David’s Hope
Psalms 110
June 27, 2021
If you ASK PEOPLE today what is the most famous Psalm
I think it’s probably a shoe-in that Psalms 23 would win the vote.
For centuries the church has rested in the promises of the Good Shepherd
And His care for His sheep.
If I were to ASK YOU what your favorite Psalm is, the answers might be pretty diverse.
• We love the 22nd and its revelations of the cross.
• We love the 46th and its promise that we will not be moved.
• We love the 73rd with its relevant discussion on wealth.
And the list goes on and on.
But it is apparent to me that if you were to ask the apostles
What their favorite Psalm is then I think I can confidently say
That their answer would have been: Psalms 110.
No Psalm inspired more New Testament writing than Psalms 110.
• Psalms 110 was quoted by Jesus during the last week of His life.
• Psalms 110 was partially preached by Peter at Pentecost.
• Psalms 110 was quoted by Peter in his defense before the Sanhedrin.
• Psalms 110 was the Psalm that inspired the entire book of Hebrews.
IT IS HUGE!
If we were to trace out and discuss in detail
Every time this Psalm is referenced
And fully exposit the texts where it is quoted
I suppose it would take us almost a year to fully deal with them all.
This Psalm has far-reaching application.
And we will certainly at least touch base with those uses
As we study the Psalm tonight.
BUT BEFORE THIS PSALM WAS EVER QUOTED BY JESUS
OR PREACHED BY THE APOSTLES
It was first a song written by David
Which expressed his joy in a coming salvation.
In fact, I have chosen to title this Psalm: “David’s Hope”
That is what it is all about.
In this Psalm David has been granted the privilege of
HEARING AN INNER TRINITARIAN CONVERSATION.
David says right off the bat, “THE LORD SAYS TO MY LORD”
• Certainly that is privileged information that David was given by God.
• In all actuality what David heard would be a POST-ASCENSION conversation between the Father and the Son.
So clearly David was given prophetic preference here
As God chose to reveal to him events that would occur
Following the incarnation, ministry, death and burial of Christ.
Before Christ ever came
• David saw the success of His ministry.
• David heard the promise of His reign.
• David understood His role as a priest.
• David saw His coming in power.
And what David heard here from the LORD
Became the very hope of salvation of David.
But it wasn’t just David’s hope,
• It also became Peter’s hope
• And the writer of Hebrew’s hope
• And it becomes our hope as well.
So tonight we are going to take a look at
Perhaps THE MOST FAR-REACHING PSALM in the entire book.
As I said, we can’t possibly extract every truth it inspired,
But we can certainly celebrate with David
As he examined this promise that gave him such great hope.
We are going to divide this Psalm into 3 points tonight
As each of them outline a specific truth on which David rested his hope.
#1 A PLEASING LORD
Psalms 110:1-3
Let’s just contemplate for a moment what David just heard.
“THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD: “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”
Even without our New Testament enlightenment
This is still a remarkable verse to behold.
David here makes an important announcement.
• David has a “LORD”
• David has one to whom he has submitted his life.
• David has one in whom he is trusting.
• David has picked a Savior.
BUT YOU AND I KNOW THAT
This selection is only good if God accepts Him as well.
I mean, what good does it do
To select a delegate to stand before God on your behalf
If God does not accept that delegate?
You can pick Muhammad or Buddha or Joseph Smith to be your savior if you want,
But it won’t do you any good if God doesn’t accept them.
That is why David is so elated here.
In verse 1 David learned that God has accepted David’s savior.
“The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
To sit at God’s right and was a declaration of acceptance.
And so on this day David learned that God has accepted his Lord.
THAT IS GOOD NEWS.
It’s no wonder that the New Testament took this verse and ran with it.
FOR WE UNDERSTAND THAT
If Jesus Christ had not been acceptable to the Father
Then you and I have no Savior.
This was Paul’s main argument in that famous 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians when he argued for the truth of the resurrection.
Paul said:
1 Corinthians 15:17-19 “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”
• If God didn’t raise Christ then that means that Christ was not acceptable to God.
• And it doesn’t matter how much you liked Christ,
• If God doesn’t accept Him on your behalf then you are sunk.
How wonderful to know then that God has accepted Him.
Matthew 3:16-17 “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
• And of course God would state that again on the day Christ was transfigured.
