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So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.
Psalms 45:11 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB So the king will desire your beauty, honor him, for he is your lord.
  • BSB and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.
  • NKJV So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him.
  • NASB Then the King will crave your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.
  • NLT For your royal husband delights in your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The king will desire her beauty; she is to honor him as her lord. It matters because it portrays love joined with reverent submission to the king.

Overview

The bride is loved by the king and called to honor him as her lord. Love and honor belong together in this royal union. The church likewise is cherished by Christ and called to honor Him as Lord, a relationship of both deep love and glad submission.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 25

  • Ps 95:6O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
  • Isa 54:5For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
  • Song 4:1–5Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
  • Zeph 3:17The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
  • Phil 2:10–11That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
  • Song 1:8If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.
  • Luke 24:52And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
  • Ps 45:6Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
  • Phil 3:8Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
  • Isa 62:4–5Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.
  • John 4:21–22Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
  • Ps 2:12Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
  • Song 2:2As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
  • Acts 10:36The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
  • John 20:28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.
  • Rom 14:9For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
  • Jer 23:5–6Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
  • Song 4:7Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
  • Song 4:9–10Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.
  • Song 6:4Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
  • Song 7:1–10How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.
  • Song 1:12–16While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
  • Eph 5:26–27That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
  • Song 2:14O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
  • Rev 5:8–14And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 45:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 45:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.