Psalm 110

Story Snapshot

The psalm records the LORD telling David's Lord to sit at His right hand until His enemies are made a footstool. It describes the rod of his strength sent out of Zion and a people offering themselves willingly. It records God's unchangeable oath that he is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. It closes with judgment among the nations and the figure drinking from a brook and lifting up his head.

Main Characters

Story Summary

The psalm opens with an oracle: the LORD says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet. The distinction matters, David is quoting God speaking to someone David himself calls Lord. God will send out the rod of his strength out of Zion, telling him to rule among his enemies. His people offer themselves willingly in the day of his power, in holy array, and the psalm adds an image whose Hebrew is difficult, out of the womb of the morning you have the dew of your youth, suggesting freshness and abundance. Then comes the second oracle and the psalm's most unusual claim: the LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek appears once in Genesis, a king of Salem who was also priest of God Most High, a figure combining two offices Israel deliberately kept separate, since kings came from Judah and priests from Levi. The psalm's closing verses are martial and difficult. The Lord is at your right hand and will crush kings in the day of His wrath, He will judge among the nations, heap up dead bodies, and crush the ruler of the whole earth. The final verse returns to a smaller image, he will drink of the brook on the way, therefore he will lift up his head, picturing a figure pausing to drink during pursuit and continuing refreshed.

Timeline

• Sit at My Right HandThe first oracle given.
• Enemies as a FootstoolAuthority established over opposition.
• The Rod from ZionRule sent out among enemies.
• A Willing PeopleOffering themselves in holy array.
• The Sworn PriesthoodA priest forever after Melchizedek.
• Judgment Among NationsKings crushed in the day of wrath.
• Drinking from the BrookRefreshed and lifting up his head.

Themes

What This Story Means

Psalm 110 is quoted or alluded to more than any other psalm in the New Testament, and the reason is its two oracles. The first seats a figure at God's right hand, which Jesus raises as a question the Pharisees cannot answer, if David calls him Lord, how is he David's son. The second grants a permanent priesthood in the order of Melchizedek, which the letter to the Hebrews develops at length precisely because it establishes a priesthood outside the Levitical line and without end. The combination of king and priest in one person had no precedent in Israel, where the offices were deliberately separated. The martial closing verses need the same honesty applied elsewhere in the volume: they are ancient royal language about a rule that overcomes opposition, they picture God acting rather than authorizing anyone's violence, and the New Testament identifies the figure at God's right hand as the one who was himself executed rather than one who executed others.

Bringing It Home

• The one holding authority is also the one who represents us before God.
• A willing people is what the psalm describes, not a conscripted one.
• The martial language pictures God acting, not humans authorized to act.
• King and priest in one person had no precedent in Israel's arrangements.

Key Verse

Did You Know?

• Psalm 110 is the most frequently quoted psalm in the New Testament.
• Jesus poses its opening line as a question in Matthew 22:41-46.
• Melchizedek appears only in Genesis 14, as king of Salem and priest of God Most High.
• Hebrews 5 through 7 develops the Melchizedek priesthood at length.

Read Next

What This Shows Us About God

• God grants authority by oath rather than by human appointment.
• God does not change His mind about the priesthood He swore.
• God seats His Anointed in a position no one can displace.

What This Shows Us About People

• We need someone to represent us, not only someone to rule us.
• We are described as offering ourselves willingly rather than being forced.
• We cannot resolve who this figure is without going outside our categories.

A Question to Sit With

What difference does it make to me that the one seated in authority is also a priest, meaning someone who represents me before God?

Prayer

LORD, You have seated Your Anointed at Your right hand, a King with all authority and a Priest who represents me. Thank You that the one with power is also the one who intercedes. Let me offer myself willingly rather than being compelled. Amen.