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.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in holy splendour from the womb of the morning [shall come] to thee the dew of thy youth.
Psalm 110 seats Christ at God's right hand until His enemies are made His footstool. Verse 3 shows the day that waiting ends — a people who come to Him gladly, dressed in holiness, fresh as morning dew.
The verse before it defines this phrase. Once the Messiah rules from Zion, the day of His power has come, and the people's willingness follows.
Verse 2 at once explains the phrase in the next verse, "The day of Your power." Messiah has come, and He has established His throne on His holy hill of Zion. So it is the day of His power. In His majesty He will "ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness," and the words will come true, "Let Your right hand teach You awesome deeds" (Psalm 45:4). At that time His power will be on display, and their hearts will be touched too. Then His people will be willing. They will be as "freewill offerings" — that is, they will offer themselves willingly for His service.
His people were not willing at the end of His life. This verse turns that scene around.
It seems, then, that the whole verse shows how the last scenes in our Lord's life are going to be exactly reversed. Then His people shouted for His death. They covered Him with unholy ridicule and dishonour. The youth of Israel departed from Him into a dark night of retribution for themselves. In the moment this verse looks forward to, He comes out in power and splendour. The youth of Israel flock to Him at the dawn of the millennial day — young in spirit at least, for they have all just been born again.
Willingness here means more than outward obedience:
Christ must have a willing people in the day of His power (Ps. 110:3) — not a people like those of the nations who, apart from the great multitude of those saved from among the Gentiles, will only approach the king with flattering, lying words of apparent submission.
One writer pictured a whole company set apart to God — the Nazirites, Israelites who took a vow of separation to the Lord.
I had a spiritual vision of the saints of God, wholly separated to the Lord, yielding themselves with glad and willing obedience to Him and His cause, like an army, triumphant and well equipped, shouting its enthusiasm for its king. I saw the saints as a company of Nazirites, like the Nazirites in Israel once were. "Her princes were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their bodies were more ruddy than coral, the beauty of their form was like sapphire" (Lam. 4:7). This surely is the meaning of the words, "The people shall offer themselves willingly … in holy splendour."
Note: where the ESV has "in holy garments" and "her princes" (Lam. 4:7), the older translation used here has "in holy splendour" and "her Nazirites."
Commentators differ here. One writer reads the picture from what dew does, and how much of it there is.
The womb of the morning is the dawn of the new day, brought in by the reign of the Messiah. "The dew of Your youth" seems to mean that the young men who spring up to follow their Messiah in the early morning of His kingdom will be like the dew. This may mean they are for blessing, as dew is for the earth (see Micah 5:7), or that they are as many as the dewdrops of the morning. Probably both senses should be combined.
Others take the freshness as belonging to Christ Himself, unspoiled by glory:
In connection with His Melchizedek priesthood, it was said of Him: "The dew of Your youth will be Yours" (Ps. 110:3). Some worshipped Him as the Baby at Bethlehem. They marvelled as the flower of His perfect childhood developed, and later saw the rich fruit of His maturity. They will find all of it preserved in divine freshness on high.
The verse looks ahead, but one writer applies it now. What power will do in that day, grace already does.
His people will be willing in the day of His power; we, through grace, are made willing now (v. 3).
This willingness is not measured by great achievements.
It is not the doing of bold deeds, or the winning of remarkable victories over mighty foes. It may lead to that, surely. But it is the full and glad acknowledgment of the Lord's absolute right to have us wholly.
- Power — Verse 2 puts the Messiah on the throne in Zion. "The day of Your power" is the day His rule stands in the open.
- Willing — His power does not just compel. It touches their hearts, and the people offer themselves as freewill offerings.
- Reversal — The crowd that once shouted for His death and heaped dishonour on Him will flock to Him in splendour.
- Freshness — Commentators differ on "the dew of Your youth." Some see young men who come to Him at daybreak, as many as dewdrops and as full of blessing. Others see Christ's own freshness, kept unspoiled.
- Now — What power will produce in that day, grace produces already in those who gladly own His full right to them.
Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek.
David records an oath from heaven: Israel's coming King is also a priest, and not from the family God had appointed for that work. One short line reaches back to a man named once in Genesis and forward to a priesthood that never ends.
God says many things without swearing. Here He swears.
We have already seen that God's oath marks what He declares as unchangeable. When God made Aaron a priest, He did not swear that his priesthood would last. It was a temporary thing. It was weak and imperfect, so it could not last. So another priesthood comes in — and it comes in with an oath. Its stability rests on the truth of God Himself. "You are a Priest forever." The Spirit of God repeats it and dwells on it, showing us what fullness and security there is in it!
The oath is not needed to settle anything about Christ Himself. It settles something for those who depend on Him.
