Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.
A brief introduction to Western theological foundations: Psalm 110 promises a conquering Messiah as King, Priest, and Judge over all the world.
I would be remiss in initiating my readers, in bits and pieces, to the Western canon if Psalm 110 remained unmentioned. The Bible is famously the bestselling book of all time; Christians make up nearly one-third of the global population; and Christianity remains the bedrock of Western civilization. Psalm 110, a brief hymn, is the most-quoted Psalm of the New Testament for its prophecies establishing Jesus Christ the Messiah as King, Priest, and Judge.
King: Psalm 110 contains prophecies and promises of victory that point forward to the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross. In the first verse King David, the writer of the Psalm, acknowledges someone else as his “Lord”, implying that the Messiah will be a king greater than himself. The Messiah’s reign will be expansive and eternal compared to David’s reign, which must end when he dies. The reference to two Lords—God the Father and Christ the Son—establishes the Triune God, made of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Priest: God the Father names His Son as a priest “after the order of Melchizedek.” Many Christians likely recognize the name of the Israelite priest Aaron more than the priest Melchizedek, who blessed Abraham in Genesis. The distinction between the two priests matters. The invocation of Melchizedek establishes Christ not as an earthly priest like Aaron and his successors but as an eternal priest for His people.
Judge: The final verses anticipate the conquest of Christ over the sin of humanity and over all nations. It warns that earthly kingdoms and glories pass away and will ultimately be crushed under the hand of Christ the King. The images of wrath and corpses remind the reader of the inevitably of God’s judgment. The only freedom is through faith in Christ as the Messiah who died for our sins.
For more in-depth commentary, read here, here, and here.
Sit at My Right Hand
A Psalm of David
1 The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
3 Your people will offer themselves freely
on the day of your power,[a]
in holy garments;[b]
from the womb of the morning,
the dew of your youth will be yours.[c]
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgment among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs[d]
over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook by the way;
therefore he will lift up his head.
Psalm 110, ESV.
