← Back to sermon library

Well, you can turn in your Bibles 
to that particular Psalm, Psalm 110. God willing, we'll resume our 
studies in the Gospel of John, finishing the Upper Room Discourse 
in two weeks. As Mark said, we have a baptism 
next week. So this morning, I thought it 
would be an encouraging word for us to look at Psalm 110 as 
we enter into a new year. If you are familiar with Psalm 
10, that's good. We just sang it, of course. We 
sing it a lot in our church. And it is, at least verse one, 
is one of the most alluded to or quoted verses in all of the 
New Testament. So you're probably very familiar 
with the first verse. We'll look at that, but then 
the remainder of the verses as well. So I'll read Psalm 110, 
beginning in verse one, and may God the Lord give us this mindset 
as we enter into a new year. A Psalm of David. The Lord said 
to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your 
footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out 
of Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people shall 
be volunteers in the day of your power. In the beauties of holiness, 
from the womb of the morning, you have the due of your youth. 
The Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever, 
according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at your right hand. 
He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge 
among the nations. He shall fill the places with 
dead bodies. He shall execute the heads of 
many countries. He shall drink of the brook by 
the wayside. Therefore, He shall lift up the 
head. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we thank you for the Lord's Day. We thank 
you for the privilege to gather in the house of God with your 
people. We pray that you would be enthroned upon our praises, 
that you would be glorified as we gather together, that we would 
come to the Father through the Son in the Spirit, and that you 
would be all in all in this place. Do forgive us now for all of 
our sins. We pray for the power and the 
presence of the Holy Spirit to guide us and to lead us into 
truth, And we know the Spirit's ministry, according to our Lord 
Jesus in John 16, is to glorify Jesus. So we pray that the Spirit 
who gave us Psalm 110 would shine the light upon the subject of 
Psalm 110. And we ask this in Christ's holy 
name. Amen. Well, as we come to this 
particular Psalm, you'll notice the superscription, a Psalm of 
David. Now, some have suggested that 
the Psalm itself is about David. And that is unfortunately not 
correct. The prophecy contained in Psalm 
110 is much bigger than any regular or ordinary kingship. It applies 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Had our brother Mark continued 
to read in the gospel of Mark in chapter 12, a parallel is 
in Matthew chapter 21, the next section of Jesus' confrontation 
with the religious leaders is a question posed by Jesus. So 
up to that point, you see the Sadducees, you see the Pharisees, 
you see the scribe, they all confront Jesus with these particular 
questions. And then Jesus hits them with 
this question. He says, whose son is the Christ? And of course they say, the son 
of David. So then Jesus says, well, why 
in the spirit does David call him Lord? And of course he's 
speaking about Psalm 110. And so what we have in Psalm 
110 is a wonderful presentation by way of a prophetic statement 
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ in his kingly and priestly office. Martin Luther made the observation. He said, this beautiful psalm 
is the very core and quintessence of the whole scripture. No other 
psalm prophesies as abundantly and completely about Christ. It portrays the Lord and his 
entire kingdom and is full of comfort for Christians. for he 
is a lovable, comforting king and priest for those poor, miserable, 
suffering, and plagued Christians on earth." I think he's absolutely 
spot on. And I, by the way, am not making 
a prophetic announcement for 2025 that all of us will be poor, 
miserable, suffering, and plagued. But if things go the way things 
are going, we ought to expect a degree of oppression and persecution 
and the sorts of things that our brothers and sisters have 
faced throughout the entirety of their time on earth. Well, 
I want to look first at the enthronement of Christ in verses 1 to 3, secondly, 
the priesthood of Christ in verse 4, and then finally, the triumph 
of Christ in verses 5 to 7. Note first his enthronement. 
We have a declaration in verse one. The Lord said to my Lord, 
sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 
Now, I think there's a strong connection between Psalm 110 
and Psalm 2. I preached on Psalm 2 within 
the last several months, and we saw there that the man of 
Psalm 1 is the king of Psalm 2. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. Christopher Ashe, who by the 
way, I'm gonna quote again, if you want to spend some money 
well, there's a four volume commentary by Christopher Ashe on the Psalms. And the first volume, he highlights 
or he argues as to why the Psalms are all about Jesus. I know it's 
typical for us to find ourselves in the Psalms. And I'm not suggesting 
we can't learn lessons or there's implications or applications. 
