Psalm 110:1-7  God’s Messiah

 

Let’s read Psalm 110:1-3

1 The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” 2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!” 3 Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb.

 

If you remember, in last week’s lesson, God promised David that one of his descendants would be king forever. That descendant will be Jesus.

Here David is saying that God the Father (LORD) is speaking to the Messiah, God the Son (Lord).

God the Father is saying that God’s Messiah ("The Anointed One")(Jesus Christ) will sit at God’s right hand. What David is prophesying here is approximately one thousand years away.

This did indeed happen after the resurrection of Jesus and His spending forty days on earth, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

What is Jesus doing today? We find it in Romans 8:34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

 

In relation to verse two I read this: The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion: The Messiah’s authority would not be limited to Israel. It would extend to the entire world, dominating all the kings and nations of the earth, giving Him rule over all enemies.

One day Jesus will return to earth, with all His angels, to judge the living and the dead and all opposition to the Lord Jesus will be silenced.

I read that as Jesus is King and High Priest, Christians will be following Him out of Heaven! His troops or army will have the strength of our youth and will coming willingly and full of enthusiasm.

 

This should be our marching orders today….Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Let’s read Psalm 110:4

4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

 

Melchizedek the Priest is first mentioned in Genesis 14:18-20 but our best description is found in Hebrews.

Hebrews 7:1-3 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness;” then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

 

Some propose that Melchizedek was actually a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. Others believe that Melchizedek is a Canaanite who somehow knows Yahweh. Melchizedek is King of Salem (later Jerusalem) and appointed a priest of the God of Israel, but before Israel ever existed.

I read this: Jesus is considered a priest in the "order of Melchizedek" because this priesthood, unlike the Levitical priesthood, is not based on lineage but on a divine appointment and a perpetual, effective sacrifice.

 

I believe the main point for us to understand here is that Jesus is not made a priest through blood passed down through Aaron's family line but instead because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. Because of that sacrifice Jesus is appointed a High Priest and can intercede for all of us forever.

 

Let’s read Psalm 110:5-7

 5 The Lord is at your right hand he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. 6 He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. 7 He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high.

 

This refers to the “Day of the Lord” or “The day of his wrath” when Jesus comes back to rule and judge the world.

I read this: The positions have been reversed; the Father now stands at the right hand of the Son. This pictures the Father that is supplying the needs of the Son. The Father provides the defeat of His enemies on earth so that His Son can fulfill God’s promises to Abraham (to make him a great nation) and kingship (King forever) promise to David.

 

Sitting at "God's right hand" is a symbolic expression referring to God's power & authority.

When the positions are reversed and God takes hold of your right hand, with His left, in this situation it symbolizes judgment and separation from God’s favor. Remember God says He will separate the sheep on the right and the goat on the left.

I share this: The sheep on Jesus’ right hand are blessed by God the Father. The goats on Jesus’ left hand are cursed with eternal hellfire, “prepared for the devil and his angels”

 

As a side note I share this thought, that sitting on God’s left is not always seen as a dreadful thing. After all James and John ask Jesus for the highest honors in His kingdom, specifically to sit at his right and left hand when Jesus reigns.

The sitting at God’s left hand can be a symbolic expression of God’s blessings.

Read Isaiah 41:13 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Psalm 121:2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

 

 

When John the Baptist said of Jesus "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." He was highlighting his role as a sacrificial lamb, a sin offering and savior.

Verse six is talking about when Jesus comes the second time as "Lion” which is symbolic of his power, authority, and as a conquering king. He will conquer all of God’s enemies, as described in Revelation nineteen.

 

Jesus will come as King of kings and LORD of lords.

 

Revelations 19:17-21 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.” 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

 

 

Verse seven is explained this way…..

This pictures a refreshed conqueror who has kingly access to the entire world. The lifted head pictures Christ’s strength in victory. The drink of the brook, indicates swiftness work of His judgement. The victory over Satan and the world has already been won. Jesus

 

 

God’s Messiah, "anointed one," Jesus Christ was chosen for a divine mission. Not only did He defeat Satan, but Jesus conquered sin and death as well.

 

1 Corinthians 15:55-56 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.