In our Bible studies, we have been looking at Messianic Psalms, and this week turned our attention to Psalm 110, the most quoted psalm in the whole of the New Testament (one of those Bible facts which tend to be more obscure than we might otherwise think!) It is quoted 8 times and alluded to even more; as Eugene Peterson says, ‘No other psalm comes close. The community of first-century Christians pondered, discussed, memorized and meditated on Psalm 110. When they opened their prayer book, the Psalms, the prayer that they were drawn to and that shaped their common life was Psalm 110.’ (‘Where Your Treasure Is’, P 37)
One reason that the psalm was so important to early Christians is its reference to the divine nature of the Messiah. Ps 110:1 (‘the LORD says to my Lord’, where the first reference is to Yahweh, a clear pointer that this is God speaking with all the creative force His words always bring) points us to a Messiah who is more than a human descendant of David; He too is Lord (Adonai). Jesus asked the Pharisees to interpret this verse (Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42, 43), and their failure to respond to His question reminds us that whilst they accepted David’s authorship of the psalm, its inspiration by God and its references to the Messiah, they could not make the next logical step to admitting that the Messiah would be both divine as well as human. The nature of Christ – fully God and fully man – continues to be a major stumbling-block for people today, with most cults going astray at this point, and as always, we need to be clear about the identity of Jesus as this is a foundational truth at the heart of the gospel.
Ps 110 makes it plain that the Messiah would be a king, ruling in the midst of enemies, holding out a royal sceptre, judging and reigning with truth, even if we wait for the ultimate demonstration of that (see also 1 Cor 15:20-29). His position at the right hand of God is assured (Ps 110:1), a view echoed in the New Testament (Eph 1:20, Heb 8:1, Col 3:1, 1 Pet 3:22, Heb 1:3). The psalm celebrates the exaltation of Christ in His resurrection and ascension (see Acts 2:29-36), reminding us that the Messiah will reign forever, demonstrating also an eternal priesthood which will never end. The fact that the Messiah is King forever should fill us with hope and courage, even as we presently wait for his enemies to be made his footstool. We are so often in a hurry for this, but Christ shows no impatience. We too need to learn to wait patiently for God, secure in His sovereignty.
