Psalms 110:1-7 Of David. A Psalm. 1 Yahweh says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." 2 Yahweh will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. 3 Your people will be willing on the day of your power, arrayed in the splendor of holiness. From the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth. 4 Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." 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 beside the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
Introduction
What is your favorite Bible verse? How about this—what do you think is the Holy Spirit’s favorite verse? I’ll give you my guess in a minute, but first let me tell you what we’re studying. In between series, I like to teach through a psalm. Whenever I ask people for a list of their favorite psalms, one psalm that’s never been on anyone’s list is Psalm 110. I’ve never taught it because, honestly, it wasn’t on my list of favorites either. It’s kind of a strange psalm, hard to interpret, no heart-warming little devotional nuggets like you get in the 23rd Psalm or Psalm 139.
1 Of David. A Psalm. Yahweh says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." 2 Yahweh will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. 3 Your people will be willing on the day of your power, arrayed in the splendor of holiness. From the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth. 4 Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." 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 beside the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
There’s just a lot of confusing things in there. The Hebrew is obscure, lots of variant readings, sentences where each word in the sentence has several possible meanings. One scholar said it’s the most obscure passage in the entire Old Testament, which is saying a lot. The LORD talks to the Lord and talks about the dew of his youth … , then this strange reference to Melchizedek out of the blue that doesn’t seem connected to anything else in the psalm. Then it gets really violent, like, rated-R violent with corpses stacked up in piles. Piles of dead bodies just isn’t very … devotional. Never seen that verse on a mug. And then the whole thing ends with this strange verse:
7 He will drink from a brook beside the way.
He destroys the nations and then takes a drink out of a creek? What is that? When I decided a couple months ago that it would be our next study, I wanted to listen to as many sermons on it by my favorite preachers as I could. Almost none of them have taught it. I went to website after website—no messages on Psalm 110. The reason that’s significant is that Psalm 110 is the most frequently-quoted OT chapter in the NT. Jesus himself quoted it more than once, and he quoted it in very significant contexts. So while Psalm 110 doesn’t usually make our list of God’s greatest hits in the psalms, the authors of Scripture have it right at the top of their list. So I wanted to dig into it. That’s why we’re studying Psalm 110. And of all the verses in Psalm 110, the one that is quoted the most by other Bible writers by far is verse 1. So if we believe the New Testament is inspired by the Holy Spirit, which I do, then we would have to say Psalm 110:1 appears to be the Holy Spirit’s favorite verse in the whole OT.
Of David
There are lots of psalms that start out, “A psalm of David.” (And yes, those headings are part of inspired Scripture). This psalm switches it around.
Psalm 110:1 Of David. A psalm.
It’s especially important that we know this psalm was written by David. In Matthew 22, Jesus built a whole argument about himself on the fact that David wrote it, so that if David didn’t write it, Jesus’ who argument completely falls apart.
Yahweh and the Messiah
There are three characters in the psalm, and all three are in the very first line.
1 Of David, a psalm. The LORD says to my Lord …
The first “LORD” is in all caps. Whenever you see that, it means the Hebrew word is not Lord, it’s God’s name (Yahweh). The name Yahweh appears over 7000 times in the Old Testament, but the Jews didn’t want to ever say it, and most modern English translations follow that tradition. So instead of Yahweh, they put “LORD” in all caps. The second “Lord” in verse 1 is the normal Hebrew word that actually means lord—the Hebrew word Adonai. So in the English, verse 1 says, “The LORD says to my Lord …” The first LORD is Yahweh and David is the one speaking. So it’s “Yahweh says to my (David’s) Lord… Who is David’s Lord? The Messiah. David wouldn’t call any other king Lord, since David was the greatest of all Israelite kings by far. So right from the day David wrote it, there could be no question that it was talking about the Messiah. And Jewish rabbis prior to Jesus’ time took it as talking about the Messiah. There were various ideas about what to expect as they looked forward to the Messiah, but one thing they knew for sure—the coming Messiah is the character in Psalm 110.
