(Psalm of David.) Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put thine enemies [as] footstool of thy feet.
In this line God speaks to another Person and invites Him to sit down in the place of highest honour. Who is this second "Lord," why is He told to sit, and what is He waiting for?
The word "Lord" appears twice in this line, but it does not mean the same thing both times.
Psalm 110 starts with no introduction: "The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.'" The name LORD in capitals stands for God's personal name, Jehovah. And "my Lord" means my Master. So there are two Persons. The God of Israel addressed the Messianic King: "Sit at My right hand."
Jesus once used this verse to question the religious leaders of His day.
This verse is often quoted in the New Testament. Jesus used it to silence the Pharisees, so that "no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask Him any more questions." He said, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to Him, "The son of David." So the Lord went on, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls Him Lord... If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?" How could Jesus be both David's Son and David's Lord? The answer is simple enough. As David's Lord, He was the Creator of David, for God created all things by His Son. But He was born of Mary, who came from the house and family of David, so He was also David's Son.
A seated priest is a startling thing.
The high priests of old stood before the mercy seat, sprinkled there the blood that was to atone for sins, and left. Our High Priest sits at the right hand of God for us and stays there. The old tabernacle had no seat in it, because its sacrifices brought no rest. God has said to His Son, "Sit at My right hand," for He has finished the work His Father gave Him to do, and now He rests from that work. Once God in His justice forsook Him on the cross; now God in His justice has established Him as man on the throne.
The place where He sits matters. It is God's right hand, not yet the throne He will take.
Christ is not yet sitting on His own throne. God said to Him when He had finished the work on the cross, "Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool." But the day is coming when He will put down His enemies and sit on His throne... Look at all the wars and unrest and misery and wretchedness and superstition around us. Do you think that Christ is sitting on His throne?
The little word "until" turns an exalted seat into a waiting one.
Jehovah speaks to Him in resurrection: "Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool." Jehovah acknowledges Him as Lord and places Him at His right hand, but it is "until…" Something lies ahead of Him. The seat He takes is exalted, but it is temporary. It lasts until that day comes. The day of His poverty is over. The day of His patience has begun.
The footstool is a picture of subjection, not persuasion.
Any thoughtful Christian who examines Psalm 110 cannot help seeing this. Verse 1, Christ sitting at Jehovah's right hand, covers the time while the gospel goes out. But verse 2, the sending out of Christ's rod from Zion, is when the time comes to rule in the midst of His enemies — not converting them into His friends and forming them for heaven.
Peter told his hearers that this verse has already begun to come true.
Peter carries his argument a step further to its climax. David had prophesied about his Lord, whom God would exalt to His right hand. David himself had not ascended to the heavens any more than he had risen from the dead. The One David spoke of was to sit in the seat of rule and power until God made His foes His footstool. So this was the conclusion of the whole matter. The pouring out of the Spirit, which they had seen and heard, proved beyond doubt that God had made the crucified Jesus both Lord and Christ.
- Two Lords — Jehovah speaks to "my Lord," so two Persons are here. David's own descendant is David's Master — the puzzle the Pharisees could not answer.
- Sit — the seat follows the cross. The old priests had no seat, because their work never ended. His seat says His work is finished.
- Right hand — He sits on His Father's throne, not yet His own. The wars and misery around us show He is not yet reigning.
- Until — the seat is exalted but temporary. The day of His poverty is over. The day of His patience has begun, and the gospel goes out.
- Footstool — the waiting ends in subjection, not persuasion. The Spirit poured out on the crucified Jesus proved that God has made Him Lord.
Jehovah shall send the sceptre of thy might out of Zion rule in the midst of thine enemies.
The psalm opens with the Messiah seated at God's right hand. In verse 2 the scene changes: God sends out the scepter, and the Messiah rules. What is this scepter? Why Zion? Is this rule now, or still ahead?
The older wording behind this verse is "the rod of your strength," which the ESV gives as "your mighty scepter." That word "rod" has a settled meaning in Scripture, and it goes back to Moses.
The rod of Moses had become the symbol of the divine authority God gave him. From this point on we find the word used in Scripture with this meaning, as in "The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!" (Ps. 110:2).
Verse 1 and verse 2 stand side by side. A long stretch of history falls between them.
Verse 2 passes over the whole of the present interval, the day of grace. It even passes over the actual circumstances of His appearing in glory, the destruction of the beast and antichrist, and the deliverance of His people as recorded in Zechariah 12-14. It shows the Messiah as already established in Zion. That is why we read the words, "The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!" This at once explains the phrase in the next verse, "the day of your power." Messiah has come, and He has set up His throne on His holy hill of Zion. So it is the day of His power.
Zion is not a detail. It is the chosen seat of a reign that begins in war, not in calm.
It is a period during which Jesus is fully triumphant. He acts in power and as a king, but He does not yet rule in peace. During it He forms, develops, and establishes the relationship of His people with Himself on the earth, in His triumphs and in His kingdom, according to the rights by which He will subject His enemies to Himself… The whole of this psalm unfolds the same idea: the warlike kingdom of Christ, with Zion chosen by God for its seat, and for the place from which His power will go out during the triumphant wars of the Messiah.
Some have read the rod as the gospel spreading through the world. The order of the psalm answers that.
The first verse, Christ seated at Jehovah's right hand, covers the time while the gospel goes out. But in Psalm 110:2, the sending out of Christ's rod from Zion is when the time comes to rule in the midst of His enemies, not to convert them into His friends and prepare them for heaven.
The footstool in verse 1 points the same way.
When grace subdues souls, does that make them the footstool of their Conqueror? We have always understood that when men are converted they are united to Christ — made one body and one spirit with Him… But no: if we accept the interpretation being argued for, they are made His footstool, to be trodden under His feet! … Zion becomes the earthly centre of Christ's royal power before He has fully subdued His enemies. So of course He will be ruling in the midst of His enemies. But how can He rule "in the midst of His enemies" now, while He is seated at the right hand of God?
Names carry the timing here. Melchizedek is the priest of Genesis 14, and Christ's priesthood follows his order. God has a name that belongs to that day too.
"The Most High" is the millennial name of God, and He holds this name with Melchizedek (Gen. 14). In Psalm 110 we read that "the LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter." That is when Christ takes His Melchizedek character. Then in verse 5 it says, "Adonai" (not Jehovah) "at your right hand will shatter kings in the day of His wrath." Christ's priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek, and He is a priest who lives for ever.
The rod has not gone out yet. So Christ waits, and His people wait with Him.
Notice what Jehovah says in verse 1: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." He is not treading them under His feet. When He comes forth, we come with Him, not to triumph over them; that He does alone, and the time has not come yet. Our actual condition will then be with Him. It is now by faith with Him. We have association with Him as a heavenly Christ.
- Rod — the word stands for authority given by God, the same symbol carried by Moses.
- Sent — verse 2 jumps straight over the present time of grace and lands with the Messiah already set up in Zion.
- Zion — the chosen earthly seat from which His power goes out, in a reign that begins in war and not yet in peace.
- Rule — He rules His enemies; He does not turn them into friends. Verse 1 calls them a footstool, not converts.
- Wait — He is seated, not yet treading down; His people share His place by faith now, and will come with Him when He acts.