Psalm 110

⁵ The Lord is at Your right hand;
He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath.

⁶ He shall judge among the nations,
He shall fill the places with dead bodies,
He shall execute the heads of many countries.

⁷ He shall drink of the brook by the wayside;
Therefore He shall lift up the head.

Like Psalms 2 and 22, [this psalm] refers directly, entirely, and exclusively to Christ (and to the Father’s will concerning Him).

That this is so is more than evident, not only from a careful reading of the psalm itself (and its “Old Testament” context), but also from its treatment in the New Testament, where it is cited directly, with exclusive reference to Christ, nine times. If one also considers allusions, Psalm 110 unquestionably emerges as the most prominent of all. — Wechsler, pages 262-263.

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Verse 1 — What a wonderful day was that when our Lord shot up through the heavens, far above all heavens, at the head of the host of the redeemed, until He found Himself in His Father’s presence! We may hear him saying to His Father, “Behold I and the children which God hath given Me” (Hebrews 2:13). And then the Father answers Him, in the words recorded in Psalm 110:1.

“Jehovah saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.” Turning now to Matthew 22:41-45 we find our Lord asking His enemies, “What think ye of Christ? whose son is He? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? and no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.”

In Mark’s parallel account of this interview, Mark 12:35-37, our Lord declares that what David said was “said by the Holy Ghost.” Luke also reports the same interview (Luke 20:41-44).

In Matthew 26:64 our Lord was referring again to this 110th Psalm when He said to the high priest, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

In Ephesians 1:20 Paul is referring to Psalm 110:1 when he says that God raised Christ “from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.” Again in Colossians 3:1, the Apostle is referring to this Psalm when he writes, “Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”

And it may be that Stephen, the first martyr, was thinking of Psalm 110 in Acts 7:56.

Psalm 110:1 is again referred to in Hebrews 1:3 where our Lord is pictured as having “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high”; and still again in 1:13 where we read, “But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?” In Hebrews 8:1 it is written: “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” Again [this psalm is referred to] in Hebrews 10:11-13 and 12:2. — Pettingill, pages 153-155

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As to the Father’s declaration that the Son sit at His right hand—in the Bible symbolizing the place of greatest favor, power, and preeminence—this is a point of central importance in the New Testament as indicated by the man direct citations and allusions thereto [see Pettingill’s quotes], since it serves as explicit affirmation of the inevitable (and to a degree already accomplished) victory of Christ over all worldly opposition, and hence as a source of comfort and encouragement to [believers] suffering persecution (as did the early church). — Wechsler, page 265.

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In the 1st, 2nd, and 4th verses the Hebrew word JEHOVAH is rendered Lord: where the second mention of the word “LORD” occurs in v.1 and also in the instance of v.5, the Hebrew word is ADONAI—Master, Ruler, Lord. — Meyer, page 134.

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Verse 2 — It is the Father’s solemn promise that His Son who had offered Himself to His people as their King and had been rejected by them, will yet sit upon the throne of His Father David, reigning over the house of Jacob in a Kingdom that should have no end (Luke 1:31-33). — Pettingill, page 155.

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Verse 3 — “Your people shall be volunteers.” His people Israel are referred to, who in the days of His weakness had rejected Him, but who in the day of His power, when He comes again, will receive Him (Matthew 23:37-39; 2 Corinthians 13:4). … The meaning of this is shown in Judges 5:2: Nehemiah 11:2; Zechariah 12:10).

“In the beauties of holiness” — probably a reference to holy attire, perhaps like that worn by priests (since, in the Kingdom, the Jews will all be priests).

“From the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth” — There is no longer any weakness in [the Lord]. He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. — Pettingill, page 156-157.

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from the womb of the morning (v.3) — A figurative expression representing the dawning of a perfect day, after Israel will have gone through a period of trouble that Jeremiah calls “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7). In many places it is called the tribulation (Isaiah 10:20-223).  — Phillips, page 276.