The Psalter's about Jesus. When we sing the Psalms, we're 
singing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Anyways, Christopher Ashe, good 
book. He makes this observation with reference to links with 
Psalm 2. It includes the titles Lord and 
Lord, the verb to sit, hostility to God and His Christ, rod, scepter 
is used, Zion, verbs for breaking or shattering, God's anger, God's 
judgment, and then the nations. All things that you see there 
in Psalm 2. So if I mention Psalm 2 along the way, you'll understand 
why. But as well, note the language 
in verse 1 specifically, the Lord said to my Lord. If you're using the New King 
James Version or other English translations, you probably have 
capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D in the first instance 
of Lord. And then in the second instance, 
you have capital L and then lowercase, O-R-D. It's the way the English 
translations mark off the sacred name of Yahweh. When it's all 
capitalized, it's referring to Yahweh. So what you have here 
is that Yahweh said to my Lord, Adonai. Now the Apostle Peter, 
when he's preaching on the day of Pentecost, uses Lord twice, 
but here specifically in the Hebrew you've got Yahweh said 
to my Adonai. So there are distinct persons 
involved in this particular situation. And I would suggest the distinct 
persons involved in this situation is God the Father and God the 
Son. And we see that God the Son is 
the one of whom the psalm is spoken, and it's God the Son 
who wages wars and gets victory over his enemies. I think what 
we see in the text is what we've seen in John's gospel. We call 
it the hypostatic union, the union of two natures in the one 
person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, Ash says, by inspiration 
of the Holy Spirit, David prophesies about a person of infinite greatness 
who will be his descendant according to his humanity, but his Lord 
in virtue of his divinity. So when the scribes and the Pharisees 
answer the question in Matthew's gospel, whose son is he? And 
they say, David's. They're not altogether wrong. 
But they're wrong in understanding the nature of the second person 
of the Trinity who assumes our humanity, who takes on our humanity. The Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us. Ash continues, this greater David 
will be both king and priest, conquering the world with and 
for his people. That's the mindset that I think 
is helpful as we approach a new year. There is difficulty in 
this present evil age. There is hardship. There is woe. 
There is suffering. How do we make it through that? 
Is it by virtue of how good we are at persevering in the midst 
of it? Or is it by virtue of the fact 
that Christ is enthroned at the right hand of God Most High where 
he must reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool. 
I would suggest it's the latter. Keep your mind focused upon the 
Lord of Glory and upon the emphasis in a psalm like this to get you 
through the difficulties in this present evil age. We will see 
when we finish up the Upper Room Discourse in two weeks' time, 
God willing, this is how Jesus ends the discourse. These things 
I have spoken to you, that you may have peace. And then he says, 
in this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have 
overcome the world. It's going to encourage them 
with that understanding of his reign and rule from the right 
hand of the father, of which he had already spoken to them 
in John 16, that he will return again or go again to his father. Notice, after this declaration, 
the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make 
your enemies your footstool. He then underscores or applies 
it, or rather, I want to apply it specifically. So it says, 
sit at my right hand. This idea or this meaning is 
authority and dominion in the heavenly throne. It is authority 
and dominion. And I think a specific reference 
is to the ascension of Christ and to the current session of 
Christ. We know the ascension of Christ in Acts chapter 2, 
verses 33 to 36. We looked at that a couple of 
weeks ago, last time we had a baptism. What does Peter say concerning 
the Lord Jesus? That God has highly exalted him. He invokes this particular Psalm, 
Psalm 110.1. And then he tells us clearly, 
David himself did not ascend. David is writing about David's 
greater son and David's Lord. He's writing about Jesus Christ. 
The ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ was to the right hand 
of the authority and power of God Almighty. Not as the second 
person of the Trinity, but as the second person of the Trinity 
who assumed our humanity. As the mediator, as the prophet, 
as the priest, as the king, as the one in whom all blessings 
flow, it is in that position of authority that Christ has 
ascended. And then as well, the current 
session. So what is Christ doing now as 
he sits at the right hand of the Father on high? Turn to 1 
Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, specifically 
in verses 20 to 28. This is commentary or sort of 
exposition or amplification of what we find here in Psalm 110.1. Notice in 1 Corinthians chapter 
15 at verse 20, we've got the Ascension, Acts 2, 33 to 36, 
and various other passages in the New Testament, as well as 
various other passages in the Old Testament. Daniel 7, 13, 
and 14 is an Ascension text concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. But here 
we have what's called the current session. If we ask the question, 
what's Jesus doing right now? We know He ever lives to make 
intercession for us. We know He's an advocate with 
the Father. We know that He is that to us personally, individually, 
corporately as the church. What is Jesus doing at the right 
hand in terms of a comprehensive approach to the entirety of the 
cosmos? Notice in 1520, but now Christ 
is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those 
who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, 
by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all 
die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in 
his own order. Christ the firstfruits, afterward 
those who are Christ's it is coming. Then comes the end. One 
of the reasons I'm not a premillennialist. If you are, I don't mean to offend 
you, don't cancel me, don't get triggered, but note the connection. Christ at His coming, then comes 
the end. Christ comes, then comes the 
end. You don't insert a thousand-year 
period into this particular passage to serve your eschatology. That's 
another sermon. Then comes the end when he delivers 
the kingdom to God the Father, when or even after he puts an 
end to all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign 
till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that 
will be destroyed is death, for he has put all things under his 
feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is evident 
that he who put all things under him has accepted. Now, when all 
things are made subject to him, then the Son himself will also 
be subject to him, who put all things under him, that God may 
be all in all. So it refers to the ascension 
of our Lord Jesus in the current session. The Lord said to my 
Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 
And now he highlights or underscores the glory of this. Note that 
language. You see it in 1 Corinthians chapter 
15, "'Til I make your enemies your footstool." Sometimes the 
believer thinks that Jesus is going to lose. Sometimes the 
believer thinks that everything is going to go badly always. Now brethren, that's not the 
same as saying there's going to be bad things until the Lord 
Jesus Christ returns. I agree with that. But to think 
that we always and only ever lose is not biblical. Look at 
the language, till I make your enemies your footstool. Gill 
says this is an allusion to the custom of conquerors treading 
upon the necks of the conquered. If you don't like martial imagery 
and military language, Psalm 110 is probably not for you. 
