A Good Day

Today:

"Mommy, put down your coffee...and dance!"
Cranberry muffins, one with pseudo-crumb topping for Brian
Molly laughed...for the first time...at her sister
Bacon for lunch
Sold our computer
We found out why Molly's tummy was upset last night (3 times)
Applied for Visas! (They are in the mail!!)
Made Chocolate Crinkles
Ate Snickerdoodles
Nana and PopPop came just before nighttime

It was a good day. 

"Leave" It To Daddy and Lydia

I was upstairs vacuuming with Molly in the bouncy seat, and what to my wondering eyes did appear, but Daddy and Lydia...with a rake and wheelbarrow.

 I sneaked outside to take a few pictures of the leaf clean up. 

Here are your camera-women

Cute one of Lydia, right? I did not intentionally cut off my husband's head. It's just plain hard to take pictures and hold a baby at the same time. Of course, he was wearing my hat....

It's Been One Swell Ride

On a late summer day in 1999, I pulled up to Reinhardt in my dirt ugly, yellow Mercury Topaz. I was the young age of 19, immature (though not in my eyes) and anxiously ready to take on college. Little did I know that that day was a start of a roughly fourteen year stay at Reinhardt. Four years of college earned me a degree in business but something even better: a job. From almost day one of my Reinhardt career, I started working in the Information Technology department. Of course, I started as a student worker. But after I finished school, Reinhardt allowed me to come back as an employee. First as a contractor (about a year), then they hired me full-time with benefits. July 1, 2004 was my first official date. For the next four plus years, I plugged away as a PC Support Specialist. I loved every minute of my job. But during that time, I felt the Lord leading me to seminary and someday in the ministry. So, in October 2008, now married, I left to finish up seminary and complete a pastoral internship in hopes to be a missionary to a foreign land. My time at Reinhardt was done, so I though. Yet, the Lord had other plans. I mentioned at I was immature when I came to Reinhardt... Well, by the age of 27, I still hadn't learned how to grow up, that is, stop being into myself (pride) and so, the missions agency graciously said to my wife and I, "We feel that you are called to missions, but about this sin and pride issue..." A life as a missionary was now on hold and by this time, Lydia was in my wife's belly, so I needed a job. Thankfully, Reinhardt had put a hired freeze right after I left and so a position in IT department was opened. I called and within a day, I had a job! God is faithful. August 17, 2009 was my start date and my "sabbatical" was over. And now, today, November 30, 2012, three plus years later, I move on to embark on a great adventure!  There is much I could say and many stories to recall, but I felt in would be good just to share a few reflections over the past 14 years.

Reinhardt
Leaving Reinhardt at this time of its existence is actually kind of sad. Why? Because it expanding by leaps and bounds in every area: new buildings, more students and faculty, new programs, and of course, a new sport, that being football. We change our name and status from College to University. Even the small town of Waleska has grown now with a Dollar General, Subway and a delicious restaurant and store called Front Porch.  There is so much going on and it is exciting to watch. I've watched a lot of change in my 14 years. I've had the privilege of seeing life from both spectrums: a student and a staff member. As a student, I couldn't had a better group of classmates and friends. Back then, life at Reinhardt was a little different. We had this special, intimate, family community of students (I don't know if this is the case, but I do know that things changed with the apartments and stuff). As a staff member, it has been great to know so many people for so many years and watch them though life and talk to them in the halls. I will truly miss my Reinhardt family.

Work
Reinhardt is a special place to work. It runs not like corporate America, but a small, "family" town. Everybody knows everybody, everybody knows their job and does it well, and everybody wants the best for all. Oh sure, there are times when it is a little stressful, say the begin on the school year, but the pace of life is slower and so much more enjoyable. It shows that Reinhardt values something different than corporate American. They say, "You might leave Reinhardt, but Reinhardt doesn't leave you." For me, that is true, but I will also say, it was hard for me to actually leave Reinhardt. It just kept calling me back!

