Psalm 110 (LSB) You Are a Priest Forever

Of David. A Psalm.

MT Psalm 110 = LXX Psalm 109. Unlike psalms with a “choir director” heading, the superscription “Of David. A Psalm” is not separately numbered in the Hebrew or the LXX — it is included within v. 1 — so English, MT, and LXX verse numbers match exactly throughout (v. 1 = v. 1, v. 7 = v. 7).
The first verse of this psalm is one of the Old Testament verses most quoted in the New Testament.

(Spurgeon) “How condescending on Jehovah’s part to permit a mortal ear to hear, and a human pen to record his secret converse with his co-equal Son! How greatly should we prize the revelation of his private and solemn discourse with the Son, herein made public for the refreshing of his people!”

Rather than describing a specific moment in David’s reign, the psalm likely emerged when David recognized he himself was not the ultimate ruler, but that a greater figure would possess eternal dominion and glory.

The enthroned King. The sufficient Priest. The willing People. The defeated Enemies.

Psalm 110:1–3 (LSB) Sit at My Right Hand

1 Yahweh says to my Lord:

“Sit at My right hand

Until I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.”

2 Yahweh will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,

“Have dominion in the midst of Your enemies.”

3 Your people will offer themselves freely in the day of Your power;

In the splendor of holiness, from the womb of the dawn,

The dew of Your youthfulness will be Yours.

Yahweh said to My Lord, Adonai
The lord reigned down fire from Yahweh on Sodom

Genesis 19:17–26 (LSB)

17 Now it happened, as they brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, lest you be swept away.”

18 But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords!

19 “Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by preserving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest calamity overtake me and I die;

20 now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be preserved.”

21 And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

22 “Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

24 And Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of heaven,

25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

26 Then his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Back to Psalm 110:1–3 (LSB) Sit at My Right Hand

1 Yahweh says to my Lord:

“Sit at My right hand

Until I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.”

V. 1 “Sit at My right hand … footstool” – the most-quoted OT verse in the NT; the strongest formal quotations follow:

Christological Significance

The New Testament repeatedly emphasizes this psalm’s importance.

1. Quoted by Christ Himself in Matthew 22:44

(par. Mark 12:36, Luke 20:42) – LSB small caps the whole quotation; wording reads “beneath Your feet,” diverging from the LXX’s “footstool” wording that Luke, Acts, and Hebrews follow.

Matthew 22:34–46 (LSB)

34 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.

35 And one of them, a scholar of the Law, asked Him a question, testing Him,

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

38 “This is the great and foremost commandment.

39 “And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 “On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,

42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.”

43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet” ’?

45 “Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

46 And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.

Jesus says This Lord is different from David. Not merely his Son. David himself says He is LORD.

2. Quoted in Acts 2:34–35 (Peter, Pentecost sermon)

– LSB small caps the whole quotation; follows the LXX “footstool” wording exactly:

Acts 2:29–36 (LSB)

29 “Men, brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.

30 “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to set one of the fruit of his body on his throne,

31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither forsaken to Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.

32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.

33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you both see and hear.

34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand,

35 Until I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.” ’

36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Peter says This Lord is different from David – He ascended into Heaven!

3. Quoted in Hebrews 1:13

– LSB small caps the whole quotation; follows the LXX “footstool” wording:

Hebrews 1:8–14 (LSB)

8 But of the Son He says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You

With the oil of gladness above Your companions.”

10 And,

“You, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands;

11 They will perish, but You remain; And they all will wear out like a garment,

12 And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same,

And Your years will not come to an end.”

13 But to which of the angels has He ever said,

“Sit at My right hand,

Until I put Your enemies

As a footstool for Your feet”?

14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

Author of Hebrews says This Lord is different from Creation – Not an angel, His THRONE is forever!

4. Quoted by Paul

1 Corinthians 15:21–28 (LSB)

21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming.

24 Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.

25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.

27 For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him.

28 And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

All things folks!

Psalm 8:6, woven into 1 Corinthians 15:27:

Psalm 8:6 (LSB)

6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,

Paul says This Lord is different from Adam - He will abolish death Forever!

Hebrews 10:10–14 (LSB)

10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;

12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,

13 waiting from that time until His enemies are put as a footstool for His feet.

14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Author of Hebrews says This Lord is a different kind of priest – His one Sacrifice was Sufficient!

He sat down, and deserved to do so! This happened at His Ascension.
Notice the Priests standing vs the One sitting. (Chair in a workshop isn’t used until the work is finished.)
They offered Many, He offered One. Their work repeated, His sufficient.