For Himself, He needed no oath at all. What is in view here is His official position. Everything that keeps the redeemed in life and blessing depends on that position. Here an oath fits perfectly. "The Lord has sworn, and will not change His mind."
Israel's priests came from one family, the line of Aaron. That arrangement could not produce the person this psalm describes.
But Israel will need a King who is also Priest. A priest from Aaron's line could never fill that place, because everyone in that line ended in death. Therefore God has not only declared, but sworn, that Christ is "a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 7 gives a striking commentary on this Melchizedek priesthood of Christ. Melchizedek was both a king and a priest (Gen. 14:18), as was never the case with priests of the line of Aaron, nor were any kings of Israel allowed to be priests. God kept this honour for the Lord Jesus, and gave it to Him not before His death but after His resurrection. So it can never end.
Melchizedek walks into the story in Genesis with no introduction. Centuries later this psalm tells us who he pictures.
This unique and extraordinary person comes on the scene with no previous notice, in the fullness of his power and position. Nine centuries later the shepherd-King of Israel identifies him in Psalm 110:4 as a type, or picture, of the Son of God.
What that "order" does not include is as striking as what it does.
The Aaronic priesthood was the one that had to "deal gently with the ignorant and wayward," that had to "make propitiation for the sins of the people," that took the place of "a minister in the holy places." Melchizedek had nothing to do with any of that. He united the function of king and priest. He was priest of "the Most High God" — the name God bears in the coming kingdom. He brought out bread and wine for the refreshment of the victor. He blessed the Most High God on Abram's behalf, and blessed Abram himself, the man who had the promises.
The permanence is not an added guarantee attached to an office. It follows from the person holding it.
God marks Him out and appoints Him, to be sure — but God declares Him Priest because of what He is: the Son of God… He can never stop being a priest, because He can never stop being the Son of God. He is priest because of what He is.
One word in the oath settles how long this priesthood lasts:
The first command from the lips of the LORD ran like this: "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (Ps. 110:4). If the LORD has said "a priest FOREVER," how serious is the responsibility of the man who says, "He ceases to be Priest."
Most of this psalm describes a day still to come. One line in it is already true.
The verses before and after are future. Verse 4 states what is present and unending: "You are a Priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek."
The full picture of Melchizedek — crown and priesthood together — waits for the day of His reign.
At last the crown of the king will rest on His head in Zion. He will not give up His priestly service, but will "be a Priest upon His throne." Among men these two things have so often stood in opposition. In Him they will come together in harmony.
- Sworn — God set up Aaron's priests without an oath. He swore this one into place, so it rests on His own truthfulness.
- Ended — every priest in Aaron's line died. A King-Priest could never come from that family.
- Endless — He cannot stop being Priest, because He cannot stop being the Son of God.
- Blessing — Melchizedek made no sin-offerings. He brought bread, wine and blessing to a returning victor.
- Enthroned — the office is His now. It will be seen in full when He reigns as Priest upon His throne, crown and priesthood in one hand.
The Lord at thy right hand will smite through kings in the day of his anger.
Psalm 110 opens with David's Lord seated at God's right hand, and verse 5 names a second "right hand" and a day of wrath. Commentators read it as the moment the seated One rises to deal with the kings of the earth.
The Hebrew behind "Lord" in verse 5 is not the same word translated "LORD" in verse 1. One writer ties the change of word to a change of time:
The Lord in verse 5 is not the same as Jehovah, it is Adonai. "The Lord will strike through kings in the day of your wrath." It is not the day of His wrath now at all, but when that time comes He will strike through kings. The beast will be destroyed first — Gog and these kings; no human power will stand before Him.
Where older translations say "strike through kings," the ESV reads "shatter kings."
Commentators differ: is that title the exalted Man Himself, or God acting for Him? One reading takes the striking as God's own act:
Verses 5 and 6 do not seem to be the action of the King Himself. They seem to be the action of God as the Sovereign Lord (Adonai), acting for Him. This fits the character of the psalm as a whole. It is God who makes His foes a footstool for His feet... But the heavenly and earthly thrones are now, and from now on, in complete agreement.
God once stood at the right hand of a needy sufferer to save Him. Now the places are swapped, and the Hebrew names change with them:
And this needy One, at whose right hand Jehovah stood to save Him, is now seen at Jehovah's right hand. How different the place, yet identical the Person — David's Son, but David's 'Adon'! (v. 1.)... He is also 'Adonay' (v. 5), the Deliverer of His people, executing judgment on the wicked. How exact, and how perfect, is God's use of these Names!
The seat described in verse 1 is not permanent. The word "until" builds a waiting period into the psalm:
Jehovah acknowledges Him as Lord and places Him at His right hand — but it is "until … " Something still lies ahead of Him. The seat He takes is very high, yet it is temporary, until what lies ahead comes to pass. The day of His poverty is over. The day of His patience has begun.
