Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19960929.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm Forty-Five: God's Keys To Starting And Sustaining A Happy Marriage
(Psalm 45:1-17)
  1. Introduction
    1. Though thousands of marriages will occur this year, statistics indicate that half of them will end in failure and divorce! The institution of marriage is itself often in trouble.
    2. However, that is not supposed to happen: the Bible commands husbands and wives to live together in harmony, Ephesians 5:22-33.
    3. Psalm 45:1-17, a maschil aimed to teach a deep truth (Mowinkle, The Psalms in Israel's Worship, p. 94), is a wedding song aimed and showing the foundations of marital fulfillment. It provides us the insight needed for marital fulfillment to meet this need as follows:
  2. God's Keys To Starting And Sustaining A Happy Marriage, Psalm 45:1-17.
    1. Psalm 45 opens with a clear claim to TEACH important truths that produce blessing if applied:
      1. As noted, Dr. Mowinkle believes that this psalm, admittedly a maschil intends to teach deep truths.
      2. The psalmist then opens his psalm with the claim that his heart is stirred with a wholesome (tob) theme as he prepares to recite his verses for the king on his royal wedding day, Ps. 45:1.
      3. Thus, the listener (or reader in our case) must pay attention to what he is about to say as it applies to our learning wholesome truths on the formation of a marriage!
    2. Lesson One Regarding the Groom: If the Groom adheres to God's righteousness, he is blessed as a man by God so that he becomes esteemed and attractive to the Bride, and that affects her sustained fulfillment through the Groom as God's resulting continued blessings to the Groom, Ps. 45:2-9,13-17:
      1. Three times in this psalm, the Hebrew conjunctions words 'al cain appear, signaling very strong cause-effect relations, cf. Ps. 45:2,7,17.
      2. These cause-effect relations affect directly the Groom's welfare as follows:
        1. The Groom is excellent and gracious in his appeal to the Bride BECAUSE ('al cain) God has blessed him forever, Ps. 45:2.
        2. God has thus blessed this Groom and set him above his companions BECAUSE ('al cain) he has loved righteousness and hated wickedness, Ps. 45:7.
        3. God will perpetuate the Groom's memory throughout history with honor before the nations BECAUSE ('al cain) of these previously stated conditions, Ps. 45:17.
      3. The blessings enumerated for the Groom include all that a male head-of-household would desire:
        1. His Bride is gloriously attired and there is great joy in his union with her, Ps. 45:13-14, 15.
        2. He has the hope of producing sons who will strengthen his kingdom and prolong his reign, 45:16.
        3. He is honored and influential with all those to whom he relates, Ps. 45:3-6.
    3. Lesson Two Regarding the Bride: If the Bride leaves the jurisdiction of her former childhood home to submit to the leadership of her godly Groom, she will be deeply appreciated by her Groom and honored even before other great women and men, Ps. 45:10-12.
      1. The psalmist orders the Bride to heed carefully his lesson for her blessing, Ps. 45:10a.
      2. She is then told to shift her allegiance from her father's house to her Groom to be most appreciated by the Groom, 45:10b-11a. Failure to make this allegiance switch limits the Groom's appreciation of her.
      3. Once this shift has been made, if she submits to his headship, the Bride will be deeply honored by respected women and men, 45:11b-12.
Lesson: To begin a marriage with a foundation to make it last, (1) The GROOM must (a) be right with God and His righteousness, and (b) GOD will make him a blessing and attraction so that the (c) BRIDE will respond to this attraction and desire t he Groom. (d) As the Groom STAYS upright, God's blessings continuing to flow TO him have spinoff blessings to the BRIDE, motivating her to stay with the Groom, and thus sustaining the marriage! (2) Then, the BRIDE must (a) shift her allegiance to her former home over to the Groom, and (b) submit to him, and (c) God will honor her before other men and women.

Application: What makes a marriage start well and keep going well is GOD! Thus, stick with Him!