Personally, what I have learned working at Reinhardt besides all the computer stuff is the importance of the job you have been given. Since 2005, I've desired to be ministry full-time, yet the Lord didn't pull me out of my job to set me apart for ministry. This has taught me to wait patiently and actively. I am thankful to say, that wherever I was and whatever I was doing, the Lord gave me a peace that said, "This is where I want you now." I had to learn to not so much look to future, but to this moment which was given to me and to glorify God in that moment. To work for the Lord (Eph. 6:4) and to know that working on computers is a good endeavor. I am very thankful to learn this lesson and so many more before I step into ministry. I'm thankful I worked out in the world, before I worked in the church.

To all those who have been there (my family and co-workers)
This reflection will read more like the inside of a CD booklet: I first want to thank my Lord, who is the great provider and is the one I ultimately work for. Whatever I do, may it be for your glory, my joy, and others good. To my wife, Mandy, for all the lunches and notes, for spend the money I make wisely, and for doing the best and most important job caring and nurturing our kids. Love you! To Lydia and Molly... guess what? Daddy is going to home all the time which means, "Let's play!" To my parents for always supporting me in whatever I do. And now to my co-workers: David, thank you for teaching me about computers; Ginny, thank you for teaching me how to be a good boss since you are one, by the way, did you ever find a blueberry crumb donuts?; John, even though your downstairs you are still apart of "us", and thanks for some laughs; Manya, thank you for giving me a hard time; Matt, let's just say, "Rise UP! Go Falcons!"; and to Larry, who made the normal day truly enjoyable, for all our conversations and teaching me about every kind of hunting especially turkey. And I can't forget my dear friend and co-worker Marc who died last year (2011). For all the uncontrollable laughter, "loud eater", IT Olympics, Unreal Tournament Game of Year Edition, all our debates about nothing but even more so our conversations about the Lord and so much more. To all my other Reinhardt family... it has been one swell ride!

No Captions Necessary

Molly: 3 Months, 10 Days, Lots of Cuteness

Molly is growing longer, stronger, fatter and cuter everyday.

We just went to the doctors to find out she is 11 pounds 13 ounces. Let's just call that 12 pounds...once we put a onesie on...

She is towering over 65% of other girls in this nation at 24 inches!

She loves Mommy Milk (and prays for it every night under Lydia's direction), having her diaper changed and Clemson football (notice the Heisman pose).

She is kinda sleeping through the night. She usually goes from 8ish until 3ish. I consider that "through the night". Then she's back asleep until 8am or so. Overall, she is a very sleepy baby.

Molly is a champion burper. She loves to kick her legs. She has rolled over once...but I think it was an "accident" because it has not been repeated. She loves being in the car and usually falls asleep in her carseat.

 Her favorite activity is watching Big Sister Lydia. Lydia usually works her into the game of the hour; "Molly can be a mouse" (for Cinderella) or "Molly is a little fish" (if we are playing "Jonah") or, Molly's favorite, "Molly can be the crab guy" (if we are playing "Little Mermaid").

She is a blessing. Cute, easy going and God's perfect-timing addition to the Stock Household. 

The Story of Joseph (and Cinderella)

I know I just posted a similar story about Jonah...but they keep getting better. On the way to "Mommy and Me Ballet" this today, I told Lydia we were probably going to talk about the story of Joseph (there is a Bible story for each class). Here is what transpired in the car...

Lydia: Tell me about Joseph, Mommy.
Me: Well, Joseph's mommy and daddy had 12 boys.
Lydia: I'm gonna have 20 kids...not all boys though.
Me: Ok, well, Joseph's brothers did not like him. Joseph had a beautiful coat of many colors: blue and pink...
Lydia: Mommy, boys don't wear pink.
Me: Right, probably not pink then, but blue, and red, green and yellow. And his brothers didn't like that Joseph had a coat, they were jealous! They were unkind to him and stuck him in a big hole.
Lydia: I'm nice to Molly. I give her kisses and hugs and more kisses.
Me: Yes, that is very nice. But Joseph's brothers were not so nice. They even sold him to people who took him to Egypt and then he got in jail!
Lydia: And then!!! Cinderella came and I run, run, run and I said don't worry. There was a fairy godmother. I put on my cleaning dress and it was beautiful. And then, I had a ball dress and it was more beautiful. I went to the ball and danced with the prince...
Me: Is Joseph the prince?
Lydia: No. Daddy is. I put on chapstick and kiss him. That's sweet.
Me: Well, what happened to Joseph?
Lydia: Um, he cried. And I gave him a kiss too....with chapstick.
Me: Oh, Lydia, I should blog about this.
Lydia: Ok Mommy. Cinderella will type for you.