Verse 5 names what ends the waiting. The judgment reaches far beyond a handful of rulers:
In the day of His power, all who exalt themselves against the Lord will come under judgment. The One who now sits at Jehovah's right hand will rise up and "strike through kings." After the day of His patience comes "the day of His wrath." It will be a worldwide judgment "among the nations." It will be an overwhelming victory that turns the field of battle into a vast plain covered with the bodies of His enemies.
This judgment answers what men did to Him, and it comes out of Zion:
Note, further, it is the answer to His rejection on earth. It is not His coming from heaven to destroy Antichrist. What is in view is that He has already taken possession of Zion, and the rod of His strength goes out from there... Adonai, who is at Jehovah's right hand, has a coming day of wrath — the day already mentioned, when His enemies are made His footstool. While He sits at the right hand of Jehovah, it is not so. That is the time of mercy, the accepted time.
Another writer puts the choice as a question:
"The Lord at Your right hand will strike through kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations..." Is this the work of the Church? Or does it fit exactly with all the other prophecies in the Psalms — the setting up of Christ's earthly kingdom in power and glory, brought in by crushing judgments?
If He shatters kings in that day, no position offers anyone protection:
The most costly and elaborate palace on earth cannot help. Its luxury, its safety and its power cannot keep the mightiest royal figure from falling under the iron rod of the Son of God when He reigns like this. We are told, "He will strike through kings in the day of His wrath." Pretence will be no use then. No earthly security can hide a soul; Jesus will find it out and bring it under His righteous rule.
- Seated. Verse 1 seats David's Lord at God's right hand, but only "until." The seat is high, yet the day of patience has an end.
- Named. "Lord" here is Adonai, not Jehovah. Writers differ: some see the exalted Man Himself, others see God acting for Him.
- Standing. The One who now sits will rise up and shatter kings — a worldwide judgment among the nations.
- Public. The blow sets up an earthly kingdom in power and glory. It answers the rejection He met on earth.
- Now. While He sits, it is the time of mercy. When He rises, no palace, rank or power will shelter anyone.
He shall judge among the nations; he shall fill [all places] with dead bodies; he shall smite through the head over a great country.
The psalm has just shown Christ seated at God's right hand and made a priest forever. Verse 6 turns to what He does among the nations, and it raises two questions: when does this happen, and who is crushed?
The psalm holds two very different periods together. That difference decides how you read verse 6. One writer keeps verse 1 for the present, and puts the rod and the striking of kings later:
If any thoughtful Christian will only examine Psalm 110, he cannot help seeing this. The first verse — Christ seated at Jehovah's right hand — covers the time while the gospel goes out. Verse 2 sends Christ's rod out of Zion, and that is when the time comes to rule in the midst of His enemies. That rule will not convert them into His friends and prepare them for heaven. ... But then only, and not now, will He strike through kings, because it will be the day of His wrath; now it is the day of His grace, when the gospel is preached to every creature.
Patience has a limit. The same hand that has waited becomes the hand that judges, and the reach of it is worldwide:
In the day of His power all who exalt themselves against the Lord will come under judgment. The One who now sits at Jehovah's right hand will rise up and "strike through kings." His day of patience will give way to His day of wrath. The judgment will be universal, "among the nations." It will be an overwhelming victory that turns the scene of conflict into a vast battlefield strewn with the corpses of His foes.
Older translations render the last line as striking "the head over a great country." Commentators differ over who that ruler is. One writer weighs the Antichrist against Gog, Israel's last enemy, and still leans to the Antichrist:
In that day He will also judge among the nations. His empire will be wide, and His judgment powerful and decisive. He will strike down not only many, leaving their dead bodies there, but also the proud head over a great country. I used to think this was the Antichrist, but I cannot be sure it is not Gog, since he seems to use his authority among the Jews rather than among the saints. Both are real, and both are worth looking into; but I think it is more likely the Antichrist.
Another writer points to Gog, and gives his reason: Christ destroys the Beast and the Antichrist earlier, when He comes:
The statement that "He shall smite through the head over a great country" would appear to refer to Israel's last enemy, the Gog of Ezekiel 38 and Ezekiel 39. It is unlikely to refer to the Beast or to Antichrist, whom Christ's coming will destroy, as we know (Rev. 19:20). The psalm is not about Christ's actual descent. It looks at the overwhelming judgments among the nations that take place after He has come.
Whoever this head turns out to be, his fall follows a pattern. One writer calls him a follower of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and sets his end against the path Christ took:
"The head over a great country" is a follower of Nebuchadnezzar. What will he have when the humbled One comes in? He will be struck down. He exalted himself, and he will be brought low; and that other Man, who humbled Himself and took only what God gave Him, will be exalted. It is a future scene.
