Fr Matthew Reese

My heart is inditing of a good matter : I speak of the things which I have made unto the King.

(Psalm 45:1, Coverdale translation) 

Dear Friends in Christ, 

This morning we read Psalm 45. Because of its praise of the king (presumably King David), this psalm has long been one of the texts sung at English coronations and royal weddings, and there are many beautiful settings of it, for instance those by Henry Purcell and George Frederic Handel. 

The preface to this Psalm—as translated in the Revised Standard Version—reads, “Ode for a Royal Wedding: To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song.” 

What I love about this is that it signals immediately both the occasion and the intended user of this poem: it is for the musicians, for the choirmaster, for the people who praise God in song. How appropriate after such a magnificent showing by our own choirs this Trinity Sunday! 

The first phrase is so captivating here because it can be translated so variously: 

“My heart is inditing a good matter” (King James) 

“My heart hath uttered a good word” (Douay-Rheims) 

“My heart overflows with a goodly theme” (RSV, NRSV) 

“My heart overflows with a pleasing theme” (ESV) 

“My heart is stirred…” (NIV) 

“A marvelous word has stirred my heart” (CEB) 

These are very different meanings: to indite, to overflow, to stir, these are all more reflexive or passive states. To utter is more active. And the Common English Bible translation makes the songsmith the direct object of a Marvelous Word. 

And yet in each, we see a different shade of human joy at the Word of God. Human joy at the presence of God in our midst. Human joy at—critically—the promise of divine action in the world. God is working in us always, in our joys and our sorrows, in our convictions and our trepidations. So let us hasten to listen to his voice. Let our hearts indite, overflow, be stirred, by God’s presence.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Matthew Reese