Psalm 110 presents Jesus Christ as priest, king, and judge, fulfilling Old Testament prophecy and New Testament application. The sermon highlights Christ's priestly work, referencing his sitting at God's right hand as described in Hebrews, and contrasts his unique Melchizedekian priesthood with Aaron's. It then details Christ's future role as king, ruling over his enemies with a rod of strength, and as judge, striking down kings, judging nations, and ultimately crushing the head of the serpent. The psalm concludes with a picture of Christ's ultimate triumph and uplifted head, contrasting with his suffering on earth, urging believers to associate with the Son of God in anticipation of his glorious reign.
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He shall judge among the heathens. He shall fill the places with a dead body. He shall wound the head over many countries. He shall drink of the brook and the way. Therefore shall he lift up the head. In our meditations on the Messianic Psalms we have already looked at his incarnation, the incarnation of Christ, in Psalm forty. Then we have considered the crucifixion of our Lord, his death on Calvary's cross in Psalm twenty-two. And then we have considered the bodily resurrection of Christ on his ascension to God's right hand in the sixteenth psalm.
Now the one that we have read today, the one hundred and tenth psalm is one of the most important. Here we find things coming to a climax, coming to a head. We were pointing out at the commencement of these meditations that wherever you find a psalm in the New Testament quoted on applying to the Lord Jesus, that is what makes it a Messianic psalm. On applying this test, we find that Psalm one hundred and ten is quoted fifteen times in the New Testament, first of all by our Lord Himself in Matthew chapter twenty two, and then by the Apostles again and again the psalmist quoted in connection with the high priestly work of the Lord Jesus.
There is a large section of the Epistle of the Hebrews. He is occupied with the exposition of verse four. The Lord hath sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The writer of the Epistle of the Hebrews in chapter five and six and seven expound this wonderful verse. So again we are on solid ground. when we take the one hundred and tenth psalm and apply it to the priestly works of the Lord Jesus. Now, looking at the psalm itself, there are three lovely pictures of Christ. The three pictures we would like to consider for a little time.
In verse one, he's regarded as a priest. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thy an enemy's eye for so. Here we find him as a priest. the priest who sat down at the right hand of God after his work upon the cross was completed. And then the next three verses, verses two and three and four, we find the Lord Jesus of the King. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of thy hand, ruled on, in the midst of thine enemy. Here we find an imperative. We find a command. In verse one, it sits on.
Again, I'm in prayer of command. Sit down at my right hand. That is a period that has occupied two thousand years. But in verse two, the verb is Rula. Again, I'm in prayer of command. And it will take one thousand years of rule to fulfill this verse. Rula in the midst of thine enemy. So in the second section of the Psalm, we get the Lord Jesus as king. In verses five and six we find them as judge. We believe that we find here an explanation, an exposition of the Battle of Armageddon, and the Lord Jesus as judge, of the avenger.
He comes back again to deal with his enemies, and we find four lightning blows that he strikes as the king, as the priest, after the order of Multisode. First of all, the Lord of thy right hand shall strike through kings on the day of his wrath. These kings, we believe we find in Revelation chapter thirteen, one is anti-God and one is anti-Christ. And behind these two kings is the devil himself forming a satanic trinity. The devil is called the dragon. So the first blow he strikes as judge is against kings, those that are in authority at the earth at this time, a satanic trinity arrayed against the Almighty God.
He shall judge among the nation. This is the judgment of the living nations described in Matthew twenty-five, when he divides them as sheep from the goats. The third blow is, He shall fill the places with a dead body. After the Battle of Armageddon, we find described in Ezekiel thirty-eight, thirty-nine, that the enemy is in the north. He deals one lightning blow, a fan. and we read that it will take seven years to clean up the land, and it will take a long time to bury the dead, seven months to bury the dead, and seven years to clean up the land. The fourth blow is, He shall wound the head over many countries.
We wouldn't dogmatize here, but it seems that this term describes the promise the fulfillment of the promise that we find in Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen, the seed of the woman shall bruise the head, bruise the head, the seed of the serpent. And it seems that the head here is the satanic head that's bruised and crushed by the kinsman-redeemer, avenger, the king, the priest, the priest after the order of Melchizedek, when he comes back again to rule among his enemies. And then finally a beautiful little appendix at the end. He shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore shall he lift up the head.
The uplifted head of the Redeemer is in contrast to the bruised and crushed head of the enemy in verse six. So we find here three pictures of Christ. First of all as priest, secondly as king, thirdly as judge. and then the beautiful appendix of the end of the drink drinking of the brook by the way, and as a result the uplifted head. Shall we consider, just for a few moments, the three pictures of Christ that we find in this psalm that brings before us Christ as priest, as king, as judge?
The verse one puts it this way, Jehovah said unto my Adonai, sit thou at my right hand until I make thy an enemy thy footstool. Now the Lord himself, he explained this verse in Matthew chapter twenty-third. It was a day of question. The Sadducees who don't believe in angels and spirits, they brought their question. He answered them. The Pharisees had a question, the Herodian, and the lawyer, he came with a religious question. but at the end the Lord himself asked them a question. And he said, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?