Notice in Joshua 10, 24, and they drew near and put their 
feet on their necks. That was the execution of the 
Amorite kings. 1 Kings 5, 3, you know how my 
father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord 
is God because of the wars which were fought against him on every 
side until the Lord put his foes under the soles of his feet. 
Psalm 47, verse three, he will subdue the peoples under us and 
the nations under our feet. It is rich, beautiful, biblical 
language concerning the blessed triumph of this king-priest enthroned 
at the right hand of Yahweh. That steals the soul of the believer. That helps the people of God 
to overcome. That helps the people of God 
to persevere and be steadfast. It doesn't alleviate the difficulties 
or the struggles or the hardships or the trials. but it steadies 
one in the midst of those things such that they can go forward 
in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. 
He then gets concrete in terms of the application of this government. Notice the government over his 
enemies in verse two and the government over his church in 
verse three. The child born, the son given, 
according to Isaiah 9, 6, will have the government upon his 
shoulders. And the psalmist is doing the 
same thing here. The Lord said to my Lord, sit 
at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. 
How is that going to affect the enemies? Verse 2. How is that 
going to affect his church, his friends, his people? Well, that's 
verse 3. Note with reference to the enemies, 
verse 2. The Lord shall send the rod of 
your strength out of Zion, rule in the midst of your enemies. 
Psalm 2, same sort of thing. That one, that son of God is 
appointed upon the holy hill of Zion. And there specifically, 
he breaks rebels with a rod of iron and dashes the nations to 
pieces. Davis mentions on Psalm 2, the 
appointed king, verse 7, with worldwide sway, verse 8, to be 
established an overwhelming force, verse 9. He says, that is the 
decree that is controlling history. Brethren, that's good news. It's 
not Trudeau that's controlling history. It's not American politics 
that's controlling history. It's the Lord Christ enthroned 
at the right hand of the Father that is controlling history. 
It doesn't absolve us from the historical issues or problems, 
but it steadies us in the midst of it when the grind is upon 
us. This is a good perspective for 
a coming year. So in the enemies, or with reference 
to the enemies, rule in the midst of them, but then note with reference 
to his church in verse three, your people shall be volunteers 
in the day of your power. In the beauties of holiness from 
the womb of the morning, you have the due of your youth. That 
latter half is a little bit difficult. So we'll look at the first half 
first. It is the battle readiness of 
the people of God. It is the battle readiness of 
the people of God. I know that we usually use this 
verse as a verse on the effectual call. He will make them willing 
in the day of his power. That is a biblical truth to be 
sure. But I think what's in view here 
is the battle readiness of the people of God to go along with 
the master and commander in his mighty exploits in history. In other words, it speaks concerning 
the people of God who have a confidence in the king-priest that's at 
the right hand of the father and willingly engage in the battles 
that are ahead. They don't run and hide. I mean, 
sometimes they might. They come out of hiding and they 
stop running and they turn back into the fight. They do what 
Christ calls them to do in this world. And what does Christ call 
us to do in this world? I think Paul summarizes it well 
in Philippians chapter two. We're to shine as lights in this 
crooked and perverse generation, holding forth the word of truth. 
We're supposed to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called 
us out of darkness into marvelous light. We have the blessed privilege 
to gather for Lord's Day worship, to meet with our blessed God. 
We see in the book of Revelation that Jesus walks in the midst 
of the lampstands. Now, brethren, I'm not suggesting 
he doesn't come to you in your private, quiet time, or that 
he doesn't come to you in your family worship. But Yahweh loves 
the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. 
