Psalms 110:1-4

Of David. A psalm.

1 The LORD says to my lord:[a]“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
2 The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3 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.[b]
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in 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*; Acts 2:34*
  • 2. S Mark 16:19; Hebrews 1:13*; Hebrews 12:2
  • 3. S Joshua 10:24; S 1 Kings 5:3; 1 Corinthians 15:25
  • 4. S Genesis 49:10; Psalms 45:6; Isaiah 14:5; Jeremiah 48:17
  • 5. S Psalms 2:6
  • 6. Psalms 72:8
  • 7. S Exodus 15:11; Judges 5:2; Psalms 96:9
  • 8. Micah 5:7
  • 9. S Numbers 23:19
  • 10. Zechariah 6:13; Hebrews 5:6*; Hebrews 7:21*
  • 11. S Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 5:10; Hebrews 7:15-17*

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Or "Lord"
  • [b]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
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