"The Preface"

"My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer." (Psalms 45:1) Imagine, if you will, that this is a Psalm not written by a man, but by none other than God Himself, primarily the Holy Spirit. The character of the Holy Spirit is to show us Jesus, either by pointing the way, confirming Him, or living Him out in our lives. As He is the writer, this verse is His preface to the story to unfold; one which is boiling up within Him because of the goodness of the matter to which He is about to speak. If that is too hard to imagine for you, then you could simply take this to be the Holy Spirit speaking through the writer, and just leave it at that; but there are some verses here that go outside the writer, making it easier just to imagine this is God speaking to us, in us, and through us, which is what His Spirit does. Another thing that we must realize about the Holy Spirit, is that He does not draw attention to Himself, but that He always will speak of Jesus; He might manifest Himself through gifts, but such gifts are to draw attention to Christ, not Him. That said, there are several ways that God will speak to us, and He uses this first verse to express almost every way imaginable; it might seem like a play on words, but within this verse we find things like, the heart, His goodness, His creation, speaking, touching, His Spirit, the tongue, His written word, and even His Son, the King. As Matthew Henry has put it: "This Psalm is an illustrious prophecy of Messiah the Prince: it is all over gospel, and it points to Him only, as a bridegroom espousing the church to Himself and as a King ruling in it and ruling for it". Now, due to the nature of the Holy Spirit, that being to point to Christ, He does not point to Himself, but is Himself, in us, the evidence that we are in Christ. With that, let's take this to the next level, and let's imagine that same Spirit is declaring this Psalm through us, the church; which by the way, if you get right down to it, is the number one thing that we have in common with God, His Spirit dwelling within us... "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you. A little while, and ye shall not see Me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see Me, because I go to the Father." (John 16:7-16)