The King’s Sharp Arrows

The King's Sharp Arrows

(No. 3039)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1907.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
JANUARY 16, 1870.

"Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's enemies; whereby the
people fall under You." Psalm 45:5.

WHEN our Lord Jesus Christ is represented as a King, we delight to
think of Him as the Prince of Peace whose dominion shall put an end to
all war and make it unnecessary for the nations of the earth to learn
the arts of war any longer. Meanwhile, however, in this present state,
evil is in the world, sin is all around us and thus sin is the curse of
mankind. Christ, therefore, for our good, is a fighting King, combating
evil and contending against sin in every shape and form and, in that
aspect, we regard Him as standing in His glorious war chariot, riding
through the world in the power of His Gospel, smiting right and left
with the great sword of the Spirit and, at the same time, shooting His
sharp arrows of Gospel Truth to the very ends of the earth! The Truth
of God is the weapon that Christ uses. The weapons of His warfare are
not carnal any more than are ours. The Truth of God is His sword and
the Truth of God is His arrow!

There are some Truths which Jesus Christ proclaims in the Gospel and
which He bids us also proclaim, which are like sharp arrows–wounding,
piercing, killing–and of these I am about to speak, hoping and
trusting that those arrows may, in all their sharpness, pierce all
hearts that have not felt them yet! And that where they go, they may
kill sin and that He may then come in to heal who has wounded them and
to give life to those whom He has slain.

First, we shall ask and answer the question, what are those Truths
which are like sharp arrows?Secondly, why are they arrows? And thirdly,
how come they stick fast in human hearts?

I. First, then, WHAT ARE THOSE TRUTHS WHICH ARE SHARP AS ARROWS IN THE
HEARTS OF MEN?

There are many of them, but I shall only mention such as are most
usually felt when men are convinced of sin. One arrow that is always
sharp is this–the spirituality and holiness of the Law of God. Many
men read the Law of the Ten Commandments, or hear it read in their
churches on the Sabbath, but they do not know that that Law means a
great deal more than the mere words seem to convey. For instance, it is
written, "You shall not commit adultery," but Christ tells us that even
though no act of unchastity is committed, the very thought of it is
condemned and he who indulges an unclean look has already broken the
command. The Law of God not only deals with the overt acts, but also
with desires–and even with those imaginations which scarcely amount to
desires, in which a man pictures the sin and feels a pleasure in the
picture, though he has not actually committed the sin. Now, when a man
comes to understand in his heart, as well as to hear with his ears that
God looks thus at his thoughts, imaginations, desires and words as well
as at his actions, then he stands in awe and amazement of the Law and
says, "I cannot keep this Law of God, for I am already condemned by
it–and being condemned, what way of escape is there for me? How can I
get my sins forgiven? By what means can I be reconciled to God?"

This Truth of God is, indeed, a sharp arrow, and well do I remember
when first it pierced my heart and conscience. I felt that I could not
stand the test of such a Law for a single moment and that if called to
stand before God's bar to be tried on such grounds, I would not require
a trial, but must plead guilty at once, or stand there in silence to
hear His righteous sentence of condemnation–

"How long beneath the Law I lay In bondage and distress! I toiled the
precepts to obey, But toiled without success.

Then, to abstain from outward sin, Was more than I could do. Now, ifI
feel its power within, I feel I hate it too."

Another of the Truths connected with Christ's Gospel that is like a
sharp arrow is this–the utter impossibility of self-justification.
This is one of the Truths of the Gospel that we must never fail to
proclaim–"By the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in
His sight." Having offended against God, you cannot expiate the past by
any actions of yours. If you should henceforth keep the Law without a
single breach or slip, the fact remains that the sentence of
condemnation has already gone forth against you! It is often said that
this life is a life of probation, but that is not true. We have passed
our probation! We have been proved guilty and we are already condemned!
And we shall abide under that sentence of condemnation unless we have
help outside of ourselves to rescue us from it. Lost, lost,
lost–utterly lost is the entire human race apart from the Divine and
supreme power which has been put forth in the Person of Jesus Christ!
Well do I remember when I first learned that no works of mine–no
repentance, no prayers, and no tears could deliver me from the horrible
pit into which I was cast through sin! Then was I pierced, indeed, as
with a barbed shaft that went right through my soul to the killing of
all my proud hopes and boasts! May such an arrow from the King now
pierce to the heart anyone here who still cherishes any hope of
self-justification!

