Psalms 45:4

And in thy majesty ride prosperously,.... Not literally, as was prophesied of him he should, and as he did, Zechariah 9:9; but mystically and spiritually, either in the chariots of angels up to

And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. And in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness (and) righteousness.

In thy majesty; being thus gloriously or magnificently girt and armed. Ride prosperously; march on speedily (which is signified by riding) and successfully against thine enemies, i.e. thou shalt do so, as it is in the last clause, shall teach thee. So imperatives are oft put for futures, and predictions are expressed in the form of commands or exhortations. Because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness; or, because of thy truth, &c., i.e. because thou art worthy of this dominion and success; for thou neither didst obtain nor wilt manage thy kingdom by deceit or violence and unrighteousness, as the princes of the earth frequently do, but with truth and faithfulness, with meekness and gentleness towards thy people, and to all that shall submit to thee; with impartial justice and equity, whereby thy throne will be established, 20:28. Or, as it is in the Hebrew, word for word, upon the word of truth, &c.; which may seem best to suit with the foregoing words, which according to the Hebrew are, prosper thou, ride thou, and then immediately follows, upon the Word of truth, &c., to wit, the gospel; which is oft called truth, as , &c., and the word of truth, ; and may no less truly be called the word of meekness, because it is not delivered with terror, as the law was at Sinai, but meekly and sweetly by Christ, and by his ministers, ; and the word of righteousness, because it brings in everlasting righteousness, , and strongly obligeth and exciteth all men to the practice of righteousness and holiness. And so the gospel is compared to a horse or chariot, upon which Christ is said to ride, when the gospel is preached, and carried about from place to place, . And this may be here added, to show the great difference between the kingdoms of the world, that are managed with outward pomp and glory, and the kingdom of Christ, which is a spiritual kingdom, and, like a spouse, , all glorious wi&in, as consisting in spiritual virtues and graces, truth, meekness, and righteousness. Thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things, i.e. thou shalt do great and glorious exploits, which shall be grievous and terrible to thine enemies, as the next verse explains it, and this not by great forces, and the assistance of others, but by thine own single power; compare ; which doth by no means agree to Solomon, who was a man of peace, and not engaged in any martial actions against his enemies; and if he had done any thing considerable in that kind, he could not do it by his own right hand, but by the help of his soldiers. But this doth excellently agree to the Messias, and to him only. Object. The things which were done by the Messias at his first coming were rather comfortable than terrible. Answ.

Psalms 45:4 And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness [and] righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.Ver. 4. And in thy majesty ride prosperously] Heb. Prosper thou, ride thou upon the word of truth, Equita super verbum veritatis, of meekness and of righteousness, q.d. Ride thou in thy triumphant chariot, as it were, drawn by those three glorious graces, truth, meekness, and righteousness; and governed by the word, as by the chariot man. Cui divinissimae allegoriae explicandae pro rei gravitate ac dignitate integro vohmine opus esset, saith Beza, for the explaining of which most divine allegory, according to the worth of it, a whole volume might well be full written. The kings of the earth for the most part have their chariots drawn by other horses, viz. pride, ambition, cruelty, &c., as Sesostris, king of Egypt, Qui Pharios currus regum cervicibus egit. And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things] i.e. Shall enable thee to perform them. Christ, riding on his white horse (his apostles and preachers), went forth conquering and to conquer, Revelation 6:2. Solomon was no such swordman as was Jesus Christ. Aμφοτερος Bασιλευςταγαθος, κρατεροςταιχμητης.

(4) And in thy majesty.—The repetition of this word from the last verse (conjunction included) is suspicious, especially as the LXX., followed by the Vulg., render, “Direct (thine arrows or thine aim”). Ride prosperously . . .—Literally, proceed, ride; expressing, according to a common Hebrew usage, by two verbs what we express by adverb and verb. Because of . . .—Better, In behalf of. So LXX. and Vulg. There is a difficulty from the absence of the conjunction in the Hebrew before the last of the triad of virtues. The LXX. have it, but may have supplied it, as the Authorised Version does. Some render, “meek righteousness,” or, slightly changing the pointing, “the afflicted righteous.” And thy right hand shall teach . . .—If we keep this rendering, we must picture the warrior with his right hand extended, pointing to the foe whom he is about to strike with his deadly arrows. But even this seems somewhat tame; and as the verb rendered “teach” is in 1 Samuel 20:20 used for “shooting arrows,” and “arrows” are mentioned immediately in the next verse, it seems obvious to render: And thy right hand shall shoot terrors, or, terribly. (Comp. Psalms 65:5.)

