VII. PRAISING THE KING
IN THE PRAISING OF THE QUEEN
WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF KINGS
AMONG THE KING’S MOST HONORABLE WOMEN
AND THE VIRGINS, THE QUEEN’S COMPANIONS
In verses 9 through 15 we have the praising of the king in the praising of the queen with the daughters of kings among the king’s most honorable women and the virgins, the queen’s companions.
A. The Daughters of Kings
Being among the King’s Most Honorable Women
Verse 9a says, "The daughters of kings are among your most prized [honorable]." The daughters of the kings signify the believers of Christ in their royalty, and the king’s most honorable (or, glorious) women signify the believers of Christ in their honor and majesty. Not only does the king have honor and majesty, but the queen and the women around her also have honor and majesty. This is a type, a picture, of the church with the believers.
In the New Testament we have a clear word concerning the church and the believers. Paul exhorted us to behave in a way that matches our status. For instance, in Ephesians 4:1 he beseeches us to walk worthily of the calling with which we were called. However, Paul’s word of exhortation cannot compare with the revelation regarding our status as believers given in the type in Psalm 45. Do you realize that, as a believer, you are one of "the daughters of kings"? We all, males and females, are daughters of kings because we have been born of the King and thus are of the royal family. We need to realize that Psalm 45 speaks about us. If we have this realization, we will say, "Lord, I am one of the daughters of the King, one of the honorable women. I have royalty, honor, and majesty. I am not an ordinary person." This is our status as believers.
If we are conscious of our royal status, our behavior will be changed and our character will be uplifted. We will not sell ourselves cheaply and we will not fight or quarrel with others, but will behave ourselves more honorably. Then, as a husband and wife, will we argue, behaving like "scorpions"? If we realize that we are royal people, our behavior will surely be affected by our understanding of the mysterious, spiritual, and heavenly things, the things which are related to the invisible scene in the universe.
In Psalm 45 we have some features of the spiritual scene that are not found in the New Testament. This is why we need the types, the symbols. I wish to emphasize the fact that in this psalm we have a strange and wonderful type of Christ—the type of a man with hundreds of wives. Remember, this symbol is a matter not of ethics but of typology. With respect to typology, there was the need for Solomon and his many wives. For this reason, God created Solomon and appointed him to be the king above all the kings. God even created the princesses who were to come from Egypt and other nations to be Solomon’s wives. God did all this so that in the Bible there would be this particular type of the church composed of the believers to be the corporate wife of Christ.
From this Old Testament type we see that the believers are Christ’s counterpart. In one sense, He is the King and we are the queen, His wife. In another sense, we are the components of the queen. These components are signified by the many virgins, the queen’s companions. Since in verse 14 the words "virgins" and "friends" are in apposition, they refer to the same persons. According to the type, this signifies that the queen here is not an individual; rather, she is corporate, and all her companions are her components, with whom she is constituted and composed to be the wife of Christ the King.
The proper way to understand Psalm 45 is to understand it according to typology. If we understand the type, we have the key to understanding the entire psalm. However, apart from understanding the type, we have no way to understand this psalm, and the more we read it, the more we will be led into a "forest."
Understanding Psalm 45 according to typology, we see that the King is Christ. Christ has only one queen, a corporate queen composed of the overcomers. The components of this queen are believers, but these believers are not the defeated ones. If they were defeated ones and not overcoming ones, they would not be honorable or majestic. I hope that we all will be among the overcomers and thus be components of the bride of Christ.
(Life-Study of Psalms, Chapter 21, by Witness Lee)
