Psalm 110: Jesus Christ, Forever Our Priest & King
Notes
Transcript
Dismiss the children if you haven’t already
GREETINGS
Good morning, church! It’s a joy to be with you today. As we continue in our worship, let's turn to the Bible, as we're starting a new series on the Messianic Psalms. Today, we'll be in Psalm 110.
Before we dive in, let me just say how glad we are that you're here. If you're visiting or new, feel free to just listen and observe. If you have any questions about the church or about the Bible, I’d love to chat with you after the service.
We’re in Psalm 110:1-7
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies! 3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. 4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” 5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. 7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
The title of our sermon is “Jesus is the Christ”. I’m going to be introducing this series on the Messianic Psalms and looking particularly here at Psalm 110, but before we go any further, let’s pray.
PRAY
Introduction
Introduction
The big idea for us today is that the entire Bible—both the Old and New Testaments—is all about Jesus Christ. The Old Testament was looking ahead to Him, anticipating a promised figure they called the Messiah, or the "anointed one". He was the one chosen by God to come and deliver His people.
Think about it:
In Genesis 3:15, He's described as the "Seed of the Woman" who will strike a death blow to Satan.
In Deuteronomy 18:15, He’s the prophet like Moses who will lead God’s people with God’s Word.
In 2 Samuel 7:12, we learn the Messiah will be a descendant of David—a king with a kingdom that will last forever.
And then Isaiah 9:6-7 gives us this amazing picture, saying, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given... and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace". All of this created great anticipation!
When we finally get to the New Testament, we meet the One they’ve been waiting for, and His name is Jesus. An angel told Mary that she would conceive a son named Jesus, and He would be given the throne of His father David and reign forever. You can hear echoes of 2 Samuel 7 and Isaiah 9 right there.
Then an angel announced His birth to shepherds, declaring, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord". This is the very first time in the New Testament that we see the Messiah is Jesus. From that point on, He is clearly known as Jesus Christ.
Augustine famously said, "The New is in the Old contained; the Old is in the New explained". The Old Testament was pointing forward, preparing us for Christ's work. The people didn't know exactly who the Messiah would be, but every time they spoke of Him, they were talking about Jesus Christ.
That’s why Jesus is the key to everything. He's the key to understanding the whole Bible , to understanding who God is —because He has made the Father known —and to understanding God's entire plan for the world.
Now, as we start this new series on the Messianic Psalms , we’re focusing on chapters that directly tie to His role as Messiah. The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word ma-shee-akh, meaning "to anoint". The New Testament equivalent is christos, which is where we get the word Christ. So, saying "Jesus is the Messiah" is the same as saying "Jesus is the Christ", and like I said He is the chosen One of God to come and deliver His people.
As we begin in Psalm 110, I want you to picture a king’s coronation. Where there are trumpets blown, a cheering crowd, perhaps confetti, and a crown being placed on his head. The air is filled with power and authority. That’s the image of the Messiah as King (minus the confetti).
But now, picture a hight priest in the Old Testament. He’s in a temple, surrounded by incense and holiness, especially on that once a year sacrifice as he entered into the Holy of Holies, wearing sacred garments, and offering a sacrifice for the people’s sins. The air is filled with reverence and atonement.
What would it look like if the same person, in the same moment, wore both the crown and the priest’s robe? That’s what Psalm 110 shows us about Jesus as the Messiah. He is the King and the priest on the throne, and his power and his mediation come perfectly together.
In the Old Testament, the Messiah was often seen as either a ruler or a redeemer. But Psalm 110 brings these two roles together in one person. This Psalm is so important that it is the most quoted psalm in the New Testament. It helps us understand superiority of His lordship as our king and the superiority of His sacrifice as our high priest.
Let's dive into the first part of our sermon today, which is about the…
The Rule of Christ
The Rule of Christ
More specifically, it's about how Jesus’s rule is infinitely greater than even the rule of David.
