“Sit At My Right Hand” Psalm 110 [Matt's Messages] ~ Matt Mitchell

“Sit At My Right Hand”

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

June 6, 2021 :: Psalm 110

"I didn’t see that coming!"

How many times have we said those words?

“I didn’t see that coming! I didn’t know that that was going to happen. If I knew that was coming, I would have made some different choices that’s for sure...”

For example, if we had known what the weather was going to be like far in advance, we would have had 3 more indoor services last Sunday and then a combined outdoor service this Sunday. It was cold and rainy last week and gorgeous this week!

But we can’t foresee the future.

If there is anything we’ve learned in the last year or so it’s that we often don’t know the future.

How would your life be different if you knew the future?

If you knew what was going to happen tomorrow, how would that change how you feel about today? How would that change how you feel about tomorrow? How would that change the decisions you are making today about tomorrow?

How would your life be different if you knew the future?

Psalm 110 is a song about the future.

Psalm 110 is a royal song, a song about kingship written by a king about a king. It’s written by a current king about a future king.

It’s a song about the future.

Of all of the psalms in the psalter, Psalm 110 is the most directly prophetic. It’s the most oracular, that is to say that it has oracles, verbal prophecies about the future delivered directly from God to this future king embedded into this song for us to sing.

It’s really unique. And it’s really important.

Psalm 110 is one of the most important psalms in the whole entire Bible. It is one of the most quoted psalms in the New Testament. It’s a lynchpin psalm. It ties a whole bunch of things together between the testaments.

If the Bible were hypertexted, then you could click on many many places in your New Testament (and several in the Old, as well!), and you’d find yourself back here at Psalm 110.

And like a few of the other psalms we’ve studied together this Spring, it is super-obvious to followers of Jesus that this psalm is all about Him.

Psalm 110 was written about 1,000 years before Jesus was born.

But, like I said, this is a psalm about the future.

This song predicted Jesus in the future, and it still predicts a future for Jesus. And I know that because even Jesus said so!

Psalm 110 is a song about the future, and it is a certain future. A guaranteed future. An inescapable future. An unavoidable future. Psalm 110 is a sure song about what is certainly going to happen to and through the future king.

And that makes all of the difference for you and me living today.

There are two major oracles in Psalm 110. The first begins in the very first verse. Verse 1.

“Of David. A psalm. The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”

Now, it’s important from the git-go to figure out who all these “Lords” are.

It can be confusing at first, but it’s really really important. Jesus said so! You might remember when we studied Matthew 22 together back in September of 2019. You might not remember that. It was a very long time ago in COVID-years. But Jesus led a little Bible study with the Pharisees on Psalm 110.

And He pointed out that it was written by David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the first line refers to two different Lords.

“The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”

There are two people named “Lord” there in your English translation.

Now, we’ve seen the capital LORD all over the Psalms this last year, haven’t we? That stands for the covenant name of God, Yahweh. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The LORD of all the Earth.

That’s the divine Person giving this oracle. Yahweh, the LORD. The Glorious One! The Holy One! Yahweh.

So...Who is the LORD talking to?

He’s not talking to David.

He’s talking to David’s Lord. “My Lord,” David says.

He’s not talking to King David.

He’s talking to David’s King.

Who is that?

Well, I suppose when David was writing it, he might have had Solomon in mind at first. He might have been sitting down trying to write a coronation song like we said Psalm 2 probably was. [That we studied together back at Christmas time.]

But the things that God was revealing to David that He was promising to David’s Lord were really too big to be fulfilled by Solomon. And they sure weren’t. Solomon was a big disappointment, as were all of David’s sons to one degree or another until one particular Son was born. These shoes were too big for most of David’s sons to fill.

So much so that the Jews from ancient days interpreted Psalm 110 as Messianic. To them it was clearly about great David’s greatest Son still to come.

So much so that Jesus said to the Pharisees about Psalm 110, “What do you think about the Christ?” [the Messiah] and everybody agreed that Psalm 110 was about the Christ, about the Messiah to come.

It’s the only thing that makes sense. David’s Lord is the Messiah. David’s Lord is the Christ.

(And we know that that was Jesus Himself!)

So what does this song say that the LORD said to David’s Lord? V.1 again.

“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”

I have three points to summarize this short but o so important song about the future of this king, and here’s number one:

#1. DAVID’S LORD WILL RULE FOREVER.

