The Priest King Reigns And Will Reign Completely To The Ends Of The Earth (Psalm 110)
On Thursday afternoon about a half hour before I would be leaving to go to parent training as part of Haddon’s therapy I was struck with a thought. Here it was, “Dwain, you are going to hurl bricks at a lot of people’s view of the end times and criticize it at the end of your sermon without helping people to see something better.” Well, though I’m not going to be taking an end times position in this message, I am going to give us a more triumphant view than what we tend to have today.
There are few Old Testament passages of Scripture quoted or discussed more in the New Testament than Psalm 110. This Psalm was probably written around 1044 BC, after David heard the covenant given to him in 1 Chronicles 17. And God would use this song that many people sang for years, to declare glorious truths about One who would come.
In Psalm 110 we will find that our priest-king reigns and will reign completely to the ends of the Earth.
Jesus Is King (Psalm 110:1-3)
I am a firm believer in the New Testament being the divine revealer of the meaning of the Old Testament. The writers of both the Old and New Testament were “carried along by the Holy Spirit”, and the New Testament authors write about what happened in the Old Testament very often. So, we get a commentary into the meaning of texts from the New Testament writers.
Psalm 110 is discussed much in the New Testament and the first verse is discussed by Jesus in Matthew 22:41-46. There Jesus asks the Pharisees a question, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” (Matthew 22:41 ESV) The response is quite simple, “The son of David.” (Matthew 22:42 ESV) Jesus points to this verse, Psalm 110:1 to point out something interesting to them. “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord…If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son.” (Matthew 22:42 & 45 ESV)
Two things stick out to me 1) Psalm 110 was already thought of as a Messianic Psalm in Jesus’ day. And well it should have been. The content is obviously about one who would come and be the Messiah. 2) The Messiah is going to be from the family of David but greater than David.
David is king and he calls this person to come “Lord”. Who then could David be talking about? Or, as Jesus says, “How is he his son?” (Psalm 110:45 ESV)
From all of the gospel accounts, we understand that Jesus is more than David’s son. Yes, he was born in the lineage of David. He is from the root of Jesse, but he is much more than that. He is God the Son, the Second person of the Trinity. He was “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.”
Jesus was right. He was more than a “son of David”. He is so much more.
What is it that God Himself says to this person who David calls Lord? He says, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” (Psalm 110:1 ESV) One doesn’t have to linger long on this text to realize that Paul likely had it in mind when he said that
“at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11 ESV)
40 days after the Resurrection Jesus ascended into Heaven to take His rightful place, at the right hand of the Father. And He sits there, in the place of honor and power, until His enemies are made a footstool for his feet. In other words, He is currently there ruling and reigning on high. His reign we find extends, even over the midst of his enemies.
I have to say that this is probably news to some people. I am sure that there are people out there today who would deny with everything that is in them that Jesus is Lord over them, but the truth of the matter is that He is.
Being saved is not about making Jesus “Lord of your life”. He is already Lord over your life. There was never a time where Jesus was not Lord over your life. It is who He has always been. He is Lord over you and everyone and everything else. The question is whether or not you have submitted to Him by trusting in Him and His finished work.
There is another group of people mentioned here. It is those people who submit themselves willingly. They “offer themselves freely” and they are clothed in “holy garments” and they live in a Kingdom with their King that is perpetually the “dew of your youth”.
This is us. This is, we who have trusted in Christ. We have trusted in the great king even though we live in a land that seems to be run by His enemies. We look around and see all sorts of chaos surrounding us, but we are His people. We are those who are in holy garments serving the king. And, as the text says, we are looking forward to the day when He will not be ruling in the midst of his enemies, but ruling a righteous world that is not in rebellion against him.
Jesus’ rule and reign is currently in the midst of his enemies. Currently, how is the power of Christ known? In the situation we are in, when Christ rules in the midst of His enemies, how does the world see the power of Christ? Is it not through the Church’s proclamation of the truth accompanied by the work of the Holy Spirit?
“It is in and through the Church that for the present the power of the Messiah is known.”—Charles Haddon Spurgeon The Treasury of David. Vol. 2. P. 461
We have a picture here of a people going forth with their king to conquer. But, as the picture gets clearer in the New Testament we understand that this conquering doesn’t take place with swords or guns. We also understand that this conquering is not political in nature. What we find is that this conquering takes place as we declare the terms that the King has set forth. We are sinners who have rebelled against the great King. And rather than banishing us all to death He provided a way for us to be restored to Him and to be found guiltless. This great King, Jesus, died in our place. He took the punishment of death upon Himself that we might be brought back into the Kingdom. Jesus then rose from the dead, conquering the power of sin and death. Here are the terms of surrender that we are to set forth. Repent, that is turn from ruling your own life and believe. That is trust in the One who died in your place. Trust in the One who lived a perfect life for you. These are the terms that we deliver and with the work of the Holy Spirit this message has worked to conquer many lands.
