All glorious is the king's daughter within; her clothing is of wrought gold
Psalm 45 is a wedding song for a King whose throne is God's own. Here the singer turns from public splendour to the bride herself, and commentators have long asked who she is and what her hidden glory means.
The bride is not only married into royalty. She was born into it, and one writer links this to a line in the letter to the Hebrews.
She is now not only a king's bride; she is also a "king's daughter." Her birth is royal too: her husband need not be ashamed of her in this respect. As Hebrews says, "For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why He is not ashamed to call them brothers." They are born of God as to the new nature. He was Son of God from the virgin's womb, without any taint of sin at all. You would think that difference alone would be enough to make Him ashamed to call them brothers. Yet He is not ashamed.
One writer reads the bride as the city of Jerusalem in a coming day.
Jerusalem is not only glorious for the display of the great King, but is glorious in His eyes as having a special place of favour and intimacy with Him.
Commentators differ here. Some read it as a place: the King's own chambers, the nearest relationship to Him. That reading keeps the earthly bride distinct from the heavenly one.
We must not confuse the description of the heavenly bride with that of the earthly. "Bride of the Lamb" applies to the heavenly assembly, which He presents to Himself all glorious, without spot, morally perfect. The earthly bride, or queen, is also "all glorious within;" but the "within" seems to refer to the chambers of the King, the nearest relationship to the King.
Others supply no building at all. They read the word of the bride herself. (The ESV, with "in her chamber," follows the reading they reject.)
Is this within the palace, or within the litter that is carrying her when she is "brought to the king"? Or is it "inwardly" — is she all-glorious not merely externally, but within herself? Certainly the last is most consistent with the context… Whose palace? Not the king's, for her being brought to him follows this. Her father's, say Delitzsch and Moll, or her own chamber before she is brought out. If so, it is mere scenery, too much imported into the word to gain so little. Spiritually there is no gain at all: "the king's daughter" leads us naturally to think of what she is herself spiritually.
The gold is not raw ore. Someone mined it and worked it. One writer reads the verse both ways — what she is inside, and what covers her.
Some translators have thought it necessary to add the words "the palace." This involves a painful lack of discernment, for it is God's view of her that is emphasised here. It is the same in 1 Peter 3:4, which speaks of a godly wife whose adorning should be "the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." It is new birth that makes this wonderful difference in her from others. But her clothing is also of "wrought gold," mined from the earth but worked on by an expert. So God's workmanship gives believers this beauty on the outside as well as inside.
If the queen of verse 9 shows the kingdom's public glory, this scene shows something meant for one pair of eyes.
This is not the displayed glory of the kingdom, as in the queen in verse 9. It is the place of intimacy within the dwelling of the King, where the adornment of the King's daughter is for the eye and pleasure of the King. The wrought gold tells of divine righteousness worked in the saints by the Spirit's power. The embroidered robe tells of the precious features of Christ shown in the days of testimony for His pleasure.
Nothing she wears began with her.
And we read of the beauty of the King's daughter that she is "all glorious within." Here are her moral adornings, graced with the virtues of Christ. His beauty is what she shines in, and because of it He gets the praise: "Therefore the people will praise you."
- Birth — She is a King's daughter before she is a King's bride. The One who sanctifies and those He sanctifies share one source, so He is not ashamed to call them brothers.
- Within — Commentators differ. Some read it as the King's inner chambers, the place of nearest intimacy. Others read it as the bride's own inward glory and supply no palace at all.
- Gift — New birth makes the difference inside her. The gold is worked, not raw ore, so her outward beauty is God's work too.
- Audience — Verse 9 shows glory on display. This adornment is for the eye and pleasure of the King.
- Result — Her glory is His beauty put upon her, so the praise that follows goes back to Him.
She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of embroidery; the virgins behind her, her companions, shall be brought in unto thee
The psalm has already set the queen at the King's right hand. Now the bride herself comes in, with a train of companions behind her. Who is this royal daughter, what do her embroidered robes stand for, and who are the ones who follow her in?