Beach Babies!

My delay in posting does not negate the fun we had with Nana and Pop Pop at the beach. Molly's first trip to the sandy shores was delightful. She took a dip (in her birthday suit!) in the ocean and then hung out, wrapped warmly in a towel, with Nana. Lydia collected shells, stomped on them, chased birds, floated in her "boat" talking constantly of Jonah and wondering if the "big fish" was gonna come and say hello. 

 We also got to visit the aquarium. Lydia loved the touch-tank, but really her favorite attraction was a mermaid statue...she kept hugging and kissing her.

Big Fish

The story of Jonah
(according to Lydia)

Jonah disobeyed God. He was supposed to go to Nineveh, but he went to Target. And then, he got in the boat. There was a big storm. Jonah was asleep and they [the sailors] woke him up and he was all wet. They got him an umbrella. They splashed in the puddles.
Then they threw him the ocean. He had a floatie on. He was scared. And then the princess came [that's Lydia] and said "It's ok, Jonah, don't be scared". Then the big fish came. He was a whale. Mine was pink. He ate him up. GULP.
Jonah was in the big fish. The caterpillar was in there with him. [Me: "The caterpillar?" Lydia: "That's Molly. Molly is the little caterpillar."] It was stinky. But there was a floatie in the fish. He prayed and said "I'm sorry God. I'm sorry for disobeying". When I disobey I get a spanking...sometimes on my hand...or on my bottom.
The fish went "Paa-tooey" and Jonah was on dry land. I gave him a big hug. He was in my arms and he was slimy. Then he went to Nineveh and gave out candy to everyone. Lots of candy. That's nice.

[I call this the amplified version]

Around here lately

We have been playing with Band-Aids

Lots of laundry (this is Lydia pretending to wash Molly's clothes)

And then she organized the shoes

And vacuumed the living room...thank you Lydia!

We hiked Kennesaw Mountain (Daddy carried Lydia, Mommy carried Molly)

Ballet (at home and Mommy and Me classes)

Hosting so many guests for lunch!

And of course, there is always dancing with the Prince (in this case, Poppy)

Girls just wanna have fun...

"Daddy, do you know who Cyndi Lauper is?"

Seriously, that how Lydia started a conversation on a walk this past week. You see, a few days before I was in the getting ready and Lydia was playing with her hairbows (organizing, etc....a favorite past time). I looked down and she had used about 10 of them for little bracelets. "Look Mommy!". "Lydia," I said, "you look Cyndi Lauper."

Well, then I had to explain who this mega-bracelet wearing, poofy hair icon from the eighties is. Some things are better explained with a song. We went downstairs for some hands-on education: I pulled up "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" on my itunes.

Since then, Cyndi has been big talk around here. I told Brian he can teach the girls theology, but I'll teach them the 80s. 

The Day After Molly Arrived (Part 3)

The door open up and in walked Lydia, the new big sister. And Lydia's first reaction was priceless. She got the biggest smile on her face and ran over to greet her little sis. She immediately wanted to hold her. So, she was hoisted up in mom's hospital bed and there Lydia opened up her arms wide. Then, with mommy's help, little Molly was placed into her arms. And what did Lydia do? Gave her the sweetest kiss and says, "I love my sister." Throughout the morning (and to this day), Lydia continued to ask to hold Molly and help out with her. She becoming a great big sister!

Now, its grandma and grandpa's turn. Can we say "love at first sight?" What a special moment in my parent's long life together!

Could you ask for two better grandma's? They sure do love her!

With her "I'm a BIG sister" pin on, Lydia is all smiles around Molly. Two cuties!

