Behold the King: A Royal Song.
Psalm 110: A Psalm of David.
The
Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit
at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your
feet.’
The
Lord will extend your mighty sceptre from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in
the midst of your enemies!’
Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendour, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb.
Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendour, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning’s womb.
The
Lord has sworn and will not change his mind:
‘You
are a priest for ever, in the order of Melchizedek.’
The
Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his
wrath. He will judge nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the
rulers of the whole earth. He will drink from a brook along the way;
and so he will lift his head high.
New
International Version - UK (NIVUK)
I'd
like to build the world a home
And furnish it with love
Grow apple trees and honey bees
And snow white turtle doves
And furnish it with love
Grow apple trees and honey bees
And snow white turtle doves
I'd
like to teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony
I'd like to hold it in my arms
And keep it company
In perfect harmony
I'd like to hold it in my arms
And keep it company
I'd
like to see the world for once
All standing hand in hand
And hear them echo through the hills
For peace through out the land
(That's the song I hear)
All standing hand in hand
And hear them echo through the hills
For peace through out the land
(That's the song I hear)
Songs
and singing are an important part of life, in fact the minstrels of
our day are amongst the wealthiest people in the world. Man was made
for singing and as such we sing about many things. We sing when we
are joyful, we sing when we are at war, we sing when we are in love,
we sing when we are in grief. We sing at all sorts of occasions
whether they be sporting occasions or political gatherings. We sing
when we are in the presence of royalty. Our English national anthem
has been sung so often to our Queen that it makes you wonder if she
is not just the slightest bit bored with it by now. But then when you
see the worthy words that it has then we are not too surprised that
she is the Godly woman that she is. Our short Psalm is a song also of
which Augustine said: “although brief in the number of words it is
great in it's thought!” Luther regarded this Psalm to be the “crown
and chief and worthy to be set in a frame of gold and diamonds.”
The Psalms were all written to be sung and are as such are poetry. As
with all poetry they are not always that easy to interpret. That is
especially true of Psalm 110 which if we break it down really has
three stanzas:
- The King and His army. (1-3)
- The King who is also a Priest. (4)
- The Priest-Kings victory. (5-7)
This
is the most quoted from Psalm of the New Testament which indicates
how important it is. The most important quotations come from the Lord
Jesus who says that David wrote it about Him Matthew 22:41-46
It
is directly and exclusively a Messianic Psalm that speaks of the King
to come who will be a Priest and King.
Melchizedek
who was the High Priest of God and the mysterious King of Salem came
to Abram and blessed him and offered bread and wine. Abram in turn
gave him a tithe and recognised Him to be the Lord God most High.
This was the pre-cursor to Abram being given the covenant by God in
which He was promised that a people who would come from his own
descendants even though both he and Sara were far too old. This
mysterious person Melchizedek is later spoken of in Hebrews as being
the forerunner of Jesus who also is King and Priest. The Levitical
priests were never to be kings and the kings were not permitted to
act as priest. The dual function was reserved for the perfect Priest
King who was to come.
Jesus
on a number of occasions quoted from this Psalm, in particular when
he was arguing with the Pharisees one such example is found in Mark
12:35-37
While
Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, ‘Why do the
teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? David
himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared:
‘“The
Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your
enemies under your feet.’”
The
large crowd listened to him with delight.
Matthew
22:41-46
While
the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ‘What
do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?’
‘The
son of David,’ they replied.
If
then David calls him “Lord”, how can he be his son?’ No one
could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask
him any more questions.
Luke
22:66-71 At His trial this happened.
At
daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief
priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led
before them. ‘If you are the Messiah,’ they said, ‘tell us.’
Jesus
answered, ‘If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked
you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be
seated at the right hand of the mighty God.’
He
replied,‘You say that I am.’
From
here Jesus was taken to Pilate and on to be crucified. It is clear
that when Jesus quoted from Psalm 110 they were convinced that the
promised Priest King was a divine character and any claiming to be
such was a blasphemer.
You
will need to spend some time with a concordance, pen and paper to go
through the many either direct quotations of or allusions to this
Psalm found in the New Testament in order to find it's true
significance but by looking at these passages I am hoping to have
whet your appetites for further study.
I
have just one more passage to highlight before we consider how this
Psalm helps us today:
Hebrews
8:1-2
Now
the main point of what we are saying is this: we do have such a high
priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty
in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set
up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
It
is clear to see that Jesus not only believed that King David wrote
the Psalm but due to the very fact that David calls this descendant
His Lord he cannot be talking of a mere king. The King now has a
whole new dimension, He is not only Priest King but also he is Lord!
