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Psalm 110
A psalm of David.
1 The Lord says to my lord,
‘Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your control.’
 
2 The Lord will make your royal authority spread out from Zion to other lands.
He says, ‘Rule over your enemies who are all around you.’
3 Your troops will be willing to fight for you
on the day of battle.
Your young men will be wrapped in holy majesty.
They will come to you like the fresh dew that falls early in the morning.
 
4 The Lord has made a promise.
He will not change his mind.
He has said, ‘You are a priest for ever,
just like Melchizedek.’
 
5 The Lord is at your right hand.
He will crush kings on the day when he is angry.
6 He will judge the nations. He will pile up dead bodies on the field of battle.
He will crush the rulers of the whole earth.
7 He will drink from a brook along the way and receive new strength.
And so he will win the battle.
110:1–7 Psalm 110 is one of the psalms that isn't a prayer from someone to God. Instead it announced God's promises for a certain king from David's family line. God would let this lord and king sit at his right hand. This meant that God gave him authority and a place of honour. This king would be a priest for ever like Melchizedek. David was lord and king. But the lord and king here was not David. No king of Israel served as a priest. Priests were from the family line of Levi. But they couldn't serve for ever because they died. Many years later Zechariah prophesied about someone who was a priest and a king. This person would combine the positions of king and priest in himself (Zechariah 6:13). Many Jews came to understand something about this person. They understood that Psalm 110 and Zechariah were talking about the messiah. Jesus used words from Psalm 110 to show something. Jesus showed that he is the lord that the psalm talked about (Matthew 22:41–46). New Testament writers understood this as well (Acts 2:33–36). Jesus is the priest and king God made the promises of Psalm 110 about. The writer of Hebrews showed how this was true (Hebrews 6:20–7:28).