A third shaft from the King's bow is this–the certainty of the
judgment If there is any one Truth that Christ proclaimed more often
than another, it seems to me to be this–that there shall be a
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust. And that
the actions of this life will be reviewed in another life, and that
rewards and punishments will be meted out by the Great Judge who cannot
err. Kind and gracious as the mighty Prophet of Nazareth was, who has
described in more graphic words than He did, the separation of the
sheep from the goats–and the blessing of those on the right hand and
the cursing of those on the left? What words could there be more
terrible than His when He spoke of the worm that dies not and of the
fire that never shall be quenched? O Sinner, your sin is immortal! And
there is only One who can kill it and put it away–even Christ Jesus!
You shall live again, Sir! It shall not be the end of you when you are
carried to your grave and green grass grows above you. You shall live
again and your thoughts, words and actions shall also live! Let them
now live in your conscience. Let the recollection of them alarm you
even before they arise and accuse you before Him who shall sit on the
Great White Throne at the last tremendous Judgment Day! I know
this–let a man be thoroughly convinced that he has sinned against God,
that he cannot deliver himself from his sin and that as surely as he
lives, there is a Day of Judgment awaiting him–he has an arrow
sticking fast in his heart which he will be compelled to say is sharp
as long as he is one of the King's enemies!

Another sharp arrow is the sense of the need of an entire renewal of
our nature if we are not to be condemned at that Judgment–

"Not all the outward forms on earth, Nor rites that God has given, Nor
will of man, nor blood, nor birth, Can raise a soul to Heaven! The
Sovereign will of God alone Creates us heirs of Grace– Born in the
image of His Son, A new peculiar race."

Christ's words are clear and positive, "You must be born-again." Some
perhaps ask, "But Master, may we not reform and amend?" Yes, you may as
far as you can, but that will not suffice. "But, Master, may we not
observe certain ceremonies which You have ordained, may we not attend
to Your precepts and so modify our present nature, and make ourselves
fit for Heaven?" Jesus says to them, as He said to Nicodemus, "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born from above," (for so
stands the original), "he cannot see the Kingdom of God." The Holy
Spirit must come upon you and create in you new hearts and right
spirits. There must be as total a change in you as though you actually
became new creatures! Otherwise from Hell you can never escape and into
Heaven you can never enter–and this is true not only of the debauched,
the dissolute and the depraved, but also of the most moral, amiable and
honorable of the whole human race! "You must be born-again," or you
cannot enter into Heaven. I remember how this sharp arrow stuck in my
heart

and how I wandered to and fro, hoping that I might yet be
born-again–and sighing and crying in my soul because I lacked the one
thing necessary–which I could not give to myself, but for which I must
look up to that great God whom I had offended and who, I feared, would
never deign to grant so great a gift to so unworthy a rebel! May that
sharp arrow pierce other hearts just now!

Another arrow from the bow of King Jesus is the Sovereignty of God. God
has the right to bestow His mercy where He wills, or to withhold it if
He so pleases. His Grace is in no sense the discharge of a debt which
He owes to us. If He had determined to destroy the whole race of men,
we must admit that they had deserved such a doom. As He has chosen to
save some, it is His Grace that has done it, so let Him be forever
adored for it! The Apostle Paul, writing under Inspiration, quotes
God's words to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion," and adds, "So
then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that
shows mercy." What humbling words are these! They make the sinner lie
all broken and helpless at the feet of the God whom he has offended.
They tell him that he cannot save himself, and that now his only hope
lies absolutely in the Sovereign will of that God who can destroy him
in a moment if He so wills! Men do not like this sharp arrow and will
do anything to get rid of it. They will try to deny the truth of it if
they can, but let the Lord once drive this arrow right home through the
heart and conscience and I do not know any shaft out of the Divine
quiver that is more killing to human pride and more deadly to
self-righteousness than this eternal Truth of God which has already
brought many to Christ and will bring many more, God blessing it–

"Praise the God of all creation,

Praise the Father's boundless love!

Praise the Lamb, our expiation,

Priest and King enthroned above!

Praise the Fountain of salvation,

Him by whom our spirits live–

Undivided adoration

To the one Jehovah give."

