1The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
2The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
3Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
5The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
6He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
7He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.
📖 Chapter study
Summary
A short but extremely influential royal and prophetic psalm: God invites the psalmist's 'Lord' to sit at his right hand until all his enemies are subdued, and declares him an eternal priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Explanation
This is the psalm most quoted in the New Testament, applied repeatedly to Jesus as the Messiah who sits at God's right hand (for example, Matthew 22:44, Acts 2:34-35, Hebrews 1:13). The reference to 'Melchizedek' points back to Genesis 14, a mysterious figure who was both king and priest at the same time, something unusual in Israel, where kingship (the tribe of Judah) and priesthood (the tribe of Levi) were always kept separate. The application today is that this psalm became foundational for understanding, theologically, who the promised Messiah of Scripture is.
Fun facts
- It is the psalm most quoted in the New Testament, appearing directly or indirectly more than twenty times, almost always referring to Jesus.
- Melchizedek, mentioned only in Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and the book of Hebrews, is one of the most enigmatic figures in the Bible for combining the roles of king and priest, something forbidden to the kings of Israel.