The LORD says to David’s Lord, “sit at my right hand” which is an amazing thing to say.

What an invitation!

The LORD of everything is saying to David’s Lord, “Come up here and sit next to me.”

That is extreme exaltation! That is extreme honor. That is an unbelievable invitation and exaltation.

Who gets treated like that?!

The author of the epistle to the Hebrews says, who else does God give that privilege to? And the answer is nobody. Not even the angels. Only to Someone as exalted as God Himself.

It wasn’t given to David, but it was given to David’s Lord.

“Come up here and ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”

Now what does that mean? It means that the LORD is going to defeat every single enemy of David’s Lord.

He’s going to give the Messiah total victory over his enemies so that they are totally vanquished and totally dominated and totally humiliated.

They will be the Messiah’s footstool.

He will put his feet on their necks.

That is the ultimate flex.

That is the ultimate photo-op.

Becoming a footstool says that these enemies are totally defeated in every single way.

So it’s a picture of total exaltation and complete victory.

That’s what’s going to happen to the Messiah.

He is going to rule. V.2

“The LORD [Yahweh] will extend your mighty scepter [David’s Lord’s scepter] from Zion [Jerusalem, the LORD’s headquarters so to speak]; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. 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.”

Now, verse 3 is notoriously difficult to translate which then makes it notoriously difficult to interpret, but the picture while not certain is certainly positive. This is describing victory for the Messiah.

On the upcoming day of his battle, his troops will be ready and willing. The Hebrew there is literally, the troops will be “freewill offerings.” They will all volunteer to fight because they believe the Messiah is just and right and on the winning side. “Here I am, please take me!”

“Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth.”

Now that could be describing the Messiah Himself decked out in splendor and waking up refreshed with unstoppable vigor to go to war.

Or it could be describing, in Hebrew parallelism, more about the volunteer army. They are arrayed in holiness and just materialize everywhere out of nowhere like the morning dew. And they rally to His cause.

Either way, it’s a description of majestic victory for David’s Lord.

He will rule!

His scepter will be extended.

His rule will be expanded.

No enemy will stop Him.

Until every single enemy is His footstool.

This king to come will be the ultimate king.

“Sit at my right hand!”

Psalm 110 is a song about the future.

Part of it has already happened now hasn’t it?

It was all future back when David wrote it, but the New Testament writers agree that when the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected and then ascended into heaven, He was fulfilling Psalm 110. Read Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 this afternoon. You’ll see it.

King Jesus is right now at the right hand of the Majesty on High.

And His rule has begun.

But it’s not all here yet. It’s still future.

It’s still expanding.

As more and more people receive Jesus as their Lord, His kingdom comes, His kingdom grows. And one day, Jesus will bring His kingdom in all of its fullness, and He will rule fully and forever.

Until every single enemy is His footstool.

So one key application of Psalm 110 is to stop being His enemy!

If you have never repented of your rebellion and asked for amnesty and received Jesus as your Lord, then you are headed towards the footstool.

But you don’t have to get there!

Because of point number two:

#2. DAVID’S LORD WILL SAVE FOREVER.

All who come to Him.

There is a way to escape the footstool.

And the way is actually David’s Lord Himself.

Let’s look at verse 4. This is an amazing verse. We could have a whole Bible study on just this verse.

It’s the second oracle of Psalm 110, the second verbal prophecy of the future of King David’s King, and it’s more than just an oracle. It’s an oath. Look at verse 4.

“The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’”

The mysterious Mr. Melchizedek.

He only shows up three times in the Bible. Near the beginning. Here near the middle. And then again near the end.

He shows up and then disappears.

But he’s obviously important as a pattern for the priesthood of the Messiah.

I’m sure you don’t remember when we studied Melchizedek as a church back in Genesis chapter 14 in 2003. That actually was a very long time ago! You probably want to go back and read Genesis 14 this afternoon to get the whole story. I don’t have time to tell it again today.

But this Melchizedek (Hebrew: king of righteousness), king of peace, king of Salem which was probably Jerusa-SALEM shows up in Genesis 14, and Father Abraham gives him a tithe of the spoils of his victory over neighboring kings in a recent battle.

And all of that is very important. And the book of Hebrews spells out how important it all is.

One key thing that Hebrews points out is that unlike every other major character in the book of Genesis, the mysterious Mr. Melchizedek doesn’t have a genealogy.

