Psalm 45

¹ My heart overflows with a noble theme. I recite my verses for the king. My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.

² You are the most excellent of the sons of men. Grace has anointed your lips, therefore God has blessed you forever.

³ Strap your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and your majesty.

⁴ In your majesty ride on victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness. Let your right hand display awesome deeds.

⁵ Your arrows are sharp. The nations fall under you, with arrows in the heart of the king’s enemies.

⁶ Your throne, God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.

⁷ You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

⁸ All your garments smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia. Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.

⁹ Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women. At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir.

¹⁰ Listen, daughter, consider, and turn your ear. Forget your own people, and also your father’s house.

¹¹ So the king will desire your beauty, honor him, for he is your lord.

¹² The daughter of Tyre comes with a gift. The rich among the people entreat your favor.

¹³ The princess inside is all glorious. Her clothing is interwoven with gold.

¹⁴ She shall be led to the king in embroidered work. The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you.

¹⁵ With gladness and rejoicing they shall be led. They shall enter into the king’s palace.

¹⁶ Your sons will take the place of your fathers. You shall make them princes in all the earth.

¹⁷ I will make your name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.

Around Psalm 45

Book context

PsalmsEditorial draft

Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers used in Israel’s worship, written by several people over a long period. Headings name David most often, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah and others. The collection falls into five books, each ending with a short blessing of the LORD (41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48), and it closes with a call for everything that has breath to praise the LORD (150:6). The psalms hold praise, lament, thanksgiving, confession and trust, so readers find words for nearly every season of life.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · broad consensus · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

About Psalms as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

“How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?” A prayer can begin like that, and in the Psalms it does. Four times the poet asks how long, and then, in the same short song, comes the turn: “But I trust in your loving kindness.”

That honesty runs through the whole book. Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers, and it holds praise, thanksgiving, lament, confession, songs for the king, and reflections on wisdom and on God's law. It is arranged in five books and moves, on the whole, from many laments at the start to pure praise at the end.

Joy, fear, anger, guilt and doubt are all spoken to God directly.

Background

The psalms were written and gathered over several centuries. Their headings link about half of them with David and others with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Moses. They were sung in the worship of the temple and later in synagogues and churches.

How Christians read it

Jews and Christians have prayed the Psalms daily for well over two thousand years. The New Testament quotes them more than any other book and reads many as speaking of Christ, among them Psalms 2, 22 and 110. The psalms that call for judgment on enemies are hard to read. Many understand them as handing vengeance over to God instead of taking it oneself.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

Report a mistake