Psalm 45:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father’s house,

NIV: Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention: Forget your people and your father's house.

NASB: Listen, daughter, look and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father’s house;

CSB: Listen, daughter, pay attention and consider: Forget your people and your father's house,

NLT: Listen to me, O royal daughter; take to heart what I say. Forget your people and your family far away.

KJV: Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house;

NKJV: Listen, O daughter, Consider and incline your ear; Forget your own people also, and your father’s house;

The psalmist challenges the prospective bride of the king (Psalm 45:1, 9) to "forget" her people and her father's house. This does not mean to erase them from her memory. Instead, it means to set them aside in favor of her marriage. She was about to begin a new relationship. These words are reminiscent of Genesis 2:24, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." Of course, the relationship is the same for the wife. She, too, must leave her father and mother and hold fast to her husband.

What was true for the king's bride is also true for the Church, Jesus' bride. Christians should renounce their former love of the world. The apostle John writes: "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15). The apostle Paul reported sadly that one of his coworkers had dropped out of missionary work because he loved the world (2 Timothy 4:10). Paul testified that the cross had severed his relationship with the world (Galatians 6:14).

Psalm 45:6–17 describes the glorious king, his bride, and the wedding procession. The original subject of this song was an earthly king and his bride. However, the words also serve as prophecies about the ultimate Davidic King, Jesus Christ.

The psalm begins with the exaggeration for effect common to love songs and works celebrating an earthly king. The groom is described as handsome, powerful, and graceful. The psalm also speaks of an eternal throne—this connects to prophecies about the Messiah (2 Samuel 7:12–13; Hebrews 1:8–9). The Bible often uses marriage images to explain the relationship between Christ and the church, including songs such as this.

This psalm is often identified as a marriage song, likely ascribing praise to a descendant of David. However, its praise transcends a mortal ruler and his wedding. There are messianic interpretations, noted in the New Testament (Hebrews 1:8–9). These references provide another layer of meaning, as they praise the King of kings, Jesus Christ.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.

Accessed 4/29/2024 3:42:17 PM