"A Song of a Perfect Saviour" Psalm 110

Good morning, Messiah West. My name's Adam. Actually, I'm coming to you from Calvary Baptist Church. I'm not a pastor there. I'm part-time staff, though. I'm the small groups director there. And it's a pleasure to be with you again.

And we were here last summer when Pastor Daniel was on break. And I have the pleasure of joining you and filling in for him one weekend then. And it's a pleasure to be with you again this morning.

My understanding is that you guys are doing a series on the fifth book of the Psalter, the Book of Psalms. And the fifth book is the last book.

And it's usually associated with a period of time where the exiles returned to Israel and looked forward to the restoration of Israel and the fulfillment of God's promises to David.

The Psalms were the songbook of Israel, songs that they sung to worship God.

At our house, we often sing from a hymnal. And I try to explain slowly what the language means.

Because often these older hymns, they have language that's out of date.

Sometimes even in hymns I know and love, I come across words or sometimes even entire verses where I need to guess or Google what the meaning is.

And I think today's Psalm, Psalm 110, would have been kind of like that for the Israelites.

I invite you to turn there now.

Psalm 110.

It's a Psalm Nisa read just now.

My Bible has very sticky pages, so if you'll excuse me.

Psalm 110.

It's written by King David, who's looking forward in this Psalm to the Messiah, the Savior of Israel.

It celebrates the Messiah and celebrates his future victories.

And that's clear.

But as we go through each verse, I suspect that for the Israelites even, things would have been confusing, even to that original audience.

Part of that's the expectations that Israel would have had.

When the Psalter was compiled, the Israelites would have been looking forward to a kingdom with sovereignty and prosperity like they had under King David.

But God's plan of salvation was greater than that.

God's plan of salvation was perfect, promising a king and a kingdom that went far beyond Israel's expectations.

God's plan of salvation is fulfilled in Jesus.

And today I'd like us to see what this Psalm says about Jesus and to worship Jesus for his greatness and perfections.

I've got five points if you've got your liturgy handout and you want to fill them out.

Five points.

First, Jesus is greater than a human Savior.

He's greater than a human Savior.

Second, Jesus is a perfect king.

So he's a perfect king.

Point three, Jesus is the perfect way to God.

He's the perfect way to God.

Point four, Jesus will bring about perfect justice.

He'll bring about perfect justice.

And point five, Jesus will come in perfect victory.

So he's greater than a human Savior.

He's the perfect king.

He's the perfect way to God.

He will bring about perfect justice.

And he will come in perfect victory.

Before we start, why don't I pray for our time in God's word.

Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing yourself to us.

Thank you for revealing Jesus to us.

Thank you that you are a God who speaks.

Thank you for your Holy Spirit.

And may he be illuminating your word to us this morning.

May he help us to understand what it says and delight in Jesus Christ.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So point one is Jesus is greater than a human Savior.

So King Charles III is the current king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

And his wife Camilla is the queen consort.

From my understanding, in formal situations, Prince William and Princess Catherine must refer to queen consort Camilla,

who's their stepmother, mother-in-law, as your majesty.

But when Charles passes away, William will be king.

At which point, Camilla will refer to her stepson and stepdaughter-in-law as your majesty.

That seems funny to me.

It seems odd to refer to your stepson as your majesty.

And here in our text today, there's something similarly odd.

Look at verse 1.

Verse 1, it says,

The Lord says to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

In this first verse, we've got two characters.

There's the Lord with it being in all caps L-O-R-D.

That's referring to God.

When you see that L-O-R-D, that's God's covenant name, the I am who I am.

So God is speaking.

And he says to my Lord, someone who David refers to as his Lord.

This is a psalm about the Messiah, the Davidic king promised to David in 2 Samuel chapter 7,

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

where it says in verse 12,

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers,

I will raise up your offspring after you,

who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

So, in 2 Samuel, it says that the Messiah was to be the son of David.

Of course, King Solomon, Solomon's David's son and successor,

he would go on to have a great time of great prosperity and build a physical temple in Jerusalem.

But Israel's understanding and hope was that a future king in the line of David

would come and establish an eternal kingdom.

