Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Psalm 110 | Date: August 24, 2025 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Take your Bibles, if you will, please, and turn to Psalm 110. Psalm 110. We have been trying in our series to give one message per psalm, and I think we had one exception to that, maybe two up to this point, but now we come to a psalm that, as I’ve explained, is of such pivotal significance when we come to the New Testament that we’re taking our time with it. It’s just seven verses, but I think it will be a total of six messages. Today is the fourth on that, and we come now today to verse four in particular, which is of such significance when we come to the New Testament.

Psalm 110, the king priest. The superscript tells us it is a psalm of David; that becomes of critical importance for the understanding of the passage. You might remember Jesus picked up on that in Matthew chapter 22 that we looked at. And so the reliability of the superscript, and the fact that this one in particular is a psalm of David, becomes of critical significance in understanding this psalm.

So it is a psalm of David. “The Lord says 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. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. The 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 earth. He will drink from the brook by the way. Therefore, he will lift up his head.”

Again, our focus this morning will be on verse four: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You’re a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Let’s look to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, what an honor, what a privilege it is to have your word, to be able to come to this book and know each time we read it that it is right and that it is true, that it is perfect. What a glory to know that its message is about our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. What a privilege and an honor it is to teach and proclaim your word. And how blessed we are that you have given us ears and hearts to hear. We pray that you will bring our attention to your word to learn from it this morning. And we pray again that you’ll derive our attention to the Lord Jesus Christ. And may we see the great treasures that we have in him. We ask in his name, amen.

Messiah as King

By way of review, you’ll remember that Psalm 110, then, is an outstanding prophecy of Messiah as king. We have that in verses 1 to 3, and then again in verses 5 to 7. That is the focus of it. We have in verse 1 an enthronement scene. This is a prophecy of Messiah’s reign. There’s no question this is talking about Messiah. There’s no one else it could be talking about. And we see at the end of the verse, that’s the exalted status then that Messiah has: he’s seated at God’s right hand. That’s the position of authority, the position of power; he is sharing in God’s rule.

You remember God’s purpose, his plan has been since Genesis chapter one—those of you who are hearing our evening messages looking at messianic prophecy, you’ll remember God’s purpose as far back as Genesis one was to have a man ruling as his vice-regent over the earth. That of course failed, and in Genesis chapter 3 that promise is picked up that God will bring a champion to come and to succeed where Adam failed. That’s what’s in view here and now he takes the right hand of the Father. He has finished his and been successful in his mediatorial work. He has died for sin. He’s been raised from the dead and now he’s exalted to the right hand of God, assuming the position of authority.

In the first part of the verse we saw in Matthew chapter 22 that Jesus emphasizes here his transcendent nature. Messiah is David’s Lord. And here’s where it’s important that this is a Davidic psalm. Jesus points that out. You’ve heard of Messiah—whose son is he? And of course the answer is easy: he’s David’s son. And Jesus then responds, well how then can David call him Lord? And of course the answer is he’s not just David’s son, he’s God’s son, he’s the Son of God. And so we have Jesus highlighting for us the deity of Messiah, and with that comes the doctrine of the Trinity, with that comes the doctrine of the Incarnation, the two natures of Christ—the Son of God became the Son of David. All of that is implicit here in verse one and Jesus points that out and stresses it as we have seen.

So verse one is an enthronement scene. And then verses two and three we saw describe the character of his present reign, and that is he is advancing his kingdom through an army of volunteers. Volunteer soldiers with the gospel, offering themselves freely in the day of his power, and giving themselves to the advance of his kingdom. And then now in the verses five to seven, Messiah as king will be the focus again. That’s the focus of verses one to three; it’s the focus of verses five to seven.

Messiah as a King Priest

But then right in the middle, verse four, we have a startling announcement. Messiah is a king priest. And this now then becomes the turning point and in some sense the focal point of the psalm. I say it’s a surprising or startling announcement because the office of king and the office of priest are separate. If you’re king, you can’t be a priest. If you’re a priest, you can’t be a king. Just ask King Saul, who tried to be priest, and see what it cost him. David performs some minor priestly types of functions like blessing the people and so on. But if you’re a king, you can’t be a priest. And the reason you can’t be a priest if you’re a king is the kings come from the line of Judah, and the priest comes from the line of Levi, as God’s law given to Moses prescribed. It is the Levitic tribe that becomes priestly.