This King to come is a man who is descended to David and is rightly
King over His people, He is a priest but not of the order of Aaron
who needed sacrifice to cover his own sins before he dare to minister
before the Lord. This Priest to come is a mystery just like
Melchizedek was, he came and offered sacrifice and accepted worship
and as such was a remarkable character. I would like to put it to you
that this King of Salem who we know to be Melchizedek or King of
Peace is none other that the pre-incarnate (before His incarnation)
Lord Jesus.
The
King and His army:
In
verses 1-3 we are entering into the courtrooms of heaven where there
is a conversation between God the Father and His Son, the Messiah. If
you notice in your bible you will find that the first LORD of verse 1
is capitalised but the second Lord only begins with a capital letter.
My
paraphrase of the verse goes something like this: The word of
Yahweh to My Adoni who is My Ruler. Be enthroned at My right hand,
which is the place of honour, authority, and power, until I make Your
enemies subject to You just as is a footstool for Your feet.
Adoni
means a human superior whereas Adonai is a reference to a divine
superior. Why is this important? Because God is saying that Jesus who
is the God in humanity has a rightful place in heaven where He is
King and is very God but also very human,. It may seem to be
complicated but what David was promising is that a man who is
descended from him will one day be the Messiah who will reign over
His enemies in heaven and on earth. He will come from the Holy City
and rule with all of the authority of heaven amongst His enemies. He
will rule in and through His people who will themselves be priests
(wearing holy or sanctified garments) The army will be as fresh as
the dew and will be as youthful and full of energy as their King.
The
great promise here is that when the Messiah comes He will gather His
army together and empower them to be powerful, effective and
energetic enough to fight the good fight.
This
being the first verse of the song I was wondering what it might be
that they would be singing:
Fight
the good fight with all thy might;
Christ is thy Strength, and Christ thy Right;
Lay hold on life, and it shall be
Thy joy and crown eternally.
Run the straight race through God’s good grace,
Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face;
Life with its way before us lies,
Christ is the Path, and Christ the Prize.
Cast care aside, lean upon thy Guide,
His boundless mercy will provide;
Lean, and the trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its Life, and Christ its Love.
Christ is thy Strength, and Christ thy Right;
Lay hold on life, and it shall be
Thy joy and crown eternally.
Run the straight race through God’s good grace,
Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face;
Life with its way before us lies,
Christ is the Path, and Christ the Prize.
Cast care aside, lean upon thy Guide,
His boundless mercy will provide;
Lean, and the trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its Life, and Christ its Love.
Faint
not nor fear, His arms are near,
He changeth not, and thou art dear.
Only believe, and thou shalt see
That Christ is all in all to thee.
He changeth not, and thou art dear.
Only believe, and thou shalt see
That Christ is all in all to thee.
Our
subject this morning is; “I would like to teach the world to sing”
the world is already singing songs it's songs about so many things
but there is none such a worthy topic as this: Jesus the
Messiah rules over earth and heaven and He alone is worthy of all of
our praise and worship.
- He King who is also Priest:
This
is the declared and unchanging word of God. This is forever true for
all times which is for our great encouragement. Our Jesus is an
eternal and mysterious priest forever. Melchizedek as we have already
said was a mysterious figure that seemed to come from nowhere and to
return just as mysteriously. It is His name and location that give us
a great clue as to His character. His name means my King is
Righteousness and He is the King of Salem which simply means peace.
The King of Righteousness is the one who brings peace. Not the hippy
peace so often sang of 50 years ago, that peace only brought disaster
to the world. The one whom Melchizedek speaks of is none other than
the Prince of Peace who imparts of His righteousness to His people.
When
we consider some of the promises made about Jesus then we begin to
see just how perfectly He fulfils all that is promised in the
Scripture. It was said of Him that He would be called Immanuel which
means God with us. There
is none righteous but God alone!
Jesus is the King of heaven who is with His people. It was also said
that he was the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world.
It is the function of the Priest to intercede for sin, the Lamb was
the acceptable offering to atone for sin and here we have in One Man
both the Priestly function and also the Sacrifice that is effective!
Jesus does exactly what Melchizedek pointed to, He is Priest but He
also offers sacrifice and worthy of all praise.
We
could look at so many different examples as to the King-Priest
function of the Lord Jesus Christ that we would be here forever and
not even begin but there is one more that is important and that is
the King of Righteousness. Remember in the last point we saw an army
dressed in holy garments. They have been set apart or sanctified,
they have been made worthy, they are fit for service. How is it
possible for any who are sinful to ever be fit for service of the
Holy and Righteous God of heaven. We are so tainted with sin that the
theologians tell us that we are before God “totally depraved!”
The
amazing thing about King Jesus is that by His Priestly function He
personally atones for our sin not by proxy but in reality. He becomes
the sinner that we are in our place and is punished on our behalf
and in return for our sine He gives us His righteousness and so we
are seen by God as perfectly righteous and without sin.