Structure
Now, before I read it, let me point out the basic structure of the psalm. You’ll notice there are two statements in the psalm that have quotation marks, where Yahweh speaks directly in the first person. The seminary word for that is an oracle. Instead of “This is what the Lord says …” it’s “I am the Lord, and this is what I say …” That’s an oracle, and there are two of them in this psalm—one at the beginning and one in the middle. So here’s the structure:
• The first oracle, where Yahweh God speaks to the Messiah
• Then a couple verses where David speaks as a prophet to the Messiah.
• Then the second oracle where Yahweh speaks to the Messiah again.
• Then the last three verses where David speaks to Yahweh about the Messiah.
So the summary of the psalm is this:
Yahweh says to the Messiah, “Sit at my right hand and I’ll give you victory.” The David says, “Hey Messiah, Yahweh is going to give you victories—here’s what that will look like.” Then Yahweh says to the Messiah, “Hey Messiah, I’m going to make you a priest.” Then David says, “Hey Yahweh, those victories you’re going to give the Messiah—here’s what they will look like.” That’s the structure. Okay, so with all that foundation, here’s the psalm.
Psalms 110:1 Of David. A Psalm. 1 Yahweh says to my Lord (the Messiah): "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
That’s the first oracle. Now David speaks to the Messiah.
2 [Hey Messiah], Yahweh will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. 3 Your people will be willing on the day of your power, arrayed in the splendor of holiness. From the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth.
Here’s the second oracle where Yahweh speaks to the Messiah again.
4 Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind: "You (Messiah) are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
Now David speaks to Yahweh about the Messiah.
5 [Hey Yahweh] The [Messiah] 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 beside the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
That’s the psalm. Today, let’s just look at the first three verses.
The Right Hand of God
Verse 1 is the verse the NT writers just can’t stop quoting.
1 … Yahweh says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
To really do this psalm justice, we would go through an in-depth study of each passage where it’s quoted in the NT. But that would take several years, so it’s not really feasible. So let’s just look at it first from a strictly OT viewpoint, without any NT interpretation—just glean what the original readers could have picked up. Then from there, we’ll just do a quick overview of what the NT writers taught about it.
The Place of Honor
What does it mean to sit at God’s right hand? Obviously it’s not talking about a literal chair somewhere up in the sky. It’s symbolic language that has to do with honor. To be seated at the right hand of an equal or a superior meant to be given the highest place of honor. If it’s a wedding, the best man would be seated at the groom’s right hand. If it’s a king, then being seated at his right hand was the position of highest honor in the entire kingdom. If it’s God, being seated at his right hand is the place of highest honor in the universe.
Now, we might be tempted to skim over this verse because the idea of God’s right hand is so familiar to us. It’s just everywhere in the Bible, right? Well, it’s everywhere in the NT. It’s not everywhere in the OT. In fact, it’s nowhere in the OT except here. The entire OT never speaks of anyone being seated at the right hand of God, except this verse.
The scholars don’t really make much of this verse because in the writings of the countries surrounding Israel at this time, it was common for them to refer to their king as being seated at the right hand of God. Everyone in the pagan world thought their king was at God’s right hand.
But the fact that it was so common in the surrounding nations makes it even more significant and striking that it’s never said of any Israelite king—ever. Solomon was world famous. But he’s never said to be at God’s right hand. Not Solomon, not Saul, not even the greatest king of all—King David.
If anyone would get that title, it would be David. He’s not only the greatest king, he’s the greatest character in the whole Old Testament. If you asked an ancient Israelite, “Who’s the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time)?” would they say, Moses? Abraham? No—David. Hands down. And the Holy Spirit seems to agree. David’s name appears more times in Scripture than any other character other than Jesus himself by far. More than Elijah, Joseph, Moses, Abraham, Peter, Paul, John, Adam. Other characters have paragraphs here and there describing their lives. David has three long books describing his life. There’s a whole book of the Bible devoted to describing how David’s great grandma and grandpa met—the book of Ruth. The very last word in the book of Ruth in the Hebrew is David, even though he was still generations from even being born. If anyone would be an exception and be said to be at the right hand of God like the kings of the other nations, it would be David. But no, not even him.
