Psalms — Chapter 110

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1A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

2The LORD extends Your mighty scepter from Zion: “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

3Your people shall be willing on Your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn, to You belongs the dew of Your youth.

4The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

5The Lord is at Your right hand; He will crush kings in the day of His wrath.

6He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead; He will crush the leaders far and wide.

7He will drink from the brook by the road; therefore He will lift up His head.

1The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

2The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

3Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.

4The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

5The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

6He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.

7He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

1Jehovah saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

2Jehovah will send forth the rod of thy strength out of Zion: Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

3Thy people offer themselves willingly In the day of thy power, in holy array: Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth.

4Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek.

5The Lord at thy right hand Will strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

6He will judge among the nations, He will fill [the places] with dead bodies; He will strike through the head in many countries.

7He will drink of the brook in the way: Therefore will he lift up the head. Psalm 111

1A psalm of David. Here is the Lord’s proclamation to my lord: “Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”

2The Lord extends your dominion from Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies.

3Your people willingly follow you when you go into battle. On the holy hills at sunrise the dew of your youth belongs to you.

4The Lord makes this promise on oath and will not revoke it: “You are an eternal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.”

5O Lord, at your right hand he strikes down kings in the day he unleashes his anger.

6He executes judgment against the nations. He fills the valleys with corpses; he shatters their heads over the vast battlefield.

7From the stream along the road he drinks; then he lifts up his head.

1Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”

2Yahweh will send out the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule among your enemies.

3Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth.

4Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

5The Lord is at your right hand. He will crush kings in the day of his wrath.

6He will judge among the nations. He will heap up dead bodies. He will crush the ruler of the whole earth.

7He will drink of the brook on the way; therefore he will lift up his head.

Summary
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
Commentary
Videos
Articles
Reflection

Summary

A brief but highly quoted Messianic and royal psalm in which the LORD invites David's Lord to sit at his right hand until his enemies are made his footstool (v. 1). It describes this coming King ruling from Zion with a willing army and declares him, by God's own oath, a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (vv. 2-4). The closing verses picture him executing judgment on hostile nations and kings, triumphant even after a brief, refreshing pause along the way (vv. 5-7).

Authorship & Background

Author: Multiple authors — primarily David (73 psalms attributed), plus Asaph (12), Sons of Korah (11), Solomon (2), Moses (1), Heman (1), Ethan (1), and anonymous. The Psalter was compiled over approximately 1000 years and served as Israel's hymnal and prayer book. The book is divided into five 'books' (1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150), paralleling the five books of Moses.
Classification: Royal/Messianic Psalm — The Most Quoted Psalm in the New Testament
Attributed Author: David (superscription: "A Psalm of David")
Key Themes: Christ's deity and lordship, the session of Christ at God's right hand, the eternal priesthood of Melchizedek, the conquest of all enemies, the union of king and priest in the Messiah
Historical Context: Psalm 110 is the single most important Messianic psalm and the most frequently quoted or alluded to Old Testament passage in the New Testament (over 25 references). Jesus Himself used verse 1 to prove the Messiah's deity (Matt 22:44) — if David calls the Messiah "my Lord," how can the Messiah be merely David's son? He must be divine. The psalm presents two divine decrees: (1) The LORD seats David's Lord at His right hand (v.1), and (2) The LORD swears an eternal priesthood (v.4). This combines the offices of king and priest in one person — impossible under the Levitical system (where priests came from Levi, kings from Judah). Only the Messiah fulfills both. The order of Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18) provides the precedent: a priest-king who preceded and exceeded the Levitical order. Hebrews 5-7 expounds this at length.
Sit Thou at My Right Hand (v.1): The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Two different words stand behind the two Lords, the covenant name and a term of address for a superior, and the whole New Testament use of the psalm turns on that difference. Jesus quotes the verse in Matthew 22:44 and asks how David can call his own descendant Lord, which is the question the Gospels leave hanging. It is the most quoted verse of the psalter in the New Testament, standing behind the session at God's right hand in Acts 2:34, 1 Corinthians 15:25, Hebrews 1:13 and Hebrews 10:12. Sitting is the point: the enemies are subdued by someone else's action while the one addressed is seated.
The Rod of Thy Strength out of Zion (vv.2-3): The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. The rule is exercised among the enemies rather than after their removal, which fits the until of verse 1. Verse 3 is another matter. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Hebrew here is among the most difficult in the psalter, the words for holiness, womb and dew can be divided more than one way, and the Septuagint reads a line about begetting before the morning star that the Latin fathers used for the eternal generation of the Son. No English rendering of this verse should be leaned on hard, and this one is not.
A Priest for Ever After the Order of Melchizedek (v.4): The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The second decree, and it does something the law forbids, since a king of Judah could not be a priest and Uzziah was struck for trying in 2 Chronicles 26. The way round it is Melchizedek, who appears for three verses in Genesis 14 as both king of Salem and priest of the most high God, with no genealogy and no successor. Hebrews 5 to 7 builds its entire argument on this one verse, arguing from the oath that the priesthood cannot be revoked and from the silence about Melchizedek's parents that it has no term.
He Shall Judge Among the Heathen (vv.5-7): The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. The positions have reversed from verse 1, and the psalm ends in a battlefield described without any softening, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. Then a last verse that has puzzled every commentator, he shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head. It reads most simply as a pursuing king pausing to drink and pressing on, an image of a campaign not yet finished, which leaves the psalm where verse 1 left it, with the outcome certain and the work in progress.

Map & Geography

  • Zion (v.2): The hill on which Jerusalem/the Temple stood; often used poetically for God's dwelling.

Places on this map

  • JerusalemJerusalemA hill town about 2,500 feet up in the central spine of Judah, roughly 35 miles inland from the Mediterranean and 15 miles west of the Jordan. It sits on no trade route and has no river, which is why it mattered as a fortress and a sanctuary rather than as a market. Wikipedia

Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.

Commentary

  • Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Verse-by-verse commentary on this chapter, written for the everyday reader and freely available online.
  • Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
  • Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.

Videos

Psalm 110 - Messiah, Priest, Conquering King
David Guzik

Psalm 110 | The Priest-King Like Melchizedek | Bible Study
Spoken Gospel

Articles

  • GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of Psalms -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.

Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.

Reflection

  • A King Already Enthroned (v.1) — This verse pictures the Messiah already seated in the place of highest authority, with His final victory over every enemy guaranteed rather than uncertain. Do you live as though Christ's authority is already settled, or as though the outcome is still in question?
  • Ruling in the Midst of Opposition (v.2) — The Messiah's rule is described as extending even while surrounded by enemies, not only after they're removed. Where do you need to trust God's authority is still active even in a situation that feels opposed to Him?
  • Willing Devotion, Not Forced Compliance (v.3) — The Messiah's people are described as offering themselves freely, not being compelled into service. Does your own devotion to God feel like a genuine offering, or more like an obligation you're fulfilling?
  • One Person, Both King and Priest (v.4) — This verse combines two roles that were never held by the same person in Israel's history, pointing to someone who rules with authority and intercedes with compassion at the same time. Does your view of God hold both His authority and His compassion together, or do you tend to focus on just one?
  • Refreshment Before the Final Victory (vv.5-7) — The psalm closes with a picture of the Messiah pausing to drink from a stream along the way before pressing on to complete His triumph. Are you allowing yourself to be refreshed by God in the middle of your own long pursuit, or pushing through without pause?