Revelation
9:6-10
Then
I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing
waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
‘Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine
linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.’
was given her to wear.’
(Fine
linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
Then
the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are
invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These
are the true words of God.’
At
this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘Don’t
do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and
sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is
the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.’
Let
us start singing in our hearts:
Jesus
is King and I will extol Him,
give
Him the glory, and honour His name;
He
reigns on high, enthroned in the heavens–
Word
of the Father, exalted for us.
We
have a hope that is steadfast and certain,
gone
through the curtain and touching the throne;
we
have a priest who is there interceding,
pouring
His grace on our lives day by day.
We
come to Him, our Priest and Apostle,
clothed
in His glory and bearing His name,
laying
our lives with gladness before Him–
filled
with His Spirit we worship the King:
‘O
Holy One, our hearts do adore You;
thrilled
with Your goodness we give You our praise!
’Angels
in light with worship surround Him,
Jesus,
our Saviour, forever the same.
- The Priest King's victory.
In
verse 5 the term the divine titleAdonai is used of the Messiah who is
a man. (The divine title is nowhere else in scripture applied to
Him.) Adoni and Adonai are like the bookends of the Psalm they keep
it all together neatly. It is clear that the earthly Lord and the
heavenly Lord are one and the same person. This is not easily seen
in our English translations and therefore we lose some of it's
importance. In verse 1 God is saying that God the Son is a man and in
verse 5 He is saying that Heavenly Lord is reigning victoriously upon
the earth with God the Father at His right hand! In verse 1 God calls
upon Jesus in order to empower Him in verse 5 we see it working out
with God the Father working with His Messiah to bring judgement upon
His sinful world.
Jesus
is the King of heaven who will break all kings when he comes in
judgement. He is King of kings, Lord of lords and He is God of heaven
but now notice this. He will judge the nations, He will judge all
peoples in righteousness. There is coming a day when sin will no
longer rule and he will rule supremely. The earth has finally come
under subjection to the King in the same way as a footstool does to
weary feet.
I
suppose that it is fair to say that it is better to be seated on the
throne with the king than it is to be His footstool: that is the
offer of this Psalm. Jesus offers exaltation through the forgiveness
of sin, He offers to deal with the sin that separates you from God if
only you will submit to Him in repentance. If you come to His feet at
the cross distraught at your own sin and the price that was paid
there. He is then faithful and He is just and will forgive you your
sin and He will exchange your guilt for His righteousness and instead
of you coming under wrath and judgement you will become a much loved
child of God.
There's
a sound on the wind like a victory song,
Listen now, let it rest on your soul.
It's a song that I learned from a heavenly King,
It's the song of a battle royal.
Listen now, let it rest on your soul.
It's a song that I learned from a heavenly King,
It's the song of a battle royal.
There's
a loud shout of victory that leaps from our hearts
As we wait for our conquering King.
There's a triumph resounding from dark ages past
To the victory song we now sing.
As we wait for our conquering King.
There's a triumph resounding from dark ages past
To the victory song we now sing.
There'll
be crowns for the conquerors and white robes to wear,
There will be no more sorrow or pain.
And the battles of earth shall be lost in the sight
Of the glorious Lamb that was slain.
There will be no more sorrow or pain.
And the battles of earth shall be lost in the sight
Of the glorious Lamb that was slain.
Now
the King of the ages approaches the earth,
He will burst through the gates of the sky,
And all men shall bow down to His beautiful name,
We shall rise with a shout, we shall fly!
He will burst through the gates of the sky,
And all men shall bow down to His beautiful name,
We shall rise with a shout, we shall fly!
Come
on, heaven's children,
The city is in sight.
There will be no sadness
On the other side.
The city is in sight.
There will be no sadness
On the other side.
Now
the King of the ages approaches the earth,
He will burst through the gates of the sky,
And all men shall bow down to His beautiful name
He will burst through the gates of the sky,
And all men shall bow down to His beautiful name
I
would like to teach the world to sing the most important songs ever
written. The
Psalms are the songs of the bible and are as such the only inspired
songs that have ever been written. There are many inspiring songs and
many great songs but these are supreme because they are written by
God's special people and inspired by God's Holy Spirit.
Hopefully
we are all inspired today to sing as we go on our way and to teach
first each other how to sing and then to teach the world all about
the King of Kings as we sing of Him.
King
of kings, majesty,
God
of Heaven living in me,
gentle
Saviour, closest friend,
strong
deliverer, beginning and end,
all
within me falls at your throne.
Earth
and Heaven worship you,
love
eternal, faithful and true,
who
bought the nations, ransomed souls,
brought
this sinner near to your throne;
all
within me cries out in praise.
Your
majesty, I can but bow,
I
lay my all before you now.
In
royal robes I don't deserve
I
live to serve your majesty.
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