Psalms 110:1-4

The LORD Gives Dominion to the King.

1

A Psalm of David.

1 1The LORD says to my Lord: "2Sit at My right hand Until I make 3Your enemies a footstool * for Your feet."
2 The LORD will stretch forth Your strong 4scepter from Zion, saying, "5Rule in the midst of Your enemies."
3 Your 6people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; 7In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the 8dew.
4 9The LORD has sworn and will 10not change His mind, "You are a 11priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek."

Psalms 110:1-4 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 110

\\<>\\. This psalm was written by David, as the title shows, and which is confirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ, Mt 22:43 and by the Apostle Peter, Ac 2:34 and was not written by anyone of the singers concerning him, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi; nor by Melchizedek, nor by Eliezer the servant of Abraham, concerning him, as Jarchi and others: for the former could not call Abraham his lord, since he was greater than he, Heb 7:7 and though the latter might, yet he could not assign his master a place at the right hand of God; nor say he was a priest after the order of Melchizedek: and as it was written by David, it could not be concerning himself, as the Targum, but some other; not of Hezekiah, to whom some of the Jews applied it, as Tertullian {m} affirms; but of the Messiah, as is clear from the quotation by Christ, Mt 22:43,44 and from the references to it by the apostle, \Ac 2:34 1Co 15:25 Heb 1:13\. And that this was the general sense of the ancient Jewish church is manifest from the silence of the Pharisees, when a passage out of it was objected to them by our Lord concerning the Messiah; and is the sense that some of the ancient Jews give of it; says R. Joden {n}, ``God will make the King Messiah sit at his right hand, &c:'' and the same is said by others {o}; and it is likewise owned by some of the more modern {p} ones; and we Christians can have no doubt about it. The psalm is only applicable to Christ, and cannot be accommodated to any other; no, not to David as a type, as some psalms concerning him may.

Cross References 11

  • 1. Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42, 43; Acts 2:34, 35; Hebrews 1:13
  • 2. Matthew 26:64; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 8:1; Hebrews 10:12; Hebrews 12:2
  • 3. 1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians 1:22
  • 4. Psalms 45:6; Jeremiah 48:17; Ezekiel 19:14
  • 5. Psalms 2:9; Psalms 72:8; Daniel 7:13, 14
  • 6. Judges 5:2; Nehemiah 11:2
  • 7. 1 Chronicles 16:29; Psalms 96:9
  • 8. 2 Samuel 17:12; Micah 5:7
  • 9. Hebrews 7:21
  • 10. Numbers 23:19
  • 11. Zechariah 6:13; Hebrews 5:6, 10; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 7:17, 21

Footnotes 5

  • [a]. Lit "will be freewill offerings"
  • [b]. Or "army"
  • [c]. Or "the splendor of holiness"
  • [d]. Or "The dew of Your youth is Yours"
  • [e]. Lit "be sorry"
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.