And they said unto him the son of David. He said unto them, How then did David and Spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy good so? And if David then called him Lord, how is he then his son? This psalm has been denied inspiration by criticism. But here we have the hallmark of the Lord Jesus himself upon the Psalm. He not only authenticates the Psalm as being divinely inspired, but he also proclaims his own deity, that the Psalm of David is David's Lord.
And we find here the essential deity of the Lord Jesus proclaimed by the Lord himself. So the first verse that brings before us this command that was given by Jehovah to Christ, Sipta at my right hand until I make an enemy's eyeful still. The priestly work of the Lord Jesus is described in the epistle of the Hebrews in a twofold way. On four times another epistle we get the term Sipta, Gisadam, Gisadam. he sat down. His work was completed. And he did something that Aaron never was able to do, but it sat down at the right hand of God.
His work completed. And as priests, he goes in, and he sits down upon the throne. Now in the epistle of the Hebrews, the priesthood of Christ was looked at in a two-fold way. First of all, it's after the pattern of Aaron. Once we find in Aaron as a priest in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus completely fulfilled. And then secondly, his priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek. Now this is something that's completely unique. These two offices of priest and king in the Bible, they're separated. But in Christ, they're united. Not only will he wear the crown, but he will also wear the mitre.
There's no man, no human being. even Aaron himself was ever fit to do this. Christ is not only a priest after the pattern of Aaron, but he's also a priest after the order of Maltesite. He will be a priest-king at the same time. When we're looking at the Epistle of the Hebrews concerning the priestly work of Christ, we remind it that the priesthood of Christ is superior to the priesthood of Aaron in many different ways. But to find out, the work that he does today, we need to turn over to what is said about Aaron in the Old Testament. Aaron, when he functioned as a priest, had two completely different sets of garments.
First of all, he had a white linen garment that he used when he was offering sacrifice upon the altar. It's described in Leviticus chapter sixteen. On the day of atonement, when Aaron was offering the sin offering. When he was representing Israel to God, he was dressed in white from head to foot. Putting on those white linen garments, he went to the altar and with a golden censer in his hand. He takes fire from off the altar and puts incense upon it and walks right into the presence of God, into the holiest of all without billing incense.
Is there anything in the work of Christ to correspond to this? Well, I think John chapter seventeen, the Lord Jesus as a priest, just before he goes to the cross. He lifts his head and he says, Father, Holy Father, righteous Father, here is the golden century. Here is our Lord Jesus Christ as a sanctifying priest just about ready to go to the cross. And he says, Father, Holy Father, righteous Father. And he offers that great intercessory prayer for his people. Now Aaron came out again.
And standing before the altar was a bullet. That animal is slain. And he takes the blood right inside into the holiest. And he springs to the palm of Marcy's head. Now that blood was for himself and for his family. There's nothing in the work of Christ to correspond to that. He did not need to offer a sacrifice for himself, but Aaron did. It was one of the failures of the Aaronic authors. He had a sacrifice for himself. Christ did not. Aaron came out again. On standing before the altar, there are two goats. One goat is slain, and the blood of that sin offering is taken inside into the holiest of all.
The veil is drawn aside, and the blood of the sin offering is sprinkled upon the mercy seat and seven times before it. Now that is procreation towards God. And Aaron comes out again. Standing before the altar is the light go. He puts his two hands upon its head, and he confesses all the sin and iniquity and transgression of the people on the head of that go, and the fled by the hand of a fifth man into the wilderness. Now that is substitution. The blood taken inside by Aaron was propitiation towards God. But the sin confessed on the head of the Lord God, and taken into a place not inhabited, is the great tribal proof of substitution.
And the two together bring before us the work of the Lord Jesus. As a priest, he offered himself a blood spot to God, and amid propitiation, for our sins, and when we put out our hand and appropriate the work that he has done, identify ourselves with the offering that he offered upon the cross, we are reconciled with God. Now this was done in a white linen garment. When that work was completed, Aaron came inside to the holy place. He laid aside this white linen garment, and he put on those garments of glory and beauty. There were seven of them altogether.
The long blue rope with the bell and the palm of granite alternately around the hand, the effort on top of the blue garment, and a perch to the effort through the breastplate. Twelve individual stones enclosed in gold upon his breast, and on those stones were indelibly engraved the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. He bore their names upon his heart, and then upon his shoulders two onyx stones encased in gold. And six names on one stone and six on the other, the names collectively upon his shoulders.
On the shoulders, on the breastplate, they were linked together with a cord of blue and a chain of gold. And was there and went in to represent the people of God. He had their nears upon his shoulders and upon his brows. He also had a sash of neither worth a round his waist, and then upon his head was the turban, the mitre, the priestly mitre, and with a golden pith upon it and gripped with the words, all in his true the Lord. Now this brings before us Aaron as a priest, representing the people to God, on our Lord Jesus' strength. After he had offered himself upon the cross, he has gone in on secret of God's right hand.
