“A Messianic Psalm” (Psalm 110)
Introduction:
The Messiah our Lord Jesus has always existed from all of eternity before He became a flesh and blood man. As the blessed Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet Micah;
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel— One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity” (Micah 5:2).
In this text we notice several things. Firstly; Bethlehem in Judea is specifically mentioned and this was the town where the Lord Jesus was born as affirmed in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. See (Luke 2:4-5 NRSV).
Secondly; He would be from the clan of Judah. He is referred to as “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the root of David” in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 5:4-5). Thirdly; He is referred to as the ruler over Israel as the King of the Jews. Fourthly; He is referred to as one whose existence has been from all of eternity.
You can find His presence mentioned throughout the whole of the Old Testament and affirmed in the New Testament as having no beginning or end as the third person within the Tri-Unity of God.
All of the prophets in the Old Testament who wrote the scriptures refer to His pre-existence. In the Old Testament He appeared in human form and spoke to men and women and there are many references to this in the Old Testament scriptures.
One of His most striking appearances is as the Angel of the LORD who frequently appears in the Old Testament scriptures. In the Hebrew language He is referred to with the definite article. He was no ordinary angel but “The Angel of the LORD.” There was none like Him!
We also see that God’s name was in Him, that He was the angel that lead the Children of Israel through the desert after their exodus from Egypt, and that He had the power to forgive sin.
God says of this angel; “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for My name is in him” (Exodus 23:20-21).
Not only do we find references to His appearance to men and women in the Old Testament, but also references to His first coming in the incarnation centuries before it occurred. We find many references to the work of salvation He would bring to the world.
We also find references to His Second Coming followed by His Messianic reign See (Isaiah Chapter 11) (Isaiah 53) (Ezekiel Chapter 37). So many Biblical references are too numerous to list!
The Hebrew prophets prophesied for four time frames concerning the Messiah our Lord Jesus. They prophesied for their own time frame, secondly for His first coming, thirdly for His second coming, and fourthly for His Messianic reign.
Some of their prophecies related to all four time frames in the one prophecy. In both Testaments in the earliest manuscripts there are no chapter or verse divisions. These were added later by English translators.
This particular Psalm is a Messianic Psalm that foreshadows and applies to His Second Coming and His ultimate reign on earth over the nations that have survived this awesome event at the close of this present age.
Once He has returned and destroyed all opposition arrayed against Him and rescued His chosen people Israel and her spiritual offspring the Body of Messiah this present age will close and His Millennial Messianic reign will commence (Zechariah Chapter 14).
Now we are told in the New Testament that the prophets knew by the revelation of the Holy Spirit that the Messiah our Lord Jesus would come and sought to understand and have spiritual insight as to what the Holy Spirit was indicating to them.
As the apostle Peter wrote to the New Testament assemblies about this.
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully, trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of the Messiah in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things (1 Peter 1:10-12).
Let’s now look at this psalm of David.
Psalm 110: Exposition:
(Vs.1) “The LORD says to my Lord;”
Here we have two persons that David was referring to. The LORD is our Triune God and David’s Lord would have to be the pre-existent Messiah, the third person in the Tri-Unity of God (The Trinity). There has always existed fellowship between God the Father with God the Son and with God the Holy Spirit. They are perfectly one in their divine and eternal attributes.
While the word “my Lord” that David says in the Hebrew can apply to a human ruler as well to a divine person, the context of this passage is that David’s Lord is none other than the Messiah Himself before He took upon Himself a flesh and blood body at His incarnation in Mary’s womb. David calls Him “my Lord” and it was a personal revelation and relationship David was having with Him by the Holy Spirit.
The Messiah our Lord Jesus was fully human and fully divine in the one body. So He was David’s Lord the pre-existent Messiah at the time David uttered this prophecy, as well as one who would be in David’s lineage in the future.
It is interesting to note that the Lord Jesus spoke about this when confronted by the Pharisees concerning His eternal deity and pre-existence before He became flesh and blood.
We read about this encounter…
“Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Messiah, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet”’? If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question” (Matthew 22:41-45).
Here we see that the Lord Jesus in quoting this reference found in Psalm 110 was not referring to Himself in the lineage of David, which he was in His human ancestry, but referring to Himself as David’s Lord in eternity, clearly declaring His divinity and his pre-existence in eternity being equal with God. See also (John 1:1-5, 14-15).
