Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Psalm 110 is a powerful example of Hebrew poetry in its own right: concise, illustrative, and full of vivid metaphors.

Yet the unavoidable question one has when reading this psalm is, ‘What, or who, is David really talking about here?’

While higher critics are quick to deny the Messianic implications of the psalm, thus completely contradicting those holy men of old who were led along by the Spirit to compose the NT, other scholars are convinced of its divine origins and teaching.

This includes Augustine, who wrote

This Psalm is one of those promises, surely and openly prophesying our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; so that we are utterly unable to doubt that Christ is announced in this Psalm, since we are now Christians, and believe the Gospel.

Another scholar writes,

This psalm contains one of the most exalted prophetic portions of Scripture presenting Jesus Christ as both a holy king and a royal high priest—something that no human monarch of Israel ever experienced.This psalm, along with Psalm 118, is the most quoted psalm in the NT.

(MSB)

Certainly, a true understanding of this psalm can only begin if we consider how the apostles themselves interpreted it as they were led along by the Holy Spirit to write down Scripture.

Of the various NT authors and apostles, it was used by Matthew, Mark, Luke, Peter, and the author of Hebrews, all with one purpose: to show Christ for who he really is.

(I should quickly add here that this sermon is meant to be a precursor for my next two preaching occasions here, in which I hope to begin a series on the book of Hebrews.)

This, then, is what I intend to show you tonight from Psalm 110:

Who is Christ, really?

The reason this message is so important is because the world around us has built up a very different picture of Jesus than the biblical authors would be familiar with.

By focussing on only one or two aspects of Jesus character, (namely, love), the world, and sadly much of the church today, has downplayed, ignored, or simply forgotten the actual person of Christ.

Thus, we are going to consider this psalm verse by verse in an effort to unpack its teaching about our Lord Jesus Christ, in order to savour the essence of our Saviour as displayed so magnificently in these short seven stanzas of Hebrew poetry.

‘A Psalm of David’

How do we know who wrote the Psalm, and does it matter?

Jesus confirms both that the author was David, and that he wrote the psalm under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Mark 12.35–37 Jesus confronts the Pharisees, proving that Christ is the Son of David

• David himself spoke by the Holy Spirit (v.

36)

• One commentator has written that

Jesus anticipates being exalted to the right hand of God, and thus he far transcends any expectation of a merely political, Davidic messiah.

Calvin, with his typical directness, writes,

Having the testimony of Christ that this psalm was penned in reference to himself, we need not apply to any other quarter for the corroboration of this statement; and, even supposing we neither had his authority, nor the testimony of the apostle, the psalm itself would admit of no other interpretation.

And I agree with Calvin, and many other, that there is no question that Psalm 110 refers directly, and completely, to Jesus the Messiah.

Let us then turn to examine what it tells us about our Saviour.

We start from the beginning in verse 1, as we read:

v. 1 - ‘The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.’

CHRIST IS OUR EXALTED LORD

In the first instance, what we have here is YWHW speaking with Adonai, thus showing us communication between two persons of the Trinity.

Christ himself, in dispute with the Pharisees, used this verse to prove both his descent from David and his divinity.

For when David was alive, only God could have been his ‘lord’.

In other words, there was no other human being alive at the time of David’s reign as king whom David would have called ‘lord’; both instances of Lord here, one YHWH and the other Adonai, are speaking of God.

The Trinitarian reality of this verse is evident when it says, ‘sit thou at my right hand’.

For only Christ has been exalted to the right hand of the Father.

We see this throughout the NT:

From this exalted position of power, the Father promises to ‘make all his enemies his footstool’.

This terminology was common Near Eastern idiom signifying that one’s enemies had been vanquished completely.

The same imagery occurs frequently in the OT, including

Psalm 8 (you have put all things under his feet), which is cited by Paul in 1 Cor 15, and

Isa 66.1 (the earth is my footstool) declares the Lord.

Thus, in this opening stanza of Psalm 110 we have been given a picture of Christ that includes his divinity, humanity, his exaltation, and his authority.

What is left for us then to believe?

As Augustine wrote of this passage, ‘We know that Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father, since His resurrection from the dead, and ascent into heaven.

It is already done: we saw not it, but we have believed it: we have read it in the Scripture, have heard it preached, and hold it by faith.’

Now, this Psalm 110 does not just tell us that Christ is our exalted Lord, but also that Christ is Our Mighty King:

vv.

2–3 - ‘The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.’

CHRIST IS OUR MIGHTY KING

The reference to the rod of his strength is more graphic reference back to the Lord’s authority, but let’s illustrate this imagery briefly by recalling other places in Scriptures which speak of a rod of strength:

Exo 7:19 (God is enacting the deliverance of his people through demonstrations of his power) ‘And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.’

But the rod can also be a tool of comfort and encouragement:

And the famous

But surely the reference to Christ’s ‘rod’ or ‘scepter’ hearkens directly back to Genesis 49.10, where we read that ‘The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.’

And of course, our Lord himself was from the tribe of Judah, and is called in Scripture the ‘Lion of Judah’, a point which we will revisit at the end.

The same picture is presented in Psalm 2.9, ‘Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron’, as well as in the words of our Lord himself: And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

(Mat 28:18-20)

Now what does it mean, however that the rod of strength will come ‘out of Zion’?

Zion, if you recall, is the southwesterly side of Jerusalem.

This is where Christ, when he returns in glory, will reign forever on a restored earth after his second coming.

As the psalm says, he will rule, which is in fulfilment of

And

Good, so we’ve established that the Kingship of Christ was established by the prophets of old.

But who are these people, these subject of his kingdom?

Again, Isa 2:3 as well as Micah 4:2: And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Paul writes in Romans 15:

Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.

10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.

11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.

12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

So Jew and Gentile are brought together into the kingdom of the Saviour ‘in the day of his power, and in the beauty of holiness’

Beauty is not often thought of as a adjective for holiness, but the two terms are near synonymous in Scripture:

Psa 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

1Th 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Now when David speaks of the ‘womb of the morning’ and the ‘dew of thy youth’, these likely refer to Christ ‘as in the constant vigor of youth, or it may refer to his holiness, eternality, and deity.’

In either case, Christ is shown in these verses to be a mighty, perpetual and victorious king who rules his people with beautiful holiness.

We see this come to reality in Rev 7:9,

‘behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Although we do not see this reality as of yet, Calvin reminds us that:

‘David here animates the hearts of the godly against being dispirited by the foolhardy attempts on the part of those who presume to introduce discord and disorder into the kingdom of Christ; for he shows them that God will put forth his invincible power for the maintaining of the glory of his sacred throne.’

And so we cry, “Praise Jesus, our mighty King who rules with the Father forever!”

But here’s the question: what has enabled him to call all of these worshippers to himself?

How was this multitude from every people enabled to stand before the most holy God?

Well, Jesus is not just our Mighty King; he is also our Great High Priest.

Read with me verse 4:

v. 4 - ‘The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.’

CHRIST IS OUR ETERNAL HIGH PRIEST

Now, what is actually being communicated in this verse about God’s character.

He is faithful to his promise to establish his Son as our fitting high priest, and he will never change his mind about this decision.

The fact that Ywhw has sworn to the priest here in verse 4, and spoken to the King in verse 1, indicate that this is the same person being addressed.

Ywhw is speaking to a person who is both king and priest.

But what does it really mean to be a priest ‘after the order of Melchizedek’?

Of course, Melchizedek was the obscure character who appeared to Abraham after Abraham had defeated five kings in order to rescue Lot.

We read in Genesis 14 that: