Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

Psalm 110 is wholly a Messianic Psalm. A Messianic Psalm is one which makes mention of the Messiah. There is no portion of the Old Testament more frequently quoted in the New Testament that makes references to Jesus than this short psalm. David opens with this wonderful declaration: "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (v.1). The LORD said unto my Lord - A literal translation would be: “YHWH said to my Adonai”. The Jews replace God’s name with the word “LORD” so that they do not utter His name. The reason is that they consider the name of God too sacred to be uttered by men. More significantly, I felt it is because no man knows exactly how to pronounce the name of God, nor, can they be sure the correct translation of His name. The name “Jehovah” that we now have comes from the Hebrew (YHWH). How did the “Y” become a “J”? Can we be sure the translators had inserted the correct vowels in between? Some prefer “Yahweh” (YAH-way); others prefer “Yehowah,” “Yahuweh,” or “Yahawah”; others argue for “Jehovah.” The Chinese Bible uses “Yehowah”. Therefore, the Jews are afraid of transgressing the Third Commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). Hence, when a Jew would read from the Torah, what would he say when he come across YHWH? You guessed it: “LORD”. The first “LORD” in “the LORD says to my Lord” is the eternal God of the universe, the self-existent, omnipotent God, the Great I AM who revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 3. The second “Lord” in “the LORD says to my Lord” is the Messiah or the Christ. In a discussion with the Pharisees in order to prove that the Messiah is more than David’s son, the Lord Jesus quoted from Psalm 110:1 (Matthew 22:44). The Jews and the Pharisees knew that the Messiah would be a son of David. They expected the Messiah to be only a mere man, of the physical seed of David, and he would sit as king upon the physical throne of David, and deliver them out of the hands of the Romans. Jesus, correcting their error, brought their attention to Psalm 110:1 and asked them: “If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?” (Matthew 22:45). We are much blessed today because of the full revelation that has been revealed and written for our learning. Hence, we know the answer to Jesus’ question. But the Jews and Pharisees didn’t know then and could not answer Him. The Messiah is not only the son of David according to the flesh, but He is the Lord of David according to His Divine nature. You can never have a great ancestor calling his yet to be born descendant “my Lord”. David, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, saw YHWH speaking to the Messiah. It proves the pre-existence of the Messiah. If He had an existence at that time how could He be descended from David? The Jews and Pharisees could not answer Him. That David’s Lord is the Messiah, is confirmed by our Lord Himself and by the apostles, Peter and Paul, in their writings (Acts 2:34; Hebrews 1:13). The Psalm celebrates the exaltation of Christ to the throne of His eternal kingdom (v.1-3), a perpetual Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek (v.4), and a Judge of all the earth (v.5-7). He is David’s Lord; He is our Lord too. May we glorify the King of Kings and Lord of lords.