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!
3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.
Now, at first glance, this might sound like a royal coronation psalm. We see David, the great king of Israel, overhearing a divine conversation taking place in the heavens. But look closely at the first verse:
“The Lord says to my Lord…”
That's an interesting phrase, isn't it? The same word "Lord" is used twice in our English translation, but it's not the same word in the original Hebrew. This distinction is crucial.
The first instance of "Lord," specifically "the Lord," is YHWH. This is the personal, covenant name for the God of Israel. It’s the name God revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14, saying, "This is my name forever." It was YHWH who delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt.
The second instance of "Lord" is Adonai.
This word refers to a ruler or a master. So, what we have is a dialogue where YHWH, the God of Israel, is speaking to Adonai, a ruler. And it appears that the rule of Adonai depends completely on the power of YHWH.
So, who is this second "Lord" that YHWH is speaking to?
Well, the Old Testament is in the New Testament explained. The New Testament writers, particularly the author of Hebrews, help us understand exactly what's going on here.
The book of Hebrews quotes Psalm 110:1 in chapter 1 verse 13. But it does so after a series of other quotations from the Old Testament, all of which the Father is speaking to the Son or about the Son.
For example, the Father says to the Son in Hebrews 1:5: “You are my Son, today I have begotten you.”
5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?
In verse 8 of that same chapter, the Father even calls the Son “God”:
8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
And then we get to verse 13, the verse that quotes Psalm 110:1
13 And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?
The author of Hebrews makes it undeniably clear: YHWH, the Father, is speaking to Adonai, the Son. This isn't just a powerful king; this is God the Father speaking to God the Son. The very fact that King David, by the Holy Spirit, heard this divine dialogue speaks volumes about the greatness of Christ.
Jesus himself will pick up on this to express the superiority of His rule over that of David's. Turn with me to Matthew 22, where Jesus directly confronts the Pharisees on this very point. This is such an amazing scene, because Jesus deals with them on their own terms.
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”
43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
44 “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet” ’?
45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Think about what's happening here. The Pharisees revered King David. They expected the Messiah to be the "son of David"—a great king descended from David who would re-establish his kingdom on earth forever. And that's an amazing thought, but Jesus challenges them to dig deeper.
He asks them, "If the Messiah is merely David's son, why would David himself, filled with the Holy Spirit, call him 'Lord'?"
This question stumps them completely. The Pharisees couldn't grasp that the rule of Christ is far, far greater than the rule of David. They couldn't accept the greatness of the Messiah, let alone the fact that Jesus was Him.
But here’s the most amazing part: David understood it! David didn't just hear this divine conversation; he committed it to writing. David, through the Spirit, makes this known. In a sense, David was like John the Baptist, who said of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease." David, the great king, accepts the lordship of Jesus even though it completely overshadows his own.
Now, you and I don't have a throne or a kingdom like David, but we still have a life to yield to Christ. If He isn’t your Lord, surrender whatever that “Lordship” over to Him. Because He is the Messiah, He is the king. And like Peter who says in Mark 10:28, “…we have left everything and followed you”, so must we. And in this incredible scene in Psalm 110, we see the Father affirming His rule.
First…
The Father Promises the Son’s Victory
The Father Promises the Son’s Victory
In verse 1, He says to the Son, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."
The Father is sovereign; He will do as He says. By placing the Son at His right hand, He is giving Him a place of ultimate honor, prestige, privilege, and power. What the Father highlights about the the throne is victory. To be at the Father’s right hand, is to be in the place of victory.
We see this same idea in Revelation 3, where Jesus addresses the lukewarm church in Laodicea. He tells them to "be zealous and repent." Why? Because He wants them to be part of His victory! He says in verse 21, "The one who conquers, I will grant him to be with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne."
The Son has conquered. By dying on the cross, He has provided the way of salvation for all who believe. He has conquered sin and death for His people. And because of Him, the Bible says in Romans 8:37 that we are "more than conquerors through him who loved us."