You are here, the people of God, going forth. You are conquering, I pray, the lands for the gospel that you live in as you deliver the message of the Great King in the Power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Is Priest
In 2 Chronicles 26 we find Uzziah, the legitimate successor of David struck with leprosy. Why? Because he attempted to offer incense to God which was a job that was to be done only by priests.
Jesus is, however, both king and priest. God did not permit the blending of these two offices. How then is it that Jesus could be both our King and our Priest. The psalmist here answers that question for us over a thousand years before Jesus came to Earth.
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110:4 ESV)
If you are just reading the Book of Genesis, the account with Melchizedek just seems weird. It seems like a brief and unimportant pause in the action in Genesis 14, right after the description of a battle and this guy we’ve never heard of is a priest of God Most High. And this guy is King of Salem. This King of Salem who is also a priest of God Most High brings bread and wine out, blesses Abraham. Then Abraham gives a tithe to Melchizedek. Then, we don’t hear about Melchizedek until Psalm 110. And then eight times in the Book of Hebrews.
Why does this meeting with Melchizedek seem so unimportant in the Book of Genesis and then is of massive importance to the future, so much so that it is mentioned 8 times in the Book of Hebrews?
Abram was God’s man, chosen from the land of Ur. God would make a covenant with Abram and the Messiah would come through that lineage. And here you have this chosen man of God being blessed by this man and Abram paying him a tithe. Both of these actions indicate that Melchizedek is himself of higher standing than Abram.
Jesus was not going to be a priest after the order of Aaron. Jesus was going to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And, the writer of the Book of Hebrews spends about four chapters discussing how much better Jesus’ priesthood is than that of Aaron and the importance of Jesus being after the order of Melchizedek. Jesus is able “to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him” (Hebrews 7:25 ESV). And this is because,
24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”—Hebrews 9:24-28 ESV
Why is Jesus’s sacrifice better than what had gone on for many, many years before him? Because they were dealing in shadows. Jesus was the reality that they were only images. Because They sacrificed day in and day out with not even a place to sit and do you know what our Great High Priest did after He offered Himself. He ascended into Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
It is finished. It is over. There is no more sacrifice for sin. There is not more need for blood to be spilled. Christ accomplished it all.
God the Son was born of the Virgin Mary and lived a perfect life. He then went to the cross, sinless and perfect, bearing the sins of all who would ever believe upon Himself and died there bearing God’s wrath and justice. This He did once, whereas Old Testament Sacrifices were done constantly. This never-ending priesthood and His once-for-all-time sacrifice is superior to that of Aaron. And here is something that makes it better. God swears that it will be forever.
I try to keep my promises to my children. I hope that we all do so. But there are times when unexpected things get in the way. Unexpected bills or a car not working will effectively keep a family from doing what Mom and Dad has promised that they would do. But here we have God, all powerful God, swearing that this will occur and He “will not change His mind”.
This King, who rules over all things is the one whom we are rebelling against. We have all offended God. And His Son, Jesus Christ has come to Earth and paid the punishment that is due for all who believe. If you are here today and not a believer then the message for you is to lay down your arms. Repent and believe in the Great King-Priest who offers you complete redemption. His superior priesthood covers over the worst of sins. And He will be priest forever.
Christian, this eternal priesthood brings great assurance to you. The King who rules all things is your Priest who accomplished salvation for you.
Is there ever coming a day when the sacrifice of Christ will be null and void? No, God the Son is the priest who offered Himself on your behalf. And God Himself declares with a promise that this priesthood will last forever.
Is there coming a day when the power of His sacrifice will be ineffective? No. Christ’s one-time sacrifice is for all time. He saves to the uttermost those who lived in the past as well as those who will believe in the future.
We are the people of God, who this priesthood has touched. We are those whose sins have been forgiven. We are there clothed in the holiness of this Great High Priest with our sins washed white as snow. Understand this and know it well. He has accomplished our salvation for us completely.
Why is it that we are standing there around the throne? We are there because He has cleansed us. He has sacrificed Himself for us. He has accomplished our salvation for us. Now, we serve Him, willingly. He has brought us from death to life. Why would we not serve Him? He has given us eternal life? He has given us a good relationship with God. Why would we not serve Him?