And it's that king, that savior, that God is speaking to in verse 1,

and who David refers to as Lord.

The word there, Lord, is often used to refer to God,

and it's also used to refer to human beings when they occupy an important position.

But in the Bible, referring to someone as Lord means that the person is greater than you.

And so, if the Savior is David's son, it's striking and odd that David would refer to him as Lord.

Now, that's not just my opinion.

That was Jesus' opinion.

Jesus asks the people in Jerusalem in Mark chapter 12, verse 35 to 37.

Mark 12:35–37

If you want to turn there, Mark chapter 12.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

Verse 35.

So, Jesus is talking in Jerusalem, and he says,

How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

David himself and the Holy Spirit declared,

The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.

Jesus asks, David himself calls him Lord.

So, how is he his son?

Jesus wants us to see that David knew that this Messiah would not only be from his family tree,

but would be much greater than him.

On top of that, on top of how striking it is that David calls the Messiah Lord,

it's striking that God tells the Messiah that he will sit at God's right hand.

The right hand is a position of great authority.

So, is this right hand just referring to the throne in Jerusalem?

The author of Hebrews doesn't think so.

In Hebrews chapter 1, talking about how Jesus is much greater than angels,

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

the author asks in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 13,

Hebrews 1:13

And to which of the angels has he, has God ever said,

Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?

So, God telling the Messiah to sit at his right hand was more than just a call to a normal position of authority.

The Messiah is here prophesied to be the one who will somehow be the son of David,

but greater than David, and the king of God's people,

but also occupy a position of even greater authority.

How can that be?

The New Testament tells us the Messiah is God.

He is both truly God, God become flesh,

and truly man, born in the family tree of David.

He lived a perfect life, died and rose again,

and as we declared, he ascended into heaven,

and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty.

The right hand is not just the throne in Jerusalem, but the throne in heaven.

Turn to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

At Pentecost, David declares, verse 32 of Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention

This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses.

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God,

and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,

he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

The Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain

that God has made him both Lord and Christ,

this Jesus whom you crucified.

People of Israel were looking forward to another David,

but in Psalm 110, God tells us that the Messiah

will not just be another David, but greater than David.

What about us?

What kind of Savior are we looking for?

Do we find ourselves looking for mere Davids?

Or are we worshiping and trusting the greater David?

There are so many, to use Tim Keller's language,

counterfeit saviors that we are tempted to put our trust in.

Whether it's political figures, celebrities, or spiritual leaders.

We have to know that there's only one true Savior, Jesus Christ.

And Jesus calls us to believe in him.

He said to his disciples in John chapter 14, verse 1,

John 14:1

before he died, he said,

Let not your hearts be troubled.

Believe in God.

Believe also in me.

And today, church, may we stop looking for Davids,

but worship and trust in the greater David.

Jesus is greater than a human Savior.

Point two, Jesus is a perfect king.

King David's reign was a golden age in the time of Israel.

It was marked with great prosperity and many victories over Israel's enemies.

However, his reign was not always a happy one.

As an example, at one point, David's son Absalom,

it says in the Bible,

he stole the hearts of the men of Israel

and started a rebellion,

which resulted in a battle which took out the lives of 200,000,

no, 20,000 men in Israel,

including David's own son.

David's reign, while very impressive, was imperfect.

Jesus' reign is perfect,

and he is the perfect king.

What does a perfect reign look like?

Well, we don't have a king here in...

Well, we do have a king in Canada,

but we also have...

The governing is done by the government.

And not to get too political,

but I'm sure our prime minister, Mark Carney,

would love it if his...

He had success in the midst of his opposition,

if he had cooperation from others,

and an energetic tenure.

He'd love it if he was able to govern successfully,

despite threats from the opposition parties

and conflict with other countries,

if he had cooperation from his caucus,

from the provinces and the general public,

and if his work as prime minister

was seen as energetic and productive.

Well, here in Psalm 110,

David describes the Messiah's reign.

Look at verses 1 to 3.

It says,

The Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies your footstool.

The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter.

Rule in the midst of your enemies.

Your people will offer themselves freely

on the day of your power.

