THE SPECIAL ONE
Opening Prayer
Lamb of God, Lion of Judah, thank you for all you have done for me in winning my salvation—and all praise to you as I wait for your return as coming King!
Read PSALM 110
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Of David. A psalm.
1 The Lord says to my lord:[a]
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
2 The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”
3 Your troops will be willing
on your day of battle.
Arrayed in holy splendor,
your young men will come to you
like dew from the morning’s womb.[b]
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever,
in the order of Melchizedek.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 110:1 Or Lord
- Psalm 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Psalm 110:5 Or My lord is at your right hand, Lord
- Psalm 110:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
What different images of Jesus have you come across? What aspects of Christ do these images reflect?
Think Further
This psalm is difficult. It is not always obvious who is speaking in it or who is being addressed, and its description of God as one who heaps up the dead (v. 6) is uncomfortable.
For Jews of Jesus’ day, however, the psalm was clear and its message a positive one. They took it to be about the Messiah. They believed he would be a descendant of King David, who would crush their enemies through military victory.1 It is not surprising, then, that Jesus would quote from this psalm when debating with the Pharisees about the Messiah.2 However, rather than using the psalm to confirm the Pharisees’ beliefs, he used it to challenge their idea that the Messiah would be nothing more than a nationalistic military leader. He appears to have shared their belief that David wrote the psalm and that in verse 1 David is talking about the Messiah, calling him ‘my Lord.’ He argues that if the Messiah was simply a descendant of David, then David would not have called him ‘my Lord’; there was more to the Messiah than that. As William Barclay says, Jesus was not just the son of David but the son of God too.3
Similarly, the reference in verse 4 to Melchizedek, the priestly king who blessed Abram in Genesis 14:18–20, is also used in the New Testament to heighten our understanding of Jesus’ nature and work.4 Melchizedek was seen as prefiguring Christ, being a priestly king who (because no reference is made to his birth or death) was believed to be a high priest forever. The arguments follow a logic not easy for us to understand today. However, Jesus and the early church used this psalm to help us understand how unique and special Jesus is. How special is Jesus to you?
Apply
List everything you love about Jesus. Then consider if there is anything important about him you have omitted from your list.
Closing prayer
Lamb of God, King of heaven and earth, with the angels I give you praise and I thank you that one day, I will sit with you at your banquet table.
1 William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Vol 2, Saint Andrew Press, 1988, p279 2 Matt 22:41–46 3 Barclay, 1988, p280 4 Especially Heb 6:20 – 7:28
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