Psalm 45 - A Model for Praise

(Sorry I'm late...)

When reading Psalm 45, I will be the first to admit that I was a little confused. It doesn't read (to me) like most of the Psalms - in parts it seems to be speaking to a person, and in parts to God. But I realized yesterday while reading through it again, that the common theme in this Psalm is praise, and that we can glean all kinds of insights from that.

First of all, the author of this Psalm is speaking from his heart. (Says so in verse 1!) This tells us that we should be praising God out of love and heartfelt adoration! I know that many times we tend to discourage or at the very least, frown upon the discussion of our feelings - because we know that we as mere mortals are unreliably emotional beings. But I think when the Bible says to love God with "all our heart," we are supposed to do just that! Even though sometimes we have to rely on our "mind, soul, and strength" to get us through the times when it's hard to love God with all our heart, that is His desire for us.

The second thing I notice is that the psalmist is just speaking words of adoration to the King. It's not, "I am so thankful that you did x, y, and z," but it's "you are fairer than the sons of men," "grace is poured upon your lips," etc. The psalmist is just in love with his king and speaking words of admiration and adoration - simply about the person of the king, and not his actions, per se. When we praise God, we need to be specifically praising characteristics of His - and it's not that it shouldn't be things that have benefitted us, but instead of just being thankful that God helped us through a tough time, we need to praise him that he is merciful and kind and just. (And so on and so forth.)

Verses 10 and 11 were very convicting verses to me, and although they seem rather weird at first, when I read between the lines, they just spoke to my heart. These verses (and FYI, I'm using NASB) say, "Listen O daughter, give attention and incline your ear: forget your people and your father's house; then the King will desire your beauty. Because he is your Lord, bow down to him." While these verses seem to speak to a more physical beauty and physical situation, they also speak of God's heart for our praise and worship - we need to be singularly focused on him. We need to forget everything, and focus all of our attention, efforts, and activities on him. There's a line in a song that I love that says, "Every breath that I breathe, every moment in my history is an effort to praise You." That is what God wants. He wants every breath of praise to be in His direction.

The Psalm ends by detailing the power of our praise. The psalmist says that he will make God's (or the King's) name remembered forever and for all generations. Folks - that is the power that our praise holds! Have you ever thought of your praising God as being powerful? When we praise him, we are lifting up his name. When we praise him, we are letting new generations of believers know that we praise him. And it continues throughout the ages. We are a part of Christianity being given to the next generation! God is using us and our meager praise to keep knowledge of his name going throughout eternity. He has made us a part of his kingdom coming, and for that, he deserves all kinds of praise!