In holy garments from the womb of the morning,

the dew of your youth will be yours.

Translators and commentators

find a lot of the language difficult to interpret,

but the general picture

is of the Messiah reigning with success,

a perfect king.

He has victory over his enemies.

Verse 1 says that God will make the Messiah's enemies

his footstool.

He'll put them under his feet.

And verse 2 says that his reign will extend from Jerusalem.

The scepter will go out from Zion.

And David says to the Messiah,

Rule in the midst of your enemies.

So the Messiah's reign will not be stopped by opposition.

Also, the Messiah will have complete allegiance from his people.

Verse 3 says that the people will offer themselves freely to the Messiah.

One commentator describes it as a host of volunteers rallying to their leader in a holy war.

And the Messiah himself will reign with youthful vigor.

Verse 3 says that in holy garments,

in holy garments from the womb of the morning,

the dew of your youth will be yours.

So,

the New Living Translation paraphrases it,

you are arrayed in holy garments,

and your strength will be renewed each day

like the morning dew.

The picture is of a king who reigns

with vitality,

with energy,

and with vigor.

So that's victory,

allegiance,

vitality.

Is that what we think of when we think of Jesus?

When we think of Jesus' reign?

We Christians today live in what

the theologians call the already,

but not yet.

So we look forward

to a day when every knee will bow

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

and when we'll live with Jesus,

who will be the light that fills

the world

forever and ever.

But,

in the meanwhile,

before eternity,

it can be tempting to think

that Jesus is not in control,

that his enemies are winning.

We look at wars around the world

and bad influences

around us

and around our children

who attempt to draw us away from Jesus.

We're tempted to believe that

maybe Jesus is sleeping,

or at least unproductive.

But King Jesus reigns,

and he works,

and he's for us

in this age right now.

All authority in heaven and on earth

has been given to Jesus,

and he is with us always

until the end of the age.

If you are troubled today,

may you know that Jesus is king,

that Jesus reigns.

As he says in John chapter 16,

John 16:33

verse 33,

I've said these things to you

that in me you may have peace,

in the world you will have tribulation,

but take heart,

I have overcome the world.

So church,

let us take heart,

and then in response,

let us offer ourselves freely

to Jesus to do his work,

to live lives that glorify him,

lives of worship.

And while we pray

that God's kingdom come,

Jesus is king right now.

Jesus is greater than a human savior.

He's the perfect king.

And point three,

Jesus is the perfect way to God.

David's son Solomon,

he built a temple

where the priests offered sacrifices

on behalf of the people.

But here in Psalm 110,

we get glimpses of what will be revealed

when the Messiah comes.

Look at verse four.

Verse four, it says,

the Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind,

you are a priest forever

after the order of Melchizedek.

Notice three things.

The Messiah will not just be a king,

but will be a priest king

who acts as a mediator

between God

and man.

Also, the Messiah will be

an eternal priest.

His priesthood will have no end.

And finally,

he won't be

a Levitical priest.

Israel already had priests,

priests from the tribe of Levi,

who would offer sacrifices

to the Lord.

God here says,

I'm going to give you

a better priest

after the order of Melchizedek.

To understand the reference

to Melchizedek,

you'll need to understand

in at least a little bit

Genesis chapter 14.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

You guys can turn there now.

Genesis chapter 14.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

Abraham's nephew, Lot,

settled in Sodom

and he found himself

in the middle of a war.

And the enemies take him captive,

so Abraham goes and rescues Lot.

And later,

the king of Sodom

goes to greet Abraham

and a man named Melchizedek joins.

It says in chapter 14,

verse 18,

it says,

And Melchizedek,

king of Salem,

brought out bread and wine.

He was priest of God most high.

And he blessed him and said,

Blessed be Abram

by God most high,

possessor of heaven and earth.

And blessed be God most high,

who has delivered

your enemies into your hand.

And Abram gave him

a tenth of everything.

everything.

This is really weird.

We see very early on

a priest of God

who is also a king

whose origin and lineage

is not identified.

Which is very strange,

especially for the book of Genesis.

God says in Psalm 110

that the Messiah

will be like Melchizedek.

