Psalms 45:8

"All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia;

Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.

King's daughters are among thy honorable women:

At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir."

"Myrrh, aloes and cassia" (Psalms 45:8). The significance of the mention of these spices is in their connection with funerals and their use as a kind of embalmment in the burial of deceased loved ones. When Christ was buried, Joseph of Arimathea received from Pilate permission to receive the body of Jesus; and Nicodemus assisted in the burial by, "Bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in the linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury" (John 19:39-40).

"Myrrh was an aromatic resin, and aloes was a sweet-smelling wood from India. Cassia is a dried cinnamon blossom used as incense."[17] In all probability, this was also used in the burial of Jesus, because, "It was one of the perfumes used at funerals."[18]

"All thy garments" (Psalms 45:8). The words `smell of' do not belong in this passage. Translators thought they were clarifying the meaning by their addition, but they misunderstood what the text says. What is stated is that these spices were "all thy garments,"[19] indicating that these were the only `garments' the body of Jesus had in the burial. "The cloths" mentioned in John 19:40 were not garments at all, but medical-type bandages, or strips, with which they bound Jesus' body. (See a full discussion of this in Vol. 4 of my New Testament Series of Commentaries, pp. 447,448.)

The significance of Psalms 45:8 is therefore its indication that "God" who is here addressed would be buried. Yes, God himself, in the person of his Son, died upon the Cross and was buried in the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.

And, as for the notion that this verse is speaking about the marriage of some Jewish king, we need only ask, "When did any king ever get `embalmed' for his wedding?

"Out of the ivory palaces" (Psalms 45:8). Oh yes, this is supposed to refer to the so-called `ivory palace' of Ahab; but that royal residence deserved no such designation in spite of the fact that there were indeed plenty of ivory decorations, most of them of the inlaid variety. But, even so, it was only one palace; and many are mentioned here.

The great Christian hymn, Ivory Palaces catches the true meaning in the chorus:

"Out of the ivory palaces

Into a world of woe;

Only his great eternal love

Made my Saviour go."[20]

- Henry Barraclough

The ivory palaces can be nothing less than a poetic designation of the residence of God Himself in the heaven of heavens.

"King's daughters are among thy honorable women" (Psalms 45:9). To us it appears that this is a prophecy of the fact that the most noble and honorable women of the world were precisely those who welcomed the Messiah in his First Advent. Luke 8:2-3 mentions a number of prominent women who actually financed the campaign of Jesus and the Twelve. This pattern continued in the progress of the gospel. Again from Luke, "Many of them therefore believed; also of the Greek women of honorable estate, and of men, not a few" (Acts 17:12).

"At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir" (Psalms 45:9). Who is the queen here? Certainly not Jezebel the wife of Ahab, nor one of the 700 wives of Solomon! It is the King's wife, his true and only wife; and since the King is none other than the Messiah, his Bride is the Holy Church, as the scriptures declare (Revelation 19:9; 21:9) See also Ephesians 5:25.

"In gold of Ophir" (Psalms 45:9). This is a reference to the attractiveness, beauty, and desirability of that innumerable company of the Redeemed, who as the Bride of Christ, shall at last be presented unto him, "A glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but ... holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:27). The gold of Ophir, dazzling as it was to the eyes of Orientals, was only a dim and inadequate suggestion of the true glory of the Church of God.