And so here we find that Messiah, son of David, and therefore of the tribe of Judah, becomes a priest. He’s not a Levite, he’s not a descendant of Levi, he’s not a descendant of Aaron, but he’s a descendant of Judah, the son of David, and yet he will be a priest. So what’s going on here? Well, he answers that in the last part of the verse, verse four: “You,” that is the king, “are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,” or because of Melchizedek. So he’s not a Levitical priest; He’s a Melchizedekian priest.

Who in the World Is Melchizedek?

Well then the next question that comes up is who in the world is Melchizedek? And I ask it like that because I know you know who Melchizedek is. You’ve read Genesis. You’ve read Psalm 110. You’ve read the book of Hebrews. You’ve heard this name around before and you know enough to know who he is. But in terms of its original setting here at this point in history, the time of David, who in the world’s Melchizedek? All you know about Melchizedek at this point is what we find in a brief passage, a fascinating passage, but a brief passage in Genesis chapter 14.

Maybe it’d be worth our time to go there and refresh your memory. Genesis chapter 14. Keep your hand here, we’ll be right back. Genesis 14. In verses one and following of this chapter, you’ll remember there’s this confederation of kings. Now these are city kings, city-states. Don’t think great big nations like Assyria and Babylon became something like that. These are city-state kings in this general vicinity around, and they’ve confederated together to go against some of the other areas in that region. Sodom and Gomorrah is in that region. They come against Sodom and Gomorrah, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah back out; they ally with others as well, go back out to fight this king, Chedorlaomer, and they lose.

And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah, they run off, and it leaves Sodom vulnerable. And these kings, having chased out all the armies, come now to Sodom, and they just plunder the city. It’s all theirs, there’s no resistance, they can take what they want. And they take things and they take valuables and they take people. And they take among them Lot. Now this is the same Sodom which five chapters later in chapter 19 will be judged of God with fire and brimstone. But at this point Lot is living there and they take Lot captive.

Messengers come and tell Abraham; that’s verses 10 and following, 11, 12. Verse 13: “those who escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew who was living by the Oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner. These were allies of Abram.” Now let’s pick up the reading with verse 14: “When Abram heard that his kinsmen had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night. He and his servants and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, the north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the possessions and also brought back his kinsmen Lot with his possessions and the women and the people.”

You get a little picture here of what a big shot Abraham himself was. So he goes after these kings, defeats them, brings back the possessions to Sodom. Verse 17: “after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at Valley of Shaveh, that is the king’s valley. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine.” So here’s Melchizedek. “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.”

“And the king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.’ But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God most high, possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap of anything that is yours, lest you say, I have made Abram rich. I’ll take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.'”

Well, that’s all we know now about Melchizedek until Psalm 110. Historically, we have nothing else to know about him. What we know about Melchizedek then in Genesis 14, just to summarize it for us, is that he’s a king of Salem. This is the older name for Jerusalem later. He is a God-fearing monotheist. He serves the same God as Abraham does. He shares the same faith of Abraham. He’s not only a king, he’s a priest. He’s priest of the Most High God. And then we learn that he blesses Abraham, and then we learn that Abraham paid tribute to him, gave him a tithe.

From Genesis 14, that’s roughly 2000 BC, all the way to the time of David, Psalm 110, about a thousand years later, that’s all we know about Melchizedek. That’s all we’ve heard. There’s nothing about Melchizedek before Genesis 14. There’s nothing about Melchizedek after Genesis 14. He comes, appears, and he’s gone until Psalm 110. And then God says to Messiah, “you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

The Superior Priesthood of Jesus

So what’s significant about Melchizedek? You’ve read the account in Genesis 14. You’ve read the statement, the prophecy now in verse four of Psalm 110. What’s significant about Melchizedek? Well, as you might know, the writer of Hebrews in the New Testament picks up on that. We may come back here to Psalm 110, but look for a while here at the book of Hebrews. Those bare facts that we have about Melchizedek, Genesis chapter 14, and added to that Psalm 110 verse four, those bare facts have entailments. And the writer of Hebrews is going to unpack that for us. In fact, we’ll see that this week and then next week as well.

