1 My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and majesty!
4 In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!
5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; the peoples fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor; at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
Comment: I’ve done both, but I’d rather have my hands in a thoracotomy removing a cancerous oesophagus than be at a governmental investiture! I get it, I really do but this poet gets a bit too flowery for me! ‘My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe’ and ‘Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia’ are not the way that I would say things! But I do get it! Primarily this was written for the Jewish king and was probably sang in his presence! And you no doubt would like to make him feel his worthiness and your devotion to him as your king – that deals with the first phrase that I’ve quoted. But what about the second? These substances, although not exactly the mixture as given in Exodus, remind me of the incense which was burnt continuously in the tent before the Holiest of Holies where God was represented as sitting. Or of the gifts which the Magi brought to the infant Jesus, or of the things which they wrapped dead bodies in, even the body of Jesus. Is this psalm meant for another King besides David? Doesn’t line 6 fit ‘more fully’ when attached to Jesus rather than David? The writer of the book of Hebrews seems to have thought so! (Heb 1: 8)
Proverbs 8: 12/13 “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. – Jesus is the fount of all wisdom! (Col 2: 2&3).
Prayer: Jesus help me to understand the full glory of Your Word!
As I read it! 