…Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions…

I’ve been thinking about this for a couple months now; In Psalm 45, David is prophesying about Jesus and His present and coming reign over the earth after His crucifixion and resurrection to redeem us and cleanse us of our sinfulness.

In Psalm 45 David writes;

“Your Throne , O God, is forever and ever.

The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions…”

And just in case anyone is unsure about who David is talking about, he clears that up in verse one:

“ My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;

I address my verses to the king;

My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.”

So Jesus was the most-glad person within His circle of friends. Even if you don’t count the hundreds of followers He had during His lifetime, even of the 12 disciples and the few women on His inner circle, He was the happiest one of them all. He was actually happy. I also don’t think it’s unfair to extrapolate “companions” beyond his group of friend to mean that He’s the happiest person to ever live. This seems bizarre that the good, holy, eternal and uncreated God would even for a moment be happy to be a man living on the earth, all the while knowing that He would bear the entire weight of wrath of the Father for the sins that He took no part in. What could drive a man to do such a thing? Let alone be happy to do it. He must have considered the price worth paying for the prize He would receive afterwards; a pure and spotless bride, wooed to love Him.

Pondering this question has brought other questions to my mind:

If the Father anointed Jesus with gladness for loving righteousness and hating wickedness, then what is going on with me? What do I love that I shouldn’t? What do I hate that I shouldn’t? (Please no one offer me an answer over the internet for all the world to see. It was a rhetorical question.) Why am I not known as that ridiculously happy guy? Neither my current nor my past circumstances are any excuse, because Jesus had His own too. Isaiah 53 describes Him as a “man of sorrows” so He’s not ignorant of the subject. He wasn’t some cartoon character too dumb or oblivious to not be happy. Especially when you consider the drastic method in which He humbled Himself from creator to interact with His creation and live among us. Where should my focused attentions be, if not my circumstances? What am I loving that isn’t leading me further into loving God and finding my joy in Him? I think all of these questions could be posed to the larger church body in general, but because at the moment the only heart I’m responsible for is my own, and leading myself well is the most beneficial way I can lead the church in righteousness at the moment, I want to keep this line of questioning inward focused. (Could I possibly have found a single instance where selfishness is actually less harmful then being outwardly focused?!?)

It’s an interesting subject to ponder and would encourage other to do the same.

What a fantastic cause and effect that is! In His perfect leadership our good Father rewards us with gladness when we agree with Him. What kindness! In His wisdom He decided the best and most efficient way to gain our cooperation is to give us gladness for agreeing with His leadership. He could have given us a list of rules and motivated us with a “Because I said so…” and He’s certainly within His right to do so, but He wanted to make the process enjoyable. He really is kind and gentle.