He’s not only greater than Father Abraham so that he receives a tithe from Abraham, but he is a picture of eternity, no listed father and no list mother. No listed birth and no listed death.

He’s a picture of eternity.

So he’s a picture of FOREVER.

And so one of the things it means for David’s Lord to be a priest in the order of Melchizedek is that this priesthood is not temporary. And therefore weak. This kind of priesthood is incredibly strong.

The author of Hebrews says that Psalm 110 proclaims that the Messiah will be a priest forever, and that Jesus can be a priest forever “on the basis of the power of an indestructible life” (Hebrews 7:16).

That’s awesome! That’s an incredible part of what it means for David’s Lord to be a priest in the order of Melchizedek.

But what was so astonishing in the first place is that the Messiah would be a priest ...at all!

Let me ask you a Bible trivia question. (Of course, the Bible is never trivial.)

Which tribe do the priests of Israel come from? The tribe of Levi, right?

Ok. Which tribe to the kings of Israel comes from? The tribe of Judah, right? That’s where the promise was.

Which one was David? Tribe of...? Judah.

Which one was Jesus? Tribe of...? Judah.

So could Jesus be a priest?

King Saul got in trouble for acting like he was a priest.

Psalm 110 reveals that Yahweh has sworn an oath. An unchangeable, irrevocable oath that David’s Lord will be a priest.

He will be both!

He will be both a king and a priest.

A king that rules and a priest that represents.

Represents the people to God.

And represents God to the people.

And guess what?

That’s what the mysterious Mr. Melchizedek was. He was a king/priest in Salem.

So God had something special in mind for King David’s King.

He was going to serve like the mysterious Mr. Melchizedek in the dual role of King and Priest.

He would not just be the ultimate king, but also the ultimate priest!

And that means that you and I can be saved forever.

Because this priest intercedes not just with the blood of bulls and goats and lambs.

But with His own perfect blood shed on the cross.

And He intercedes with this perfect blood perpetually, permanently, unceasingly FOREVER on the basis of His indestructible life!

So rejoice!

Because David’s Lord will save forever.

Last week, we sang with Psalm 32 about how blessed we are our for our sins to be covered. This Psalm sings about how blessed we are that our sins are covered FOREVER!

“You are a priest FOREVER.”

The LORD has sworn it and will not change His mind.

That means that you and I are saved forever, and He will not change His mind.

And nothing nothing nothing will stop Him ever.

That’s point number three.

#3. DAVID’S LORD WILL WIN FOREVER.

This song ends with a climax of exultation in the unending victories of the Messiah. Look at verse 5.

“The Lord is at your right hand [I’m not actually sure which Lord that one is. It might be switched to say that Yahweh is at the Messiah’s right hand to help Him or it might be a prayer to Yahweh that the Messiah definitely at His right hand. Either way, the LORD and the Lord are in perfect harmony here and working in perfect concert to defeat their enemies v.5]; 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.”

Now, I know that that kind of language is stark and could be shocking if you don’t know what the Bible says that King Jesus is going to do when He returns.

Read Revelation 19 to see the ultimate fulfillment of this.

But the point is glorious. Jesus will win.

And He will win and win and win.

Every single enemy will be defeated.

He will crush kings.

He will crush lords, heads.

The corpses of His sworn enemies will pile up and pile up and pile up.

This will all be righteous. This will all be just.

Nobody will get some judgment they don’t deserve.

“He will judge the nations.”

And nothing will stop Him from winning. V.7

“He will drink from a brook beside the way; therefore he will lift up his head.”

That’s a little obscure and there are different ways of interpreting it, but I think it means that He’ll either pause in the heat of battle refresh Himself and then just keep going and going and going–unceasingly refreshed.

Or that after it’s all said and done, the Messiah will take a big long refreshing drink and lift up His head and smile exultantly, rejoicing in His total victory.

Any way about it, the picture is of invigorated victory.

David’s Lord will be the ultimate king.

He will be the ultimate priest.

And He will be the ultimate winner, the ultimate victor forever.

Forever.

Now, let’s apply that to our life.

As we opened Psalm 110, I asked you, “How would your life be different if you knew the future?”

Well, this is the future.

This song is about the future.

The future and forever King, the future and forever Priest, the future and forever Victor.

You now know the future. What difference will that make for you?

Here’s one. Think about this: