Psalm 110

Intro

Who is Jesus Christ? This at first may seem like a simple question. However, this is the most important question we can ask ourselves. We must grapple with who Jesus is. Whether we realize it or not all of our actions, how we spend our time, our money, what we devote our lives to are influenced by whether we honor him as Lord or reject him.

Evangelism experience

However, we need to be clear from the start today, Jesus does not take his cues from society or culture or even religion. Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He does not change. He does not improve. Furthermore, he doesn’t leave it up to us to decide who He is. He has given us His Word and His Spirit to teach us who He is.

Sermon Series Context

Over the past month or so we have been in the book of Psalms looking at this very topic. What do we see about Jesus in the Psalms. Today is no different. We are going to look at Psalm 110 and what we will find are truths concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ that are far greater, far more wonderful, far more glorious than anything we could ever conjure up on our own. Matthew Henry the 17th and 18th century commentator referred to this Psalm as “pure gospel” for its presentation of Jesus Christ and I couldn’t agree more.

Outline

So as we look into this Psalm this morning I want to break it up into three sections. Verses 1-3 present Jesus as King, Verse 4 presents him as Priest and verses 5-7 show him to be victorious over all other Kingdoms. So now that you all know where we are going, let’s go ahead and get into the text.

Context

Only applicable to Jesus (Lord says to my Lord)

We see that right in verse 1. David doesn’t say, “The LORD says to me” or even just a vague, “The LORD says to his servant” as he does in other places. No. He says, “The LORD says to my Lord.” This was a common way to refer to the promised Messiah who would come and fulfil all of the promises God had made to Israel and the Old Testament saints. If you look in the New Testament, Jesus himself uses this passage to make a claim that He is the Messiah. Even Peter preaches from this Psalm at Pentecost in the book of Acts to make the point that Jesus is the Messiah. So make no mistake there is no other person in all of history in whom the elements of this psalm can be fulfilled in. Only the Messiah. Only Jesus.

So now that we have established that this Psalm is about Jesus, let’s look at what this Psalm says about Jesus. The truth we see about the person of Jesus Christ is that He is King. So if you’re taking notes go ahead and write down point number 1:

Jesus Reigns as King

“The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!” (Psalm 110:1-2)

What is a king?

Verses 1 and 2 speak to a King who will govern from Zion with a mighty scepter and who will rule in the midst of their enemies.

The King Who Was Promised

Jesus at the righthand… only Jesus can be here

Example with the Pharisees

Pharisee’s had to have known but refused to accept

Are we like the Pharisees? Not wanting to see or hear truth about Jesus for fear of what it means for our lives?

Continuing on in our passage we see another truth. Picking back up in verse 1:

English Standard Version Psalm 110

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!

Now you may be asking yourself… “If Jesus has truly defeated sin and death, why is it still so prevalent in our world?”

Colossians 2, speaking of our salvation and the work of Jesus on the cross says:

English Standard Version Chapter 2

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. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

But 1 John 5:19 says that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. So which is it? Has Jesus conquered his enemies or hasn’t he? The answer is yes. Borrowing from 20th Century theologian Oscar Cullmann and his now famous example of WWII, an Allied Powers victory was secured June 6, 1944 when the Allied powers invaded Normandy, lodging an army in Nazi controlled land that would never be removed. However, the war would continue for nearly a full year before the Nazi’s surrendered accepting defeat.

At this point we have established that Jesus is the King at the right hand who will defeat his enemies. Now lets turn our attention to his Kingdom. We see in verse 3 that Christ’s Kingdom is one of righteousness

The Kingdom of Righteousness

“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.” (Psalm 110:3)

He has a people who offer themselves freely on the day of his power. The people are in holy garments. I don’t know about you but when I read those words “holy garments” my stomach sinks. I instantly conjure up images of spotless white gowns with no stain or blemish. Pure white. And then I think about myself and my own “garments.” I try to keep a watch over my heart, my body, my spirit to keep myself from sinning but oftentimes it seems to be of no avail.

Example of white shoes

Isaiah says,

“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)

We need more than a King and Jesus is more than a King.

Jesus Serves as Priest

“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, You are priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4)

What is a priest? Why mention a priest at all?

