FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THE CHURCH OF THE LAST DAYS

Psalm 45 is a beautifully written, prophetic song that announces the wedding of the Messiah and His bride, the church.

The visual imagery of this psalm is rich and loaded with meaning about Christ and His bride. In the midst of this emotional song, the imagery stops, giving way to a powerful and sobering word from the Holy Spirit to the bride, the church of the last days.

“Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear” (Psalm 45:10).

This is a call to “pay attention.” The word “listen” is often translated “hearken.” In other words, listen up, for I have something important to say! The challenge to the bride is to reflect deeply on the new relationship that she is about to enter into.

“Forget your own people also, and your father’s house” (v. 10).

In preparation for her impending marriage, the bride must be free from her past, from anything that would separate her or stand between her and her Bridegroom. She is to forget the past and be wholly Christ’s. This is a message that has not been fully embraced by the church in the U.S., Canada and other western-influenced nations.

In order for the union between the bride and the Groom to form and so she can be wholly Christ’s, the bride has to break off from her past. The word “forget” means to cease to care, to stop holding on to the past. In other words, the bride is being told to get her priorities straight. She is not to care as much for the things of this world as she does for her Bridegroom! Jesus said, “A man shall leave [to leave behind] his father and mother [family] and shall be joined to his wife” (Matthew 19:5). Without the leaving/forgetting, there can be no true union!

Why would the Spirit emphasize this if He did not recognize the struggle that goes on in the church of this hour? Could it be that the Spirit foresaw the compromised spirit of the last days, the struggle of the Laodician church that in the name of relevance allowed its testimony to be compromised?

“So the King will greatly desire your beauty” (Psalm 45:11).

We hear a lot about the blessing of being a follower of Jesus but little about how much Jesus loves and desires to be with His bride. It seems almost carnal (worldly) to say that the Lord has a passionate love for His bride and is deeply desirous of spending time with her but He does. This is the reason He says to the church of Laodicia, “I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). He loves His bride and wants to be with her! (See also Ephesians 5:25-31.)

“Because He is your Lord, worship Him” (v. 11).

The Spirit is commanding the last-days church to worship Him, to be a worshipping church. The contemporary church has largely lost focus on this point. They have good musicians, good performers, but many have lost sight of the meaning of worship. The call of the Spirit is for the church to make a corrective move and find again the proper place of praise and worship. The Lord inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). Praise and worship is not about me and my needs, my hurts, my confusion—it’s about Him! The word of the Spirit to the Bride is, “Worship Him!”

Worship precedes the presence of the Lord and the release of God’s promises to His people!

The Holy Spirit finishes this statement to the bride with a comment about wedding gifts to be brought before the ceremony takes place—and a warning!

“And the daughter of Tyre will be there with a gift; the rich among the people will seek your favor” (v. 12).

In Old Testament times the city of Tyre was the wealthiest commercial city of that period of history. I believe this Scripture is speaking of the transfer of wealth from the secular community to the church in the last days. Further, I believe this gift of wealth, coming before the wedding ceremony, is to fuel the bride’s efforts to finish the task of world evangelism (see Luke 24:47). It is not a transfer of wealth to enrich the church or to build another edifice, but to complete the one thing Jesus asked the church to do before He ascended into heaven. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone” (Mark 16:15, NLT).

With the transfer of wealth also comes a warning: “The rich among the people will seek your favor” (v. 12). Some wealthy nonbelievers will attempt to use the sudden infusion of wealth to the church as a way to influence the church, and the Holy Spirit is alerting the bride to this.

Why would the Spirit of God put this three-verse parenthetical statement in the midst of this beautiful, prophetic wedding song? It is there because it speaks of the bride’s finishing her preparation for the wedding. The bride will not be ready for her marriage unless she heeds the message of the Spirit!