Verse 4. In thy majesty ride prosperously] These words cannot be spoken of Solomon; they are true only of Christ. His riding is the prosperous progress of his Gospel over the earth. He uses no sword but the sword of the Spirit; and what religion, system of truth, pretended or real, ever made such progress as the religion of Christ has done, without one sword being ever drawn to propagate it from the first introduction of Christianity to the present time? His Gospel is TRUTH, proclaiming HUMILITY, ענוה anvah, and RIGHTEOUSNESS. This, indeed, is the sum of the Gospel; and an epitome of its operations in the hearts of men. 1. The Gospel is a revelation of eternal TRUTH, in opposition to all false systems of religion, and to all figurative and ceremonial representations of the true religion. It is truth concerning GOD, his NATURE, and his WORKS. It is truth concerning MAN, his ORIGIN, his INTENTS, his DUTIES, and his END. It is truth in what it says concerning the natural, the moral, and the invisible world. 2. It teaches the doctrine of meekness or HUMILITY; opposes pride and vain glory; strips man of his assumed merits; proclaims and enforces the necessity of humiliation or repentance because of sin, humiliation under the providential hand of God, and humility in imitation of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout life. 3. The Gospel teaches RIGHTEOUSNESS: shows the nature of sin, wrong, injustice, transgression, c. works righteousness in the heart; and directs and influences to the practice of it in all the actions of life. The Gospel leads him who is under its influences to give to all their due; to GOD, to his neighbour, to himself. And it is by the propagation of truth, humility, and righteousness, that the earth has become so far blessed, and the kingdom of Christ become extended among men. And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.] The Chaldee is different: "And the Lord will teach thee to perform terrible things by thy right hand." The Arabic: "And with admiration shall thy right hand direct thee." The Septuagint: "And thy right hand shall lead thee wonderfully." To the same purpose are the Vulgate, Anglo-Saxon, and the old Psalter. The meaning is, Nothing shall be able to resist thee, and the judgments which thou shalt inflict on thine enemies shall be terrible.

4. And in thy majesty] The single word of the original is an exact repetition of the last word of Psa 45:3. Such repetitions are a common poetical figure; but the construction is harsh, the prep. in not being expressed; the word is omitted by the Syr. (probably) and Jer. (ed. Lagarde); and may be due to an early error of transcription. The consonants are recognised by the LXX, but differently vocalised and rendered, and bend [thy bow]. This rendering however involves a doubtful ellipse, and the mention of the bow is hardly in place here. ride prosperously] Ride on victoriously, on warhorse or in chariot, forcing a way irresistibly through the ranks of the enemy. because of truth] Better, in the cause of truth: in defence and furtherance of virtues which are trampled under foot in evil times and under bad rulers. (Isaiah 59:14-15). Truth and righteousness are the constant attributes of the true king: meekness is the characteristic of the true people of God; and it is the king’s work to see that the meek have justice done them. Cp. Isaiah 11:1-5; Isaiah 29:19; Zephaniah 2:3; Psalms 37:11; Psalms 76:9; &c. shall teach thee] Or, and let thy right hand teach thee terrible things, an epithet applied to the marvellous works of God for His people, inspiring them with a holy awe, and their foes with a panic terror (Deuteronomy 10:21; 2 Samuel 7:23; Isaiah 64:3; Psalms 65:5; Psalms 106:22; Psalms 145:6). By a bold figure the king’s right hand, i. e. his strength and courage, is said to teach or shew him terrible things, as his success in battle reveals the divine energy with which he has been endowed.

And in thy majesty ride prosperously - Margin, “Prosper thou, ride thou.” The majesty here referred to is the glory or magnificence which became a prince of such rank, and going forth to such deeds.

4. Ride prosperously—The figure is that of a conqueror in his war chariot.