When the Israelites heard other nations say that about their kings, they would tell their kids, “We don’t talk that way about our kings. God is in heaven, we are on earth, no human king—not even David himself is at the right hand of God.” So way back when David put the finishing touches on Psalm 110 and it was hot off the presses, the people read the very first line and did a double take. “Wait, what? This person, a human king who drinks from a brook—Yahweh says to him, ‘Sit at my right hand’? We don’t talk that way about our kings.” Psalm 110:1 was a stunner. That idea had never even been floated in the Jewish world.
International Authority
2 Yahweh will extend your mighty scepter from Zion.
Forget about what the NT says—let’s just think through how this sounded to the original readers. The scepter represents authority. Zion is Jerusalem. The Messiah’s authority will start in Jerusalem and expand outward internationally. He will eventually have international dominance. But he won’t eliminate his enemies—at least not at first.
2 Yahweh will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; (you will) rule in the midst of your enemies.
What does it mean to rule in the midst of enemies? That’s a strange image, isn’t it? Normally, a king fights his enemies, pushes them back, sets up borders, and keeps his enemies out. What king rules in the midst of his enemies?
In the Midst of Enemies (Contested)
Now, by the end of the psalm, the Messiah is stacking up dead bodies. So there is a point where he eradicates his enemies. But there’s also a period where he’s ruling even though his enemies are still there and they are still his enemies. There will be a time when the Messiah is on the throne, but his rule is contested. He will be in charge, yet there will still be resistance.
Willing People
3 Your people will be willing on the day of your power.
Willing to do what? The commentators say, “This is just saying the fighters in his army will be volunteers.” But it’s actually saying a lot more than that. This isn’t the normal word for willing. It’s not even an adjective. It’s a noun. It’s the normal word for a certain kind of sacrifice known as the freewill offering. The literal translation would be, “Your people will be freewill offerings on the day of your power.”
The freewill offering was an interesting sacrifice. It’s exactly what it sounds like—a sacrifice that wasn’t commanded, wasn’t required—completely optional. It was above and beyond all the required sacrifices and tithes and all the rest. It was for people who said, “I’ve given all those things God’s law requires me to give, but I feel like it’s not enough. I love God so much right now, I just want to do something more to express how I feel about God in this moment.” So what this verse is saying is that every one of the Messiah’s people will give himself to the Messiah completely—offering his or her whole life as a sacrifice.
That says something about his leadership and his character. They say you can always tell how good a military officer is by the opinions of the men under him. If he’s self-serving or he’s not a good leader, the men will all pick up on that and he won’t be liked. If all his men are super devoted to him, that’s a sign he’s a great leader. David knew good leadership and he knew bad leadership. He knew the kind that inspired loyalty and love and the kind that didn’t. And he’s saying here that when the Messiah arrives on the day of his power, his people will be so completely loyal to him that they will happily, eagerly lay down their lives for him. And not just to win a battle, but they’ll do it as an act of worship.
The Splendor of Holiness
Look at what else it says about his people in v.3.
3 Your people will be freewill offerings on the day of your power, arrayed in the splendor of holiness.
There are various opinions about how to translate that phrase, but the emphasis is definitely on the last word—holiness. The Messiah’s people will be arrayed in beautiful, splendorous holiness. There’s so much military language in this psalm, you expect it to say his people will be decked out in armor, or armed to the teeth with swords or something related to winning a war. But the only two features that characterize them are their willing worship, and their being decked out in the splendor of holiness.
Holiness is beautiful. Deep down, everyone knows it’s beautiful, even hypocrites—otherwise they wouldn’t pretend to have it. It’s beautiful to people; it’s really beautiful to God. To God, holiness matters more than anything. If you want to pay him a big compliment, you wouldn’t say, “Wow, you’re people are really smart” or “Your people are really strong” or rich or successful or likable or any of that. If you really want to put a smile on his face, the best thing you could say would be, “Man, your people are really holy and righteous.”
The holiness of his people is presented as part of his majestic glory. They will add to his awesome majesty by being a glorious entourage.
Holy Priests
Also, there are a couple places in Scripture where that phrase “splendor of holiness” probably refers to priestly clothing. That sounds a little strange, since only one segment of one tribe could be priests. You had to not only be in the tribe of Levi, but also descended from Aaron. So how could the whole nation be priests? Then again, if this is saying that the Messiah’s holy people would one day all be priests, that would finally explain the promise God had made back in Ex.19:5-6, where God said this:
Exodus 19:5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'
The Dew of Youth
I think this is some of the most beautiful poetry you’ll ever read.