This is foundational to our faith and salvation
To know that God has accepted Christ on our behalf.
God’s acceptance of Christ is the BEST NEWS any believer can ever hear
FOR IN HIS ACCEPTANCE WE ARE ACCEPTED.
And as we pointed out the apostles took this verse and ran with it.
Let’s take a quick look at their application of this great verse.
First we would point out that Jesus used this verse.
Matthew 22:41-46 “Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET”’? “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.”
Obviously Jesus used this verse
To point out that He was in fact greater than David.
And this is precisely how Peter would use this verse too.
At Pentecost Peter preached:
Acts 2:34 “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,”
• David never rose from the dead…
• David never ascended to heaven…
• David was never invited to sit at the right hand of God…
Jesus was greater than David.
The apostles jumped all over that point.
The writer of Hebrews expanded it even further to point out that by reason of this verse Jesus was also greater than the angels.
Hebrews 1:13 “But to which of the angels has He ever said, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET”?
So clearly the apostles loved this verse
Because it highlighted the preeminence of Jesus.
Jesus is the greatest and the highest.
He alone was invited to the right hand of God.
BUT EVEN THAT ISN’T THE MAIN POINT.
• The main point that the New Testament liked is that Jesus not only was exalted to the Father but that He sat down.
“Sit at My right hand…”
The writer of Hebrews especially loved this.
• He loved to point out that sitting reveals rest.
• He loved to point out that sitting reveals being finished.
• He loved to point out that no earthly priest ever did this in God’s presence.
But Jesus has so perfectly finished His work that He sat down.
Saying it first in:
Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
And then using Psalms 110 to support his statement later:
Hebrews 10:11-14 “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
Jesus perfectly finished His work.
There was nothing left to do.
• God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days and because it was “good” or perfect “God rested”.
• Jesus came to earth, fulfilled the righteous requirement of God, and then bore the wrath of God on sin and on the cross He said, “It is finished!”
• And when Jesus ascended He rested; He sat down at the right hand of God.
THE NEW TESTAMENT LOVES THAT TRUTH.
And the apostles also loved the word “until”
Noting that His sitting on heaven’s throne is temporary
UNTIL He comes to sit on earth’s throne.
“Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Currently, as Christ is seated next to the Father,
The Father is actively working to subdue Christ’s enemies.
One by one God is subduing Christ’s enemies.
One by one God is breaking them down.
If you don’t know where God is doing that, then look around this room.
Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
WE are those enemies that God has subdued
And brought to the footstool of Christ.
Paul describes what an enemy of Christ looks like:
Philippians 3:18-19 “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”
THAT WAS US.
• We were those who were enemies of Christ, but God subdued us.
• He revealed to us our rebellion.
• He called us to repentance.
• He sent His Spirit to regenerate us.
• He gave us faith.
• He atoned for our sin.
• He brought us to Christ.
Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
This is why it is a foolish statement to say that
You long for Christ to reign if you are not involved in evangelism.
• Evangelism is the very essence of longing for Christ to reign.
• Evangelism is the very involvement of God’s work to bring Christ’s enemies to His footstool.
And so the apostles loved this verse.
They saw so much of the gospel here and the expounded on it greatly.
But even apart from their explanation,
Just FROM DAVID we learn a great deal about our hope.
WE SEE HIS SEAT
“The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
• David had hope because his Lord and Savior had been accepted by God.
WE SEE HIS SCEPTOR
(2) “The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
That is again a reference to the kingdom of heaven.
God would be at work to bring the hearts of wicked men into submission to Christ.
I am one of those; you are one of those.
• We are those who have confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord.
• We are those who have bowed the knee to Christ.
David had hope because his Lord had been accepted
And because God had promised that His kingdom would flourish.
WE SEE HIS SERVANTS
(3) “Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew.”
One commentary pointed out that nearly every translation of the Bible
Translates this passage differently.
• And that has made for varying interpretations of the passage, but we can still make sense of the point.
“Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power;”
Perhaps the more accurate picture is that of “freewill offerings”
• That Christ’s people will present themselves as a freewill offering in the day of His power.
Like Paul said:
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
OR
Philippians 2:17 “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.”
David saw Christ’s people willingly pouring out their lives for Him.
He saw them “In holy array”; clothed in the righteousness of Christ,
But also working for the sanctification that He desires.
