Psalm 110 comments

 

Psalm 110:1 ¶  «A Psalm of David.» The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. 2  The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. 3  Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. 4  The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

 

That this Psalm was written by David is confirmed by the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Matthew 22:43  He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,

44  The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45  If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?

 

And by Peter as recorded in Acts.

 

Acts 2:34  For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35  Until I make thy foes thy footstool.

 

These are words spoken by the LORD God to the Son of God, the Messiah, the Saviour of Mankind.

 

See God Almighty in Isaiah 6:1 ¶  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 ¶  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

 

And the Messiah and Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ in; Malachi 3:1 ¶  Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

 

Hebrews 1:13  But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

 

Sitting at the right hand was a place of power, authority, and rule in the throne of God the Father. In the following it is a place of respect and honor to sit at a great person’s right hand;

 

1Kings 2:19  Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand.

 

Psalm 45:9  Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

 

Christ’s enemies shall be conquered. Note this verse;

 

Joshua 10:24  And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.

 

The Psalmist declares that even though it is Israel as the predominant nation it is God who actually rules from Zion. And so Christ will rule from Jerusalem, many of us believe, in the Millennium.

 

When that day comes Christ’s people will serve Him in the power of their youth, fresh and abundant as the morning dew, and clothed with garments of holiness.

 

See my comments on Hebrews 7:1-9.

 

Hebrews 7:1 ¶  For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2  To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; 3  Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. 4  Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. 5  And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: 6  But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. 7  And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. 8  And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. 9  And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. 10  For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.

 

Here is the scene as revealed in Genesis.

 

Genesis 14:18  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19  And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20  And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

 

By suggesting that Christ is a type of Melchisedec, Paul has made it so that He is of an order higher than that of Aaron and the priests as He is a king AND a priest. There is no mention of the king of Salem’s genealogy or his lifespan. Christ, as the Son of God, or God in the flesh ultimately needs no geneaology like the Aaronic priesthood to justify Himself. It is Melchisedec’s priesthood that has no beginning or end, as Christ’s is in type, not his life, ancient commentators propose, as reported by John Gill.

 

Paul likens the tithes that Abraham paid to Melchizedek as equivalent to the Levitical priests making that tithe and honoring Melchizedek and Christ in type long before the priests were even born.

 

Psalm 110:5 ¶  The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. 6  He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. 7  He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

 

Verse 5 could be a reference to Christ’s return to take control of the kingdoms of the earth.

 

2Thessalonians 1:7  And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9  Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

10  When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

 

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

 

Or to the end of the Millennium when the kings of the earth, deceived by Satan, rise up in one last attempt to overthrow Christ’s rule.

 

Psalm 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5  Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

 

Revelation 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

 

Verse 7 brings to mind the criteria God had for Gideon choosing his elite band of warriors. Perhaps this is a reference to Christ's posture of victory. He drank of the brook of His suffering but looked ahead to His triumph. 

 

Judges 7:6  And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.

 

This triumphant Psalm that we can understand to speak of Christ’s final triumph over His enemies we can take to our heart in any trouble we face knowing that Christ will be victorious. Eternity is a long time but we have nothing to fear as we are Christ’s redeemed. The fate of Christ’s enemies will be terrible. Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, God Himself in the flesh, our Saviour, and Creator cannot be defeated. AMEN!