Psalms 45:13

The King’s daughter is all glorious within.

The King’s daughter glorious within and clothed with a garment of wrought gold

I. The believer’s inward glory.

1. All true believers have a glorious life. They live a life of justification, a life of holiness, and of sweet fellowship with God.

2. Believers have a glorious understanding and knowledge of God and Divine things. They have all received a heart to know God as their God in Christ; and that knowledge is eternal life begun.

3. Believers have a glorious conformity to and compliance with the will of God, wrought in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.

4. All true believers have a precious faith in, and a glorious love to, God in Christ implanted in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.

5. Believers have a glorious inward peace (Romans 5:1), a peace that “passeth knowledge,” a peace that the world knows not of, and which it can neither give nor take away.

6. Believers are possessed of a glorious joy and spiritual gladness. They stand by faith upon the sure foundation which God hath laid in Zion, and “rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2).

7. Believers are possessed of a meek and humble frame of heart and spirit, which is a great ornament to the soul in the sight of God; and is accordingly said to be of great price in His esteem (1 Peter 3:4).

II. The apparel wherewith the believer is clothed. “Wrought gold.”

1. What we are to understand by it. All true believers are daughters of the King; they are chaste virgins, being espoused to His Son. They are a peculiar people; they dwell alone, and are not reckoned among the nations.

2. Its excellence.

(1) It is of an infinite value and worth, being “the righteousness of God” (Romans 1:17). It is a righteousness of God’s providing. The glorious Person who wrought out this righteousness is God (Romans 9:5); and the applier of it is God the Holy Ghost.

(2) It is of a durable and lasting nature.

(3) It is a garment for glory and for beauty.

(4) It is perfect and unsullied.

III. Use.

1. For information.

(1) Hence, see what a great and wonderful change, union to the person of Christ makes in the case of a poor, guilty, polluted sinner.

(2) Hence, see that imputed righteousness and inherent holiness go hand in hand together; where the one is, there is also the other.

(3) Hence, see what a precious thing the Gospel is; and how highly it ought to be had in estimation by all who enjoy it in purity. It reveals and brings the clothing of wrought gold near to the naked and starving soul (Isaiah 46:11).

(4) Hence, see that when one grace is implanted in the heart, there all grace is to be found.

(5) We may hence see the difference between the true believer and the hypocrite. The latter may have as fair an outside as the former; but he has no inward glory.

(6) Hence see who they are that are truly the excellent ones of the earth. They are not those whom the world generally takes to be so; nor those who are most disposed to account themselves so; but the truly excellent and honourable persons are those who are clothed in the robe of wrought gold, the embroidered garment of Immanuel’s righteousness, and made glorious within. These are the men whom the King hath highly advanced, and whom He delights to honour. (T. Bennet.)

The internal glory of the King’s daughter

The spiritual union that exists between Christ and His Church is here beautifully described. Within her pale were to be found in future ages the noble, the learned and the great. Kings’ daughters were to tread her courts and defend her bulwarks. Her territory was to be enlarged, for the “daughter of Tyre” was to be there as pro-figurative of that vast and large accession of heathen nations to the profession Of the Christian faith.

I. God’s glory is displayed in her as his residence and place of habitation. Transcendent on this account are the glory and beauty of the Church, which is called “the city of God” (Psalms 46:4). In this city God dwells--“God is in the midst of her” (Psalms 46:5); and she cannot but be glorious, because God delights in her for man’s good: He is represented as “loving the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob” (Psalms 48:2). The Church is described as “beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth” (Psalms 48:2). Yea, “glorious things are spoken of thee, thou city of God” (Psalms 87:3). Christ has secured to His Church the perpetuity of His presence by His own unalterable words (Matthew 28:20). The Church is the depositary of God’s Word (1 Timothy 3:15). “The Church is a witness and a keeper of holy writ” (Art. 20); and by her is manifested “all the glory of the Godhead in the face of Jesus Christ.” Angels above and men below consider His salvation of His people glorious (Luke 15:7). “The unsearchable riches of Christ “are preached, “to the intent that now unto the principalities,” etc. (Ephesians 3:10). God does not now answer His people in a visible way, by Urim and Thummim, but yet in a real and effectual way, “drawing nigh to them that draw nigh to Him”; and, though God be neglected and forgotten and despised, yet “He is known in her palaces for a refuge” (Psalms 48:3)--“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1).

