Psalm 110 and the Mission of God

Recap: Kicking off GO Week last Sunday, missionary Jeremy Farmer very helpfully showed us in Scripture the big picture of what God is doing in the world. According to his message, God is building his church through the proclamation of the gospel, resulting in more local churches. Christ’s commission to make disciples is carrying forward God’s purposes. This morning, we want to consider Christ as the agent of God’s purposes in the world.

Introduction: Suppose you were a Jew living in the OT era, perhaps around 900BC in the pre-exilic period. From your vantage point, you knew that Israel was called to be a light to the nations. You knew that God intended Israel to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. You knew that God’s presence was meant to dwell with Israel through the temple and the priestly code. However, you also knew Israel’s brokenness and failure. You knew all too well that Israel always failed to live out her vocation in the world. Would God’s purpose be continually frustrated and flouted? How in the world would God advance his mission and program for humanity?

Every story has a moment in which vital aspects of the storyline come to light, and the tension of the plot begins to unravel. Important details swim into view that were previously obscure or unclear.

For example, the scene in the Harry Potter storyline in which Harry learns that Snape, one of the people he hated most–– someone he thought was a murderer and traitor–– is actually revealed as someone who was protecting him and fighting for good throughout the entire saga. This plot development brings many unanswered, nagging questions to a satisfying and fitting resolution. After that moment, things begin to fall into place. In the plot development of a story, these are watershed moments.

Transition: Psalm 110 comprises such a moment not only in redemption history, but in all of human history from beginning to end. In the light of Psalm 110, to borrow J. K. Rowling’s words, “New vistas of truth blossom in the darkness.” Psalm 110 brings together some of Scripture’s most vital and pervasive themes (the dominion mandate, the image of God, the Messiah, the curse, the forces of evil, redemption, and the priesthood).

Please turn to Psalm 110.

As a royal psalm, this psalm proclaims and celebrates the rule of God’s Messiah. Essentially, the psalm–– and this message–– divide into two halves, the unchangeable oracle and the unbreakable oath. In the psalm, the LORD makes two key pronouncements, which are expanded upon in the verses that follow.

I. The Unchangeable Oracle: The Messiah will sit, exalted to the highest place. (Read 110:1–3)

The superscript attributes the Psalm to David. The Lord Jesus confirmed this in Matt 22:43-44. There, Jesus says that David, in the Spirit, called the Messiah, Lord. The psalm belongs to David and was inspired by the Spirit, as are the other Scriptures.

This psalm draws from the promise God made to David in 2 Samuel 7 after David was anointed king over all Israel (2 Sam 5:3–5). David wanted to build a permanent house for God, but God promised to build a house/lineage for David (7:11). He told David that he would establish his throne and kingdom forever (7:16, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.”). One of David’s descendants from the tribe of Judah would reign as God’s king over God’s kingdom forever. Psalm 110 builds upon that promise. In this psalm, through the inspiration of the Spirit, David describes the future rule of this promised descendant.

An “oracle of the LORD” introduces the psalm (translated “The LORD says” in most modern English translations). A prophetic oracle is a fixed, sure declaration from the LORD. This psalm calls attention to an unalterable pronouncement from the LORD.

A. Recipient of the oracle (v 1)

David references the recipient of the LORD’s pronouncement as “my Lord”. We need to take some time to differentiate between the persons in view. Three persons are involved. The one declaring the oracle is YHWH, the I am, God Almighty. Out of reverence for his personal name in keeping with the practices of Judaism, modern English translations render the name LORD in small caps.  YHWH declares the oracle. David identifies the recipient as “my Lord”, a different term in the Hebrew text. David has in mind his promised descendant who would surpass him in greatness and be established forever. Jesus confirmed this in his discussion of Psalm 110 in Matt 22.

The oracle commands the Messiah to sit at the right hand of God Almighty until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. The unchangeable declaration of the LORD is that one day all of the Messiah’s enemies will be crushed under his feet. God Almighty himself will accomplish this on behalf of the Messiah. The Messiah is told to wait until the time when this occurs. The command to sit conveys the Messiah’s exaltation. His position at God’s right hand indicates his relationship of favor, prominence, and power with the Almighty. The imagery of his enemies being made a footstool for his feet, a common image in the OT, pictures total conquest and subjection.

B. Rule of the Messiah (v 2)

“Strong scepter” recalls God’s promises about the scepter of Judah. In Gen 49:10, Jacob foretold that the scepter would not depart from Judah (also referenced in Ps 60:7 and 108:8). It was long foretold and often reiterated that a descendant of Judah would take worldwide dominion.

The LORD will extend the strong scepter of the Messiah from Zion. Zion is David’s city, Jerusalem. It’s the city in which God established his name dwelling with his people in the temple. As a descendant of Judah and David, the Messiah will rule from Zion.

C. Redeemed of the Messiah (v 3)

Verse 3 presents some interpretive difficulties, but overall it describes the Messiah’s people who will join him on his day of conquest (“in the day of Your power”).

• Voluntary service- The first phrase of the verse emphasizes the voluntary submission of the Messiah’s people. Technically, the term that’s used is the OT term for a free will offering (NASB, “Your people will volunteer freely”). Like a free will offering, the Messiah’s people will voluntarily, eagerly join him.

• Clothed in holiness- The second phrase of the verse likely describes the garments of the Messiah’s people. They are clothed literally “in the splendor of holiness” (ESV, “in holy garments”; NASB, “in holy array”). This language echoes the priestly vestiture of the Mosaic covenant (cf. 2 Chron 20:21). In the OT, the priests who ministered in the sanctuary wore beautiful, special garments that were set apart for the LORD’s service. All of the redeemed who join the Messiah on his day of conquest are thus described.