One writer identifies the queen as Jerusalem herself. On that reading, "within" in the previous verse marks how close she stands to the King.
This psalm shows Messiah in judgment and taking the throne... He is greeted as God. I take it that the queen is Jerusalem. Tyre and others acknowledge her with presents. She is gloriously received into the chambers of the king himself. This, I take it, is the force of "within." She is in the closest relationship with the king. The virgins her companions are, I suppose, the cities of Judah.
Older translations call the bride's clothing "raiment of needlework." The same word describes the curtains of Israel's tent of worship and the priest's woven sash.
The veil of the tabernacle, the ten curtains, and the hangings for the door and for the gate of the court were all of needlework. They were blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. The coat of fine linen for the priest was embroidered. His sash was fine twined linen in blue, purple, and scarlet, of needlework... It is a picture of the graces and glories which combine in the person of our great High Priest the Lord Jesus Christ.
Another writer sets the embroidery beside the gold mentioned earlier in the psalm. He sorts the three layers by asking who did the work in each.
The bride of Psalm 45 may not stand for the church exactly, yet we find important principles about her, and about the Jewish people. She is seen at her Lord's right hand, the place of honour: she is in "gold of Ophir" (v. 9), that is, in divine righteousness, entirely the work of God, as virgin gold is. She is also "all glorious within; her clothing is of wrought gold" (v. 13), that is the work of the Spirit and its final effects — "within" in the heart, and outside in the "clothing," her eternal character. But there is something besides this glorious clothing... By the Father's surpassing favour she is brought in "raiment of needlework." That is to say, her own good works "cannot be hid" (1 Tim. 5:25). When "His wife has made herself ready," it shall be "granted to her to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white." For "the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints" (Rev. 19:7-8).
One writer reads her coloured robes through an earlier coat of many colours in Genesis. He sees grace at work in her companions too.
So she is brought to the King in robes of many colours (v. 14), just as Joseph's coat of many colours (Gen. 37:3) pointed to the many different virtues of godliness, seen first of all in the Lord Jesus. The bride also has companions who are virgins — no doubt people from the nations, drawn by the grace of God to share in the blessed privilege of faith in the living God. It is the pure grace of God that brings them to come with gladness and rejoicing to enter the King's palace (v. 15).
Commentators differ over the virgin companions. Darby takes them as the cities of Judah. Others read them as people from the nations, or as the faithful of the other tribes.
The King's daughter may tell us of the godly remnant of Judah, who went through the special trials in Judea in the days of antichrist. The virgins her companions may speak of the godly from among the other tribes. In different circumstances, they stayed loyal to Christ while He was away — those in other parts of the land, and those scattered among the nations. All will have their part with Christ within the ivory palaces, in the place of intimacy and favour... Gladness and rejoicing will be their portion then, His fitting answer to their place of reproach, suffering and sorrow.
One writer takes the picture forward to the wedding feast. Some come as the bride; others come as guests.
It will truly be the day of the gladness of His heart, but others will be called to share in the joy and gladness of the feast. They will not be present as the Bride of the Lamb, but as guests at the feast... Of such there is a great host called by the grace of God throughout the ages before the cross. They will not form the Bride of Christ, but like the companions who follow the King's daughter, they will be brought to the King.
- Brought. She does not walk in on her own. She is led to the King, and grace brings her companions in with her.
- Clothed. The gold of Ophir is God's own work. The wrought gold is the Spirit's work in her. The embroidery is her own good deeds — layers, not rivals.
- Woven. The same needlework hung in Israel's tent of worship and clothed the priest — a picture of the graces that meet in Christ Himself.
- Followed. She does not enter alone. Commentators differ on who follows her: the cities of Judah, the other tribes, or people from the nations.
- Received. All are brought into the palace with gladness — the King's answer to years of reproach and sorrow.