But here is the interesting thing. We are quick to jump on what we do and overlook what Christ has done. We are quick to think about how we are to serve Him and slow to consider His priesthood on our behalf.
We spend a lot of time thinking about how we can improve ourselves and being weighed down by the guilt and weight of our sins. We can be slow to consider what God has done for us and turn to self-help to make ourselves better. And if this is the path we take, then the feeling of guilt will overcome us.
And then, one of the saddest illustration of this that I have seen in ministry. I have been in church ministry for 10, almost 11 years. And this makes me so very sad. We come to the Lord’s Supper and there are people who will not partake of it for years because so much has been made of examining ourselves. Are we to examine ourselves? Yes, of course we are that’s what it says. But the Lord’s Supper is not about examining ourselves it’s about God holding out to us a picture of the redemption that He accomplished for us through this priest.
Trust in this King-Priest. It will be to your eternal joy that you did.
This King-Priest will not forever be One who rules invisibly seated on His throne forever. He is also conqueror. He will rule openly and visibly to the ends of the Earth.
Jesus Is Conqueror (Psalm 110:5-7)
We now go back to the picture of this King seated at the right hand of the Father. And now we discuss what happens on the day of His wrath.
“He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter chiefs over the wide earth.”—Psalm 110:6 ESV
So far Psalm 110 has described to us the King and His priesthood that we read much about in the gospel accounts and the letters to the different churches. Now, we are in the Book of Revelation. In the Book of Revelation we see visions of the Great King on a white horse who “will tread the winepress of the wrath of God the Almighty” (Revelation 19:15 ESV).
There will come a time when the warfare will have gone on long enough and Jesus will return a second time “to judge the living and the dead”. And everyone opposed to Christ will hide in great fear, even hiding in caves and calling out to the rocks,
“Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17 ESV)
Jesus came the first time to accomplish the salvation for His people. When He returns again it will be as the conquering King who will reign to the ends of the Earth. And when He comes, His conquering will be complete.
I was listening to a biography of Lincoln as a war time president. Interestingly, his entire presidency was war time, so I wonder why it took so long for someone to do this. But in it we find his constant anger toward his generals for not pursuing and finishing off the Confederate armies after a battle. There was always an excuse. They had too much equipment to move. They needed to stop for food. Their men were tired.
We saw something similar in the Revolutionary War. On a few occasions General George Washington was confused because the British Military did not pursue the Colonial Army. The British didn’t want to absolutely crush Americans because they wanted to be able to have a good relationship after the war was over. That and they underestimated the strength of the Colonial Army fighting a prolonged war on their own turf.
It will not be this way when Christ returns. “He will drink from the brook by the way”. When Jesus returns, He will not stop early. He will continue until He reigns to the ends of the Earth.
Jesus will not always sit and rule while His enemies exist. When He returns things will be different. He will execute judgment upon the Earth. His time of patience will be over, and He will stop only to refresh Himself on the way.
If you are an unbeliever here today you need to know that Christ will not always allow those who are in rebellion against Him to live on this Earth. He will one day return to “judge the living and the dead”. He came the first time to save. When He comes again He will conquer and everyone will bow down before Him. Some will bow willingly and others will bow because they have been made to do so and will face the fierceness of His wrath and justice on the Day of Judgment.
On that day His reign will be complete. He will set all things right. For now His message of salvation is spread to the ends of the Earth by the Church and the power of the Holy Spirit, but when He returns His judgement will be swift and decisive.
For the Christian, the burdens of this life will all be over. The shepherd who is and will be so gentle with us will be fierce to bring about the peace of His Eternal Kingdom. There will be no more rebelling against His rule.
We live in a time with pain and suffering surround us. We look forward to a day when this will be no more. When Jesus returns He will set up His rule and reign. Where are you in this group?
Are you those serving the Lord seated on His throne dressed in “holy garments”?
Or
Are you one of those facing Christ when He comes to judge the living and the dead?
Christ is Lord over you. Have you trusted in Him, or are you still in rebellion? He has offered you life in Him. Have you trusted in Him?
Christian, this King Priest is your Savior. Let this great news wash over you and bring joy and assurance to your heart.
Conclusion
Christians are not a huddled mass of confused and scared people awaiting the day of their Savior. They are people who are going forth to conquer and subdue the world with their king. We go forth with the declaration of God’s Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit the people are subdued and brought into the fold.
Christ is king and we are His people. Our priest-king will reign completely to the ends of the Earth.
R. Dwain Minor