In the context of this portion of psalm 110 the Messiah our Lord Jesus was not only declaring His eternal existence, which David saw through the Holy Spirit, but the Second Coming of His Messiah and the establishment of David’s Kingdom in the future.
God had promised David that the eternal one would come through David’s physical lineage who would rule the nations sitting on David’s throne.
As we read what God said in Psalm 89; “I will not violate My covenant or alter the utterance of My lips. Once and for all I have sworn by My holiness I will not lie to David, his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun” (Psalm 89:34-36).
As the LORD said to David through the prophet Samuel; “Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). See also (Jeremiah 33:20-21). And then we read…
“Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Here was have a clear reference to the ascension of the Lord Jesus to heaven as a resurrected man being God the Son, who, after making purification for sin, sat down at the right hand of God.
The author of Hebrews writes…
“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the Word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:1-3).
See also (Matthew 26: 64) (Mark 14:62; 16:19) (Luke 22:69) (Acts 2:34, 35; 5:31; 7:55, 56) (Romans 8:34) (1 Corinthians 15:24ff) (Ephesians 1:20) (Colossians 3:1) (Hebrews 1:13; 8:1; 10:12-13; 12:2) (1 Peter 3:22) (Revelation 3:21).
There at God’s right hand God the Son still remains to this day waiting until God the Father’s appointed time for His Son to return to earth when all of His enemies marked for judgement will be judged by the splendour of His Second Coming (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9).
The day of His Second Coming has been appointed by God in eternity. Time is now running out as we see the whole world racked by wickedness, permeated with the spirit of antichrist and heading for judgement and the wrath of God.
As the apostle Peter said; “He (God) now commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:30b-31).
The fact that the Messiah our Lord Jesus has been physically raised from the dead guarantees that every man and woman that has ever lived in the past, is living now and will live in the future will have to give an account to God. There will be those physically resurrected to enteral life and those resurrected to eternal damnation (Daniel 12:2) (Revelation 20:12-15).
At present God is giving even His enemies the opportunity to repent because He is not willing that any should perish but that all will come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). However that day is fixed when Judgement will come! It is a divine appointment which no one will miss! (Revelation 1: 7). And then we read…
(Vs.2) “The LORD will extend Your mighty sceptre from Zion; You will rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
When the Messiah our Lord Jesus came the first time, even though He was fully God and fully man in the same body, He was subject to Human limitations as a man.
He got hungry, He got tired, He wept, He rejoiced, He was even tempted in every way we are but never gave in, and He was without sin (Hebrews 4:15) (John 8:46). The LORD, being God His Father dwelling in Zion in Heaven, would extend His powerful authority to His Son and even though He lived among men after His incarnation, they had no authority over Him.
Even at His trial when He stood before Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor said to Him “Do you not realise that I have the power to crucify you or set you free?” The Lord Jesus replied; “You would have no power over Me unless it was granted to you by My Father in heaven.”
We see this power when the Messiah healed the sick, calmed the storm, drove out demons, turned water into wine and preached with the mighty power of the Holy Spirit.
No one had the power to take His life and when He did lay down His life it was at His own will.
As He Himself said; “The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father” (John 10:17-18).
When on earth among men He reigned in the kingdom of God, which at that time was birthed in the hearts of all who believed in Him for salvation (John 1:10-14). He reigned in the midst of His enemies in a hostile world under the power of Satan, “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
At the cross the Messiah our Lord Jesus destroyed Satan’s power to keep people enslaved to sin. If anyone really wants to be saved then Satan may hinder the process but cannot stop it from happening.
As Rabbi the apostle Paul writes;
“When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with the Messiah. He forgave us all our trespasses, having cancelled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:13-15).
The time is coming when He will indeed rule over His enemies, who survive His Second Coming. He will rule in their midst and the nations will have to obey Him.
So we can say while the kingdom of God has been birthed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit the Body of Messiah on earth corporately it is an invisible body to the world.
After He has returned His kingdom will be a visible kingdom with its headquarters at Jerusalem, something that He taught His disciples to pray for in the Lord’s Prayer. We can say that the kingdom of God is now, but not yet! Now let’s continue…
(Vs.3) “Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn You will receive the dew of Your youth.”
