This is a royal psalm; its theme deals with the role of the house of David in the life of God’s people (cf. Psalms 2; 18; 20–21; 45; 72; 101; 132; 144; possibly 89). As in Psalms 2 and 72, this psalm looks well beyond the achievements of any merely human heir of David and thus points forward to his ultimate heir, the Messiah. In fact, unlike those two psalms, Psalm 110 is more fully future in its orientation (cf. comments below). When the people of God would sing this in faith, they would celebrate God’s promises to David, yearn for the day in which the Gentiles would receive the light (the coming accomplishment of the Messiah), and seek to be faithful to their calling until that great day.676

Discerning the structural divisions presents challenges, being closely tied to interpretative issues; there is no universally accepted division. But this is also connected to the psalm’s ascription to David and to the way in which NT authors take the psalm’s messianic reference for granted. Many further difficulties arise: Do the psalms speak of a future person we would call the Messiah? What present benefit for ancient Israel would such a reference have? How did Christians gain the right to associate this figure with Jesus of Nazareth—was it there in the text already, or is it the result of forcing the text? Is the idea of a “supernatural” messianic figure at home in the Hebrew Bible? And so forth.

One should never pretend that these questions are separable from one another; at the same time, it is also fair to be sure not to prejudge their answers. It will help to remember that the Hebrew Bible depicts Israel as a people with a story, with a divinely given calling in the world. The canonical material does not exist to affirm what Israel thought of herself but rather to guide, correct, and shape Israel in carrying out her calling. Hence a future element in a song for worship can play a vital role for such a people. That is, a reference to a future messianic person can indeed offer a present benefit to an ancient Israelite. Generally speaking, the biblical pictures of the Messiah come in terms of the known, historical, Davidic kings: the ultimate heir of David will be the successful and just king who will incorporate the Gentiles into his ever-expanding kingdom, thus bringing the Abrahamic blessing to all the families of the earth. Each successive Davidic king, then, ought to be some kind of foretaste of the ultimate one, and each can in fact be judged by that ideal. This would then lead to prayers for the king and to support or critique of the king’s performance (as prophets and priests were to offer). Finally, the very institution of the house of David as the divinely approved vehicle of the Abrahamic blessing invites its audiences to reflect on the nature of the final occupant: if David’s throne is to be established forever (2 Sam. 7:16), what nature of person on that throne could guarantee such permanency?

With these factors in mind, we can examine the details of the text. First, we note that, in English, we have two different words for lord in Psalm 110:1: “The Lord” (the proper name of the God of Israel; cf. vv. 2, 4) and “my Lord” (Hb. ʾadoni, “my ruler or master”). Then in verse 5 we have another word, “the Lord” (ʾadonay, related to the word “Lord,” and applied only to God).677 The form “my Lord” in verse 1 (ʾadoni), is typically a deferential address offered to a ruler, not to God.678 The singer must recognize both that the Hebrew words are different and that they might be brought together for instructive purposes. Second, we note the pattern of pronouns: verse 1 has God in the third person, and he says something about “my Lord”; verses 2–4 speaks to someone, probably “my Lord,” in the second person (“you”), and “the Lord” is again in the third person. Then verses 5–7 speak about “the Lord.” This flow invites the congregation to determine the connection between my Lord and the Lord.

  I.  “The Lord” to My Lord (110:1)

  II.  The King Will Rule over God’s People (110:2–4)

  III.  The Warrior King Will Be Victorious over His Enemies (110:5–7)

The promises to the house of David, of an enduring dynasty by which the people of God are to be ruled and through whom God’s purposes for his world are to be fulfilled, obligate the worshiping people of God toward concern for their king. They are “in” him; their well-being requires his faithfulness and zeal. They must pray for him. They must hold him accountable for his adherence to the divine ideal. They must themselves yearn for the day in which the Gentiles receive God’s light. They must live as confident in the Lord’s final victory (hence fortified against the temptation simply to assimilate). This psalm focuses on that assurance of final victory.

But with its future orientation the psalm does more. In pointing beyond the accomplishments of the merely human heirs of David, it holds that house to a higher standard than that of ordinary kings. It also strengthens the faithful against despair when the human Davidic kings do not live up to expectations (and none of them did). This future orientation is what gives the psalm its messianic character. Some commentators suppose that the Psalms originally dealt only with the historical kings in David’s line; they think the messianic hope to be a later element, fueled by disappointment. However, in the canon the promises to David always look beyond the merely human, and there is no reason a psalm might not set the worshipers’ sights higher. As Hakham notes, once Judah went into exile and the house of David no longer ruled them, the future element of psalms such as this came to greater prominence. But that future element is nothing foreign to the original meaning of the psalm.682 By the time of Jesus, that future hope predominates.

Psalm 110 is one of the most cited OT texts in the NT, with quotations or allusions appearing in the Gospels, Acts, Paul, Hebrews, and Peter.

In the Gospels (Matt. 22:43–44; Mark 12:35–36; Luke 20:41–42) Jesus draws attention to the fact that David (the psalm’s author) calls the king “my Lord,” which implies that the king (generally agreed to be the Messiah) was greater than David.683 The idea that the risen Lord Jesus is the reigning messianic King seated at “God’s right hand” appears frequently (Acts 2:32–35; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1 Pet. 3:22; cf. Matt. 26:64). Paul (1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20–22) even combines this idea with Psalm 8:6 (cf. comment on 8:3–8 [at v. 6]): Christ as Messiah, and therefore as perfect man, exercises the image of God to its full, especially as his resurrection and ascension constitute his enthronement as the reigning heir of David.

The author of Hebrews begins his book by citing Psalm 110:1 (Heb. 1:3); his goal is to explain to his audience of Jewish believers why Jesus, the now-reigning heir of David (Heb. 1:3; 5:5–6) is also the ultimate priest. Now that Jesus has arrived, Christian Jews may not legitimately return to “ordinary” Judaism in order to escape persecution, hoping that the old sacrifices would still “work”—for they will not.

Christians sing this psalm to celebrate that Jesus has taken his Davidic kingship by his resurrection (cf. comment on 2:7–9) and that God is now busy subduing the Gentiles into the empire of Jesus.Psalm 110

Psalm 111