“All glorious is the daughter of the King within, her robes with gold filigree. In colorfully embroidered robes she is led to the king with her virgin companions after her — coming to you. They are brought with jubilation and rejoicing as they enter the palace of the King.”

(Psalm 45:14-16 {verses 13-15 in English})

This language of the bride being presented to the king anticipates language that we will once again see in the Bible at the consummation of all things…

“And I heard the voice of a great crowd of people which had the voice of many waters and the voice of mighty thunder, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord our God reigns! The Almighty! Let us rejoice and let us be glad and let us give glory to Him! For the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has prepared herself. And it was given to her to dress herself in clothes of radiant pure linen — for the linen is the righteous works of the saints.”

(Revelation 19:6-8)

So here again we see a picture of eternal things foreshadowed by glorious earthly events. Even in modern times, there is little that is more captivating than a royal wedding when it comes to the pomp and circumstance. The sound of songs; the sound of cheers; the gathering of thousands to catch a glimpse of the Prince or the Princess as she is paraded through the streets to the church for the ceremony. Even in our modern age of cellular data and sound bytes, the royal weddings transport us back to a different age and gives us a reminder that perhaps life isn’t so different after all. And, from a Christian perspective, it gives us a hope of better days to come.

One of my professors used to say, “the reason I love the New Testament is that it reminds me so much of the Old Testament.” This is one of those spots where the connection between the pre-cross and post-cross ages could not be clearer. Everything in the New Testament finds itself grounded in the Old and everything in the Old anticipates the New. And all of it revolves around Christ to his glory!

As we read this psalm, though, I want it to remind us of that which is to come. It is easy to get caught up in the events and busyness of this life and think that this life is all that there is. Such could not be further from the truth. This life is merely a pale shadow of another life to come. The glories of this life — the glorious wedding of the King of Kings — give us but the smallest foretaste of the glories of God’s presence to come for the Christian. The terrors of this life are a reminder and just the smallest foretaste of the terrors to come in Hell for those who do not flee to Christ. Which will you face?