The Day of His battle with Satan and his cohorts from Hades started at Pentecost, when, after the Spirit had been poured out upon the 120 in the upper room, the gospel of the kingdom went forth in power going from Jerusalem, expanding into all of Judea and Samaria and after that being conveyed to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
After the atoning death of the Messiah our Lord Jesus and His resurrection and ascension He poured out His Spirit to empower His Body corporately to wreak havoc in Satan’s kingdom!
Satan was to fight a war he had already lost!
The last great sign before the Second Coming of the Messiah our Lord Jesus will see the gospel of the kingdom being preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end shall come (Matthew 24:14).
Several things to notice; “Your troops will be willing.” In other words those who love the Lord Jesus, who have been spiritually reborn from above and have made Him Lord over their lives will be more than willing to love and to serve Him whose blood has atoned for their sins, and cleansed them from all sin (Romans 5:10-11) (1 John 1:7-9).
They have been redeemed through His blood and have the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of His unmerited favour (Ephesians 1:7).
They are “Arrayed in holy majesty” manifesting the beauty, the attractiveness, the glory, the love, the purity of the character and the power of the Messiah who has imparted to them that righteousness received by faith in Him (Romans 3:21-24).
These are separated to the Triune God with the Biblical revelation of the Lord Jesus, that rock of revelation knowledge of Him, which Satan and the very gates of Hades will never prevail against! (Matthew 16:13-20). And then we read…
“…from the womb of the dawn You will receive the dew of Your youth.”
The body of the Messiah is like one that rises like the dawn of a new day with the rising of the sun, a powerful radiant witness to the resurrection, an army numerous beyond counting, fresh as the dew of dawn, spiritually powerful and alert and imbued with the strength of our Triune God as youth in their prime! And then we read…
(Vs.4) “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
Here we are reminded that God never goes back on His covenant promises, or changes His mind (Deuteronomy 7:9) (Psalm 108:5). He is perfectly consistent in all He says and does. He never changes! (Malachi 3:6) (James 1:17) His Word never changes! (Psalm 119:89) The Messiah our Lord Jesus never changes! (Hebrews 13:8)
The Messiah has a permanent Priesthood as the author of Hebrews writes…
“Now there have been many other priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office. But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely (to the uttermost) those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:23-25).
Right now at the right hand of God the Father sits God the Son, our great High Priest who ever lives to intercede for us as He has an Eternal Priesthood. In fact not only does He intercede for us, but the Holy Spirit also intercedes for us according to the will of God (Romans 8:26).
In the time of Abraham, before the incarnation of the Messiah, Melchizedek the High Priest of Salem (Jerusalem) brought bread and wine to Abraham foreshadowing the New Covenant in the Blood of the Messiah to be cut with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah being Abrahams decedents, the Jewish people through the lineage of Isaac and Jacob, not through the lineage of Ishmael and Esau, the fathers of the Arab nations! (Jeremiah 31:31).
In the Book of Genesis we read…
“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine, since he was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything” (Genesis 14:18-20).
According to the Book of Hebrews Melchizedek was a pre-incarnate manifestation of the Jewish Messiah in human form before His incarnation. The bread and the wine he gave to Abraham were a foreshadowing of the cross, the bread foreshadowing His body that would be crucified and the wine foreshadowing His blood that would be shed.
The writer of Hebrews identifies Melchizedek as one who was like the Son of God being the same in nature. In what way was He alike? The author of Hebrews tells us…
“…and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time” (Hebrews 7:2-3). See also (Isaiah 9:6-7). Clearly then Melchizedek was a manifestation of the Son of God before His incarnation!
And now there is a shift in this psalm focusing on the Second Coming of the Messiah our Lord Jesus.
(Vs.5-6) “The LORD is at Your right hand; He will crush kings on the day of His wrath; He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.”
God the Father will send God the Son back to judge the nations because of their rebellion of wickedness. In that day the Lord Jesus will release His wrath against the kings, the political leaders of nations, the mighty generals and the hostile armies of the nations arrayed against Israel and her spiritual offspring being those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus (Revelation 12:17).
The rulers of the nations will be crushed; they will become the Messiah’s footstools on the day of His Second Coming as the judge, and as the all-conquering King of Kings and Lord of Lords! The dead will be piled up!