Daddy and Lydia hold Molly for the first time!

The Stock family is growing. Now there's four of us.

 This is one of the best pictures of me and my dad ever of one of the greatest moments ever!

The Day Molly Arrived (Part 2)

It is 7:30 p.m. Dinner for everybody but Mandy had passed. It seems a bit odd that we, who did really nothing had stuffed our bellies, and Mandy, who was doing all the work or "labor", still had an empty one. But with plenty of juice and an IV, she had enough strength to press on. Lydia was with her grandparents ready to go to sleep. She did great all day, but was ready for a good night's rest.

By this time, Mandy's contractions had finally peaked and they were painful. After about an hour or less of some excruciating pain, Mandy decided to receive her epidural. It was a good decision. Truth be told, getting the epidural was by far the most painful part of the labor. The only thing to do after it was to sleep a bit and that is what Mandy did.  

The nap came and went and the epidural and pitocin did their work. The midwife predicted midnight or 2:00 a.m. Thankfully, Molly wasn't on that time schedule. Around 10:15 p.m., the nurse checked Mandy and "Oh, there is a head!" It was truly an amazing sight to see. All of sudden, after a quick phone call, the room was flooded with nurse working like a machine preparing for delivery. Medical carts coming in and out, the midwife suits up, and all the fancy medical equipment is turned on with bright lights. We won't share the details of what happens next except one thing. 

The midwife's personality was much like Clair Huxtable (she even looked a little like her). Well, during the "pushing" time, she was making everybody laugh with her witty humor. Then, about ten minutes into the pushing, something caught Mandy funny, and she laughed and that made Molly come out! 

At 10:43 p.m., Molly Ruth Stock came into this world. She was 7lb. 5oz. and 21 inches. She had a full head of hair and long fingers and toes.  

One more interesting thing was Molly's outfit. Since it was a full house, it took them a little while to relocate us. So, we dressed her up in a pink, little onesie (Lydia picked it out). We moved to our new room (Room 199) and the nursery came and picked her up. The next morning Molly was already famous as the girl in pink. We came to find out that Molly was the first baby ever to come in an outfit (that is what the nurse said - it is a little hard to imagine). That's is pretty cool!

Here is Nana who also encouraged her daughter through the whole labor and delivery. What a great picture!

There will be one more post on the rest of time in the hospital.

The day Molly Arrived (Part 1)

Early Thursday morning is when it all began. As normal, Brian left to work at 6:30ish while Mandy and Lydia were still in bed. Then around 7:00 o'clock Mandy discovered that her water broke. She called the doctor's office and they said, "Come on in." After that, she was able to get a hold of Brian who just made it to work. After a few minutes of "wow! could this really be happening!?!", Brian turned around and ahead home praying for traffic to clear out on I-575. To pass the time away, Mandy washed dishes and called all the necessary people while Lydia watched Elmo on Youtube, a special treat indeed. Daddy arrived home in good time and the Stock family all loaded up the car to the doctor's office. 

At this point, we started to think this was going to be a little different than Lydia's four hour labor as Mandy wasn't having hard contractions. We arrived at the doctor's office and they immediately saw us. After a quick examination, the doc said, "Yup, your in labor. Go to the hospital now!" With stickers in Lydia's hand, we met Grandma outside of the office to take Lydia and we went to Northside Atlanta. 

But like we said, this labor was going to be different in almost every sense. Arrived in record time, we walked the stairs to arrive at the admissions desk to check-in. There we waited. But this time, it was fine because Mandy's labor wasn't really that bad. Lydia and Grandma joined us and Grandpa had just arrived as well. And we waited. Northside is know for being Atlanta's baby factor. We came to find out that it was true they deliver 50 plus baby's a day (that is more than some European countries in a year). And apparently on this day, along with us, we were helping them reach full capacity. After 45 minutes or so, at high noon, they admit us in room F-1.  The room is huge.

