Hearken, daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; and forget thine own people and thy father's house
Psalm 45 is a wedding song for the King, and until now the singer has been describing Him. At verse 10 the voice turns to the queen at His right hand, and asks her not for admiration but for a clean break with her past.
The psalm changes direction here. One writer notes the turn, and why the psalm calls her a daughter.
Verse 10 turns from the celebration of Christ the King. It now speaks a fitting word of instruction to the queen, Jerusalem, at His right hand. To me this is plainly the Jewish bride in her perfect state. But she is received in the way of grace. So she is called "a daughter," and told to forget her father's house. That was the whole question once argued between Christ and those among that people who professed religion.
The two titles are not a mix-up. Two different things have happened to her.
In verse 10 the psalm calls the queen "daughter." So she is both daughter and bride at the same time. His sovereign grace and power have given her new birth, so she is His daughter. He has also betrothed her to Himself as His bride — the earthly bride. In the same way, though the Church is His bride, the heavenly bride, every individual is by new birth His child. Both relationships — child and bride — are precious. Each teaches a different line of blessing and responsibility. Just as any young woman who marries leaves her natural relationships and her father's house, so Israel, born again, is to put her natural relationships in the background and be devoted to the Lord, the King.
The command is not sentimental. It removes every remaining claim she might bring with her.
"Forget your people and your father's house." That is what the Jews would not do in the time of grace. It was what Christ Himself did when on earth. "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking around at those who sat about Him, He said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!" Under the old covenant they will get nothing. They cannot take the blessings even on the ground of promise — everything has failed. They must come in like Ruth, to take shelter under the shadow of the God of Israel. They have no more title than a Gentile.
"Your father's house" meant something definite to the first hearers: a family line they leaned on.
It was no longer the glory of the fathers — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was the brighter glory of the true royal seed of the house of Judah. Christ is all in all… And now the people are to look to Him, not to the fathers, in whom they had until then boasted. "We are Abraham's offspring" was once their empty boast to the lowly Jesus. But everything has changed now.
The verse asks three things before it asks her to forget. They build on each other.
"Hear, O daughter" — that comes first. This is not casual hearing, but definite and special listening. "And consider." Isaiah's complaint against Israel was that they would not consider. Jeremiah ties their hope of future salvation to the statement that "in the latter day they will consider."
The writer follows an older translation of Jeremiah 23:20, which the ESV renders, "in the latter days you will understand it clearly."
The next verse promises the King will desire her beauty. One writer asks where that beauty comes from.
The psalm sees her coming, like any sinner of the Gentiles, from a place of defilement, and it tells her to leave that place behind. This shows how the king will receive Jerusalem at last: like a returned prodigal. And so he will greatly desire her beauty. For in such is all His delight. It is His own beauty He sees in them — the beauty He Himself has put on them — the shoes, and the ring, and the best robe.
One writer turns the verse on the reader.
What does this teach us? That Christ must come in between the soul and everything here. He must put nature at a distance. I must forget it. Christ must be my first object. Is He the first consideration with us — or is it self, and our houses, and the care of them, the family, the friend, or the father's house? The Spirit of God says here, "Forget your people and your father's house." And Jesus said, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:37).
- Listen — the verse opens with hearing, considering, and inclining the ear. That means deliberate attention, not casual hearing — the very thing Israel refused to give.
- Forget — the past she is told to drop is her claim. She cannot come on promise or ancestry. She comes like Ruth, sheltering under God, with no more title than a Gentile.
- Grace — she comes with nothing, so He calls her daughter. He receives her like a returned prodigal, not like an heir collecting what is owed.
- Beauty — the beauty the King then desires in her is His own, which He Himself put on her: the shoes, the ring, the best robe.
- Now — the same order runs through any heart today. Christ comes in between the soul and everything else, and becomes the first object, ahead of self, home, family, and father's house.
And the king will desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him.
The psalm has been celebrating the King. Now the voice turns to the bride standing at His right hand. The verse sets two things before her: what wins the King's desire, and what she owes Him as her Lord.
One writer marks the point where the psalm stops celebrating the King. From there it speaks to the woman beside Him.
Psalm 45 is Messiah's triumph, reign, and union with the Jewish bride. Verse 10 clearly turns from the celebration of Christ the King, to address a fitting admonition to the queen, Jerusalem, at His right hand. To me this is clearly the Jewish bride in her perfect state. But she is received by way of grace, and so is called "a daughter," and told to forget her father's house. That was the whole question once argued between Christ and those who professed to belong to that people.
The psalm calls her queen and daughter at once. Another writer holds both titles together, and carries the lesson beyond Israel.
In verse 10 the queen is addressed as "daughter." So she is both daughter and bride at the same time... A young lady who marries is to leave her natural relationships and her father's house. In the same way Israel, born again, is to put her natural relationships in the background, and devote herself to the Lord, the King. This will be beauty in the eyes of the King, for "Since He is your lord, bow to him" (v. 11). If this is true of the earthly bride of Christ, how much more true of the Church, the bride with a heavenly inheritance.
(Where the ESV reads "bow to him," the older translation these writers used reads "worship Him.")
The verse ties His desire to what the psalm has just asked of her. One writer finds the same pattern in Rebekah, who left her home and family to marry Isaac.
Here is something beyond imputed beauty. For here we learn the grace in her which kindles His desire. She has forgotten her own people and her father's house, so the King desires her. And she owns Him as Lord, and worships Him. She will render Him affection and homage. And all of this suited and attractive grace was shown in Rebekah. She left all for Isaac... And on reaching him for whom she had consented to all this, she gets down from her animal and veils herself... She loves, and yet bows. And so Isaac desires her. And so is the Church to be subject to Christ, and yet love Him with virgin love.
Another writer looking at the same scene traces her beauty back to the King Himself.
The queen is set at the right hand, adorned in gold of Ophir, and the king greatly desires her beauty. She is all glorious within and without, with the beauty He has put upon her.
The command to forget is about who comes first.
She is to forget her own people, and her father's house. But what does this teach us? That Christ must come in between the soul and everything here. He must put nature at a distance; I must forget it. Christ must be my first object. Is He the first consideration with us? Or is it self and our houses, and the care of them — the family, the friend, or the father's house? The Spirit of God here says, "forget your people and your father's house"; and Jesus said, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me" (Matt. 10:37).
For Israel this means a new centre. The old ground of boasting is gone.
The glory of the fathers — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — was no longer the point. Now there was the brighter glory of the true royal seed of the house of Judah. Christ is all in all. He who loves righteousness and hates wickedness proves Himself fit to govern... And now the people are to look to Him, not to the fathers, in whom they have boasted until now. "We are offspring of Abraham" was once their empty boast to the lowly Jesus. But everything has changed now.
The verse gives desire on His side and homage on hers.
"And the king will desire your beauty." He will then see beauty in you. You will then be for Christ what Eve was to Adam. There is also the other side: "Since He is your lord, bow to him." The claims of the Lord weigh with those who have Christ as their object. What joy when our souls enter into this in any measure! Christ eclipsing everything, and worship freely flowing out to Him.
- Grace first. Grace receives her, so He calls her "daughter." The beauty He desires is the beauty He Himself has put on her.
- Grace forgets. What she leaves — her people, her father's house — is the very thing the verse says draws the King's desire.
- Grace displaces. Christ must come between the soul and everything else here. The old boast in Abraham gives way to looking at Him alone.
- Grace bows. "Since He is your lord" is the reason given; His claims weigh with those whose object is Christ.
- Grace worships. The end of it all is Christ eclipsing everything, with worship flowing out to Him. That is the earthly bride's portion, and even more the Church's.