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Verse 4 — This is the only reference to Melchizedek in the Old Testament apart from the record of him in Genesis 14:17-24. The next mention … is in the book of Hebrews where we find frequent reference to him (Hebrews 4:14-5:10; 6:13-20).

In the seventh chapter of Hebrews we have a detailed exposition of the doctrine of the Melchisedec priesthood. … the key thought of the chapter is indicated by the words “continually” (v.3), “endless” (v.16), “for ever” (vs.17, 21), “unchangeable” (v.24), “to the uttermost” and “ever” (v.25), and “for evermore” (v.28). The great difference between the priesthood of Aaron and that of Melchisedec is that the Aaronic priesthood was temporary, while the Melchisedec priesthood is permanent. The Aaronic priests were many “because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able also to save them unto the end that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them (vs.23-25). — Pettingill, pages 157-159

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This [vs.3-4] is the only place that explicitly affirms the nature of Messiah’s priesthood as being distinct—and hence better—than that of Levi (the only other priesthood ordained by God in the Bible), which latter could never effect perfect atonement for sin. Before being introduced to the Messiah’s priesthood, however, we are first introduced to His people, who are here described in a manner befitting the ensuing emphasis on their Lord as their High Priest—i.e., they are at the same time both “freewill offerings” and priests themselves, as indicated by the expression “holy array,” referring, like the similar expression in 1 Chronicles 16:29 and 2 Chronicles 20:21, to the “holy attire” worn by the Levitical priests in praising the Lord. The specific scenario in view here is indicated by the expression “in the day of Thy power,” in which the term “power” literally signifies “military might,” thus connecting this depiction with the second advent of the Son of God (i.e., “the day of His wrath” in v.5) as portrayed in Zechariah 14:3ff and Revelation 19:1ff. — Wechsler, pages265-266.

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The reason God ordains Christ’s priesthood with an oath (i.e., the LORD has sworn …”) is not for His own sake (as if to “bind Him to His word)—since His ideal (reflecting His holy character) is in fact that one never use oaths at all (see Matthew 5:34)—but rather for our sake, since it is part of our depraved nature (even as believers) to crave additional “forms” of assurance that one will do what he has said. That God actually expresses Himself by employing the form of an oath is thus expressive of His gracious condescension and paternal forbearance towards us. — Wechsler, page 267.

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In this last section [vs.5-7] David portrays the final victory of his Lord, the great priest-king Jesus over the first and most tenacious of all His “enemies” (v.1)—i.e., Satan, who is here referred to by the term “head” (absolutely not [as in some translations] “chief men”) insofar as (1) it is he who will amass and direct the nations of man in their final battle against Christ (see Revelation 20:7-10), and (2) this final defeat of Satan will mark the fulfillment of the protoevangelion — the first of all messianic prophecies—in Genesis 3:15, where, employing almost identical phraseology, God tells Satan that the “Seed” of the woman will “crush” his “head.” It is because of his role as the head of this final, worldwide opposition to Christ that David here describes this “crushing” or “shattering” of Satan’s head as taking place over a broad country (a bit more literally: “across an extensive (stretch) of land”)—i.e., the final defeat of Satan will be coincidental with the defeat of all the kings and armies of which he is the head. David concludes with the appropriately theocentric, glorious juxtaposition of the image of Christ, the triumphant priest-king, lifting up His own head (an idiom symbolizing victory; cf. Psalm 3:3). — Wechsler, pages 267-268.

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Verses 5-6 — Here is pictured the judgment work of our Lord when He “shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not god, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). It is the day of His wrath referred to in Psalm 2:12 and Revelation 6:15-17. — Pettingill, page 160.

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Verse 7 — This is doubtless a reference to Gideon’s test in Judges 7:4-6. … Our Lord never sought to please Himself. He was always eager to be doing His Father’s will. — Petingill, page 160.