Deity, kingship and priesthood

Psalm 110:1-7

This Psalm is quoted or referred to many times in the New Testament. It is written by David, and Jesus picks up on this authorship when debating the identity of the Christ with the Pharisees. In Matthew 22:41-46 Jesus’ line of argument is that since the Psalm opens with ‘The Lord said to my Lord,…’ (v1) it shows that David, the king, is showing deference to someone who is to come. This person must have a higher status if He is called ‘Lord’ by David. Since the only status higher than royal authority is divine status it implies that David is referring to a divine king. It is noticeable that there was no reply to Jesus question!

I want to comment on two further points arising from the Psalm:
(i) The king is seated (vv1,2)
For a king to be able to sit down means that there is no fighting, no war, no enemies standing against him anymore. Throughout the New Testament this image is picked up on and applied to Jesus. He is able to sit down because all things are now in subjection to Him. In Ephesians 1:20-22 this is linked to the resurrection and ascension, a double-move which both establishes Jesus’ position as victor over death and as being seated at the right-hand of the Father in heaven.

(ii) The king is a priest (v4)
As we have already seen, the royal line was the line of Judah. The priests, however, were taken from the tribe of Levi. To therefore appoint the king as ‘a priest forever in according to the order of Melchizedek’ was both surprising and impossible. Kingship meeting the priesthood had implications. The most significant of these was that this king would adhere to the standards of holiness set out for the priests.

It is worth noting the fact that this priest-king is sat down. This means that the priests’ work is also complete: there are no more sacrifices to offer (see Hebrews 8:1,2; 10:11-14).

So this short Psalm talks about the deity, the kingship and the priesthood of Jesus. No wonder it is the most-quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament!

Further reading:    Matthew 22:41-46 Ephesians 1:20-23 Hebrews 10:11-14

Worship Video:

 

To think about:
Jesus is King and Priest. What implication does that have for us who are described as co-heirs with Christ?

Creative response:

Journal page by Bernice

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