II. The King’s daughter is all glorious within because God’s children are born is her, The figure of being “all glorious within” is, no doubt, taken from the splendour of Eastern palaces. The Asiatic queens, sultanas and begums scarcely ever appeared in public. They remained, as they do to the present day, in their harems, amidst splendid and gorgeous decorations. In the former part of the psalm are described the excellencies of God--in the latter part the excellencies of God’s Church. Now, whether we speak of the Church collectively, or of individual believers, their graces, their gifts, and their holiness, are the fruits of Christ’s passion and the work of the Holy Ghost, who renews the heart and rectifies the will. “Of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her” (Psalms 87:6). When a man is born again from above, he is accepted of God in the Beloved; Christ’s righteousness covers his past sins, and gives him a title to heaven. But the work does not stop here. Along with the title to heaven given to the believer in justification, there is also wrought in his heart, a meetness for heaven by sanctification. And what a privilege is this! Satan is trodden down under foot; the old man is supplanted by the new man; a depraved nature gives way to a divine nature; the image of Christ is imprinted on the heart; the believer is made like his Lord and Master--is changed from glory to glory. Now, whence is the source of all these blessings? They proceed from the King of the Church--from Him who has adopted the Church to be His daughter. With this agrees the language of the apostle (1 Corinthians 1:30). God is the Church’s glory; her honour, her wisdom and her grace proceed from Him who is, and shall be, the praise of the redeemed for ever.

III. The king’s daughter is all glorious, because she is emblematic of heaven itself. Surely, when we are robed in Christ’s righteousness and blessed with His salvation, we shall go to the Church triumphant, of which the Church militant is a type, and has a rich foretaste. When the Church of Christ is fully prepared, she will at last be presented to God without spot. The union begun on earth will be satisfied and avowed in the King’s palace in heaven. Then will it be shouted through the universe (Revelation 19:7). Then will there be a jubilee on earth; and then will the angels tune their golden harps to joyous hallelujahs in the heavens. The Church of God will then be complete; “she shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework,” etc. Then will angels rejoice; then will prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and saints in glory sing (Revelation 5:13). Surely the Church is an emblem of heaven; for all who are born in her “are come unto Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22). The temple of God on earth and His temple in heaven are two parts of one glorious whole. They enjoy distinctions far above any earthly temple. Of our earthly Zion it is said (Isaiah 60:19). And thus it is also in the heavenly Zion (Revelation 21:23). It is but one family inhabiting both the one city and the other, even the family of our Lord Jesus Christ; and their employments are altogether the same; for whilst the one “are rejoicing in the Lord always” here below, the other are incessantly engaged in singing praises to Him above--even to “Him who loved them,” etc. (Revelation 1:5). (E. Striokland, M. A.)

The beauty of the King’s Daughter

It has happened sometimes that persons of royal birth have not known their high rank. It was so with the founders of the great empire of Rome. Through jealousy two young princes were exposed on the banks of a river. After going through a strange experience they were found by a shepherd, whose simple, homely wife brought them up in her cottage as her own sons. Not till they were grown up did they discover their royal origin, and then together they founded Rome. Like them, some of us have never dreamt that we were king’s daughters. Some smile incredulously at the very idea. But it is a fact that every one of us may be a king’s daughter (2 Corinthians 6:18; Romans 8:29; Matthew 12:50). Then what a comfort to remember that since we are the King’s daughters His wealth is ours. The King, our Father, has wonderful resources. There is one word of warning I would like to say. Many folk, when they are in trouble, say, “Oh yes, if I trust in God, it will be all right. I must trust Him; there’s no one else to trust to.” But they forget that if they want to claim God’s fatherly provision they must live as His daughters. Then, the King’s daughter is “all glorious within.” She is not a sham. Mere outside goodness is not enough. The mind must be cleansed from all evil imaginations, the affections withdrawn from all wrong objects. If we nurse and foster any heart sin we are dead to our high privilege as the King’s daughters, for they are all glorious within. You notice the clothing is of “wrought gold.” Trouble has been taken with it, it has been worked or wrought. And it is made of gold, it is durable, it will stand the testing fires. Let us take more trouble to make our garment of lifework durable and beautiful. And then the King’s daughter is to be brought “in raiment of needlework.” Day by day we are putting in the stitches. Every word, every act is a stitch making or marring the beauty of the whole. Those mistaken stitches can never be drawn out. Then take the marred work to the King now, by faith place it in His hands, tell Him just how you feel about it; and you will find that for the truly contrite soul filled with sorrow and regret for past failures the King has a marvellous fashion of beautifying spoilt work, and covering the ugly stitches with His own embroidery of love. And let us remember that beauty comes from “within.” Paint and powder do not make beauty. Health and goodness do. Made beautiful “within,” we shall be enabled to express the inner life in a consistent and beautiful outward life which may well be compared to wrought gold and embroidered work. (Anon.)

The King’s daughters

1. The bridegroom is Jesus Himself; Solomon is but His type. The Church that is without wrinkle or spot, or any such thing is the beautiful bride. She is possessed of all those graces of heart and mind as well as of person which would incline the king to rejoice in her beauty.