However, just as Jesus is not just any King, neither is he any priest. Like the office of king, the office of priest was one that was passed down through the bloodline. The priesthood was first instituted by Aaron, the brother of Moses, and all of his descendents served as priests or mediaries between God and man. They would offer the blood of animals to atone for sins committed. But notice that David doesn’t say “You are a priest forever after the order of Aaron.” No! He says the order of Melchizedek.

Context

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Genesis 14:18-20)

Turn with me now to Hebrews 7. Verse 3 - lack of details… verse 7 - main point, Abraham regarded Melchizedek as of more importance than himself, what does that say about the Priesthood of Jesus? The author of Hebrews goes on to explain that he’s not a minister of the Old Covenant but of the new. Verse 22 says he is the guarantor of a better covenant.

Jesus is not a priest of the Levitical order because he is the priest for a different law. The new covenant is better because it is eternal. Jesus sacrificed himself for us to make us righteous once for all!

We must be clothed in righteousness… call to repent

And now we come to the final act. Once Christ is our Priest-King, we are prepared for the battle that will come. But it won’t be a battle against the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Darkness. No. There is only one kingdom. The Kingdom of God. All else will be utterly destroyed.

Jesus as Eternal Victor

“The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgement among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head.” (Psalm 110:5-7)

Why does any of this matter? Why do we need a king or a priest? We live in a world that tries to insulate ourselves from grand spiritual realities.

If you find yourself here this morning opposed to God by your love of self, or money or sex or whatever know that you will be on your own when the scene that unfolds here in these verses takes place.

Why does it matter? It matters because regardless of what we think or feel, we need a king to lead us and protect us and we need a priest to make us righteous. We need Jesus. He will leave heaven once again. This time to execute his vengeance on those who opposed his Kingdom.

Olympics example

For those who have repented of their sins and trusted in Christ’s righteousness there will be entrance into an everlasting Kingdom

Even now we can experience that. He is immovable, constantly interceding for us until he returns. Paul says in Romans 8:24 that Christ was raised and is now at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. As our priest-king he is near to us now. This is how we can have hope in a world full of brokenness and suffering. Justice will be served on calvary or for eternity in hell

However, for those who have rejected the call of Christ to repent and have instead built up kingdoms of their own. He will destroy them.

If we are honest with ourselves there is a part of us that finds this reality offensive. But we can be sure that nobody will be saying this when Christ returns to execute his judgement. We will see clearly the greatness of his glory and at once see the heinousness of our sin. Nobody will find fault with Christ on that day. For all will be laid bare.

We are dust.

So if these passages (Rev 19) make us think badly of God, we need a fresh vision of his holiness! We need to see our sin for the atrocity that it is! If you are trusting in your own kingdom or your own righteousness these passages should terrify you to your core. This is the reality that awaits those who reject the call of Christ.

What this means for salvation

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

We exist here and now to invite others into the Kingdom. Romans speaks to this mandate:

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent... For faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:14-16)

So this brings us back to our original question. Who is Jesus? Jesus is our Priestly King who has made us righteous citizens of his Kingdom and has invited us into his mission of glorifying himself among the nations.

So we have heard the Word of God this morning. Now what. We must ask the question asked by Francis Schaeffer well over a century ago. How should we then live?

First off,

If you are here today and you are not a follower of Jesus please do not plug your ears to the call of God. He is inviting you to come and experience forgiveness of sins and the crediting of his righteousness. Aren’t you tired of relying on your own strength? Throw yourself on his mercy today. Please do not let this moment pass by without obeying the call of Christ. After the message Alex and Jay will be available for anyone who needs to talk about what the Lord is doing in you today. Please come.

If you are here today and you know you are a follower of Jesus, a citizen of his Kingdom, ask God to reveal to you if there are any clandestine kingdoms or rouge priests in your heart. Are you trying, like the Pharisees to build a kingdom in conjunction with the Kingdom of God at the expense of truly following him? Are you trying to attain a righteousness that is based on your works instead of Christ’s work on the cross? If so, repent. Ask God to restore a zeal for his Kingdom that causes you to revel in your salvation and throw yourself into his mission.

There will come a day when Christ comes to claim the fulness of his victory. We must be ready. Come Lord Jesus.