Further, the Lord Jesus Christ often drives the arrow of conviction
home in this form–the aggravation of the sin of men when they sin
against light and against love. It is no little evil to break God's Law
at all, but to do it knowingly is far worse than to do it ignorantly.
To do it after many admonitions to the contrary, to continue to offend
God after being frequently rebuked, to refuse all the invitations of
His mercy, to resist the strivings of His Spirit, to be resolved to be
lost, to be resolute upon damnation–this is the very worst form of
sin! There are some of you in whose hearts this arrow might well find a
place, for you were brought up by godly parents, you were dandled upon
the knees of piety, you heard the name of Jesus among the first sounds
that saluted your infant ears. You were carried to the House of God
before you were old enough to walk there–and your mother's tears have
fallen upon your infant brow as she has wept out her prayers to God
that the soul of her child might be precious in His sight.

Some of you remember when the Word used to prick your conscience as you
heard it preached–you would go home and shut your bedroom door and
kneel down and pray–and there was a time when, for weeks or months
together, you could not sin as you used to, but felt obliged to give up
one evil and another. Yet you resisted the conviction that was then
upon you. You struggled against it, you overcame it and you went back
into sin. You have never had so severe a contest with Grace since
then–still, you have had some struggles and by dint of awful
perseverance–oh, that we had half the perseverance to be saved that
some have to be lost! By dint, I say, of awful perseverance, you have
managed to remain a servant of Satan until now! Nor can we bring you to
accept the Gospel of Christ. If you remain as you are, the Lord Jesus
tells you, as He told the people of Capernaum and Bethsaida of old,
that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah at the Day of
Judgment than for you! It would have been better for you if you had
never been born. It would have been better for you, Sir, if, when you
were yet a babe, unconscious of right and wrong, a millstone had been
hung about your neck and you had been cast into the depths of the sea!
O man, I pray that this sharp arrow may strike you, now, and wound you
and that God may bless it to you! If you and I should be lost after
having such mothers and fathers as we had. If you and I should perish
after such Christian training as we have had–when we meet each other
in the lowest depths of Hell, our miserable salutation would surely be
something of this kind, "What fools we were, with so

much light to prefer the darkness, with so much love from God to
resolve to hate Him! Knowing so well as we did our duty, what arrant
fools we were to have neglected it! Knowing that sin was folly, how
could we choose it? And knowing that holiness was happiness, for we saw
it reflected in the faces of our dearest relatives and friends, how was
it that we did not seek it for ourselves?" How we shall wring our hands
in unutterable anguish if this should ever be our portion! The Lord
prevent it, by His Grace!

The last sharp arrow that I shall mention is one which Christ Himself
has often shot, it is this–that condemnation for sin is a matter of
this present time. Dear Hearers, if you have never heard this Truth of
God before, hear it now and tremble at it! You have not to wait until
you rise from the dead to receive your condemnation–"He that believes
not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of
the only-begotten Son of God." And as "there is, therefore, now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," so we may solemnly
say, "There is, therefore, now a most weighty condemnation upon you who
are not in Christ Jesus, who are walking not after the Spirit, but
after the flesh." Your sentence is already passed, like that of the
poor wretch who is now lying in the condemned cell, tomorrow to suffer
the extreme penalty of the law! Such is your lot–"condemned already."

All these Truths of God are the sharp arrows from the bow of King
Jesus!

II. Now, secondly, let us inquire, WHY ARE THEY CALLED ARROWS?

First, they are called arrows because they are far-reaching. Some
people who have never heard the Gospel have, nevertheless, unexpectedly
found one or other of these arrows rankling in their hearts. We have
known men who have been at their ordinary work when one of these arrows
has suddenly struck them. Where the voice of the minister could not go,
there the arrow of Christ could find its mark! Never give up hope for
the world, even in its darkest days. The world was once in a very
midnight and there was a monk, named Luther, on his knees, going up the
so-called staircase of Pilate at Rome–and repeating a prayer on every
step in order to try to win his way to Heaven. And there came to him,
while on those very stairs, an arrow from the King that pierced him
right to his heart! The arrow bore this inscription, "The just shall
live by faith"–a sentence which had previously been discovered by
Luther in a Bible in the monastery at Erfurt. He was attempting to
justify himself by works like that of climbing the so-called holy
stairs. But he found that it was of no use and, through faith in Jesus,
he became the great leader of the Reformers of his day! Perhaps at this
very moment, while we are assembled here worshipping God, there may be
men, similarly deluded, in places where an idolatrous system has
usurped the name and place of Christianity, yet the Gospel may reach
them even amidst the mummeries of the "mass"! Yes, and at the
ale-bench, and in still worse places, if God so wills it, the arrow
from the Prince's bow may find its target and reach the human heart!
Pray, my Brothers and Sisters, that the King may be profuse with His
sharp arrows, so that many may fall under His power!

They are called arrows, again, because they are penetrating. These
Truths of God enter a man's heart whether he likes them or not. There
are some of these arrows that are aimed at a man, but he seems to be
clad in steel and they cannot gain an entrance for a time. But,
by-and-by, they pierce him to the heart and cut him to the very quick.
We have known some sinners to be very angry when this has been the case
with them. That is of very little consequence so long as they do but
get wounded by the arrows of King Jesus! Because these Truths wound
people, penetrating their hearts, they are rightly called arrows.

They are also called arrows because if they once get in, they rankle,
and you cannot get them out Often have I heard something like this said
by those who have come here to make a profession of their faith in
Christ, "I was utterly godless and never went to any place of worship.
But one evening I stole in here and listened to a sermon. I was angry
to the last degree at what I heard–I could have cursed the preacher to
his face! Yet, I do not know how it was, I soon found myself in this
place again, wanting to know more about this religion that I detested
all the time." I have often heard a man say, "I could not help thinking
of it, Sir. It haunted my dreams. It stayed with me at my work. I
loathed it, yet there it was always near me! Certain questions arose
within me that I could not answer and difficulties came up which I
could not solve. So I was obliged to let this strange new influence
which had got hold of me, still rankle within my heart." I have
sometimes likened an unconverted man to a wild giraffe in an African
forest–and Christ's Gospel, like a mighty lion, leaps upon him from
the thicket, fastens its powerful fangs in his flesh and begins to tear
away his very life. He strives and struggles, dashes here and there,
and tries to rid himself of the awful load that he bears upon his back,
but all his efforts are in vain. The poor giraffe in the grip of the
lion is distracted–and the man under conviction of sin cannot imagine

what is to become of him. He thinks that he is lost and that he must
feel the full force of Divine Wrath against sin–yet this is the way of
Mercy–it is thus that men are saved! At last the man falls down and
then He who seemed to be his enemy stoops down and nobly gives back the
life that appeared to have gone from him. Or, rather, gives him an
infinitely nobler life and so the forgiven sinner lives forever! Oh,
that the power of the Gospel may thus be exerted upon some wild,
untamable spirit that may be here just now!

The Gospel message is especially called an arrow because it kills. What
does it kill? It kills many things. Gospel preaching, when applied by
the Holy Spirit, kills carnal ease in men. A man, when he first hears
the Gospel, may perhaps say, "What is the need to bother oneself about
that? It will all come right, I have no doubt." Ah, but let one of
these Truths that I have mentioned–that Truth of God, for instance,
about the Judgment to come–get into his heart and rankle there–the
man will not talk any longer about not bothering himself! He must care.
"Why," he says, "tomorrow I may be before God's Judgment Throne and I
am unprepared to meet Him! My brother died only last week and my sister
was taken away only a fortnight ago–and I may be called away at any
moment. I cannot bear the thought of being in Hell forever! I must
begin to think. I must begin to care about my soul." Carnal ease is one
of the first things that is killed by the arrows of Christ!

I will tell you another thing that is killed by these sharp arrows, and
that is the foolish skepticism which some people think we ought to
nurse and cuddle up in our places of worship. I do not believe that the
skepticism of this age has so much to do with people's heads as with
their hearts. If they were not wicked, they would not doubt, but
because they will not be holy, they will not believe. To answer many of
their questions would be as foolish as to do what a boy did, according
to a fable which I read in an old book the other day. A boy, in a
scavenger's cart, was so badly disposed that he said he would throw
dirt in the face of the moon. And another boy, who, I suppose, was a
great deal better, but certainly not any wiser, fetched a basin of
water and a piece of sponge to wash the moon's face. When I read that
story, I thought of those who are always finding out some reason to
doubt the authenticity of the Bible, or who throw dirt in the face of
the Gospel in some other way. And then there is some well-meaning but
foolish Divine who leaves off preaching the Truth of God and runs with
his sponge and his basin of water to wash the face of the blessed
Gospel which is as clean as the sun or the moon and needs none of his
washing, for it is not defiled with the dirt that any fool may choose
to fling at it! I believe that at the bottom of your hearts, you do not
really doubt, for you know that God will bring you before His Judgment
bar to give an account of your actions! And when the King's sharp
arrows pierce your hearts, all your whimsies die, your idle fancies
flee away and your cry is, "Do I not believe? Indeed I do! Oh, that I
could but doubt in order to get a little rest to my troubled spirit,
or, rather, Blessed Spirit, come and teach me if there is not something
to be believed by which a lost and condemned spirit may find peace with
God!"