Verse 4 says that

this is an oath from God.

The author of Hebrews

explains this

in Hebrews chapter 7.

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

You guys can turn there.

Hebrews chapter 7.

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

Verse 22.

Verse 22.

It says,

This makes Jesus

the guarantor

of a greater covenant.

The former priests

were many in number

because they were prevented

by death

from continuing in office.

But he holds

his priesthood

permanently

because he continues

forever.

Consequently,

he is able to save

to the othermost

those who draw near

to God

through him

since he always

lives to make

intercession for them.

See,

the old system

of priests

and animal sacrifices

could never remove

our sin.

And that's the point.

The point of the system

was to point us

to our need

for salvation

and our need

for a greater savior.

In the old system,

priests just kept

on offering sacrifices

over and over

and over again.

Jesus Christ,

the priest king

in the order

of Melchizedek,

offered himself

as a sacrifice

once for all.

He was raised

from the dead

and he's now

our living

great high priest

continuing

to intercede

on our behalf

before the Father.

The old system

was meant

to point us

to a greater way

to God

and Jesus

through his priesthood

and his sacrifice

offers a greater

covenant with God.

Jesus is the way,

the truth,

and the life.

Jesus is

the perfect way

to God.

That's what David

is trying to tell us

in Psalm 110.

The Messiah

will be this perfect

way to God

and today,

like the author

of Hebrews,

I urge you

to put your trust

in no other way.

Do not put your trust

in your good works,

in your religious rituals,

in some kind

of sacramental system.

Our relationship

with God

is secured

through the work

of Christ alone,

received through faith

alone.

And because Jesus

is the perfect way

to God,

we can worship him.

Jesus takes

away our sins

as far as

the east

is from the west.

And that's great news

because,

point four,

Jesus will bring about

perfect justice.

Someone I know

heard him say

that they want

to follow Jesus,

but they find it hard

to read the Bible

because it's so violent.

And it is hard.

Look at verse five.

Verse five and six

says,

Lord is at your right hand.

He will shatter kings

on the day of his wrath.

He will execute judgment

among the nations,

filling them with corpses.

He will shatter chiefs

over the wide world.

The psalmist now,

David,

turns to the work

of the Messiah.

The Messiah

at the right hand

of God the Father

is a wrathful king.

And he is described here

as destroying

his enemies,

executing perfect judgment

and filling the nations

with the bodies

of his enemies.

This is supposed

to be good news.

We're very blessed

to be in a time

of relative peace,

peace not enjoyed

by people all around

the world

or by those

who came before us

in history.

And so usually

we find it hard

to understand

how you could celebrate

the slaughter

of your enemies.

But David,

during his days,

was surrounded

by enemies

who posed a serious

threat to him

and his people.

And because of this threat,

Israel was better able

to see the seriousness

of sin

and the goodness

of justice.

Justice is good

if there's a terrorist

or a school shooter

and he's taken out

before they can kill people,

that's cause

for celebration.

So we should worship God

because of his justice

and his wrath.

We should worship him

that he will ensure

that evil is punished.

We can also acknowledge,

though,

that justice is scary

because we're all sinners.

You know,

if we think about it,

we know the evil

in our hearts.

We know that we are,

by nature,

God's enemies

and that we deserve

to be treated

by him as such.

And justice should,

therefore,

make us appreciate

grace all the more.

Grace is what God

offers us in Christ.

Instead of hell,

God offers us

eternal life.

Instead of punishment,

he offers us

his blessing.

Instead of his wrath,

he offers us

his love.

The other week,

influential pastor

John MacArthur

died and he went

to be with Jesus.

And back in 2005,

he was on the Larry King

show on CNN

on a panel

about the afterlife

and he was asked

where we go

when we die.

He said,

one of two places,

either outside

of the presence

of God forever

or into the presence

of God forever.

And if it's into,

he said,

only through faith

in Jesus Christ.

So Larry King

asked,

so a bad guy

believes in Jesus

and he goes to heaven

and a good guy

who doesn't

goes to hell.

He said,

that doesn't sound

just.

MacArthur

responded,

Larry,

we don't want justice.