Settled down, our minds turned to lunch. Sadly, Mandy couldn't eat so she would have to go through labor on a bowl of shredded wheat for breakfast. She plead with the nurses but they didn't give in but gave her an IV. The grandparents and Lydia go on a hunt for food and they come back with McDonalds. Not their choice or mine, but the cafeteria's line was back up like Chick-fli-a's this past Wednesday. So, they pick Brian up a Big Mac. It was good (once a year).

Lunch came and was gone. Lydia decided (by her parent's love and care) to take a nap. This was a blessing!

So, where are with we with labor. It is 5pm. Mommy and daddy are felt good. The midwife came to check progress. And what does she discover... Mandy hadn't progressed really at all so they (the doctors) and Mandy decided to get a little help from a friend. His name is Pitocin.

Part one is over. Between part one and two Brian, Lydia, and the grandparents all go out and met Nana, who was driving up from Florida, at Moe's. When everybody got back, the Pitocin had kicked in and Lydia is off to grandma and grandpa's house for the night. So, there in hospital room F-1 was mommy ready and waiting, Chicken Noodle (the name at that time) pushing, daddy smiling, and Nana excitied.

Money, Possessions and Eternity

This isn't a book review. I (Mandy) will leave those to Brian, but I thought I would reflect on why in the world I read "Money, Possessions and Eternity" by Randy Alcorn. Honestly I picked it off our shelf because I thought I was doing pretty good in these areas. You know...frugal cloth-diapering missionary, soon to give away most of her earthly belongings, loves giving garage sales and boxing up stuff for Goodwill. 


Yet something I heard an older wiser Christian say at a missions conference one time has really stuck with me. He was talking about how arrogant and impatient we American missionaries are with new believers on the field. We expect people who have grown up all their lives steeped in idol worship, karma or caste systems to immediately shed off all those "silly notions" and start living mature, godly (and maybe a little bit more like us thank you very much) lives. Whereas, we on some level are still so tightly tied to the American dream, materialism, comfort and ease. This is the essence of the culture I live in. Why do I think, just because I am a follower of Christ that all that way of thinking and way of living has fallen off as scales?


Unfortunately, I'm not miraculously healed off all that sin that so easily entangles after reading this book, yet here is why I am glad I read it. 

• I want to teach my girls (and any other Stocks who come along) that money is neither evil nor foundational for happiness, but every thing we have is from God and FOR some purpose that is God-glorifying. Yes, you can buy pickles and toilet paper to the glory of God, but am I aware of that? Am I teaching that?
• We are support-raising. Almost everyday we are talking about our support account, asking people to support us, praying they will, etc. There is a temptation there to see partners only as valuable as their % contributed, to judge or be bitter against those who do not give, and to feel entitled to their money. God has protected me so far from seeing my friends with dollar signs over their heads (!) but I need to constantly examine my heart, my motives, my desire to see goals accomplished. 
• We are missionaries. When (some) people find out that we are moving to a smelly, crowded country they usually say "Good for you! I could never do that. I couldn't do without good ol' American hamburgers [or my house, air conditioning, etc]". And sometimes, I think "Yeah, good for me." I pat my little ascetic self on the back and think how both Jesus and Mandy Stock put the call of God above possessions and worldly comforts. Need I comment on the ridiculousness of my inner dialogue!? When I physically flee affluence, I pray I will not be led into the less-stuff = more-godly lies. 
• I want to be wise with what God has given us. Sometimes that means I need to give more away, but sometimes it means I keep something in order to be hospitable to others, to share, or even invest for the future in a wise manner.
• I am not like most people in this book (nor, I suppose, the average American). The only debt we have is our mortgage. We have an ample amount in savings. We give over and above our tithe. Did I mention I cloth-diaper?! So my materialism does not show itself in our [borrowed] driveway. Yet in my heart it clings. Primarily, I fail to see the eternal perspective of resources. I live simply because that is what good people do, not (usually) for the joy of being a good steward in God's kingdom. 

Ok, I could go on and on. Really, as I kept saying to Brian as I read this, it's a good book. It's long enough to make you feel uncomfortable. It's comprehensive enough to make you think about issues I haven't really considered (like how much to leave to my children when we die or what kind of mutual fund to buy). It's not a handbook for a budget, nor do I totally agree with all his advice, but it's a constant, honest and thoughtful work pointing us back to the Bible. 