He perfectly represents us. He has a threefold function. He is first of all our intercessor, for he takes care of our supplication. He is also our advocate, for he takes care of our sin. That any man's sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is also our great high priest, where he takes care of our sorrow. Oh, how wonderfully he represents us in the presence of God. So here in this first verse, where he sits down at the right hand of God, a period occupying two thousand years, occupying two thousand years, the present age of grace, our blessed Lord, is the priest, the advocate, the intercessor of God's right hand.
So the second picture we find in verses two and three and four, where we find them as king. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Now that is the sceptre. The shepherd's rod to begin with priestly rod, to begin with golden sceptre, and that one day will be a rod of land. Here is the sceptre in his hand. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength over the Zion, and then the command, rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Here is the command to rule. Our Lord is coming back again, first of all for his church, for his people, but then he's coming back again visibly, serene.
Under the center in his hand and the crown upon his head, there will be the apocalypse. The second stage of his coming. the epiphany, the outshining of his glory. And notice those that are involved in this great work of Christ as he comes back again to rule. My people, this is a term which used in the Old Testament for the people of Israel. One people shall be free will offerings to Medea by power. Here is a Jewish remnant which will be at his feet when he comes back again, will be at his disposal. And then with a five-version, Paul said, Increasedly attire from the womb of the morning, God has to do with you.
When he comes back again, he will be, as he went to heaven, two thousand years previously. No wrinkle upon his brow. Lord has to do with you. And when he comes back again on the full power of his glory, of majesty, and his manhood, he will have a priestly company with him. The armies of heaven will be at his back. And then verse four, the Lord has sworn, and will not repent, for are the priests forever after the order of Melchizedek. The first time we find Melchizedek is in the Bible, the first Bible and Holy Scripture in Genesis chapter fourteen.
And here we find the final battle. What final battle that will be waged, that will be wedged on the heels of Armageddon? And the Lord will come back again to deal with his enemies. On this passage will be fulfilled. Here is the heavenly Melchizedek, the one with the crown, and the one with the mitre, coming back again to deal with his enemies. Now the third picture is judged. The Lord, if I write, man shall strike three kings when the dead is wrong. The first is the man of sin, the first king. The second is the Antichrist.
One with his headquarters in Rome, a Gentile. The second was his deceit of operations in Jerusalem, a Jew. And both of them in complete apostasy from God, rebellion against God. behind the truths of the devil himself, the satanic trinity. He will first of all deal with these two individuals, and they will recast the light into the lake of fire. The second blow is he shall judge among the heathens, among the nations, and then those that are alive with that time upon the earth, there will be that judgment described in Matthew twenty-five between the sheep and the glory.
then he shall fill the places with the dead bodies of how the scripture this day of how God will deal with that great conspiracy against him, heathered up by Russia, from the far reaches of the north, this shall come, for the will leave their bodies from the valleys of Palestine, whom he is with them. And then the final blow is, he shall wound the head, such as the devil himself over many countries. But Herod will be crushed by our blessed Lord when he comes back. It's the final blow against Ridd.
You read that he will be arrested, and he will be put upon him, and he will be cast under the abyss for one thousand years, and the Lord himself will take over his throne and reign as the son of David. As a priest after the order of Multisadik, there was a crown upon his head, on the mortar upon his head, on the scepter in his hand. And for some one thousand years, this poor, groan in creation, that has suffered so much of the hand of man, the Lord Jesus will take control, and he will yield a sense of peace. Now the little appendix at the end, there is a wonderful contrast.
to the scheme of levitation and war. He shall drink of the brook in the way. Therefore shall he lift up the head. In contrast to the wound that bruised him in chapter six, okay, to get here the uplifted head of the Savior. Read about that head when he was appeared upon earth. That head was crowned with thorns. In Luke chapter nine, he said, the foxes of the air, the foxes have holes on the birds of the air, have their necks, but the Son of Man hath not where the lay is heading.
But here that is, is uplifted in majesty and glory, and will have the crown upon us. No longer the crown of thorns, for the crown of dignity and majesty and glory. I wonder if David here is thinking about himself from the table of Adelom, He said, Oh, that I had a drink of the well of Bethlehem. Three men heard that desire. They went on to Bethlehem and withdrew the drink of water. On coming back again, breaking through the host of the Philistines, he came back and they offered that drink to David. Oh, he said, this is no longer water. This is blood.
And he poured it out as a drink offering before the Lord. His head was uplifted. of the drink, as he saw what those men had done in getting that drink for him, and on that coming day, those that have associated themselves with the rejected man, the Son of God, today, will be with him in that tremendous in the glory in that late coming day. What a glorious day that will be. In anticipation of it, the red feet of voters and completely consecrated to him, while he leaves his son here for his name.