Justice sends

everybody to hell.

We need grace.

We need forgiveness.

We need mercy.

friends,

if any of you

do not know

God's grace,

he offers it

to you this morning.

The day of wrath

will come

and all who have

faith in the Messiah

and Jesus Christ

will be saved.

Turn from your sins

and believe in Jesus.

If you want to talk

more about

what it means

to be saved

from your sins,

please talk to me

after the service

or talk to one

of the leaders

of this church.

For those of us

who are Christians,

may we rejoice

that Jesus is the

Savior of true justice

and may it remind us

of how great

his love and mercy

is towards us

who have been shown

amazing grace.

Jesus is greater

than a human Savior.

He's the perfect king.

He's the perfect way

to God.

He will bring about

perfect justice.

And finally,

Jesus will come

in perfect victory.

In the Old Testament,

David defeated Goliath

and then he was

returning back

and he was greeted

with singing

and dancing.

But if you recall,

this victory

over the Philistines

did not lead to peace

for David

or for Israel.

It actually began

a conflict

between David

and the king

at the time,

King Saul.

It also didn't end

the conflicts

between Israel

and the Philistines.

The very next chapter,

we see David

being sent out

again to fight

against the armies

of the Philistines.

And he kept fighting them

his entire reign.

As king,

David did not,

David did bring

many victories

over the surrounding peoples.

But here in Psalm 110,

we see that David

looks forward to

a Savior

who will have

even greater victory.

Look at verse 7.

Verse 7 says,

He will drink

from the brook

by the way,

therefore he will

lift up his head.

So this verse

shows us

the Messiah

pausing to drink

from brooks

and then lifting up

his head

refreshed

with vigor

and power.

Commentators

differ on whether

this is,

this seems to be

in the context

of a battle,

but it's unclear

whether this is

before or during

or after.

But it's clear

that the Messiah

is a king

who will be mighty

to save

and who will conquer

over his enemies

and bring true victory.

The New Living Translation

paraphrases it,

but he himself

will be refreshed

from brooks

along the way.

He will be

victorious.

The Messiah

will be victorious.

Jesus will come again

in perfect victory.

He's already declared

that it is finished

on the cross

and he bowed his head.

He rose again

on the third day

and declared

that all authority

in heaven

and on earth

had been given to him.

And in Revelation

Revelation 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19

it says in verse 11,

then I saw

heaven opened

and behold

a white horse,

the one sitting on it

is called

faithful and true

and in righteousness

he judges

and makes war.

verse 15

it says,

from his mouth

comes a sharp sword

with which

to strike down

the nations

and he will rule them

with a rod of iron

and he will tread

the winepress

of the fury

of the wrath of God

the Almighty.

On his robe

and on his thighs

he has a name written

King of Kings

and Lord of Lords.

Jesus will come back

in perfect victory

and we can look forward

to his return

when peace will reign

and where we will be free

from the presence

of sin and death

forever.

And we can cry out

we can cry out now

Maranatha

come Lord Jesus.

And in the meanwhile

in the already

but not yet

there is victory

available

available to us today.

Victory over death,

victory over

the punishment of sin

over the power of sin

and that should lead us

to worship Jesus

worshiping him

as King of Kings

and Lord of Lords.

There is victory

in Jesus now

and more

in the future.

Jesus will bring about

perfect victory.

Jesus is greater than

a human savior.

He is the perfect king.

He is the perfect way

to God.

He will bring about

perfect justice

and he will come

in perfect victory.

Now those who

initially sang

David's psalm

or sung it

when the psalter

was compiled

did not get to see

the appearing

of the Messiah.

But now we can see

and hopefully have seen

today in scripture

how Jesus Christ

came

and how his

greatness

and perfections

fulfill

this psalm.

So may it cause us

to worship him

with hearts

that rejoice

in the revelation

of his perfections.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father

thank you for Jesus.

We thank you

for how great he is

and how perfect

salvation he has brought.

We thank you

that he is

the perfect savior.

Thank you that

through him

death has been defeated

and we can through him

know eternal life.

May we trust in him

and him alone

and may we worship you

with hearts full of thanksgiving.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.