Preparing to be a BIG sister...

Chicken Noodle will be arriving any week now and Lydia is getting ready. Here is last night's training session with the gracious Evelyn Grace Heilman. Evelyn really loved Lydia and all her songs sung to her and smiles she made at her. 

Your King Has Come! Psalm 45

Introduction
Every girl has a dream, my little girl, who is two-and-a-half, will one day have this dream, that a man, strong and mighty, noble and handsome, will come and rescue her, marry her, and they would have a family of their own. Every girl looks forward and anticipate their wedding day, glorious and bright. They imagine the ideal: the ideal man, the ideal day, the ideal wedding dress, the ideal family to follow.

Every boy has as a playground where the bad guys are on the loose and they are the hero. Every stick is a sword and they defend the weak and capture the great nemesis of the world. And when they get a little older, the weak is swapped out for that girl, who longs to be rescued. They look forward, anticipate, imagine their heroic day. Glorious and bright.

Taking these dreams of little girls and boys, you might just pass them by as “childish” or wishful thinking. Yet, it is amazing how profound those dreams are as they fit into the great story of God. As one children’s catechism goes,

“What is the whole point of the Bible?” 

Slay the dragon, get the girl.

Today, in Psalm 45, we read a dream. Yes, it more than a dream, but a prophetic foreshadowing of things to come. It is a love song pinned to dream up the Psalmist ideal royal wedding which he hope for in the King of Israel, descendant of David. The Psalmist here looks forward, anticipates, and imagines when the Great hero, King Jesus, would come, rescue His bride-to-be, and take her hand in marriage.

Let us read Psalm 45.

Psalm 45:1–17 (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song.

¹  My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;

I address my verses to the king;

my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

²  You are the most handsome of the sons of men;

grace is poured upon your lips;

therefore God has blessed you forever.

³  Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,

in your splendor and majesty!

⁴  In your majesty ride out victoriously

for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;

let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!

⁵  Your arrows are sharp

in the heart of the king’s enemies;

the peoples fall under you.

⁶  Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;

⁷  you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

⁸  your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.

From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;

⁹  daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;

at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

¹⁰  Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:

forget your people and your father’s house,

¹¹  and the king will desire your beauty.

Since he is your lord, bow to him.

¹²  The people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,

the richest of the people.

¹³  All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.

¹⁴  In many-colored robes she is led to the king,

with her virgin companions following behind her.

¹⁵  With joy and gladness they are led along

as they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶  In place of your fathers shall be your sons;

you will make them princes in all the earth.

¹⁷  I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.  

For those who are taking notes, here are my points: First, we will look at the Ideal Royal Groom from verses 2-9. Then, we will look at the Ideal Bride from verses 10-15.

The Ideal Royal Groom (vv. 2-9)
Poured out from the heart (v1), the Psalmist puts down on paper a love song to his king, who is the ideal royal groom. He magnifies three characteristics of this royal groom. The first characteristics of the royal groom is his excellent beauty. Look with me at vv2-3, “You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and majesty!”

Now, today, as we read the words, “most handsome”, we might think of People magazine “Sexiest man alive” award in the likes of a Brad Pitt or George Coloney, but this is not what the Psalmist seeks to portray.

External beauty truly comes from an internal one as we know when God chose from the house of Jesse a king for Israel, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). David was said to be “handsome” and I would assume other Israel kings were as well given that royalty uses cares for their outward appearance, yet the Psalmist describes the external beauty from the king’s words and works. Gracious words come from the lips of the king. Truth, meekness, and righteousness is the king’s speech. And he stands confidently behind those words with his works. He is willing to defend them with his sword on his thigh and his previous victory wrapped around him in splendor and majesty. This connects with the Psalmist second characteristic of the royal groom which is his military prowess.