Ephesians 1:20–23 (LSB)

20 which He worked in Christ, by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,

23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

V2 Adam Clarke is among those who think the rod of Your strength represents the Gospel:

“The Gospel – the doctrine of Christ crucified; which is the powerful sceptre of the Lord that bought us; is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword; and is the power of God to salvation to all them that believe.”

Psalm 110:3 (LSB)

3 Your people will offer themselves freely in the day of Your power;

In the splendor of holiness, from the womb of the dawn,

The dew of Your youthfulness will be Yours.

V3 – Offering FREELY – Yahweh is looking for volunteers! Freely offering themselves to service.

Guzik-When the people of God see and experience the victory of their Messiah, they will gladly give themselves to His work. They are willing in the day of His power. Since the Hebrew word translated power is the word for a host or army, the idea is that the Messiah’s people are gathered together as a willing army.

This is the difference between drafted soldiers vs devoted volunteers. Which are you?
Worth asking. Which part of yourself are you still withholding from the King? Are you attending his Kingdom or offering yourself for His service? He gave Himself freely, what is keeping you from giving freely to Him?
The womb of the dawn, The dew of your youthfulness.
Silent arrival, freshness, abundance. No one hears the dew arrive, yet every blade of grass says thank you.
The King never wakes to an empty Kingdom. As surely as the morning brings the dew, God supplies the people for His son and fives them freshness of life.

Psalm 110:4–7 (LSB) According to the Order of Melchizedek

4 Yahweh has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

5 The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His anger.

6 He will render justice among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will crush the head that is over the wide earth.

7 He will drink from the brook by the wayside;

Therefore He will lift up His head.

V. 4 “priest forever … Melchizedek” – the strongest formal quotations follow:
Quoted in Hebrews 5:6, paired with Psalm 2:7 as the two oracles establishing Christ’s Sonship and priesthood:

Hebrews 5:5–6 (LSB)

5 In this way also Christ did not glorify Himself to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”; 6 just as He says also in another passage, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 7:1–3 (LSB)

1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

2 to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace.

3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest continually.

Hebrews 7:14–19 (LSB)

14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.

15 And this is clearer still, if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek,

16 who has become such not according to a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life.

17 For it is witnessed about Him,

“You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

18 For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness

19 (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, It is also noted that, unlike other significant figures in Genesis, Melchizedek is introduced without genealogy and without reference to his birth or death (7:3). Since the legitimacy of a man’s priesthood in the ancient world depended on such factors, the silence of Scripture at this point is remarkable. The implication is that Melchizedek did not obtain his priesthood because of hereditary rights. In God’s providence, Melchizedek was ‘made to resemble [aphōmoiōmenos] the Son of God, in that he remains a priest for ever’. Here the influence of Psalm 110:4 on the interpretation of the Genesis text is clear. This statement prepares for the argument in 7:15–16 that Christ’s priesthood is ‘not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent, but through the power of an indestructible life’.

Peterson, D. G. “Melchizedek.” New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, edited by T. Desmond Alexander and Brian S. Rosner, Electronic ed., InterVarsity Press, 2000, p. 660.

Many offices are temporary. Term limits, people retire, successors fill in. Every former priest eventually needed a successor. Jesus needs none! Death will never remove Him from office! Better hope through which we DRAW NEAR to God!

Hebrews 7:20–25 (LSB)

20 And inasmuch as it was not without an oath

21 (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him,

“The Lord has sworn And will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever’”);

22 so much more Jesus also has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

23 And the former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing,

24 but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.

25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

V 5-7 (Kidner) “Now the Lord (i.e. Yahweh) and his King act as one, and the army of volunteers which was seen in verse 3 is no longer in the picture. The battle is the Lord’s, yet he and his King are so united.”

V 7 And He will be refreshed, and exalted.
King and Priest – This psalm joins two concepts normally kept distinct. (Power and compassion in one person)

“The hand that holds the scepter is the hand that bears the scars”

David says, “He is my Lord”

Peter says, “He ascended into Heaven”

Paul says “He will abolish death forever.

Hebrews says, “His sacrifice is perfect. His throne is forever”

The throne is occupied. The sacrifice is sufficient. The Priest lives forever. Every enemy, including death will be placed beneath His feet.

He has the Authority to rule us, He performed the Sacrifice to cleanse us, He is the source of Life to keep us.

Psalm 110 does not present us with an interesting prophecy to admire. It asks to bow before the King. To volunteer ourselves in His service. To hope in His victory. Finally, to draw near to him as Priest.

“Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” – He is interceding for you right now.