Psalm 45

You are the most handsome of men;
grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you for ever.
Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your glory and majesty.
In your majesty ride on victoriously
for the cause of truth and to defend the right;
let your right hand teach you dread deeds.
Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king’s enemies;
the peoples fall under you.
Your throne is a throne of God, it endures for ever and ever.
Your royal sceptre is a sceptre of equity;
you love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;
your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;
daughters of kings are among your ladies of honour;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

Every time this psalm is assigned, I smirk and shake my head.

I doubt I have ever before chosen it for comment.

It is clearly a royal wedding song, a mostly secular piece.

It articulates a persistent archetype: the handsome, brave, and pure hero.

The hero honors God, is just and righteous; he has been anointed with the oil of gladness.

I do not conform to the archetype, yet God has given me much cause for gladness.

The hero personifies every physical grace, but what truly matters is loving God and neighbor with all our heart and soul and mind.

Psalm 45