse when it is warm with a bad matter, but incomparably well when a warm heart and a good matter meet together. O that we may often offer to God an acceptable minchah, a sweet oblation fresh from the pen of hearts warmed with gratitude and admiration. "I speak of the things which I have made touching the King." This song has "the King" for its only subject, and for the King's honour alone was it composed, well might its writer call it a good matter. The Psalmist did not write carelessly; he calls his poem his works, or things which he had made. We are not to offer to the Lord that which cost us nothing. Good material deserves good workmanship. We should well digest in our heart's affections and our mind's meditations any discourse or poem in which we speak of one so great and glorious as our Royal Lord. As our version reads it, the Psalmist wrote experimentally things which he had made his own, and personally tasted and handled concerning the King. "My tongue is the pen of a ready writer," not so much for rapidity, for there the tongue always has the preference, but for exactness, elaboration, deliberation, and skilfulness of expression. Seldom are the excited utterances of the mouth equal in real weight and accuracy to the verba scripta of a thoughtful accomplished penman; but here the writer, though filled with enthusiasm, speaks as correctly as a practised writer; his utterances therefore are no ephemeral sentences, but such as fall from men who sit down calmly to write for eternity. It is not always that the best of men are in such a key, and when they are they should not restrain the gush of their hallowed feelings. Such a condition of heart in a gifted mind creates that auspicious hour in which poetry pours forth her tuneful numbers to enrich the service of song in the house of the Lord. THE ARGUMENT

The subject matter of this Psalm is by the consent both of Jewish and Christian, ancient and modern, interpreters agreed to be the Messias, and his marriage with the church of God; of which it treats either,

1. Remotely, under the type of Solomon and his marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter, of which it is to be primarily and literally understood, and then immediately and ultimately of Christ. Or rather,

2. Immediately and directly; although the words be so ordered, that they carry a manifest allusion either to that or some other royal marriage; which seems more than probable from the following arguments:

1. From the great congruity of the matter and style of this Psalm with that of the book of Canticles; whereof this seems to be a kind of abridgement.

2. From the magnificent preface, Psalm 45:1, which seems too sublime and spiritual for such carnal and earthly matters.

3. And especially from the matter of the Psalm. For there are many things which do not agree to Solomon; such as the warlike posture and exploits, Psalm 45:3-5, and the title of God, Psalm 45:6, which is appropriated to Christ, and affirmed to be incommunicable to any mere creature, Hebrews 1:8. compared with Psalm 45:6, and that numerous posterity, and the amplitude of their dominion, Psalm 45:16, and divers other passages, as we shall see in the progress.

To the chief musician upon Shoshannim; which title is also prefixed to Psalm 119, and with some small addition, Psalm 130, and with a little variation, Psalm 60. It seems to be the name of a song or tune, or instrument of music. It properly signifies lilies or roses; which some apply to the subject of the Psalm, because those flowers were used ill garlands, or otherwise in nuptial solemnities, and because Christ calls himself the lily and the rose, Song of Solomon 2:1.

A Song of loves, to wit, of Christ and his church. Or, of the beloved ones, to wit, the virgins, who waited upon the bride, as some men did upon the bridegroom, who thence were called his friends, John 3:29; in whose name and person this Psalm may seem to be uttered.

The psalmist singeth of the beauty of Christ above that of the children of men, Psalm 45:1,2; of his terribleness and conquest over his enemies, Psalm 45:3-5; of his everlasting throne, and unction above his fellows, Psalm 45:6-9. The church is invited to forsake her father’s house, that Christ might delight in her, Psalm 45:10-12. Her glory and excellency by his graces, which shall be remembered and praised for ever, Psalm 45:13-17.

My heart; I am about to utter not vain, or rash, or foolish, or false words, but such as proceed from my very heart, and most serious thoughts, and cordial affections.

Is inditing, Heb. boileth, or bubbleth up, like water in a pot over the fire. This phrase notes that the workings of his heart in this matter were frequent and abundant, fervent and vehement, free and cheerful, and withal kindled by God’s grace, and by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

A good matter; either,

1. Pleasant or delightful, and fit for the nuptial solemnity here expressed; as a feast day is sometimes called a good day. Or,

2. Excellent, as this word is oft used, as Numbers 24:5 Deu 8:12; or, holy and spiritual, as it is most commonly used. This is no vain, or carnal, or wanton love song, but sublime and heavenly, and full of majesty, as is manifest from the body of this Psalm.

Which I have made; which I by Divine inspiration have composed.

Touching the king; or rather, to the king; for to him he addresseth his speech in the following verses; and this Hebrew prefix lamed generally signifies to, though sometimes it be rendered of, or concerning. The pen; or, as the pen; whereby he intimates that he was only the pen or instrument in uttering this song, and that it had another and a higher original, to wit, the Spirit of God, by whose hand this pen was guided and managed.

Of a ready writer; whereby he understands either,

1. God’s Spirit, who writ or spoke this by the pen or mouth of the psalmist; or,

2. Himself; whom he so calls, not out of vain ostentation, or self-commendation, but to teach us that this song was not the effect of his own deep and serious study, but did freely flow into him by Divine inspiration, and did as freely and readily flow from him.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 (x) 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" (y), as some choose to render it: from whence 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 (z) 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 spake 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 which signifies "to fly" (a), and from whence 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 (b), 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 "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; 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 (d).

(x) "ebullit", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Ainsworth. (y) "Eructavit", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Munster. (z) So the Targum, Tigurine version, Gejerus, & Michaelis. (a) Vid. Kimchi Sepher Shorash. rad. (b) Origin. l. 6. c. 13. (c) Vid. Kipping. Antiqu. Roman. l. 2. c. 4. p. 554. (d) "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.

