Psalm 45 is a wedding Psalm between a king and his bride. The marriage custom of ancient Israel is that the wife leaves her family and joins her husbands. The wife will submit to the authority of her husband, and often, the husband is called lord. She is expected to honor her husband, and the husband expects to love his wife. Psalm 45:10-11, "Listen to me, O royal daughter; take to heart what I say. Forget your people and your family far away. For your royal husband delights in your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord." In the New Testament, it describes how the relationship between husband and wife should be. Ephesians 5:22 addresses the wife, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord Jesus. Ephesians 5:25 addresses the husband, "Husbands, love your wives, as Lord Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for her." Ephesians 5:22-33 gives us the biblical view of godly marriage. The relationship between husband and wife is about sacrificial love and respect.
Sacrificial love is important in marriage because there is a point in marriage that is difficult because of different expectations and understanding between the husband and wife. When the husband and wife join together, they have to be willing to adjust and give up their comfort zone for the sake of the other. The husband is expected to love his wife through good and bad situations. A wife is expected to respect her husband, even when the husband is difficult to respect because of the way he makes decisions. A wife should give her husband room to grow and be supportive. The sad part of marriage today is that when marriage is difficult to bear, they seek divorce right away. They always flee from difficult situations instead of staying in the marriage and fulfilling their promise to each other. Here's the vow that husband and wife promised each other at the altar, "I, (name), take you, (name), to be my wife (or husband), to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God's holy law, in the presence of God I make this vow."
God institutes marriage, and He gives us instructions on how the husband and wife should relate to each other. There is no such thing as a perfect marriage. Marriage is hard work to maintain because two sinful people try to live together, and each has their own desires and wants. What makes a marriage wonderful is when the husband loves his wife sacrificially, and the wife respects her husband. They have to be committed to each other no matter what and be willing to change and give up each other's comfort zone for the sake of the other.
Ask yourself these questions for application: (Think through carefully and meditate on the questions while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you). Who instituted marriage? What is the expectation of the husband and the wife in marriage? Do I love my spouse sacrificially and respect my spouse?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, would you continue to change me to become the spouse that you want me to be? I pray as a husband to love my wife sacrificially and for those who are wives that they will respect their husbands. May those who are married stay committed to their marriage, and those who are single, may they continue to fix their eyes on you and encourage them if they are struggling with loneliness. In your name, Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.