The arrows of Christ, wherever they come, always kill
self-righteousness. There was never a shaft shot from Christ's bow that
was not fatal to all trust in our own goodness! Christ abhors that
abomination and kills it wherever He finds it. Hardness of heart, lack
of feeling–this is also slain wherever Christ's sharp arrows come. So
also is procrastination, that great ruiner of the souls of men. Oh,
that some sharp arrow might fly from Christ's bow into the heart of any
sinner here who is saying, "There is time enough yet!" Instead of
talking like that, he would say, "I want to be forgiven tonight! I
cannot bear this terrible burden of guilt any longer. If there were no
future, my present agony is so great that I long for immediate
deliverance from it." Jesus, You blessed Divine Archer, shoot forth
Your arrows now into men's hearts, that all these ills that they
have–unbelief, hardness of heart, love of sin and delay, may fall down
slain at Your glorious feet. And then come and save the sinners, by
Your Grace, and Your head shall wear the crown forever and ever!

How gladly would I, if I could, say anything that might encourage any
of you to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, but I know that my feeble
voice is not sufficient to help you. It is the almighty Spirit who
alone can do this–and I earnestly pray that He may. My grief is not so
much concerning you who are seeking the Savior, as concerning you who
are not seeking Him. You may think that it is a trifling matter to
preach the Gospel, or to listen to preaching. But the hour comes–and
every moment brings it nearer–when you will know that the Truths of
which I have been speaking are the only real things this side of Heaven
and Hell! When you lie dying and are brought face to face with the
mysteries of the next world, you will count all your money, your
amusements and all else to be but foolery. Oh, do not trifle any longer
with your eternal interests! If any of you must play the fool, do it
with your money, or your estates, or your bodies, but do not do it with
your immortal souls, for these, if once lost, can never be recovered!
Once let the Divine sentence go forth, "Depart, you cursed," and it can
never be reversed and changed into a benediction! Once let the iron bar
that shuts up lost spirits in Hell be driven home by the hand of
Infinite Justice, and there is no hand in Heaven, or earth, or Hell,
that can ever slide that iron bar back! Once done, 'tis done forever!
So, Sirs, I beseech you, escape to the Cross while you may! Look to Him
who died upon it! Trust yourselves wholly to Him. Forsake your sins,
walk in His ways and live as His followers should–for then, but not
till then will you be safe!

III. And now, to conclude, having examined the King's sharp arrows and
seen why they are called by that name, let us inquire, HOW DO THEY GET
INTO MEN'S HEARTS?

Many are the times that I have handled these arrows of the King. And
many are the times that from this, my watch-tower, I have shot them
from my bow. And the Lord knows with what intense desire I have longed
that they might enter the hearts of those at whom I have aimed them! I
could, with my finger–but I shall not–indicate some of the targets at
which I have aimed. I will mention no names–there is no need for me to
do that–you know very well to whom these personal messages have been
addressed. I suppose I cannot have been a good shot, for, with many of
you, I have not yet found the joint in your harness through which I
could reach your heart. Oh, that I might speedily be able to do so!

But, according to my text, the arrows which are there spoken of and
which are shot by the King, do get right into the hearts of His
enemies–and I suppose this is for two reasons–first, because the Lord
Jesus Christ always takes good aim. We cannot do this except as He puts
His hands on our hands, for then the aim will be His rather than ours,
like the shots of certain eminent people in great public occasions who
have the sighting done for them by experts. It is only when the Lord
Jesus Christ does this for us that the arrow of the Truth of God goes
home to the heart and conscience of the hearer! Christ's aim is always
true. If the Truth of God should come home to any of you, believe that
it was meant for you! Do not be vexed, or think that there has been a
mistake. It was meant for you and although it may pain you, bless God
for the pain! It will be better for you thus to be pained and
afterwards be fitted to enter into Heaven, than to be left to get a
seared and hardened conscience–and to be cast into Hell.