Geneva Study Bible

<{a} Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of {b} loves.>> My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

(a) This was a certain tune of an instrument.

(b) Of that perfect love that ought to be between the husband and the wife.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1. Introduction and dedication.

My heart &c.] Better, My heart bubbleth over with goodly words. The nobility of his subject inspires him with an impulse which will not be restrained.

I speak of the things &c.] Better, I speak the things which I have made (i. e. composed, cp. Old Eng. maker = poet) touching a king. The absence of the article (a king) lays stress upon the dignity rather than upon the personality of the subject of the Ps.; one who is a king and of no lower rank. The punctuation of the Massoretic Text points to a slightly different rendering: I am about to speak; my work is for (or, touching) a king.

the pen of a ready writer] Prompt to express and record the thoughts with which the mind is overflowing. The words rendered ready writer are applied to Ezra (Psalm 7:6) the ‘ready scribe,’ but clearly they do not here bear this technical sense of ‘a learned student of the law,’ but the literal sense of ‘a skilful and rapid penman.’

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - My heart is inditing a good matter; literally, bubbleth with a good matter - is so full of it that the matter will burst forth. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king; or, I utter that which I have composed concerning the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. It is noted that only "psalms of high and solemn import" have formal exordia of this kind, announcing the intention of the writer. Psalm 45:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 45:2-3) The verb רחשׁ, as מרחשׁת shows, signifies originally to bubble up, boil, and is used in the dialects generally of excited motion and lively excitement; it is construed with the accusative after the manner of verbs denoting fulness, like the synonymous נבע, Psalm 119:171 (cf. Talmudic לשׁונך תרחישׁ רננות, let thy tongue overflow with songs of praise). Whatever the heart is full of, with that the mouth overflows; the heart of the poet gushes over with a "good word." דּבר is a matter that finds utterance and is put into the form of words; and טּוב describes it as good with the collateral idea of that which is cheerful, pleasing, and rich in promise (Isaiah 52:7; Zechariah 1:13). The fact that out of the fulness and oppression of his heart so good a word springs forth, arises from the subject in which now his whole powers of mind are absorbed: I am saying or thinking (אני pausal form by Dechמ, in order that the introductory formula may not be mistaken), i.e., my purpose is: מעשׁי למלך, my works or creations (not sing., but plur., just as also מקני in Exodus 17:3; Numbers 20:19, where the connection leads one to expect the plural) shall be dedicated to the king; or even: the thought completely fills me, quite carries me away, that they concern or have reference to the king. In the former case למלך dispenses with the article because it is used after the manner of a proper name (as in Psalm 21:2; Psalm 72:1); in the latter, because the person retires before the office of dignity belonging to it: and this we, in common with Hitzig, prefer on account of the self-conscious and reflecting אמר אני by which it is introduced. He says to himself that it is a king to whom his song refers; and this lofty theme makes his tongue so eloquent and fluent that it is like the style of a γραμματεὺς ὀξύγραφος. Thus it is correctly rendered by the lxx; whereas סופר מהיר as an epithet applied to Ezra (Ezra 7:6) does not denote a rapid writer, but a learned or skilled scribe. Rapidly, like the style of an agile writer, does the tongue of the poet move; and it is obliged to move thus rapidly because of the thoughts and words that flow forth to it out of his heart. The chief thing that inspires him is the beauty of the king. The form יפיפית, which certainly ought to have a passive sense (Aquila κάλλει ἐκαλλίωθης), cannot be explained as formed by reduplication of the first two radicals of the verb יפה (יפי); for there are no examples to be found in support of quinqueliterals thus derived. What seems to favour this derivation is this, that the legitimately formed Pealal יפיפה (cf. the adjective יפהפי equals יפיפי, Jeremiah 46:20) is made passive by a change of vowels in a manner that is altogether peculiar, but still explicable in connection with this verb, which is a twofold weak verb. The meaning is: Thou art beyond compare beautifully fashioned, or endowed with beauty beyond the children of men. The lips are specially singled out from among all the features of beauty in him. Over his lips is poured forth, viz., from above, חן (gracefulness of benevolence), inasmuch as, even without his speaking, the form of his lips and each of their movements awakens love and trust; it is evident, however, that from such lips, full of χάρις, there must proceed also λόγοι τῆς χάριτος (Luke 4:22; Ecclesiastes 10:12). In this beauty of the king and this charm of his lips the psalmist sees a manifestation of the everlasting blessing of God, that is perceptible to the senses. It is not to be rendered: because Elohim hath blessed thee for ever. The assertion that על־כּן is used in some passages for על־כּן אשׁר cannot be proved (vid., on Psalm 42:7). But the meaning of the psalmist is, moreover, not that the king, because he is so fair and has such gracious lips, is blessed of God. If this were the idea, then the noble moral qualities of which the beauty of this king is the transparent form, ought to be more definitely expressed. Thus personally conceived, as it is here, beauty itself is a blessing, not a ground for blessing. The fact of the matter is this, beauty is denoted by על־כן as a reason for the blessing being known or recognised, not as a reason why the king should be blessed. From his outward appearance it is at once manifest that the king is one who is blessed by God, and that blessed for ever. The psalmist could not but know that "grace is deceitful and beauty vain" (Proverbs 31:30), therefore the beauty of this king was in his eyes more than mere earthly beauty; it appears to him in the light of a celestial transfiguration, and for this very reason as an imperishable gift, in which there becomes manifest an unlimited endless blessing.