There is something special about the corporate body of Christ's 
people gathered together, wherein he then walks in the midst of 
them. That is our privilege and our 
blessing. You say, well, how does that 
affect culture? Well, first and foremost, it 
obeys God, which is absolutely positively the right response. Secondarily, the best way we 
can be countercultural is to just be people of the book. We'll 
look odd, we'll look weird, we'll look bizarre, but that's okay. People that can't tell you what 
a woman is really don't matter in terms of their assessment 
concerning your conduct on a Sunday. Brethren, we are ready to fight 
the Lord's battles. I'm not advocating physical violence 
as church. I'm not telling you to take your 
guns out and go shoot whoever. As church, I'm simply suggesting 
that we fight the battles of our Lord. There's a parallel 
in the song of Deborah in Judges chapter five. When leaders lead 
in Israel, when the people willingly offer themselves, bless the Lord. That's the idea here. But then 
that last clause, or that last part of the verse, in the beauties 
of holiness from the womb of the morning, you have the due 
of your youth. One take is that this refers 
to the multitude of Christ's people. Calvin represents this. David extols the divine favor 
displayed in increasing the number of Christ's people. And hence, 
in consequence of their extraordinary increase, he compares the youth 
or race which would be born to him to the due. Not a bad interpretation. In other words, by virtue of 
the fact that the king priest is enthroned on the right hand 
of the father, and that the king priest in the upper room has 
said, I will not leave you orphans, I will send another comforter, 
even the spirit of truth, we have this confidence that there's 
going to be additions to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
That should be affirmed and confirmed when you get to the book of Revelation, 
and we have assembled before the throne a great multitude 
that no man can number. It shouldn't be surprising, based 
on the promise to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations of 
the earth would be blessed. Look up, Abraham. Can you count 
the stars? No. Well, your descendants are 
going to outnumber them. Look at the sand on the seashore, 
Abraham. Can you count that? No. Well, 
your descendants are going to be more numerous than the sand 
on the seashore. Brethren, there ought to be an 
expectation in our hearts that the Christ at the right hand 
of the Father, from whom the Holy Spirit proceeds along with 
the Father, is going to bless the proclamation of His truth. 
Why would we pray, Holy Spirit, bless Your Word, if we didn't 
believe it? Why would we pray, Holy Spirit, 
take Your Word, make it effectual to sinners, such that they by 
grace come out of darkness into marvelous light, if we didn't 
believe it? Perhaps we need to be more familiar with the promises 
of the Psalter that terminate on our Lord Jesus Christ and 
the blessings that flow to his church, and it might give us 
that battle-ready mindset. Now, there's another interpretation 
that I quite like. Based on the Greek translation 
of the Hebrew Old Testament, some early interpreters saw it 
this way. The text goes this way, "...with thee is dominion 
in the day of thy power, in the splendors of thy saints. I have 
begotten thee from the womb before the morning." Of course, those 
early interpreters saw it as the eternal generation of the 
sun. The Son is the Son, not by virtue 
of creation or by virtue of adoption, but by nature. He is eternally 
begotten by the Father, God from God, light from light, true God 
from true God, begotten, not made, being of one substance 
with the Father, through whom all things were made. Again, 
I quite like that. I'd at least like to think that 
the modern church would know that that's an option for interpretation 
when it comes to Psalm 110. But let's move on to the priesthood. Notice the priesthood of Christ 
in verse 4. Again, a passage that you should 
be very familiar with. There's a tell in the text. If Psalm 110.1 is a surprise 
to you, and Psalm 110.4 is a surprise to you, your homework assignment 
for this week is to read the book of Hebrews. Okay? Just read the book of Hebrews. 
And then you go, oh, that's where it comes from. Note that statement, 
Hebrews 5.1. to nine basically is an exposition 
of Psalm 110.4. And the entirety of the book 
is not strictly speaking, I'm speaking a bit generally, expositional 
of Psalm 110.1. But specifically we see Hebrews 
six and seven deal with the priesthood of Melchizedek. Notice in verse 
four, the Lord has sworn and will not relent, you are a priest 
forever according to the order of Melchizedek. There is an oath 
involved, Hebrews seven, 20 and 21. And in as much as he was 
not made priest without an oath, for they have become priests 
without an oath, but he with an oath by him who said to him, 
The decree given by God, this swearing by God, underscores 
the certainty of it. This is not haphazard. It's not 
lucky that Jesus came and happened to fulfill all these things that 
was spoken of somebody generally, and he fits the bill. No. council 
of the covenant of redemption. Father gives to the son a multitude 
of miserable sinners to live for, to die for, and to be raised 
again for. The son willingly takes that 
to himself. And in the fullness of the time, 
God sends forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, 
to do what? To redeem those under the law. Not to just start a 
new religion or set forth a new view of ethics. but to redeem, 
to actually save his people from their sins. And what is vital 
to that saving his people from their sins is priesthood and 
