Sunday, 11/2/14 pm
STUDIES IN PSALMS
The Lord Said to My Lord
Psalm 110
This psalm is one that could not apply to any king of physical Israel or
Judah. It probably presented
a challenge to Jewish scholarship until Jesus came along and addressed
it. We now know David as a
prophet was writing about Jesus.
In
our study today, we will emphasize the fulfillment of this psalm as
addressed in the New Testament.
a.
David in this verse is
humbly acknowledging his place before God (God is greater than He is and
His protector). The ONE
whom he addresses is to WAIT on God until his enemies are defeated.
David would have understood that as well.
b.
The first LORD is
Jehovah (YHWY) who speaks to “my Lord” (Adonai – a lord, master or
ruler)
c.
The “Lord” is told to
sit at the right hand of God.
d.
This is clearly a
reference to the Messiah they anticipated.
In NT there are at least 3 occasions where this verse is directly
quoted.
i.
Matt. 22:42-46, (Mark
12:35-37, Luke 20:42-43, ) – Jesus in Jerusalem during the week of His
crucifixion and He answers the attempts of His enemies to discredit Him.
Following a question about the resurrection posed by the
Sadducees (who denied the resurrection) Jesus challenged the Pharisees
and other leaders. He quotes
David with this verse (NOTE: Jesus says David in the Spirit wrote this
psalm - confirming the author and noting his inspiration) noting that
David called the coming Messiah his Lord.
The point, there IS a resurrection and the Messiah PREDATED David
– thus He had to be deity (Immanuel, etc.).
ii.
Acts 2:34, 35 - The 2nd
occasion this verse is quoted is Pentecost, the day the kingdom/church
began. Peter notes Jesus
arose from the dead and David didn’t.
David didn’t ascent to heaven but he did write the words of this
psalm (and thus he said).
Peter notes that Jesus is the one now sitting at the right hand of God –
reigning on the throne of David in heaven.
Vs. 36 is the conclusion.
iii.
Heb. 1:13 – the 3rd
occasion this verse is quoted, the writer of Hebrews is contrasting
Jesus (the Messiah) with the angels noting that to Jesus He said, “Sit
at My right hand…” but never said that to the angels.
The point is Jesus is greater than the angels (because He is the
Son of God). The writer will
then proceed to establish Jesus as Lord and High Priest.
CONCLUDING his theological argument about who is the Christ, the writer
says, “And every priest stands
ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one
sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from
that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one
offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
(Heb. 10:11–14)
We will deal with His priesthood in a moment.
NOTE: IN addition to all these verses, there are many others that
reference Jesus sitting at the right hand of God.
Matt 22:69 – Jesus was going to reign at “the right hand of the power of
God.”
Acts 2:33, Jesus is seated at the
right hand of God.
Acts 5:31, exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior
Acts 7:55-56, Stephen saw Jesus at the right hand of God
Romans 8:34, Eph. 1:20, Col. 3:1, Heb. 1:3, 8:1 – our High Priest seated
at the right hand of God.
Heb. 12:2, Jesus our example sat at the right hand of God
1 Pet. 3:22, Jesus has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God
CLEARLY, this is a reference to
Jesus NOW reigning in His kingdom.
a.
YHWH will send “the rod
of Your strength out of Zion” meaning that He will rule beginning at
Zion. Again, this is a
reference to the beginning of His kingdom (cf. Acts 2 – where this verse
is quoted as having been fulfilled.)
b.
“Rule
in the midst of Your enemies.”
Jesus described His kingdom as being spiritual (John 18:36, Luke
17:21, cf. Rom. 14:17).
NOTE: In this kingdom, there WILL be enemies around.
This is CONTRARY to the premillennial concept being taught today
that Jesus will return to this earth and reign in Jerusalem on the
throne of David in a utopian world for 1000 years.
Jesus is NOW reigning and there are enemies all about.
c.
“Your
people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power” – people will
freely and willingly come to Him.
The gospel truly is for all. Unlike
physical Israel where one was born into the inheritance, the Lord’s
kingdom is made readily available to anyone (1 Tim. 2:4).
Gal. 3:27-28 says that as many as are baptized into Christ will
put on Christ.
d.
“In the beauty of holiness, from the womb…you have the dew of Your youth”
– possibly a description of the timing when people will voluntarily
follow Him. That day
(Pentecost) some 3000 souls obeyed the gospel, and the numbers increased
after that. (Ac. 2:41)
Jesus taught the kingdom would grow in His parables (Matt. 13:31-33).
a.
The Lord
(YHWY) “has sworn” and will not relent.
He has promised to raise up His King and He always keeps His
promises. In Hebrews 6:18
speaks of it being impossible for God to lie – a passage speaking of the
promise God made to Abraham and He confirmed it with an oath (the 2
things – a promise and an oath – Heb. 6:13-18).
The promise had to do with blessing and multiplying Abraham.
b.
Not only will the Lord
be LORD, He will ALSO be a priest.
Thus He will fully serve and accommodate His people.
c.
Melchizedek
- As with verse 1, this verse is also directly quoted in the New
Testament. It is also
alluded to throughout a major portion of Hebrews.
First, the quotes – Hebrews 7:17, 20, 5:6, etc.
In Hebrews 5-7, Melchizedek is mentioned 9 times.
The point the writer is making is that Jesus is our High Priest,
but NOT after the Levitical order.
He could NOT be a Levitical priest because He was a descendent of
David and of the tribe of Judah.
THEREFORE, His priesthood was of a different sort.
In explaining this, the Hebrew writer goes back to the time of Abraham
(some 500 years before David) and an occasion recorded in Genesis 14:18.
Abraham has rescued his nephew Lot and delivered the king of his
city. On his return, Abram
meets Melchizedek, king of Salem.
Melchizedek is a priest of “God Most High”.
Abraham gives him a tithe, thereby recognizing his priesthood.
We don’t hear about Melchizedek again until Psalm 110, and then
its explanation in Hebrews.
He is described as being “without
father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of
days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest
continually.” (Heb.7:1-3)
The Hebrew writer then explains how since Abraham paid tithes to
Melchizedek, and Levi was not yet born (still 3 generations away) and
the Levitical priesthood several hundred years away, was in a sense
GREATER than the Levitical priesthood.
The conclusion of this discussion is that since Jesus was not a
Levitical priest for Him to reign, there needed to be a new priesthood
(Heb. 7:11-28). This would
necessitate a new law as well (Heb. 8:7-13).
AND all this goes back to a prophecy made by David some 1000 years
before Jesus fulfills it. In
fact, the prophecy is made in the infancy of the Davidic dynasty and all
the things that will happen in the coming centuries.
a.
The work of the Messiah
will ultimately be to judge the world.
While HE came to save the world, in the end there will be a
judgment. The best fit for
these verses are the coming judgment.
Jesus Him taught us that His words will judge us in the last
days. NOTE John 12:47-48, “And
if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I
did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects
Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word
that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” While Jesus did
not initially come to judge, His words WILL judge us in the last day.
John 5:22-23 says, “For the Father
judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He
who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
b.
He will execute
(shatter, defeat) kings in the day of His wrath – the Day of Judgment
will be one where all will give an account.
Ungodly leaders will answer for their shameful decisions.
c.
He will judge among the
nations (ALL nations) and send the wicked into punishment – NONE shall
escape!
d.
He will drink of the
brook by the wayside and lift up the head – as sure as His enemies will
be dealt with, so His followers will be refreshed and ultimately lifted
up.
And
thus we see another psalm.
This one projecting great hope.
What David prophesied was fulfilled in Jesus.
We are blessed because of our King and High Priest.
As we study this psalm, let us take comfort in God’s ability to
keep His promises to us.
Brethren, there IS a great day coming.