A messianic psalm
Psalm 110: Sit Thou at My Right Hand
Psalm 110 is a short royal oracle in which the LORD invites David's Lord to sit at His right hand until his enemies are made a footstool. The same figure is declared a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The psalm pictures a king-priest who rules, judges the nations, and reigns in the strength of God.
“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”Psalm 110:1
The psalm itself
Psalm 110 is a psalm of David that records a divine declaration to a royal figure David calls my Lord. The LORD invites this Lord to sit at His right hand, the place of highest honor and shared authority, until all enemies are subdued beneath his feet. His people will rally willingly in the day of his power. Then comes a remarkable second oracle, a divine oath that this same figure is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, the ancient king-priest of Salem who blessed Abraham. So the psalm unites two offices usually kept apart in Israel, kingship and priesthood, in one person. The rest depicts him executing judgment among the nations. In its setting it exalts the Davidic king in lofty terms, hinting at a ruler greater than David, one David honors as his own Lord.
How the New Testament reads it of Christ
Psalm 110 is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament, and every use reads it of Christ. Jesus Himself cites the opening verse in Matthew 22:44 to ask how the Messiah can be David's son if David calls him Lord, pressing His hearers toward His divine identity. Peter quotes the same sit at my right hand at Pentecost in Acts 2:34 to 35 to prove Jesus exalted and enthroned. Hebrews 1:13 uses it for Christ's supremacy, and Hebrews 5 through 7 builds a whole argument on the Melchizedek oath, presenting Jesus as the eternal priest-king superior to the Levitical order. These are direct, foundational quotations, central to the New Testament's case for Christ's lordship and priesthood.
Christ in this psalm
Christ is the Lord seated at God's right hand, exalted after His resurrection to reign until every enemy is subdued. He is also the priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, uniting in Himself the throne and the altar, king to rule His people and priest to intercede for them and offer Himself as the sacrifice. Because His priesthood rests on an unending life and a divine oath, it never passes to another and never fails. Jesus used this psalm to reveal that David's son is also David's Lord, greater than the throne He inherits. So Psalm 110 gathers the gospel's exaltation into a few lines, showing the risen Christ enthroned, interceding, and awaiting the final subjection of all things beneath His feet.
Questions people ask
Why did Jesus quote Psalm 110 about being David's Lord?
In Matthew 22:44 Jesus asks how the Messiah can be merely David's son when David, writing the psalm, calls him my Lord. The riddle points to His identity, that the Christ is both David's descendant and David's divine Lord. Jesus used the psalm to lift His hearers beyond a merely human view of the Messiah toward His true lordship.
What is the order of Melchizedek in Psalm 110?
Melchizedek was an ancient king-priest of Salem who blessed Abraham, uniting royal and priestly office. Psalm 110 declares its figure a priest forever in that order. Hebrews 5 through 7 reads this of Jesus, whose priesthood rests on an unending life and a divine oath, making Him a permanent king-priest superior to the temporary Levitical priesthood.