2. Not unsuited to this occasion are allusions to this beautiful psalm. Before us we see the virgins that should be the attendants of the bride of Christ, the king’s daughters who should be her honourable women. It is their vocation to do her honour, to lend additional though reflected lustre to her court. Whatever of beauty is theirs; whatever of grace and winning ways; whatever gives them influence or power in the Church or in the world--they are all the attributes that better qualify them for the duties of their high station. There may well be, there should be, gifts of gold, the fragrance of myrrh, aloes and cassia, beautiful forms and features, shining eyes, and ivory palaces at the marriage of the king’s son. They are, however, the accidents and not the essential attributes of the virgins who are worthy to wait upon the spouse of Christ; like her, they must be all glorious within. No age ever excelled that of Pericles in all the arts that give softness and refinement to life. Painting, sculpture, the genius of Phidias and Praxiteles, the pencil of Zeuxis; the temple of the virgin goddess, with its elegant proportions and its carved facade, even in ruins one of the wonders of the world; poetry, oratory--all illustrated it and adorned it. The splendour of its court has passed into a proverb. Aspasia presided over it, wonderful for her wit, and beauty, and grace, yea, for her wisdom and learning, the confidante and counsellor of statesmen and kings. Her intellect, as her person, had been cultivated to its utmost limit; in that respect she was the paragon of her sex. But what ago was more corrupt than that of Pericles? Aspasia herself, the education of her moral nature and of her heart neglected, was a wreck; as the poet says, “one of those shameless women who are the worst of men.” She was a splendid monument of what the unsanctified can be and do. Her clothing was of wrought gold, but she was not worthy to be a daughter of the King, for she was not all glorious within. No regard was paid to her complex being; her nature was distorted, and in the absence of virtue and religion she was not an unmeet prototype of many of the discrowned women of our own age. When you increase the capacity of the intellect and dwarf the moral nature, you produce not symmetry and grace, but spiritual deformity. There is in all true education a law of proportion; the mind, the heart, the body, must all be cultured if we would have a truly cultured man.

3. Therefore it is, O daughters of the Church! that we rejoice with you on this anniversary; therefore do we feel in the deep of our heart the munificence which has provided for you this sequestered and beautiful retreat, where learning is to be for over the handmaid of religion. Religion has made woman what she is. It has lifted her out of the slough of slavery and placed her upon a pedestal where she commands the admiration and love of the world; it has given her a potent influence in moulding its destiny. Deprive her of it, and she would fall back into the starless night whence she was so long emerging. Her clothing may be of wrought gold, she may be all covered with barbaric pearl; but only as she is a daughter of the King can she be all glorious within. (G. F. Cushman.)

The king’s daughter

Here are two aspects of the king’s daughter--the internal and the external; within all glorious, without covered with wrought gold--a magnificent congruity, a spiritual miracle of consistency. “Glorious,” not commonplace; separated from every other institution or mode of life by a dazzling, gleaming brightness above the shining of the sun. “All glorious”--not one shadow, not one indication of love of darkness. “All glorious” in doctrine, in conduct, in speech, in thought, in the innermost recesses of the heart--“all glorious within.” Why? Because of a conscious realization of the Divine presence. Have we made our preparation for the Chief of Guests? Has the housewife made no arrangement to receive her visitor with becoming care and distinction? Mystery of mysteries is this, that the mortal can talk with the Eternal; that the creature can commune with the Creator; that a life so low that presently it will be cut down and burned like grass in the oven can go right up to eternal Kingliness and say, Let us commune together concerning the mystery of being and the mystery of destiny, the mystery of conduct and the mystery of service; O Eternal King, let poor me talk with Thee a tong time! Out of this must come a growing solicitude to be transformed into the Divine likeness. What is the king’s daughter without? Look at her clothing; that will answer the inquiry--“Her clothing is of wrought gold.” The internal glory is proved by the external beauty. There is a clothing which we are called upon to admire--the clothing of the king’s daughter is of wrought gold: no dress can be too beautiful if it express a beautiful character. We are not to be too literal in our construction of these sentences--there is a transfiguring process of soul upon cloth, if you will have it so; there is a possibility that a carpenter’s raiment may become white and glistering. The internal light illumines the external robe. Here is a man who has been a long time in prayer; he comes down the hill as morning might come down the quickly illuminated mountain; speak to the man, and he wists not that his face doth shine. This is the beauty of heaven; this is not formal beauty; this is the light that springeth from within, which will be as beauteous in the morning as it is at night, in the winter as in the summer; how trying soever the circumstances through which the man may pass, he will throw a sacred radiance upon his whole condition, and make a space for himself by the power of wisdom. Sometimes we have seen a man surrounded by estates, and have felt that the man was greater than the property; we have said, What a soul” this man has! Listen to his thoughts, hear his conversation; presently he will rise into prayer, or utter himself in sacred song, or speak lovingly and redeemingly about the poor and those who have no helper; and then the environment falls away into its right perspective, and we say, Would God this man owned the whole world I for then the poor would be made to rejoice, and the sad of heart would know what a friend they had. If there is any disparity it should be on the spiritual side, so that we shall say concerning a man, however much he has, he ought to have more; he is a faithful steward, a generous administrator; appoint him the guardian of society. In the costume as described by the poet we have no contradiction, no irony, no sense of incongruity; we have a massive, simple, beautiful, beneficent consistency. What is the miracle that Jesus Christ wants to work? It is the miracle of congruity, the miracle of harmony, the miracle of music; it is to make us internally right that He may make us externally beautiful and noble. (J. Parker, D. D.)