sacrifice. The old covenant teaches us that. How does sinful, guilty, dirty 
Israel enter into the tabernacle and then temple? Is it because 
they promised to do better next week? Is it because they, you 
know, had a few things wrong, but the Lord is judging on a 
curve, so come on in? No, I quite like the way Michael 
Morales says it. They were taught that access 
to the Holy God was through a bloody knife and a smoking altar. The 
book of Leviticus resolves the tension that is introduced in 
the book of Exodus. Exodus ends with the tabernacle 
constructed. Exodus ends with God's glory 
coming down upon the tabernacle. Exodus ends with Moses himself 
not being able to enter into the tabernacle. Why? Because 
he needed to be cleansed. He needed to be holy. He needed 
to be purged. He needed to be washed. That's 
what Leviticus chapters 1 to 9 answer. Here's the sacrifice. Here's the priesthood. At the 
end of chapter 9, they engage in it properly, and the fire 
of God comes down and consumes the sacrifice, and they rejoice 
with joy. And of course, in chapter 10, 
they have to botch it up, and then the fire comes down again, 
but it destroys Nadab and Abihu. But there must be priesthood. There must be mediatorship. There 
must be reconciliation between two parties that are at odds 
with one another. And that's the emphasis in the 
book of Hebrews. So we see the Lord has sworn 
and will not relent. You are a priest forever according 
to the order of Melchizedek. Look back to Psalm 89 for just 
a moment. I think Psalm 89 is basically 
the covenant Psalm, and it rehearses the Davidic covenant, 2 Samuel 
chapter 7. So in Psalm 89, 2 Samuel 7 is 
sort of in the backdrop. There's a promise of this one 
who will come to save his people from their sins. And notice what 
God says in Psalm 89, verse 30. If his sons forsake my law and 
do not walk in my judgments, if they break my statutes and 
do not keep my commandments. Talking about the Davidic line 
of kings. Just like 2 Samuel 7 does, but in the Davidic line 
of Kings, there is this one who is particularly a son of God. There is this one who the rest 
of the Bible will refer to as the son of David and David's 
Lord. Notice in verse 32, then I will 
punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with 
stripes. Nevertheless, my loving kindness I will not utterly take 
from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail. My covenant I will not 
break, nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips. Once 
I have sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David. His 
seed shall endure forever and his throne is the sun before 
me. It shall be established forever like the moon, even like the 
faithful witness in the sky. God swore he will not relent, 
which as believers, this is great reminder, isn't it? The fact 
is, is that the priest ordained for us men and for our salvation, 
again, wasn't haphazard, wasn't a plan B, but was always the 
purpose and plan of our thrice holy and absolutely sovereign 
God. but as well for an unbeliever. 
You got to understand, if God is this invested in the saving 
of sinners, and you're a sinner to be saved, you can certainly 
come to this Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, he says as much in John's 
gospel. He says, all that the Father 
gives me will come to me. There's that acknowledgement 
of divine sovereignty. It's not haphazard. It's not 
lucky. It's not rabbit's foot theology, but all that the Father 
gives me will come to me. And he makes this blessed statement. 
The one who comes, I will certainly not cast out. This is the best 
thing you can hear if you're still an unbeliever as you enter 
into a new year. But I don't want you to go home 
and say, well, maybe in February of 2025, I'll come to Lord Jesus 
Christ. No, Paul says today is the day 
of salvation. Today is the day to internalize 
these things. Today is the day to believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. God has sworn. 
God will not relent. He says, you are a priest forever 
according to the order of Melchizedek. The New Testament application, 
as I said, is definitely Hebrews 6 and 7, surrounding context 
as well. But what's the Old Testament 
reference? It's Genesis 14. Remember Melchizedek, that king 
of Salem, that priestly king, comes out to meet Abram? This 
is that order. And consider that David is king 
over Israel at this particular time that he writes. There is 
a functioning tabernacle. There is a functioning priesthood. 
But David himself, by the Spirit, knows that that's not permanent. 
That's not forever. It's typological, it points forward, 
it prefigures, it highlights New Covenant reality vis-a-vis 
the Adonai that is going to be stationed at the right hand of 
Yahweh after having successfully completed the task given to him 
such that he reigns and rules and has dominion over all peoples. 
The reality is that the Old Testament was pointing forward to the Lord 
Jesus Christ. to go backward in redemptive 
history and rebuild the temple? to rebuild a tabernacle when 
the substance has come? I use this illustration with 
our church. If you're a visitor here, you 
might appreciate it. If you're not, you're gonna go 
this one again. I'm sorry, after 27 years, the repertoire does 
start to shrivel a bit. You're just stuck with me. There's 
certain illustrations for envy, has to do with fishing. But this 
one in terms of Old Testament typology and New Covenant reality. You know, perhaps you're a grandparent, 
you're at your children's house, and you're around the grandchildren, 
and you're there looking at the grandchildren, and you're enjoying 
the grandchildren. You're seeing them breathe. You're 
seeing them move and run. I mean, breathing is pretty easy. 
The best and brightest of them can even do that. And then your 
son or your daughter comes and says, well, look at this picture 
of Junior. Why would I want to look at the 
picture? I got Junior right here. I want the picture for when I 
don't have Junior right here. This backward mobility in some 
eschatological schemes to go back to temple, to go back to 
priesthood, to go back to animal atonement, we've got Christ, 
we've got substance, we've got all those things pointed forward 
to. The altogether lovely and chief 
among 10,000 has come. We've seen his life, his death, 
his resurrection. We know his ascension in his 
current session. We know the benefits through 
his blood. Why would I go back to a temple? Why would I go back? And I'm 
talking about Old Covenant Temple. New Covenant Temple is the people 
of God, the living stones that are the body of Christ. Brethren, 
David, writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, understood 
that what he was living in was not the finality of redemptive 
privilege. He's speaking of the Lord to 
come. He's speaking of this order of Melchizedek. And there's a 
parallel in Zechariah the prophet, chapter six, verses 12 and 13. 
Behold, the man whose name is the branch from his place, he 
shall branch out and he shall build the temple of the Lord. 
Yes, he shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the 
glory and shall sit and rule on his throne. So he shall be 
a priest on his throne and the council of peace shall be between 
them both. The Old Testament portrayed the 
Messiah as prophet, priest, and king. The Old Testament portrayed 
Messiah as the divine Son who took on our humanity. For the 
Jews today to say, well, you know, the Bible doesn't promise 
that the Messiah would be divine. What do you do with Psalm 110.1? 
Well, you do what they did in Matthew's gospel. After Jesus 
teases out the question, and after Jesus applies it, and Jesus 
asks, well, how then does he call him Lord? They couldn't 
answer it. Of course they couldn't answer 
him. They rejected him and despised him and hated and loathed him. 
So of course they're not gonna confess him as the divine son 
of David. That's just not gonna happen. 
See, the Old Testament prophesied. I mean, look at the prophecy 
of Isaiah 9.6, a son given, a child born, and we'll call him mighty 
God. As Owen says, there's no way 
you can comport with that without the hypostatic union, without 
the two natures in the one person. That the child born is mighty 
God is explained in John 1. In the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In John 1.14, 
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, 
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace 
and truth. See, what we have in the Old 
Testament are many, several, an abundance of pictures and 
prefigurements and types and shadows pointing forward to the 
substance of our Lord Jesus, such that in John 1, 29, when 
the Baptist says, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the 
sin of the world, This isn't a surprise to people. They understood 
what lambs in the old covenant signified. They understood the 
reality of sacrifice and priesthood. They understood you just couldn't 
wander into the presence of a holy God in sin. You had to have atonement. So there was an expectation created 
in the Old Testament for a prophet, priest, and king that would come 
from the Lord. His humanity would be attached 
to David. We see it expressed through Mary, 
but his divinity would be from everlasting, from of old. He is eternally begotten by the 
Father. Of course, the implication of 
this priesthood for believers, encouragement. He always lives 
to make intercession for us. And He is our advocate with the 
Father. Brethren, that would be a good thing, too. Read Hebrews 
this week. Just kidding. Back to Psalm 110, 1 and 4. But 
get 1 John 1 and 2 in your heads. My little children, I write these 
things so that you may not sin. We only ever hear that, don't 
we? Man, I'm terrible. I'm miserable. All I ever do 
is sin. Yeah, you are terrible with me. You are miserable with 
me. And all you ever do is sin with 
me. Not me particularly, all of us. 
However, I make it known that that's all of our reality. Why 
do we stop there? My little children, I write these 
things so that you may not sin. Well, probably because there's 
a legal spirit among many preachers that hammer you with that. Go 
be better. Do more. Morality isn't the gospel. The gospel is the gospel. But 
if anyone does sin, John goes on, we, John 2, John 2, we have 
an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. 
That's a good part of the passage to remember. It ought not to 
promote sin. Romans 6 speaks against that. 
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? May it never be. You died, you were buried, 
you've been raised again with Christ. Brethren, John is not 
advocating for a licentious life, but John is realistic concerning 
the Christian life. There's remaining corruption. 
Romans 7 is in the Bible. Galatians 5.17 is in the Bible. Peter's in the Bible. David's 
in the Bible. The best heroes, the champions 
of Israel had their sins. So, What was different for them 
and us? We gotta be perfect? Yeah, but 
you'll never be. But the perfect one came and 
lived and died and was raised again, such that whoever believes 
on him will receive forgiveness and righteousness that avails 
with God. That's gospel. I'm not saying there isn't morality 
that flows out of a conquered sinner. that the ethical imperatives 
of the New Testament assume that. The ethical imperatives of the 
New Testament are more law. We need the gospel always. We 
need that Psalm 133 and four mindset. If you, Lord, should 
mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? He's right, isn't 
he? If thou, Lord, shouldst mark 
iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? Anyone here think they 
could escape that indictment? Don't raise your hand, please. 