The king is a mighty warrior. He is the champion for what is important to the Lord and his covenant people. He fights for truth, meekness, and righteousness. These mirror the kingdom of God in fidelity and righteousness. And this king has been blessed by God forever, which is the third characteristic. In v. 2, God has blessed the king forever. And in v. 7, God has anointed the king with the oil of gladness. The king does not live for himself nor go to war alone seeking fame and glory for himself, but God, the mighty one, goes with him and blesses him. This is the key to his characteristics and his kingdom, the blessing of God. But the writer here takes us higher as he writes, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” Now, we speak a divine-human king where throne is forever and his kingdom is forever.

So, the picture of the ideal royal groom is desirable, picture perfect. Yet, the question which commentaries seeking to answer and you are probably asking is, “who is this Royal Groom?” Well, we don’t know which earthly king and bride it was originally composed for. We know that the language here is idealized harking back to God’s covenant with David in 2 Sam. 7. There, God promises David’s offspring to establish his kingdom and his throne. As it says in 2 Sam. 7:16, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” Furthermore, God promised Judah, the one the royal line will come through, in his blessing from his father, Jacob, that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Gen. 49:10). And so, we look at the line of David. Is there one like this?

Problem: Historical Kings
Well, there is one constant theme in the line of David. And what is it? Failed. All the kings failed. They are failures, royal mess-ups. There is a long of line of failures. This is the story of human history whether we, that is all of us, are royalty or not, there is one constant truth for us and that is we all fail to match perfection. No king nor common man fits this exalted language. None of us are divine and too many of us are too human if “to err is to be human”.

There is talk in the commentaries that it could reference the marriage of Ahab of Israel and Jezebel of Tyre since the Psalm refers to the people of Tyre in v.12. But let’s look at Ahab’s track record? 2 Kings 16:32, “He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, (F) which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. (F) Ahab did more to provoke the Lord than all the kings of Israel who were before him. (F)” And do you remember the duel between Elijah and the Baal worshipers on Mt. Camel? That was under Ahab’s reign (F). Another option, a more likely one, is Solomon. Yes, we see glimpses, or types, in him. Solomon, he was a man of wise words. We have two books of wisdom in the Bible where he is the author or co-author. Yet, he failed. He didn’t apply the wisdom to his life and it ruined his life and family (See 1 Chr. 11). But, what does the NT say... "something greater than Solomon is here" (Matt. 12:42).

Fulfillment: Christ (Hebrews 1:8-9)

“Where earthly kings could never tread, 

Christ our King came instead.” 

The ideal promised Royal Groom whose perfect and eternal reign found in the fairest of them all, Lord Jesus. You don’t need to take my word for it. The author of Hebrews, when showcasing the Son is greater than angels by virtue of His eternal reign, declares Christ as the royal groom by citing Ps. 45:6-7 (Hebrews 1:8-9). Once we realized that this Psalm is about Christ, does it not just sing in our hearts?

O Church, Bride of Christ, your King is your Bridegroom. He loves you, O church, and washes you with the water of His words. His words are gracious as He is gracious. When Jesus walked on this earth, one of the common reactions from the crowds were about his words. After his first sermon, announcing His ministry, the reaction was, “And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth” (Luke 4:22).
Here in verses 8-9, the talk of oils and fragrances and instruments are the preparation of a wedding ceremony. Christ, in his beauty and splendor, rode out, slayed the dragon and has established His throne. Now, He graciously invites you to be his spouse, v10, “Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear.” Do you know Him as your Bridegroom?

O Church, Bride of Christ, your King is your warrior. He rides out victoriously. Revelation portrays Christ, as our Bridegroom, who rides out on a white horse from His heavenly throne, in His majesty called Faithful and True, and comes to the earth to speak truth and to care for the meek by spreading justice, and stakes righteousness in the ground. But not only does He prompt truth, meekness, and righteousness, King Jesus subdues all his and our enemies. He slays the dragon, the serpent of old. Ever since the Fall, there has been an all out war between the seed of the serpent and the seed of woman. And King Jesus, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col. 2:15). King Jesus binds up Satan and throws Him into the lake of fire, and there Satan and all our other enemies “will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10). Do you know Him as your Warrior?

