Psalm 110 - King of the Jews

Psalm 110:1-7 (NIV)

The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
Your troops will be willing on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.
The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
The Lord is at your right hand; 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.
He will drink from a brook along the way,
and so he will lift his head high.

Psalm 110 is a psalm written to encourage the king of the Jews. The son of David who sits on the throne in Jerusalem is the benefactor of a covenant God made with David. David pleased God. The scripture says he was a man after God's own heart. When David decided to build God a temple for His name, The Lord established an everlasting covenant with David and his sons. There would always be a son of David to shepherd Israel.

The church has read Jesus Christ, the son of David, the Messiah in these verses. Jesus, Himself, quotes psalm 110 in a conversation with teachers of the law who questioned Him.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22:41-46 NIV)

Tradition says that David wrote this psalm. Jesus in Matthew's gospel supports this tradition. If David wrote the psalm, then who is David's lord or master? Is it not God? Yet God is speaking to David's lord and, in His authority, establishing the dominion of David's lord. Jesus reasons that God must be talking about someone other than a son of David, for what son is ever greater than his father? A father is not likely to call his own son "lord".

More recent scholarship thinks of this psalm as a product of the royal court in the established monarchy that descended from David. In such a case the courtier is writing about God speaking to the king, a son of David. The courtier would certainly refer to the king as Lord and God as Lord. But if this is the original use of Psalm 110, a royal psalm meant to encourage the king, we must acknowledge that the early church read the psalm in an entirely new way.

Christian interpretation of the Old Testament is what we have now in the New Testament. After Jesus happened everything changed. With their eyes opened to a new revelation, something God had kept secret until the proper time, they began to read the scriptures through a new lens. This lens began to show the early church how the life, death and resurrection of Jesus was foretold in the Old Testament books.

I believe the Holy Spirit within Christians is teaching us, helping us interpret. Of course then we have a problem of subjective experience becoming authoritative. If the Spirit teaches me one interpretation, but a different and opposing interpretation to another, how can both be right? That is why interpretation is best done in community. Then the community seeks the truth together and comes to one mind.

Back to the original idea of the psalm, an oracle to encourage and glorify the king of the Jews. The psalm first shows that God promises to establish the rule of his anointed one on the throne. He will defeat his enemies. He will bring troops who suddenly appear when needed. Like morning dew they will cover the ground. They will bring the victory with the Lord leading.

Then the psalm takes a different turn. It speaks of the king as a priest. This isn't unheard of. Melchizedek was the king of Salem when the Jebusites held the city that would later be called Jerusalem. He appears in Genesis to bless the patriarch Abraham after his victory against raiding kings from the north. Melchizedek was both king and high priest. (Gen 14:18)

God is establishing the king of the Jews as high priest in this psalm. That is out of the ordinary because only a son of Aaron could be high priest. This psalm is either an attempt to overthrown the covenant with Aaron and give total political and religious rule to the office of the king, or something else is happening. One thought is that this psalm is a hold over from the Jebusites. Israel defeated them and took the city. Perhaps they utilized, for their own purposes, some of the liturgy left behind by the previous occupants.

Whatever the case, the church again picked up on this reference to Melchizedek as a messianic prophecy. The book of Hebrews explains how Jesus is high priest for the church, just like King Melchizedek.

No matter how we interpret Psalm 110, the psalm is not meant for us, except as a means to glory in the king of the Jews, God's anointed. As Christians we acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the messiah, the anointed one of God, established as king of the Jews and king of all kings.

One last thought: the last verse speaks of the king pursuing his enemies and drinking from a brook. One interpretation is that this is intended to show the king's resolve. He will not stop until the battle is won. Think of Jesus, our king, in the battle against evil. Whatever evil you are fighting, your Lord is beside you fighting with you and He will not stop until the victory is yours.

Blessed be the king!