Men and women of every level of society will be judged except for those, who by faith, have repented of their sins and are trusting in the Messiah’s atoning and redeeming blood to save them from His wrath (Isaiah 24:1-13) (Romans 5:9).
An angel of God will swing His sickle because the wicked are ripe for being gathered and thrown into the winepress of God’s wrath. They and the armies that have attacked Israel will be trampled outside of the city of Jerusalem, and their blood will flow out from God’s winepress of his wrath, rising as high as the bridle of a horse and flowing for a distance of 180 miles (Revelation 14:19-20). See also (Isaiah 63:1-6) (Joel 3:12-13) (Revelation 19:11-16).
In the Book of Revelation when the sixth seal is opened we read…
“I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” (Revelation 6: 12-17).
In His first coming the Messiah revealed Himself as the suffering servant like Joseph. He came as the saviour. In His second coming He comes as a judge as the all-conquering King like David. And finally we read…
(Vs.7) “He will drink from a brook beside the way; therefore He will lift up His head.”
In the previous few verses of this psalm we see the Messiah waging war against His enemies and conquering them and clearly it is speaking about His second coming to judge the nations.
Possibly we can interpret this as referring to a brief time when the Messiah will drink from a brook to be refreshed physically, keeping in mind that even though He has a glorified body, He is still a man, and after a very brief pause in the battle refreshing Himself. He then continues to pursue His enemies until they have all been completely destroyed.
Another translation in rendered as; “The One (God), who grants succession will set Him (the Messiah) in authority.”
As we read in Psalm 2:8-9 when God is speaking to His pre-incarnate Son in eternity; “Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession. You will break them with an iron sceptre; You will shatter them like pottery.”
As we also read in Revelation 19:15; “And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron sceptre. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.”
God Himself again says through the prophet in Isaiah 11:4; “He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.”
Epilogue:
There is no doubt that this psalm is a prophetic psalm about the Messiah.
The Messiah our Lord Jesus now reigns in heaven at His Fathers right hand until all of His enemies on earth are ripe for judgement. God has fixed a day when He will judge the world with justice by this Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).
God will establish the Messiah’s sovereignty and He will rule in the midst of His enemies which we see happened when our Lord Jesus walked among men on earth. No man, neither the devil, nor his principalities and demons could harm Him or kill Him until God’s appointed time.
At the cross, by His atoning blood, the Messiah our Lord Jesus stripped, disarmed, and totally defeated principalities and powers putting them to open shame in the unseen spiritual realm.
At the cross the Messiah our Lord Jesus in holiness triumphed over them and proved this by His resurrection from the dead! (Colossians 2:14-15) (Romans 1:3-4).
Even now He still rules in the midst of His enemies seated at God’s right hand in heaven and continues to uphold all things by His powerful Word and when He returns the surviving nations of the world will see this authority fully displayed in glorious and awesome power (Revelation 1:7; 13:26).
In Genesis 49:10 we read; “The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between His feet (in heaven), until Shiloh (the Messiah Himself) comes back to earth and the allegiance of the nations will be His” (expanded version).
Today even though the world is spiralling out of control and heavy with wickedness and lawlessness our Triune God still has a remnant on earth full of youthful vigour for proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom like young men and women in the prime of their strength. These are those clothed with the garments of salvation and wrapped around with the robe of the Messiah’s righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).
The message they are proclaiming is like the refreshing dew of the early morning that is refreshing the souls of those who are hungering and thirsting for righteousness and consequently being filled with the divine life of our Triune God (Matthew 5:6) (2 Peter 1:3-4).
The Messiah our Lord Jesus Himself is eternal, and before His incarnation as a man, He appeared in human form as Melchizedek to Abraham, the father of faith!
Right now as a glorified resurrected man our Great High Priest in heaven, having made purification for sins once and for all time, now sits at God’s right hand in heaven where He ever lives to intercede for us, having a permanent priesthood and the power to save to the uttermost all who truly repent of their sins and trust in Him to save them by the cleansing power of His blood which has fully atoned for their sins.
At present the Messiah is still in heaven however He will return with great power, glory and splendour to judge the nations in righteousness and with justice crushing all of His enemies by His awesome power and authority.
As Isaiah the prophet writes…
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). Selah!