O Church, Bride of Christ, your King is on the Throne. As the Psalm states, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” King Jesus in on the throne of God reigning as God because He is God. This is a king who conquered the chaos of sin, Satan, and death. And He did this by dying for us. This is a King who gave us his life. This is a KIng who died for us. This is a King who rose to create life in us and started a kingdom for us which we can have our sin forgiven, we can have our eternity altered, we can feast with him, and He is our King who is our Groom. And we belong to Him. If we submit to him, and if we follow him, and if we repent of our sins, and trust in Jesus, as this King has invited us, then all that is his is ours.

To summarize, C. S. Lewis puts it so eloquently, “The birth of Christ is the arrival of the great warrior and the great king. Also of the Lover, the Bridegroom, whose beauty surpasses that of man. But not only the Bridegroom as the lover, the desired; the Bridegroom also who makes fruitful, the Father of children still to be begotten and born” (Reflections from the Psalms, p. 130)

The Ideal Bride (vv. 10-15)
Now, that we have seen who is the royal groom, ultimately being Christ himself, who will he marry? Again, we don’t the historical figure the Psalmist could be talking about if he even means to speak of a particular event. We do know, like any bride on their wedding day, she is radiant and beautiful. “The king will desire your beauty” (v11), “All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. In many-colored robes she is led to the king, with her virgin companions following behind her.” This ideal bride is gorgeous and pure.  Let me go directly to talk about Christ’s bride.

Problem: the harlot church (Hosea 1-3)
The description of this bride of Psalm 45 does not do justice to the bride of Christ. Not because it speaks to little of her, but way too much of her. How is the church, the bride of Christ, pictured? Well, consider the prophetic parable of Hosea. God calls the prophet Hosea, the man of God, and says to him, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” Or, consider Ezekiel 16 where the Lord God at the age for love made a vow to the church, entered into a covenant with them and they became his. He lavished them with fine clothes and oils. They are called “exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty” (v13). But, the truth doesn’t stop there. “But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore” as they made idols of the nations (vv15-17). The truth about the church is that. It is the disreputable woman, the harlot.

So, how can we square with Psalm 45? One word. Grace. The whole story of the Bible is God the Father has chosen a bride for His Son. But, this bride is not spotless and white, but stained and sinful. So, the Lord Jesus, the royal Bridegroom, when he first comes to you, finds you full of sin and pollution; you are deformed, defiled, enslaved, poor, miserable and wretched, very despicable and loathsome, by reason of sin; and he make His choice of you, not because of your holiness, nor of your beauty, nor of your being qualified for them; no, the Lord Jesus puts these qualifications upon you, as may make you meet for his embrace; and you are drawn to make choice of the Lord Jesus Christ because he first chose you.

This is why in Christian marriages, the bride wear white symbolize purity. But, how many Christian brides come into the marriage with a disreputable past? How can they still wear white? The Gospel. That is, our righteousness is not something of and in ourselves (an infused righteousness), but given to us (an imputed righteousness). It is a perfect picture of the righteousness of another. The Christian bride wear white, not because she is pure, but because Christ has given her his purity for her sin. And this picture at any wedding captures a glimpse of the greater story of the Bible.

Fulfillment: The Redeemed Bride
The Gospel today is that Jesus came to save through marriage. That we, the church, are a collection of mess ups, sinners, loser, and disreputable women with a disreputable past. And Jesus came to save us. To have our ears inclined, listen to His gracious words to forget the past and our father’s house, and come be with him. But not just to save us, but to marry us. And over our messed up lives, He gives us robes of purity. The bride is presented clothes with linen bright and pure. Jesus has provided everything that the bride need by sanctifying her, cleansing her with washing of water with the word, and by presenting the church to himself without spot or wrinkle.

Do you desire to be loved? Come to Jesus, our Royal Groom.
Do you desire to be redeemed? Come to Jesus, our Mighty Warrior.
Do you desire to live with Jesus? Come to Him and live in His forever kingdom.

Sermon preached on 07-08-2012 at First Pres. in Wanyesboro, Ga.