Sit at My Right Hand
Christ, the Enthroned King
Exposition
Psalm 110:1
The first verse opens “The LORD says to my Lord.”[1] As Spurgeon points out, the phrasing that opens this Psalm is a divine conversation between YHWH, the covenant God of Israel, and Adoni.[2]
The invitation to “sit at my right hand” explains, not just an invention, but an act of royal co-enthronement. As Irenaeus explains, to be seated at the king’s right hand was to be granted the same authority as the king himself.[3]
Applied to the Messiah, the phrase signals his exaltation to the position of authority. This is confirmed by Peter’s sermon (Acts 2:34–35), he uses this verse as proof of the resurrection. Since David’s tomb is present but is empty, David “did not ascend into the heavens,” and therefore the “Lord” of Psalm 110 must be the risen Jesus, now seated at the Father’s right hand.[4]
It should be noted that the next phrase, “until I make your enemies your footstool,” is not a limitation upon the reign, nor does it place an end to the reign, but an indication of its direction. To make this clear, Paul cites it in 1 Corinthians 15:25, connecting the ongoing reign of the Messiah with the defeat of the final enemy, death itself.
Further, Augustine lists three enemies subdued under Christ’s feet in this reign, namely, the devil, the world, and the flesh, drawing on 1 Corinthians 15:25 and interpreting the “footstool” through the lens of Pauline.[5]
Psalm 110:2
Verse 2 transitions from the invitation and enthronement of the Messiah to a declaration and an imperative. It should be noted that the LORD is the actor as He “sends forth” the king’s mighty rod from Zion.
The rod, or as Matthew Henry calls it, the scepter, is a symbol of authority, power, and the shepherd’s care.[6] Spurgeon parses this out by connecting the use of the rod in the hand of God and His work through the Old Testament.[7] Proving that the authority and rule will have a multifaceted design, from protector to provider.
It would note as well the location from which the rod precedes. Verse 2 explains the origin of the rod in Zian, the holy mountain, and the focal point of all the Abrahamic and Davidic promises. Zion, through the scriptures, has pointed to the typological presence, dwelling, and ruling place of God in Israel.
As one writer points out, Zion here is connected to the later prophecy of Isaiah 2:2–4, which speaks of the law going forth from Zion, and ultimately Revelation 14:1, where the Lamb stands on Mount Zion surrounded by his redeemed people.[8]
If the declaration is that the rod will go from Zion, then the imitative of this rule is that it will happen in the “midst of your enemies.” This phase locates itself in the reign of the messiah who has not yet seen death, hell, and Satan put fully under His feet. His authority, however, is absolute despite his current enemies. As Matthew Henry explains, “The seat of the Redeemer’s government is fixed and his authority certain, even though opposition continues, and his servants ought to take encouragement from this.”[9]
Psalm 110:3
Verse 3 states that “Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power.” While the enemies rage (Ps. 2), the people of God are and will be his voluntary and joyful people. These are not servants that are forced into service, but those who freely offer themselves as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1).
Paul also applies the phrase “holy garments” when he explains that these living sacrifices are holy and acceptable. These people, according to the apostle and in light of the Psalmist, are not simply willing but a holy people, a priesthood as it seems. The final phrase, “from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours”. Writing about this text, Clement of Alexandria explains that these promises of God are not new but stretch back to before the world began.[10]
To further connect the work of God, Thomas Aquinius reckons this text to be speaking of the work of the Spirit. He connects the imagery of the dew to the work of new life and the regenerative work of the Spirit in this people of God, who have become a community of willing servant priests.[11]
Psalm 110:4
Verse 4 is found at the heart of the psalm and gives great assurances to those who will flee to Him, in addition to a warning against those who would rage against this Messiah king.
The author of Hebrews quotes this verse in 6:17–18, noting that “when God desired to show more convincingly the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath.” This covenant is sure, and will not be revoked, nor thwarted by any attempt of man. The substance of the oath is found in the phrase “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Reaching back to Genesis 14, the Messiah will operate under a different order than the priests of the Aaronic order. Stretching back to Abraham and His covenant with Him, this priesthood is rooted in the oldest national covenants. Calvin emphasizes the nature of this priesthood, “is not a Levitical priesthood that is described here. The Messiah’s priesthood supersedes the Levitical order, which was temporary and adequate only as a figure; the Melchizedekian order is eternal and all-sufficient.”[12]
The Book of Hebrews devotes three chapters (5–7) to expositing this single verse, arguing from it that the Levitical system was always provisional and anticipatory, pointing forward to the greater reality of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice and his permanent intercession at the right hand of the Father.
Psalm 110:5–6
Verses 5 and 6 shift the perspective from the person, the people, and the substance to the day of divine judgment, in which the King-Priest will execute dominion over his enemies. It should be noted that the phrase “the Lord is at your right hand” reverses the order of verse 1, where the Messiah was invited to sit at the LORD’s right hand. Here, the LORD empowers the messiah from his right side, the place of assistance and strength.
Hossfeld and Zenger argue that this reversal reflects two complementary perspectives on the divine-messianic relationship: the session as co-enthronement (v. 1) and the divine empowerment for combat (v. 5).[13] The imagery of verse 6 continues with this King “filling the earth with corpses” and “shattering chiefs over the wide earth” depicting a comprehensive, universal judgment that leaves no power standing against the anointed King.
Matthew Henry observes that “the enemies of Christ and his church have in every age found, to their cost, that he is mighty, and that there is no standing before him when once he arises in judgment.”[14]
The New Testament displays these verses in Revelation 19:11–21, where the rider on the white horse strikes down the nations with the sword of his mouth and treads the winepress of God’s wrath. Thus, it becomes clear that the king of Psalm 110:5–6 and the rider of Revelation 19 are the same exalted Lord.
Psalm 110:7
If verse 4 is the most comforting verse of this Psalm, verse 7 is the most puzzling. It states that “He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore, he will lift his head.” While there are different ways that this may be interpreted, Spurgeon presses in on the intent of the King, stating that “He stops not for full refreshment but drinks from the brook in passing, so intense is his purpose; and therefore he lifts his head in triumph.”[15]
Taking a slightly different view, at least in its application, Calvin takes the brook to represent the humiliation of Christ in his passion as, “He stooped to drink the bitter cup of suffering and mortality,” and the lifted head to represent His exaltation: “being raised from the dead, he holds up his head above all powers and principalities, as it was meet.”[16]
In light of the work of this king in conquering his enemies, it seems that Calvin’s view makes sense of the context and of the “therefore” in the midst of the verse. Augustine’s summary makes this clear when he wrote that, “He drank of the brook of human mortality when he assumed our nature; he stooped to drink of the common lot of our suffering and death; therefore, he lifted his head in the resurrection, and we are lifted with him.”[17]
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001).
[2] Spurgeon, Treasury of David.
[3] Irenaeus, Against Heresies, bk. 3, chap. 6, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885).
[4] G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 540.
[5] Augustine of Hippo, “Exposition on Psalm 110,” in Expositions on the Psalms, 537.
[6] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Psalm 110:2.
[7] Spurgeon, Treasury of David.
[8] Allen P. Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2016), 363–65.
[9] Henry, Commentary, 3:582.
[10] Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen, chap. 1, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885).
[11] Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Psalms, on Psalm 110.
[12] Calvin, Psalms, 4:289–90.
[13] Hossfeld and Zenger, Psalms 3, 157.
[14] Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 3:583.
[15] Spurgeon, Treasury of David,
[16]Calvin, Psalms, 4:292.
[17]Augustine, “Exposition on Psalm 110,” 539.