Yeah, I think so. But, it goes on, there is forgiveness 
with thee that thou mayest be feared. Relief. The Levitical sacrifice in priesthood 
to relieve the tension of Exodus 40. God's dwelling here, but 
we can't go in. How do we go in? Through a bloody 
knife and a smoking altar. That's how you go in. Through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. That is never designed to promote 
sin. But brethren, we have an advocate 
with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. It is glorious 
news. Let's finish the triumph of Christ 
in verses 5 to 7. It speaks of the execution of 
judgment in verses 5 and 6, and then the refreshment of the king 
in verse 7. Note this position of universal 
government or power or sovereignty or authority. The Lord is at 
your right hand. He shall execute kings in the 
day of his wrath. He shall judge among the nations. He shall fill the places with 
dead bodies. He shall execute the heads of many countries. 
A lot of he shalls there with reference to his victory and 
with reference to his triumph. Again, brethren, I confess at 
times it's hard to see this. At times in the history of man, 
it's hard to remember the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right 
hand till I make your enemies your footstool. I often have 
wondered if that's why we see that text so often in the New 
Testament. If not directly quoted, at least 
alluded to. What was going on in the Roman 
Empire in the first century? Oh, it was beautiful, paradise 
on earth. Only heterosexuality, no confusion 
of gender, no any kind of abortion, and they just esteemed everybody. 
No, it was a mess. We visited the city of Ephesus 
when we went to Turkey. And not far from where the library 
is, and not far from where the School of Tyrannus was, remember 
the School of Tyrannus, according to Acts 19, Paul rented it for 
two years so that he could preach and teach all who were in Asia 
Minor. It's just amazing to stand there and see that, knowing that 
Paul had been there. And then there's the street where 
everybody walked down. I'm sure Paul did too. I gotta 
think he didn't fly or hover. He had to actually walk. Well, 
there's a house of prostitution on that pathway. Our tour guide 
said, hey, look, this is the first known advertisement. It was carved into the concrete, 
or they use better stuff than concrete, because those roads 
are impeccable. Man, Woodbine's got cliff-sized 
holes in it, but those Romans' roads are still functional. You could drive tanks on that. 
Anyways, this advertisement was for the house of prostitution. 
Paul wasn't wafting around a paradise on earth. The people of God suffered 
in the first century. The people of God suffered at 
the hands of unbelieving Israel. They suffered at the hands of 
the godless Roman state. These are the beasts of Revelation, 
by the way, in Revelation 13. The beast from the sea is the 
Gentile nation. We've got the beast from the 
land, which is unbelieving Israel. They suffered. They went to prison. They got martyred. What did they 
always keep before that? The Lord said to my Lord, sit 
at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. 
Brethren, Jesus is ruling. Jesus is reigning. And the language 
applied to him by David under inspiration of the spirit probably 
makes 21st century Christians a little squeamish. We're not 
supposed to talk like that. Well, I take great comfort that 
the King of Israel, with the Spirit's inspiration, talked 
like that. The Lord is at your right hand. 
He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge 
among the nations. He shall fill the places with 
dead bodies. He shall execute the heads of many countries. 
That violent imagery is not consolidated or rather confined to Psalm 110. Listen to Davis. Davis is a pastor 
preacher that I quite like, several commentaries, and this is his 
commentary on Joshua. So different context, but I think 
it fits this context. He says, the popular image of 
Jesus is that he is not only kind and tender, but also soft 
and prissy. I think he's right. As though 
Jesus comes to us raking of hand cream. Such a Jesus can hardly 
steal. Dudes right now are going, I 
use hand cream. Maybe that ought to be a resolution 
for 2025. Just kidding. Just kidding, not getting into 
the bro wars that we see all over social media. That's all 
weird. Such a Jesus can hardly steal the soul that is daily 
assaulted by the enemy. We need to learn the catechism 
of Psalm 24. My brother read that at the outset of worship. 
Question, who is the king of glory? Answer, Yahweh, strong 
and mighty. Yahweh, mighty in battle. Psalm 
24, eight. We must catch the vision of the 
faithful and true sitting on the white throne. The one who 
judges and makes war and righteousness. Revelation 19, 11 to 16. No mild 
God or soft Jesus can give his people hope. It is only as we 
know the warrior of Israel who fights for us and sometimes without 
us that we have hope of triumphing in the muck of life. Amen, brother. You're right on. Dorothy Sayers 
was an English novelist and poet. She made this observation, we 
have very efficiently paired the claws of the Lion of Judah, 
certified him meek and mild, and recommend him as a fitting 
household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. We're not 
supposed to do that. He's not tame, but he is good. And he wages and makes war on 
his enemies. That last bit, he shall drink 
of the brook by the wayside, therefore he shall lift up the 
head. I suspect this indicates that 
the battle is over and then the king refreshes himself. That 
lifting up the head is countered by his crushing the heads of 
his enemies. I think behind all this is Genesis 
3.15, and that grand first proto-gospel promise that the seed of the 
woman is going to crush the serpent. David is giving us that in a 
snapshot. David is highlighting that by 
way of office. He is both king and priest. The 
rest of scripture tells us he's a prophet as well. And he is 
the son of David, according to his humanity, the son of God, 
according to his divinity. Well, brethren, this passage 
does promise persecution for the people of God. that Christ 
needs to make war and wage war against his enemies means that 
there are still enemies. You get the same bit in Matthew's 
gospel when Jesus says, I will build my church and the gates 
of Hades shall not prevail against it. The gates of Hades are going 
to try. They're not gonna go willingly 
to submit to the Lord of glory. There's going to be that tension. There's going to be that oppression. 