• Instantaneous and overwhelming- The final part of verse 3 uses two poetic images to describe the instantaneous and overwhelming response of the Messiah’s people. “From the womb of the dawn” pictures the birth/start of a new day. The Messiah’s conquest will one day break upon the world like the piercing light of dawn. “Your youth” parallels “your people” of the previous line, and describes the young men who will offer themselves as servants of the Messiah. Finally, the comparison “like the dew” pictures the pervasive and instantaneous dewfall in the morning, a meaningful comparison in their culture (cf. 2 Sam 17:12, “So we shall come to him in one of the places where he can be found, and we will fall on him as the dew falls on the ground; and of him and of all the men who are with him, not even one will be left.”). [dewfall while camping]

II. The Unbreakable Oath: The Messiah will serve as priest forever. (110:4–7)

Verse 4 introduces the second half of the psalm. The LORD’s oath in verse 4 parallels the oracle of verse 1. By means of an unbreakable oath, the LORD declares that the Messiah will serve forever as priest after the order of Melchizedek.

A. The Priesthood of the Messiah

Gen 14 supplies the background of this oath. In this intriguing scene, Melchizedek met Abraham after his conquest of the Canaanite kings. Melchizedek’s name means king of righteousness, and he ruled over Salem, likely the ancient site of Jerusalem (cf. parallelism of Ps 76:3). Gen 14 tells us that he served as a priest of God Most High, and for this reason Abraham gave him one tenth of the spoil of battle, recognizing him as a spiritual authority.

The oath of Ps 110:4 guarantees that the Messiah will serve as a priest-king forever in Melchizedek’s order. As a son of David, the Messiah descends from the line of Judah, yet only the line of Aaron (through Levi) served as priests under the Mosaic covenant. This necessitates a change in the priestly order. Similarly, none of the Israelite kings served as priests. For these reasons, Melchizedek provides a fitting type of the coming Messiah. 1) His name means king of righteousness, and the Messiah will be the ultimate king of righteousness. 2) He ruled over Salem, the ancient site of Jerusalem, and the Messiah will establish his global rule from Jerusalem. 3) He served in the offices of priest and king; likewise, the Messiah will fulfill both roles, thoroughly qualifying him to make his people a kingdom of priests to God (cf. Ex 19:6). This probably explains why his people are clothed in the splendor of holiness or priestly garments. As priest-king, the Messiah has clothed them in holiness, and they will serve him in his kingdom.

B. The Conquest of the Messiah

A shift in perspective occurs in verse 5. The term Lord (אֲדֹנָ֥י) at the beginning of the verse, even though it’s in the lower case, refers to YHWH (cf. Ps 16:8). The expression, the Lord is at your right hand, highlights the Almighty’s action on behalf of the Messiah and guarantees the Messiah’s success. Ultimately, God Almighty is the one who will subdue the Messiah’s enemies.

The language used in vv5–6 to describe the Messiah’s conquest is significant and evocative.

“He will shatter kings in the day of his wrath.” The verb shatter/crush (מָחַ֖ץ) recalls predictions of the OT in which the seed on the woman, the offspring of Abraham, would crush their enemies. Numbers offers one vivid and important example. When Balaam was incited to curse God’s people, he inadvertently made this prediction– “I see him, but not now; a star shall come out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth” (Num 24:17). God’s enemies, the offspring of the serpent, would one day be crushed by the scepter from Judah. The Messiah will one day bring this to pass.

Verse 6 vividly describes the Messiah’s total subjection of his enemies. He will execute judgment over all the nations. At his coming he will slaughter a host of his foes (cf. Ezek 39:12). Finally, he will literally “shatter the head over a broad land” (110:6b). Most modern English translations take the noun head as a reference to the chiefs or leaders of the nations that oppose God (NASB, “He will chatter the chief men over a broad country.”). However, the noun actually appears in the singular. For this reason, it sounds like an allusion to Gen 3:15. The offspring of the woman will strike out at the head of the serpent. One day, the Messiah, the true offspring of the woman, will crush the head of that ancient serpent, the devil.

C. The Exaltation of the Messiah

Verse 7 brings resolution to the scene. Following his conquest, the Messiah will drink from the brook by the wayside, a desert wadi, and lift up his head. I think the imagery of this verse reaches back to the beginning of the Psalter, Psalm 1. The righteous are like trees planted by streams of water (1:3), and the LORD knows their ways (1:6). Expressed in poetic wisdom imagery, this is the kind of person the Messiah will be. Someone who is ultimately righteous with whom the LORD is intimately acquainted. The final statement of the psalm speaks of the exaltation of God’s King. In Scripture, the lifting of the head elsewhere refers to exaltation (cf. Ps 3:3, “and the lifter of my head”). Only the Messiah will be exalted on the last day, along with those who are in him. All of his enemies will be made a footstool for his feet.

Conclusion: It is beyond question that the first Christians and the writers of the NT were convinced that Psalm 110 finds its terminus in Jesus of Nazareth. He is the Messiah, the son of David, the root of Jesse, the lion of the tribe of Judah, and the offspring of the woman. After his ascension, he took his seat at the right hand of the Name. He possesses all authority in heaven and on earth. He awaits the time when the Father will make his enemies a footstool for his feet. One day, he will fully, finally crush the head of that ancient serpent, and even death itself will be cast into the lake of fire. The Messiah of Psalm 110 has a name; his name is Jesus.

Of course, this means many things for us. We can hardly begin to spell out the earth-shattering implications of this reality.

Chiefly, it means this. “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Ps 2:12). Today is the day of salvation, but this time won’t last forever. In time, the Messiah will return and destroy his enemies.

For the redeemed, it means that you are seated with the Messiah in the heavenly places. You are one with him.