Further more, the Father is directly involved in this victory. Placing the enemies of Jesus at His feet expresses a total and final triumph. This is a picture we see in Joshua 10:24, where Joshua has the defeated kings put their necks under the feet of the Israelite chiefs. It was a visible sign of complete victory. The Father is doing the same here for the Son.
Next, in verse 2…
The Father Promotes the Son’s Rule
The Father Promotes the Son’s Rule
He says, “The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
The scepter is a symbol of the king’s rule. His power and authority. Notice that even though his feet are not over His enemies neck just yet, He’s already ruling. Jesus is the King now. He rules in the midst of His enemies, not just when his neck is over the feef of his enemies. And his rule is not isolated or localized in Zion, in Jerusalem, but it radiates out.
And finally, in verse 3…
The Father Projects the Son’s People
The Father Projects the Son’s People
"Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.”
This is serving God as a righteous people according to the strength that God supplies. Throughout history, countless people have gone all out in service to the Lord. The book of Hebrews chapter 11 gives a long list of Old Testament saints who served at great cost to themselves. Verse 36 says they were mocked, flogged, put in chains, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in two, killed with the sword … destitute, afflicted, mistreated … of which Hebrews 11:38 says, “of whom the world is not worthy.”
These Old Testament saints fall in the same line of faith that we do in the New Testament. You see … their Messiah is our Messiah. We just happen to know more fully that it’s Jesus.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
It is in the context of who Jesus is as our Messiah that we freely, willingly serve Him. Jesus is the Messiah-King, the ruler whose kingship far exceeds anything the world had ever seen … and He’s my king! But the psalm doesn't stop there. It shifts from Jesus the King to Jesus the Priest, revealing another powerful truth.
Now, let's turn our attention to the second part of this psalm, which speaks of…
The Priesthood of Christ
The Priesthood of Christ
Just as Jesus's rule is greater than David's, His priesthood is greater than the Levitical priesthood.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.
This is a fascinating turn. The king who is also a priest is a great mystery of the Messiah. In the Old Testament, the offices of king and priest were kept separate. Kings came from the tribe of Judah, while priests came from the tribe of Levi. You could not be both. There's only one exception, and that's the mysterious figure mentioned here: Melchizedek.
The idea of a king-priest was hard for Israel to comprehend. They were looking for a political savior, a king who would deliver them from Roman rule. When Jesus fed the 5,000 in John 6:14-15, the people said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” They then tried to take him by force to make him king. Jesus withdrew because His kingship wasn't what they imagined.
As Jesus later told Pilate in John 18:36: "My kingdom is not of this world." His rule is spiritual, and therefore, His office is more than just a king. He is also a priest.
Both the Old and New Testaments confirm this dual role. The prophet Zechariah, in a passage about the coming Messiah, says in Zechariah 6:13:
13 It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’
So, Jesus has royal duties as king and priestly duties as our High Priest. But why does Psalm 110:4 single out this "priesthood forever after the order of Melchizedek"? Who is this guy?
Melchizedek is a king we meet briefly in Genesis 14:18. He was also a priest. His name means "King of Righteousness." We know that after a battle, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe, 10 percent of his plunder.
Why is this so significant? Because this happened before the Law of Moses, and before the Levitical priesthood was established. It’s different. It’s other. By tithing to Melchizedek, Abraham was acknowledging a priestly order that predated the Levitical one.
According to Hebrews 7:15-16… [show it but don’t read it]
15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.
…it’s different in this way. The Levitical priesthood was established on the basis of a legal requirement, which verse 23 meant that many priests were required because they would die and not be able to continue their office. The priesthood of Melchizedek never ends for Jesus because it is predicated on the power of an indestructible life.
And here's the key: Psalm 110:4 says the Lord has sworn an oath, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." This isn't a temporary or fleeting priesthood. This is an eternal one, established by God Himself. Jesus Christ is of that eternal order.