If you doubt that, come to a prayer meeting sometime on a Sunday 
morning at 9.30 and take a tour with us around the world, specifically 
via Voice of the Martyrs and hear what's happening. Our brother 
Wim has a contact, or our church has a contact with a fellow in 
Bangladesh. And he's working on a translation 
of the Second London Confession of Faith, which is very encouraging. 
And this week, in a weekly update or check, Wim finds out from 
this brother, his name is Rubel, that there was a local village 
where 17 out of 19 houses were burned down while the inhabitants 
were at church worship services. See, now, if you come back to 
that, yeah, we gotta rebuild, we gotta get timber, we gotta 
get money, we gotta get resources, we gotta get, you know, good 
contractors. I call my son-in-law, my house 
has been burned down. But beyond all that, the Lord 
said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies 
your footstool. Or Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, 
he must reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool. 
What if you've lost people to death? We all have. It's hurtful. It's painful. What's the last 
enemy vanquished by our sovereign Lord according to 1 Corinthians 
15? Death itself. there is gonna be persecution 
and hardship for the people of God. I would suggest this Psalm 
holds out encouragement for Christ's people. Listen to Spurgeon, his 
commentary on the Psalms is also very good to have and get. All 
nations shall feel his power and either yield to it joyfully 
or be crushed before it. The monarch of the greatest nation 
shall not be able to escape the sword of the Lord, nor shall 
that dread spiritual prince who rules over the children of disobedience 
be able to escape without a deadly wound. Pope and priest must fall 
with Muhammad and other deceivers who are now heads of the people. 
Jesus must reign and they must perish. That's what David's saying. Or Matthew Henry, Christ's sitting 
at the right hand of God speaks as much terror to his enemies 
as happiness to his people. The enthronement of the Kingpriest 
and all that is said concerning the Kingpriest speaks as much 
threat and dread and scary stuff to the enemies of Christ as it 
speaks peace to his church. Amen, brother, that will preach. 
Jesus preached it. In this world, you will have 
tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. May 
God bless us as we enter into another year. May we indeed shine 
as lights in a crooked and perverse generation. May we utilize the 
blessed privileges that we have to gather together for worship, 
for prayer, for all kinds of encouragement, such that we can 
glorify our blessed Lord in this present evil age. And may indeed 
God bless you if you are unconverted, an unbeliever, The only response 
to this sermon and every sermon is to look unto the Lord Jesus 
Christ in faith. Stop trying to do it on your 
own. Stop trying to minimize it. Well, I'm not that bad. What 
I do, I do because I've got it. It's just a little defect of 
nature. It ain't a defect of nature. 
It's the sinfulness of nature. Defects are if you're born without 
a digit. Defects are if you're bald. Kidding. Defects are those things that 
are built in. See, God made man upright, but 
they sought out many devices. And in Adam, all die. We all 
have this sinful bent and sinful nature, but the glory of the 
gospel is that God has sent his son who took on our humanity 
to live, to die, and to be raised again so that everybody with 
that sin can look to him in faith and be forgiven. It really is 
great. Your sins are forgiven you. There's no better phrase in the 
history of the world than that. pronounced by God himself, your 
sins are forgiven you. And not only does Jesus give 
us that forgiveness of sins, but it's almost as if he's saying, 
look, you also need to be cleaned up so that you can stand in my 
father's presence. So I'm gonna give you my righteousness 
as well. I'm gonna cleanse you with my 
blood. I'm gonna clothe you with my righteousness. I'm gonna fit 
you for entrance into that blessed place people call heaven. Here and now, there's some hardship. 
Here and now, there's some oppression. Here and now, there's some persecution 
and trial and difficulty, but be of good cheer, I've overcome 
the world. There's every reason for every 
sinner here, young or old, to come to the Lord Jesus Christ 
in faith. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you 
for all that he accomplished to redeem those under the law. 
And we praise you that you've made us blessed participants 
in this wonderful covenant of grace. We pray for the proclamation 
of your truth throughout the earth. We pray for the spirit's 
application of it to needy sinners, and may you cause the saints 
of Christ to grow in grace and in the knowledge of their beloved 
Lord. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.