The other reason why these arrows of the King get into the hearts of
his enemies is that together with the good aim, there is always
almighty strength at the back of the bow. It is said that the bow of
William the Conqueror was so strong that no man in England, except
himself, could bend it. And the great bow of King Jesus is such as none
of us can bend! It has the power of the Holy Spirit in it–it is the
Holy Spirit, Himself, who gives force and power to the Word so that it
pierces through all the sinner's armor, the most vital part of his
being and smites him even in the heart. Bearing this last thought in
mind, I say to you who love the Lord, do you not see how dependent we
are upon the Holy Spirit? There lie the arrows, but they will kill
nobody till the Holy Spirit gets them into the hearts of sinners! There
is much precious Truth in this blessed Book, but there it will lie till
the Holy Spirit takes it and shoots it right into the hearts of men.
So, what is our duty as Christian men and women? Why, dear Brothers and
Sisters, let us never grieve the Holy Spirit! You know that we can do
it by neglecting to honor Him, by falling out among ourselves, by
cherishing unlovely dispositions, by being unholy. As church members,
we can easily drive the Holy Spirit away from us, but, instead of
grieving Him, let us honor Him and let us entreat Him to work with us.

Brothers and Sisters, pray for us. I believe I am the constant subject
of the prayers of the different members of this Church–to whom I feel
the deepest gratitude. But I also beg you to pray for all the ministers
of Christ and for one another, and for all work that is being done for
Christ. Remember the Sunday school teachers. Think of those good men
who, all week, are doing the hard work of City Missionaries–and those
good women who are working as Bible women–pray for all such laborers
and for all who are doing anything for Christ–ask that the Holy Spirit
may be with them to make their labors a means of blessing to the
people. Whenever you seek to do anything for Christ–as you begin and
as you go on, and when you conclude–let it all be done in real
dependence upon the Holy Spirit! Blessed be God, the Holy Spirit is not
far away from us, nor is He hard to find, for He dwells within the true
Church of Christ. We are not to think of Him as if He were some
mysterious Being, very far distant from us and not easily to be brought
to us, to whom we need to cry as Baal's priests cried to their idol
god, "O Baal, hear us!" The Holy Spirit is always at work in the Church
and it is a wonder that He does so much while the Church often does so
little. Oh, if we were but all awake, all alive, all full of zeal, all
full of love, all full of self-sacrifice, then, depending upon Him, we
might expect to see the King's sharp arrows flying from His bow to the
right and to the left, behind and in the front, while tens of thousands
would fall

down before Him! And London, and Great Britain, and the world at large
would behold the King riding in triumph in His glorious chariot of
salvation!

The Lord send it! The Lord send it! I know your hearts say, "Amen!" But
you must work for it and watch for it and pray for it–and then it will
come! And unto Christ shall be the Glory forever. Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM45.

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, (or, upon the lilies,) for the
sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of Loves. We may look upon the 45th
Psalm as being a sort of compendium of the Song of Solomon. It is
written, too, upon the same subject. And that is not the marriage of
Solomon with Pharaoh's daughter–only the strangest and most whimsical
fancy could ever have found Pharaoh's daughter either in this Psalm or
in the Book of the Canticles! It is a description of Christ and His
Church! A song of love between that pair forever affianced and soon to
sit down together at the marriage supper in Glory!

Verse 1. My heart is inditing a good matter Or, as the margin has it,
"My heart boils or bubbles up with good matter." It is said of Origen,
one of the ancient fathers of the Church, that whenever he preached, he
preached with great earnestness and fervor–but that when he spoke of
Christ, he seemed to be all on fire. So, whenever our hearts speak of
the good matter which concerns Christ, our souls should be all on
fire–we should be boiling over with love to Him!

1. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king. A man can
never speak so well of the things which he has learned, or heard, as of
the things which he has made, that is, the things which he has
experienced. Indeed, this is your life-work and mine, Beloved, to tell
others the things which we have made our own touching the King!

1. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer A ready writer writes what he
has thought of beforehand, what he has well meditated upon and
digested. So the Psalmist declares that this rapturous song is as
certainly true as the verba scripta of a thoughtful accomplished
penman.

2. You are fairer than the children of men. The Hebrew word here is
doubled, as much as to say, "You are doubly fair. You are fair, fair.
Twice fairer than the children of men." Both in outward
appearance–although His visage was so sadly marred while He was
here–and in personal Character, our Lord Jesus Christ is "fairer than
the children of men."

2. Grace is poured into Your lips. Grace has, in the most copious
manner, been poured upon Christ and now there pours from His lips a
very cataract of Grace–floods of love, tenderness and holy eloquence
stream from His lips.

2, 3. Therefore God has blessed You forever Gird Your sword upon Your
thigh, O most mighty, with Your glory and Your majesty. Put Your sword
where it will be ready for use. Come forth and let us see You appear in
Your strength, O most Mighty! For this is one of the names of
Christ–"I have laid help upon One That Is Mighty–I have exalted One
Chosen Out of the people."

4, 5. And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth and
meekness and righteousness; and Your right hand shall teach You
terrible things. Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King's
enemies; whereby the people fall under You. You may see, on some of the
ancient slabs, representations of Oriental monarchs riding in their
chariots, perhaps engaged in hunting, or pursuing their enemies, with
their bow and arrow in their hands, and their sword upon their thigh.
So is our Savior thus graphically described. His Word is His sword, and
the testimony of His ministers He makes to be like sharp arrows
sticking in the hearts of His enemies. May it be so this day and every
day. May Christ thus ride prosperously!

6. Your Throne, O God, is forever and ever: the scepter of Your Kingdom
is a right scepter This could not have been said of Solomon, for He was
never called God. It refers to none other than Christ the King, whose
Throne is forever and ever!

7-9. You love righteousness, and hate wickedness: therefore God, Your
God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows. All
Your garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory
palaces, whereby they have made You glad. Kings' daughters were among
Your honorable women. Your maids of honor, for all those who truly wait
on Christ become at once the King's daughters. It is more noble to
serve God than to sit as king upon a

throne. The day shall come when all the honor of earthly kings'
daughters will have passed away, but the glory of those who are in
Christ's court as honorable women shall abide forever.

9. At Your right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.In the best
and purest gold. Every member of the Church of Christ may well say,
with Dr. Watts–

"Strangely, my Soul, are You arrayed By the great Sacred Three!"

10, 11. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear; forget
also your own people, and your father's house; so shall the King
greatly desire your beauty: for He is your Lord; and worship you Him.
Though the Church has been brought up in the world, she is to be
separated from it. The more distinction there can be between Christians
and worldlings, the better will it be for both. Christ greatly admires
the beauty of His Church when she is separated from the world, and it
is nothing but an adulterous alliance when the church becomes united to
the State. We never can expect any great and permanent blessing to any
church which thus degrades and dishonors itself. If a church cannot
stand without the support of the civil power, let it fall! But happy is
that Church which relies alone upon the King, Himself, and is content
with the dowry which He gives her.

12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich
among the people shall entreat your favor. The day is coming when the
Church of Christ shall be honored by all men. The merchant princes, who
now esteem her as a thing of naught, shall come with their tribute to
her–and those who once despised her shall entreat her favor.

13, 14. The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of
worked gold. She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of
needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought
unto You. Happy was John the Baptist to be "the friend of the
Bridegroom" to Christ, and happy are the hearts of those who are the
bridesmaids to His Church–"the virgins her companions that follow
her"–you, whose pure hearts are set upon the Lord alone, and who
follow wherever He leads. You, too, "shall be brought unto the King in
raiment of needlework" with His Church.

15, 16. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall
enter into the King's palace. Instead of Your fathers shall be Your
children, whom You may make princes in all the earth. There is such a
thing as an Apostolic succession, though not the fiction which usually
goes by that name. The Lord is constantly raising up fresh disciples,
fresh preachers and fresh teachers whom He makes to be princes in His
earthly courts, and who shall be princes in His heavenly courts forever
and ever.

17. I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations:
therefore shall the people praise You forever and ever–

"Jesus shall reign wherever the sun Does its successive journeys run.
His Kingdom stretches from shore to shore Till moons shall wax and wane
no more."