Psalm 110

What’s Happening?

Psalms 108, 109, and 110 form a trilogy that tells the story of how God will build his promised Kingdom on earth through Israel’s paradigmatic King, David. Psalm 108 showed David as a king who trusted God to rule over evil nations and bring his kingdom of peace. Psalm 109 showed David as a priest who interceded between God and humanity to bless his people and curse his enemies. But the threat of evil and curse overwhelming God’s people has not subsided. So, Psalm 110 presents the solution. The roles of king and priest combine in one figure who will conquer their enemies’ evil curse and bring God’s blessing of peace to the world. 

God finally answers all of David’s kingly prayers and priestly intercessions. But his answer isn’t addressed to David, but to David’s Lord (Psalm 110:1a). Because of God’s promise to him, David knows that one of his descendants will conquer evil as king and bring peace to the world as priest (1 Samuel 2:35; 2 Samuel 7:12-16). It is this promised priest-like king that God speaks to and that David calls his Lord. 

God tells David’s Lord to take the highest seat of honor next to him until God makes him rule over all enemies of evil and cursing (Psalm 110:1b). With such unique access to God at his right hand, this Lord would be a priest like no other, able to connect God and humanity. This Lord would be a king like no other, ruling over all enemies and bringing God’s peace to all creation. 

As God has from the beginning, David’s Lord will do this work in partnership with his people. God’s people will freely enlist themselves into the service of this king (Psalm 110:2-3a). But these recruits will not be dressed for battle like warriors, but dressed for spreading peace like holy priests (Psalm 110:3b). God promised that his people would be a nation of priest-like kings, and David’s Lord would work through them to accomplish it. 

To show what this priest-king Lord will be like, David mentions a unique figure named Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4). Melchizedek was both the king of a kingdom called “peace” and a priest of God (Genesis 14:18). Uniquely, Melchizedek celebrates victory in battle as a priest of peace, not as a warrior of war. He follows the pattern of what a king-priest should look like. In the beginning, God gave the work of ruling the world as kings and spreading his territory as priests to Adam and Eve. And in Melchizedek, we see these two offices in one person. This is the kind of Lord David is expecting—a priestly king who rules and intercedes forever. 

When this priestly king rules at God’s right hand, he will defeat every enemy in heaven and on earth, establishing his kingdom of peace in all creation (Psalm 110:5-6). When his work is finished, like an ancient king who drinks the refreshing water of victory after a battle, David’s Lord will lift up his head from the stream and look at a world refreshed with peace (Psalm 110:7). 

Where is the Gospel? 

David knew that one of his descendants would be the Lord God had promised. However, soon after his rule, Israel’s kings and priests stopped partnering with God to bring blessings and brought curses to the world instead. 

Nevertheless, God’s promise to David and his purpose for the world still stood. For the descendant whom David called Lord came to his people in Jesus. As enemies inside and outside Israel threatened King David in this trilogy of Psalms, earthly and spiritual enemies swarmed around King Jesus. The priests and leaders of Israel, as well as the kings of the nations, all conspired to become God’s enemy when they arrested, accused, and assassinated Jesus (Acts 2:22-24). The king who was supposed to rule forever was defeated by his enemies, and the priest who was supposed to live forever died. 

But in one act, God would rule over these enemies and partner with humanity to bring his kingdom of peace to the world. When God raised Jesus from the dead, he raised him above every power and authority that thought they could defeat God’s chosen priest-king (Hebrews 8:1-2). Like Melchizedek, Jesus claimed victory in battle as a priest of peace, not a warrior of war. He conquered his enemies as king by being exalted above them in his resurrection and ascension. In the pattern of Melchizedek, Jesus took his seat at the right hand of God as the final and eternal King of the world and Priest of God forever (Hebrews 7:17-21). 

Now, we get to freely enlist in the service of our eternal high priest and king. Jesus sends us out, not as warriors of war, but as priests of peace. With his kingly power, we push back the evil of our world and fill it with peace (Revelation 1:5-6). And when Jesus returns, he will rule over every enemy and partner with us, his kingdom of priests, to ultimately cover the world with his life. Then all of us will drink from the waters of eternal life and lift our heads to see Jesus forevermore (Revelation 22:1). 

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to see the God who rules the world through a priest-king. And may you see Jesus as the Priest-King like Melchizedek, who conquered evil and is bringing peace.