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PSALM 45

To him that presides upon Shoshannim; for the sons of Korah, instruction, a Song of Loves.

1. My heart swells with a noble theme; I will speak of my works to the king; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
2. You are more beautiful than the sons of man; grace is poured into your lips, therefore god has blessed you for ever.
3. Gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty, with your glory and your majesty.
4. And in your majesty ride prosperously on the Word of truth, of meekness, and of justice; and your right hand shall teach you wonderful things.
5. Yours arrows are sharp; the people shall fall under you; they shall penetrate the heart of the king's enemies.
6. Your throne, O god, is for ever and ever, a sceptre of rectitude is the sceptre of your kingdom.
7. You love justice, and hate iniquity; therefore god, your god, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.
8. All your garments are anointed with myrrh, aloes, and casia; out of the ivory palaces they have made you glad with stringed instruments.
9. King's daughters are among your excellent women, on your right hand stands the queen in the best gold of Ophir.
10. Hear, O daughter, and see, incline your ear; forget also your own people and your father's house.
11. Then shall the king greatly desire your beauty, for he is your lord, and bow yourself down before him.
12. And the daughter of Tyre shall come with a gift; the rich among your people shall entreat your favour.
13. The king's daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is embroidered with gold.
14. She shall be brought to the king in clothing of needlework; the virgins, her friends, that follow her shall be brought to you.
15. With gladness and exultation shall they be brought; they shall enter into the king's palace.
16. In the place of your fathers shall be your sons; you shall make them princes in all the earth.
17. I will make your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore shall the people praise you for ever and ever.

Verses 1, 2, 3, 5. A song of love, my heart swells with a noble theme; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer; you are more beautiful than the son of man; grace is poured into your lips; ride on the Word of truth, of meekness and of justice; your right hand shall teach you wonderful things. To ride on the Word of Truth, of meekness and if justice, is to teach the doctrine of truth and of good; in this, as in other parts of the Word, a distinct signification is affixed to word, mouth, lip, and tongue; that they have reference to the doctrine concerning charity, is manifest, because it is called a song of loves, of which doctrine is predicated a beauty superior to the sons of man, grace of the lip, a right hand which teaches wonderful things. AC 1288.

To ride on the Word of truth manifestly denotes the intelligence of truth, and upon the Word of meekness and of justice, denotes the wisdom of good. AC 2761.

Verses 2 to 9. That the contents of these verses have relation to the lord, is evident from singular the things contained in this Psalm, and hence that he it is of whom it is written, god has anointed you, your god, with the oil of gladness, with myrrh, aloes, and casia, are all your garments: from the series it may be manifest what is signified by these words, namely: that he has divine wisdom, and that from him is the doctrine of divine truth; this is signified by being more beautiful than the sons of man, by grace being poured on your lips; beautiful signifies being wise, the sons of man signify their intelligence in divine truth, and lips signify doctrinals: his omnipotence from divine truth grounded in divine good, and hence the destruction of falses and of evils, and the subjugation of the hells, is signified by gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty, with your glory and majesty and in your majesty ride prosperously on the word of truth, of meekness and of justice, your right hand shall teach you wonderful things, your arrows are sharp; the people shall fall under you; they penetrate the heart of the king's enemies: by a sword is signified truth fighting against what is false and destroying it; by chariot the doctrine of Truth in like manner by the Word of Truth; by riding is signified to instruct and to combat; by the right hand Omnipotence; by arrows are signified Truths combating, by people those who are in the false principles of evil, and by the king's enemies those who are against Truths, thus the hells; that hence he has a kingdom and dominion, is signified by your throne O god, is for ever and ever, a sceptre of rectitude is the sceptre of your kingdom; a sceptre of rectitude is the Divine Truth which has power and a kingdom; that in consequence of delivering the good from damnation by destroying the evil, the essential Divine [principle] united itself to its Human [principle], is signified by you have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore god has anointed you, your god, with the oil of gladness above your companions; to love justice and to hate iniquity, signifies to deliver the good from damnation by destroying the evil; to anoint with the oil of gladness signifies to unite himself by victories in temptations; god, your God, signifies the reciprocal union of the Human [principle] with the Divine, and of the Divine with the Human-Divine Truths united with Divine Goods are signified by he anointed with myrrh, aloes and casia all your garments, myrrh signifying the good of the ultimate degree, aloes the good of the second, and casia the good of the third; in like manner as those three aromatics mixed with oil of olive whence the oil of holiness by which anointing was made' Exod 30:23, 24; this oil signified the Divine good of the Divine love, and the garments which were anointed signify Divine Truths; that the spiritual affections of truth are for those who are of his kingdom, is signified by the daughters of kings being among your excellent women, the daughters of kings being the spiritual affections of truth, which are said to be excellent when the truths are genuine; and that heaven and the church are in his protection and conjoined to him, because in love to him from him, is signified by the queen standing at his right hand in the best gold of Ophir; queen signifying heaven and the church; at the right hand [signifying in protection and conjunction with him, find the best gold of Ophir denoting love to the lord. AE 684.