David saying, “Your youth are to You as the dew.”
Some translated this verse about Christ saying,
“You have the dew of Your youth”.
It’s difficult to know which, but the implication seems to be that
• Christ’s enemies have been made His servants.
• They serve Him now willingly and gladly.
• They wrap themselves in the holiness He desires.
• And they are a special blessing a delight to Him.
David saw all this coming.
• He saw a Savior, who perfectly finished His work and sat down at the right hand of God.
• He saw a God who began to turn sinners into saints and enemies into sons.
• He saw former rebels now serving Christ in holy array.
• He saw Christ delighted in their service.
And David settled his hope there.
He would smile at the future
Because His Savior would be a successful savior.
THAT IS OUR HOPE AS WELL.
That our Savior is a successful savior.
He is accepted by God and He does in fact subdue the hearts of men.
5
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.
He has sounded fort the trumpet that shall never sound retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat; O be swift, my soul, to answer Him; be jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave; He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave; So the world shall be His foot-stool and the soul of wrong His slave. Our God is marching on.”
That was the hope of David as well.
He could look forward with prophetic eyes and sing
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”
We sing that same hope.
A Pleasing Lord
#2 A PERMANENT PRIEST
Psalms 110:4
This verse is widely considered the heart of the Psalm.
Indeed it is the verse that stopped the writer of Hebrews in his tracks.
• He read this verse and he could not go any further.
• He stopped in dedicated meditation.
• What is this oath that is written here?
• Who is this king that is now called priest?
• How is it that He is a priest forever?
• And who is this Melchizedek and how does he relate to Christ?
And by the time he finished seeking out this verse
He had written the entire book of Hebrews.
Some would even say that the book of Hebrews is nothing more than
An exposition of Psalms 110:1 and Psalms 110:4
And we certainly don’t have time to unpack all that the writer of Hebrews said about this verse as his commentary covered multiple chapters.
But we can read a little to bring it to our minds.
Hebrews 7:1-3 “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, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. 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 perpetually.”
You have to go back and read Genesis 14 if you want the whole story,
But the point was simple.
After delivering Abraham from his kidnappers and capturing the spoil Abraham tithed a tenth of the spoil to this priest named Melchizedek.
• He was unique because he was both a priest and a king.
• He was also unique because we don’t have any record of his birth or death.
• In one sense he doesn’t have a beginning or an end.
• And he is unique because he is not a Levite.
And the writer of Hebrews applied all of that to Christ
Saying that Melchizedek was a picture of Christ.
• Christ also was greater than Abraham
• Christ also has no end of days
• Christ also was not a Levite
• Christ also was priest and King.
The writer of Hebrews would also say:
Hebrews 7:11-12 “Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.”
The writer of Hebrews simply pointed out that
If the Levitical priesthood had been perfect and sufficient
Then David would have never written Psalms 110:4.
That is to say there would have never been any talk about a new priest from a new line if those old priests had been good enough.
BUT THEY WEREN’T GOOD ENOUGH.
They didn’t make anyone perfect.
So God ordained a new priest,
And then the writer of Hebrews point out that when you get a new priest
You have to get a new covenant too.
(Because the old covenant explicitly stated that all priests had to be Levites)
So clearly in Psalms 110,
God was pointing out that there was coming a day
When we’d get a new priest and a new covenant.
And the writer of Hebrews seized upon that.
Hebrews 7:17-22 “For it is attested of Him, “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.” For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (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. And inasmuch as it was not without an oath (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’”); so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.”
• The writer of Hebrews seized upon Psalms 110:4.
• He saw a new priest coming and this new priest was Jesus.
• And he saw this new priest coming with an oath from God.
IN VERSE 1 WE GOT AN ORACLE OF GOD.
And if there is anything stronger than an oracle of God
It is an oath from God. -Derek Kidner
God promised that someday David would get a new priest.
• Not a priest in weakness that could make nothing perfect.
• Not a temporary priest who would one day leave office or die.
• But David would get a powerful priest and One who would be a priest forever.
And if you want to know why this new priest
And His new covenant are better, just keep reading.
Hebrews 7:23-25 “The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 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.”
• Christ is a perfect priest
• Christ is a permanent priest
• And so Christ permanently save those who come to Him.
“He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
Now that is a “tip of the ice burg” explanation,
But that is still the point that David is so happy about.