3 … From the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth.
Now, if you’re like me, you read that and say, “I have no idea what that means, but whatever it means, it sure is beautiful.” We don’t have a fraction of the time it would take to run through all the various ways people have interpreted this line. So I’ll just give you what I came up with and you can decide if it makes sense. From the womb of the dawn is a poetic way of describing morning as a mother giving birth to new life. The womb of the dawn—a new day giving birth to new life. I studied the word “dew” in the Bible and found that it’s almost always a symbol of God’s blessing—his refreshing, life-giving sustenance and provision. They thought of dew the same way they thought of rain, as a sign of God’s blessing.
Deuteronomy 32:2 Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.
Rain, dew, showers—all pretty much the same thing.
It’s God’s provision for human flourishing. So what is the dew of youth? Being young has its pros and cons. You’re strong and energetic, but you’re also inexperienced and not as wise. Youth has its good parts and bad parts; the dew of youth refers just to the good parts. The Messiah will have all the best parts of being young. It’s a picture of all the strength and vigor of being in the prime of life. I think the phrase dew of your youth is essentially the same thing as our phrase fountain of youth. David is describing the Messiah as a man who will discover the fountain of youth. And that’s connected with the womb of the morning. New life at the outset of a new day. The Messiah will have new life rising from the dawn of a new day that will be like the fountain of youth for him, so he’ll always be in the prime of life.
Does it sound to you like I’m trying to force-fit that into the concept of resurrection? You tell me—what else could the phrase mean? Would the original readers have taken it that way? Well, when I was looking up all the uses of the word “dew” in the OT, I found one verse where the phrase “your dew” and morning and birth were all used together. And guess what that verse is about.
Isaiah 26:19 But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.
I think if you completely forget about the whole NT and just take these words in Psalm 110 at face value, I really don’t think there is any other possible way to take these words that make as much sense as a reference to resurrection. It sounds like it’s saying the Messiah will usher in a new era in which he will have new life. And we get more of that kind of language in the last verse of the psalm.
7 He will drink from a brook beside the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
At first that doesn’t sound like it’s saying anything, until you realize that the only other person in the Bible who is said to drink from the brook is Elijah. After the catastrophic drought is announced, God sends Elijah to a place where God will preserve his life.
1 Kings 17:3 "Leave here … and hide in the Kerith Ravine … 4 You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there." 5 So he did what the Lord had told him. … 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat … and he drank from the brook.
Very famous passage, the only other place where someone drinks from a brook, it’s repeated twice, and it’s a reference to God preserving the life of a man he favors. When it says the Messiah will drink from a brook, it means God will give him life. Unlike Elijah, it doesn’t happen in hiding. It happens on the go, while he’s winning these victories. And the result will be, he will lift up his head.
7 He will drink from a brook beside the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
Lifting up the head generally refers to being restored to a place of honor and dignity after having had your head bowed in humiliation. The Messiah will be humiliated and bowed low. But then he will drink from the brook and lift his head back up. All these images of restoration, new life, renewed health and vigor from God—something is going to bring the Messiah down and God will raise him back up.
The Church Age
When you take each of these phrases at face value, I think the first half of Psalm 110 interprets itself. It’s a description of Christ’s reign between his first coming and his second coming. In the second half of the psalm we’ll read about the final judgment and the defeat of his enemies, but the first 3 verses are about a time when…
- he would reign at the Father’s right hand,
- being lifted up in renewed life by God after having been brought down,
- with his authority extending out from Jerusalem internationally,
- carrying on his rule in the midst of his enemies,
- through a people who gladly offer their lives to him in worship,
- operating in holiness as a kingdom of priests.
That’s 100% Old Testament. And we’re only half way through the psalm. There’s a whole lot more to come that’s going to have to wait until next time, sadly.
Conclusion
As I was thinking through how to wrap this up tonight, it was so hard to decide because every one of those points I just listed could easily be a whole sermon or sermon series. We can’t talk about all of them, so let’s just close our time refocusing our attention on the first one—the Holy Spirit’s favorite verse.
