A psalm of David. 

King David wrote this song about the coming Messianic King. It includes all four periods of the messianic program. Verses 1 and 2 predict the First Coming of the Messiah. Verses 3-4 predict the interval. Verses 5-7 predict the Second Coming and the Messianic Kingdom. This song was to be sung by the Levites at the appointed Jewish feasts.

110:1 Here is the Lord’s proclamation to my lord: “Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool!” 110:2 The Lord extends your dominion from Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies! 

Verses 1-2 predicted the First Coming of the Messianic King. It is important to note that David was the King of Israel. He was undefeated in combat. He forced all of the surrounding nations to pay tribute to him. He had no Lord, except for God. 

King David heard a divine conversation between two Lords who are over him. Who are the two “lords?” 

The first Lord is God the Father. The second Lord is the Messianic King. Whenever a foreign king visited a reigning king, then the foreign king was invited to sit at the right hand of the reigning king. After the Messianic King is rejected by Israel, then He is invited to sit at the right hand until God the Father takes care of business on earth. 

God the Father is going to judge the world through the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments. After He purges all of the evil out of the world, then He will give the kingdom on earth to His Son. This earthly kingdom is not the church. It will be a Jewish kingdom which will begin in Jerusalem, but it will spread throughout all of the earth.

110:3 Your people willingly follow you when you go into battle. On the holy hills at sunrise the dew of your youth belongs to you. 110:4 The Lord makes this promise on oath and will not revoke it: “You are an eternal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.”

Verses 3-4 predicted the interval between the First and Second Comings of the Messianic King.  The Messianic King will come the first time as a Suffering Servant who will die for the sins of the nation. Before His Second Coming, the Messianic King will become a priest who intercedes for the people. 

It is important to note that a Levitical priest comes from the genealogy of Levi. The kings of Israel came from the tribe of Judah. Therefore, no person could be both king and priest. Levites cannot be kings. Judahites cannot be priests.

Jesus was a priest in the order of Melchizedek. Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek. The priesthood of Melchizedek existed before the Levitical priesthood. Abram paid tithes to Melchizedek. Since the seed of the Levites were inside of Abram, then the Levites paid tithes to Melchizedek as well. This means that the priesthood of Melchizedek is superior to the priesthood of the Levites.

Since the Messiah would be born in the tribe of Judah, but also a part of the priesthood of Melchizedek, then the Lord Jesus Christ was able to become both priest and king.

110:5 O sovereign Lord, at your right hand he strikes down kings in the day he unleashes his anger. 110:6 He executes judgment against the nations; he fills the valleys with corpses; he shatters their heads over the vast battlefield. 110:7 From the stream along the road he drinks; then he lifts up his head. 

Verses 5-7 predicted the Second Coming of the Messianic King. At the end of the Great Tribulation, King Messiah will strike down the Gentile kings who are serving the Antichrist. 

In verse 6, King Messiah will unleash His righteous anger by opening the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. At the Battle of Armageddon,  the Antichrist will lead all of the nations against Israel. King Messiah will strike down the Gentile armies. The carnage will be so bad, that the blood of the soldiers will fill the valleys.

In verse 7, King Messiah will return to earth and establish the Millennial Kingdom. He will drink rivers. He will lift up his head and bring global peace to the world.

In conclusion, Psalm 110 teaches that the Messiah will be as both a priest and a king after the order of Melchizedek. He will be both God and man. To become a priest, he must become a man. To sit at God’s right hand, he must be God. King Messiah will be rejected at His first coming. After His resurrection and ascension, He will ascend into heaven. He will sit down at God’s right hand as God’s equal. God will subdue all of the nations. King Messiah will return to rule in Jerusalem. He will rule over Israel in the Millennial Kingdom.