Some read words like these as a picture of the church spreading through the world. One writer answers with two questions:
Is this the work of the Church? Or does it fit perfectly with all the other prophecies in the Psalms — Christ's kingdom on earth set up in power and glory, by means of devastating judgments?
This judgment reaches persons, not only nations. High position gives no cover on that day:
No pretence will help then. No security on earth can hide a soul from Jesus, who will find it out and bring it under His righteous rule. He will then appear as "the only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords." He will judge every person, high or low, bond or free, by the rule of righteousness.
- The waiting day. Christ sits at God's right hand while the gospel goes out — the day of grace. Verse 6 belongs to a later day, when He rules His enemies instead of winning them.
- The wrath day. His patience gives way to His wrath — a judgment among the nations, worldwide in reach, that leaves the field strewn with corpses.
- The day's target. Commentators differ over the ruler struck down: some say the Antichrist, others Gog of Ezekiel 38–39, Israel's last enemy.
- The day's rule. The proud head exalted himself and will be brought low; the Man who humbled Himself will be exalted.
- Your day. Rank and office give no shelter: Jesus will judge every person, high or low, by the rule of righteousness. Today, while the gospel goes out, is still the day of grace.
He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall he lift up the head.
The psalm has just shown a King enthroned at God's right hand, ruling among His enemies and judging the nations. Then it closes with a small picture: a traveller stopping at a stream. Why does a psalm about supreme power end with a drink of water? And whose head rises at the end?
Commentators read the "therefore" as the hinge of the verse. The lowly path came first. The exaltation follows from it. The drinking itself pictures dependence: taking what God supplies, not storing up comfort.
"He will drink from the brook by the way" (v. 7). This follows the great principle of God's moral government. Those who humble themselves will be exalted, while those who exalt themselves will be brought low. Christ was always the dependent One. He drank of the brook by the way. He took whatever refreshment God sent Him — took it as He could get it along the way… He did not keep back what He had, to spare Himself the sorrow of the way. He emptied Himself, to be entirely dependent.
This one line looks back at the road He walked to get there.
These few words sum up the Saviour's whole journey on earth… They picture a man on the march, hurrying to complete his mission. Nothing stopped Him even for a moment. He has no provisions, only water to quench His thirst, and He does not turn aside from the path to look for any. The resources God has put in His way are enough, for He has only one end in view — finishing the mission His heart is wholly set on. He would not have knelt down beside the brook to drink at His ease.
Commentators differ on what the brook stands for. One writer ties the drinking to His death:
He was the humbled One, who drank of death, and now is the exalted One.
The last line answers the rest of the psalm. Every other head falls; one head rises above them all.
The closing verse tells us that when all other heads are judged, Christ will "lift up the head." The One who was once the perfectly dependent Man will alone be the exalted Head over all. In the day of His humiliation, as the dependent Man, He took the mercies the Lord provided along the way. He did not despise the brook; He was not held back by the brook. He stooped to be the dependent Man; therefore He will be the exalted Man, who will lift up the head above every other head. He will be the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Writers tie this verse to His work as Priest. The road He walked fitted Him for the people He now serves.
He came into this world in lowliness and dependence. He was the Man of Sorrows, the Man of Gethsemane and Calvary, drinking of the brook in all His dependence on God… In the days of His flesh He offered up both prayers and pleas to Him who was able to save Him out of death. God heard Him because of His reverence. Though He was Son, He learned obedience from the things that He suffered. So He is able to sympathise with and help those who walk the desert path. How well suited this Priest is for such a people!
The same phrase becomes a test for anyone who follows Him. One writer finds the same test in an army God sifted at a stream.
God tested them to show whether they knew that all is loss for those who would win the battle. Would they kneel down to drink, or lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps? Some seek their ease and enjoy to the full the blessings God has placed in their path. Others aim only at winning the battle. They let nothing turn them aside, and in tasting the water by the way they find only what strengthens them for their service. It is said of the Lord, "He will drink from the brook by the way." When He drank in this way, "He set His face to go to Jerusalem," the place of His agony and death (Luke 9:51). Nothing hinders a Christian's witness so much as taking his ease. He settles down to enjoy the earthly blessings God's providence gives him, instead of simply tasting them along the way.
- Stoop — He drank as a dependent Man. He took only what God supplied on the road, and kept back nothing to soften the journey.
- Speed — The brook refreshed Him; it was not a resting place. Nothing turned Him aside from His mission.
- Sympathy — The road that humbled Him fitted Him to be the Priest who helps others on the desert path.
- Summit — Because He stooped, He will lift up His head above every other head: King of kings and Lord of lords.
- Same path — His followers walk the same road: taste the blessings on the way, and do not settle down in them.