Psalms 110:1-6

1 1The LORD says to my Lord: 2"Sit at my right hand, 3until I make your enemies your 4footstool."
2 The LORD sends forth 5from Zion 6your mighty scepter. 7Rule in the midst of your enemies!
3 8Your people will 9offer themselves freely on the day of your 10power,[a] in 11holy garments;[b] from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.[c]
4 12The LORD has 13sworn and will 14not change his mind, 15"You are 16a priest 17forever after the order of 18Melchizedek."
5 The Lord is at your 19right hand; he will 20shatter kings on 21the day of his wrath.
6 He will 22execute judgment among the nations, 23filling them with corpses; he will 24shatter chiefs[d] over the wide earth.

Psalms 110:1-6 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 24

  • 1. Cited Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42, 43; Acts 2:34, 35
  • 2. Cited Hebrews 1:13; [Matthew 26:64; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 8:1; Hebrews 10:12; Hebrews 12:2]
  • 3. Hebrews 10:13; [1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 2:8; 1 Peter 3:22]
  • 4. [Psalms 8:6; Psalms 18:38; Joshua 10:24]
  • 5. [Psalms 68:35]
  • 6. Jeremiah 48:17; Ezekiel 19:14; [Psalms 45:6]
  • 7. Psalms 72:8; [Daniel 7:13, 14]
  • 8. Judges 5:2; Nehemiah 11:2
  • 9. [Exodus 35:29]
  • 10. [Isaiah 13:3, 4]
  • 11. [Revelation 19:14]; See 1 Chronicles 16:29
  • 12. Cited Hebrews 7:21
  • 13. Psalms 132:11; Hebrews 6:17, 18
  • 14. Numbers 23:19
  • 15. Cited Hebrews 5:6; Hebrews 7:17, 21; [Hebrews 6:20]
  • 16. Zechariah 6:13
  • 17. Hebrews 7:24, 28; [John 12:34]
  • 18. Genesis 14:18
  • 19. See Psalms 16:8
  • 20. [Psalms 68:14]
  • 21. Romans 2:5; Revelation 6:17; [Psalms 2:5, 12]
  • 22. Isaiah 2:4; Joel 3:12; Micah 4:3
  • 23. See Ezekiel 39:17-19; Revelation 19:17, 18
  • 24. [Psalms 68:21]

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Or on the day you lead your forces
  • [b]. Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains
  • [c]. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
  • [d]. Or the head
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.