• David never had a perfect priest before…
• David never had one who was capable of atoning for his sin and then setting
down because it was finished…
• David never had one who could make him perfect…
But God told him about a priest who one day would make him perfect.
AND THIS WAS DAVID’S HOPE.
AND THIS IS OUR HOPE.
• We are sinful men.
• We have no reason to expect that we could ever please God
• Or even stay pleasing if somehow we were to appease Him.
But here David heard of a Savior who was acceptable to God
And this same One would then perform as an eternal priest
To keep saved all those who come to God through Him.
That is salvation and that is security
And that was David’s hope and it is certainly OUR HOPE AS WELL.
Hebrews 6:16-20 “For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
• Jesus satisfied God.
• Jesus sits at His right hand.
• Jesus intercedes for us.
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name.” “When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace; through every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.”
That was David’s hope too.
A Pleasing Lord, A Permanent Priest
#3 A PROMISED REIGN
Psalms 110:5-7
One commentator pointed out that at this point David leaves the book of Hebrews
And approaches the book of Revelation.
For David also had a hope that
One day the heavenly kingdom would become and earthly one.
• David also had a hope that one day it would not just be men who were saved from their sin, but one day all evil would be vanquished.
• David had a hope that one day every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And that is the day David saw here.
(5-7) “The Lord is at Your right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.”
• Notice all the “He will” statements.
• It is promised, it is prophesied, Christ will come and will destroy His enemies.
We saw the same promise back in chapter 2
When those foolish kings were conspiring against God’s anointed
To throw His fetters off.
Psalms 2:7-9 “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”
THERE IS COMING A DAY
When all those who resisted Christ and refused His saving offer
Will have their knees broken and they will bow before Him.
• “He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath”
• “He will judge among the nations,”
• “He will fill them with corpses,”
• “He will shatter the chief men over a broad country.”
And the closing verse of the Psalm pictures
His relentless pursuit of the wicked until He finds none.
David said, (7) “He will drink from the brook by the wayside; Therefore He will lift up His head.”
The picture is that of a general in pursuit of his enemies.
• He doesn’t just sit in his tent eating fine food,
• The general who wants to catch his foe pursue him, even drinking water from the brook on the way.
It pictures a relentless pursuit of the wicked.
And David says a king who is so passionate in his pursuit
WILL MOST CERTAINLY BE VICTORIOUS.
“He will lift up His head.”
He will pursue the wicked and He will not stop
Until every grape is trampled and every sinner destroyed.
THIS WAS DAVID’S HOPE.
• A Savior who was acceptable to God.
• A Priest who could keep him saved.
• A kingdom where the wicked would be destroyed forever.
Though the writer of Hebrews did not quote from the end of this Psalm, it is clear that he read it.
Hebrews 12:25-29 “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”
IT IS OUR HOPE THAT
There is coming a day when our God
Will shake the heavens and the earth.
He will come and judge the wicked
And set up a kingdom which cannot be shaken
And a land where righteousness dwells.
We hope for the day when the curse is reversed and sin is gone forever.
“Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns; let me their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy. No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found.”
Now you see why the apostles seized upon Psalms 110.
• David spoke of his hope in a Savior whom God would accept on His behalf and this was Jesus.
• David spoke of a priest who would forever atone for his sin and keep him saved and this was Jesus.
• David spoke of at king who would crush His enemies and set up a holy earthly kingdom, and this was Jesus.
JESUS WAS DAVID’S HOPE IN ALL THINGS.
• Even though David was a king he knew he was not acceptable to God on his own.
• Even though David was a king he was not even allowed to be a priest.
• Even though David was a king he never fully rid the world of his enemies.
David’s hope was in a better king, his Lord,
Who would accomplish all of those things.
That is the same Lord we celebrate.
That is the same Lord we worship.
That is the same in Lord in whom we place our hope.
And tonight, just to remember this great hope
We are going to partake in the Lord’s Supper.
• As we do we see His body in which He earned the righteousness that was
imputed to us.
• A righteous life that was offered to the Father on our behalf.
• And in the juice we see His blood which was shed to pay the penalty for our
sin.
And it all hinges upon the fact that
THIS OFFERING WAS ACCEPTED BY THE FATHER FOR US.
HE IS OUR ONLY HOPE.