So what does this mean for us? The same person who is our King forever is also our High Priest forever.
The King who sits at the right hand of the Father in verse 1 is also the High Priest at the right hand of the Father in verse 5 … forever!
The King who rules in verse 2 is the one who executes judgment in verse 6 … forever!
The one who leads a great army in verse 3 is the one who gets the victory in verse 7 … that is to be enjoyed forever!
What we read in Hebrews 7:25, is that because of Jesus our forever priest, we will forever be able to draw near to God.
25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
And what's the picture of victory in verse 7? "He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head." This is a spiritual victory. It's not about military might, but about humble strength. The image, I believe, comes from Judges 7:5-6, where Gideon chose his soldiers based on those who knelt to drink from the brook, showing they were alert and focused, not careless. As the story goes, Gideon goes into battle with 300 men, outnumbered, and yet God gave them the victory.
Jesus, the ultimate king, also has high priestly duties. As our Great High Priest, He doesn't just judge, He blesses His people. He has secured an eternal priesthood for us. Because He ever lives to intercede, we shall ever live to worship.
This is the Messiah. He is the great eternal king, and He is the great eternal priest.
So what does this mean for us?
Application
Application
As the Messiah-King, trust in His Kingly Authority:
Since Jesus's rule as King is greater than any earthly power, you can have confidence that He is in control of your life and the world's events.
When faced with chaos, fear, or uncertainty, no matter the size, remember that the King, will have victory over all His enemies. This includes death, the final enemy. The eternal life you have in Jesus Christ aligns with who He is as the eternal king and eternal priest. This means you don't need to fear the future or the challenges you face. Your response should be one of trust and surrender to His sovereign plan.
As the Messiah-Priest, rely on His Priestly Work:
As your Great High Priest, Jesus has already offered the perfect sacrifice for your sins.
But His work didn't end there. He now sits at the right hand of God, interceding for you. This means that in your moments of struggle, temptation, or weakness, you can go to Him in prayer, knowing that He understands your weaknesses and is advocating for you.
You don't have to face your spiritual battles alone; you have a perfect Priest pleading your case before the Father.
Humble yourself! Surrender Your "Lordship":
David, the great king, willingly called the Messiah "Lord" and submitted to Him.
In the same way, you are called to submit your own "lordship"—your desires, your plans, and your will—to Christ's.
This is the "freely offering yourself" mentioned in the psalm. It's an act of worship where you let go of your own throne and allow Jesus to be the King of your life. This surrender is not a loss; it is the path to true freedom and purpose.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The profound truth of Psalm 110 is that Jesus is not just a ruler, and not just a religious figure. He is both. He is the King who has conquered sin and death, and He is the Priest who has made a way for you to have a relationship with God. He is the one who rules over all things, and He is the one who intercedes for you. Because Jesus is the King, you can trust that He has ultimate authority. Because Jesus is the Priest, you can rely on Him for perfect salvation and access to the Father. He is both the victor and your advocate, and for all who believe, He is our hope, our salvation, and our Lord.
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Communion
As the men come up to pass out the elements for communion, we now enter into a time of communion. If you are a baptized believer in good standing with your church, we invite you to join us for communion as we celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ in a time of remembrance.
Today my daughter in law, Lindsey got baptized…
I work really hard to make my family know that each and every one of them are loved…
Be there…
On this note of Christ our forever king and forever priest, the One who died for us is
…the king himself
…is the priest himself
…is God the Son himself
As we celebrate communion, know that today you are loved…
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Because of Jesus death on the cross, the Father grants forgiveness to those who believe in His Son for salvation. The work that Jesus did on the cross is sufficient to meet the legal demands of God’s holy justice to eliminate your record of debt that you could never repay, He did. Our King, Our Priest took care of it for us.
Christians, eat and drink, knowing Christ forgives our sins though His body by His blood. Go ahead and take the bread and then the juice.