1 Yahweh said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.
This is the only place in the OT that mentions being seated at God’s right hand, which means every one of the many, many times you read about Christ at God’s right hand in the NT, it’s quoting this verse. Jesus seated at the Father’s right hand meant everything to the NT writers, so it should mean the world to us. And I’d say the timing is perfect for us to be reminded of Christ’s sovereign reign because there’s an election coming, and I don’t know if there’s ever been an election where both sides were more terrified at the thought of the other side winning. And the polls are close to a dead heat, which means the entire country is terrified.
And not only is that election coming, but there are other issues. For example, the world’s on fire.
• A massive war in Europe,
• a massive war in Israel that’s about to explode into the entire mid-east,
• China threatening Taiwan,
• Iran’s on the verge of having nuclear weapons,
• our country’s being overrun by millions of illegals, including gangsters, criminals, spies, and terrorists,
• crime is out of control,
• inflation is out of control,
• the stock market just crashed because we’re heading into a recession,
• and racial tensions are the worst they’ve been in any of our lifetimes.
• Things are so crazy, the leading candidate for President just got shot in the head and only stayed in the news cycle for a few days.
You know what we really need? Someone like David’s Adonai seated at the right hand of God firmly on the throne and in control reigning from heaven and fulfilling all that’s prophesied in this psalm. Jesus seated at the right hand of God shows is total, absolute sovereignty. And as one preacher said, “The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which his children rest their head at night.” When the news headlines have you scared to death, the sovereign reign of Christ at God’s right hand is a pillow upon which you can rest your head and sleep like a baby.
How would you like it if instead of Harris or Trump, we got someone like King David, the man after God’s own heart? David’s Adonai is greater than David. He’s greater than angels.
Hebrews 1:3 … After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?
What about demons? What about all the other powerful spiritual beings—authorities, principalities, powers, rulers?
1 Peter 3:22 he has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand--with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
You say, “Okay, so Jesus dominates all other powers. But will he exert that power on my behalf?”
Ephesians 1:18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know … 19 his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.
God seated Christ at his right hand and put everything under his feet for the sake of the Church. What about you as an individual? Does Jesus use his position at God’s right hand for your benefit as an individual?
Romans 8:34 … 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 the election, both parties would love to not only win the Presidency, but also both houses of Congress so they would really have a lot of power. But if power is what you’re interested in, imagine what it would be like for your opponents to go up against a king ruling from heaven. The President of the United States can command the military, he can make executive orders, he can set policies, but if you’re ruling from heaven, you can control the weather. That’s quite the advantage, right? How would you like to go up against a king who can command lightning to strike where he wants?
Psalm 104:2 … He stretches out the heavens like a tent 3 … He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. … 5 He set the earth on its foundations.
That psalm goes on to describe how he controls every detail of nature. And he can not only control his enemies’ actions, he can reach right into their heart.
Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.
That’s what sovereign power means. That’s what it means to be seated at the right hand of God. And if you want to know how far this goes, listen to this:
1 Corinthians 15:25 he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
When it says every enemy will be put under his feet, that’s not just human enemies or spiritual beings. It’s everything that’s wrong with the creation, including sickness and sorrow and decay and even death. And until that time, we bring him honor and glory by being the glad, willing people who offer ourselves to him as freewill offerings. And we bring him greater and greater honor as we pursue deeper and deeper holiness.
We join with him in his suffering, and if the day comes when, like Paul, we pour out our lives to him like a drink offering in death, will he still be seated at God’s right hand? No. He won’t. At least he wasn’t when they killed his servant Stephen. They stoned Stephen for preaching the gospel, and as he drew his final breaths, this is what happened:
Acts 7:55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Jesus is seated at God’s right hand, but he stood up for Stephen. None of your suffering goes unnoticed by your King. You have been joined with him in his resurrection and so now you are intimately bound with him.
Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. … 3 For your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Set your heart on things above where Christ is seated at God’s right hand, and after you watch the nightly news, rest your head on the pillow of his sovereign reign. And if life gets to be too much, just recall the Holy Spirit’s favorite verse—Yahweh said to David’s Lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