Verse 3. Gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty, with your glory and majesty, ride upon the Word of Truth. To gird the sword upon the thigh signifies divine truth combating from divine good, that this is signified by sword upon the thigh, see AC 10485; and whereas from divine truth he subdued the hells, and arranged the heavens into order, therefore it is said, O most mighty, with your glory and majesty, and also, ride on the Word of Truth; to ride on the Word of Truth signifies to act from divine good by divine truth. AE 288. See also AE 298.

Inasmuch as chariots and horses signify doctrine from the Word and the understanding of it, and all doctrine of truth and its understanding is out of heaven from the lord, therefore it is said of him, that he rides on the Word, on the clouds, on heaven, on a cherub, and that he causes to ride. AE 355.

Verses 7, 8. That odoriferous myrrh denotes sensual truth, is manifest from David, "You have loved justice, therefore god has anointed you, your god, with the oil of gladness above your companions, with myrrh, aloes, and casia; all your garments," those things are said of the lord, who alone is the anointed of jehovah, since the divine good of the divine love, which is signified by the oil of anointing, was in him; by his garments, which are said to be anointed with myrrh, aloes, and casia, are signified divine truths from divine good in the natural principle. AC 10262.

Verse 9. On your right hand did stand the queen in the best gold of Ophir. In the Word throughout it is said of angels and of the men of the church, that they stand before god, also that they walk before him, and in the spiritual sense by standing before him is signified to be from him, and by walking before god is signified to live according to being from him. AE 639.

By a queen, who stood at the right hand in the gold of Ophir, is signified the church from the reception of good from the lord; inasmuch as all things belonging to man, which are on the right side, have reference to good from which truth is derived, and those on the left side to truth derived from good, therefore it is said that the queen stands on the right hand. AC 9941, and AR 620, and AC 9688.

Verse 11. Hear, O daughter, and see, incline your ear, then shall the king greatly desire your beauty. To hear, to see, and to incline the ear, which are said of the king's daughter, signifies to hearken, to perceive, and to obey, thus to understand, to do, and to be wise from the lord; that in such case she will be accepted of the lord, is signified by then shall the king greatly desire your beauty; beauty is predicated of the affection of truth, for this makes the beauty of angels; therefore bow down yourself to him signifies worship from a humble heart; and the daughter of Tyre shall send a gift signifies worship from those who are in the knowledges of truth; the rich among the people shall entreat your favour signifies adoration from those who are in intelligence derived from those knowledges; the king's daughter is all glorious within, signifies the spiritual affection of truth, which is said to be glorious from the abundance of truth, and within signifies what is spiritual; her clothing of the foldings of gold signifies truths formed from the good of love; she shall be brought to the king in needlework, signifies appearances of truth, such as are in the sense of the letter of the Word; her friends that follow her signify the spiritual and natural affections subservient; with gladness and exultation shall they be brought, they shall enter into the king's palace, signifies with heavenly joy into heaven, where the lord is. AE 863. See also AE 242 and AE 412.

Verses 14, 15. The king's daughter is all glorious within, her clothing is embroidered with gold, she shall be brought to the king in clothing of needlework. By the king's daughter is signified the spiritual affection of truth, and hence the church consisting of those who are in that affection; king signifies the Lord as to divine truth; clothing embroidered with gold signifies intelligence and wisdom from that truth; the needlework in which she shall be brought to the king are the knowledges of truth. AE 195.