Now you remember the theme of the book of Hebrews. We’ve been here several times recently. We have a Christian congregation made up of Jewish believers. They have undergone some type of persecution, ridicule for their faith. Sometimes their belongings were plundered and there’s no recourse for it. There’s considerable persecution against these Jewish believers in the first century. And this pastor, whoever he is, writing to his congregation, some of whom are tempted to turn back, is arguing—and the whole theme of the book then is the superiority of Jesus. That you don’t want to go back because if you go back you’re going from something better to something less. Something else other than Jesus is something less. And that’s the theme overall of the book of Hebrews, the superiority of Jesus. He’s superior in many different ways.

In this section, Hebrews chapters 5, 6, and 7, his theme is the superior priesthood of Jesus. I’ll mention the times where Melchizedek is mentioned. Let’s look at Hebrews 5, verses 1 to 6. “For every high priest chosen among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and the wayward, since he himself is beset by weakness. Because of this, he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins, just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,” this is Psalm 2 and verse 7, “‘you are my son, today I have begotten you.’ And he also says in another place,” this is Psalm 110 verse 4, our verse, “‘you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.'” So it’s only a brief mention here, but he combines it with Psalm 2 to confirm that this is a messianic prophecy, in case you were doubting that.

Now chapter 6. We have another brief mention of Melchizedek. Look at verses 19 and 20. In verses 13 and following here, God has made his promise to Abraham, and he says, we have this, that is God’s promise to Abram, “as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become,” this is Psalm 110 verse four, “a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

Now then, we come to chapter seven of Hebrews, and here he elaborates on it at some length, and he rehearses the Genesis 14 event, he reflects on the implications of it. Hebrews chapter seven, I’ll begin with verse one:

“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abram, returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed them. And to him, Abraham appointed a tenth part of everything. He is first by translation,” this is Melchizedek, “he is first by translation of his name, King of Righteousness. And then he’s also King of Salem, that is, King of Peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever. See how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the spoils. Those descendants of Levi who received the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though those are also descended from Abraham. But this man, who does not have his descent from them, received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And it’s beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. In the one case, tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. One might even say that Levi himself, who received tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.”

“Now, if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one named after the order of Aaron? For when there is a change in the priesthood, there’s necessarily a change of the law as well. For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe, Moses said nothing about priests.”

All right, a lot there. The author here is just reflecting on the Genesis 14 account of Abram and his defeat of the kings and his encounter with Melchizedek, king of Salem. Verses one and two, he gives a careful interpretation. This Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. It’s a simple reading of the text.

Now verses 2 and following he begins to unpack the significance of it. He is, verse 2, “he is first by translation of his name King of Righteousness.” That’s just the meaning of the Hebrew name Melchizedek. Melchizedek, King of Righteousness. “Then he’s also King of Salem. That is King of Peace.” Again, that’s just a translation of the name. Salem is related to the word, you’ll know this, Shalom. It’s related to that peace, King of Peace. So King of Salem, he’s King of Peace. He’s just giving the significance of the Hebrew. Jerusalem then means something like the heritage of peace.

Now verse three, he makes an observation. “He’s without father or mother or genealogy.” Now he’s not saying actually he had no ancestors, no father or mother in a literal sense. He’s just reading the text of Genesis carefully. One of the leading themes of Genesis is the seed theme, the offspring theme. You find it as early as Genesis chapter three with the seed of the woman. And then you have Noah and Shem and then you have Abraham and his offspring; through him, his offspring, the world will be blessed. Major theme in the book of Genesis. And anybody in Genesis who is anybody is tied to the genealogy in some way. You gotta know who he is, where he came from, how he fits into the story. We come to Genesis 14 and that’s not the case. We have this important guy, Melchizedek, popping out of nowhere. He’s not tied to a genealogy. We don’t know who his father was, his mother was, his ancestors. We don’t know where he’s come from. Suddenly he’s there and he’s a really important guy. And he blesses Abraham and Abraham gives him a tenth.

So arguments for silence are generally considered weak. But if you’re expecting a lot of noise and it’s silence, what’s going on here? And that’s how the writer of the book of Hebrews is reading Genesis. Everybody who is anybody is tied to a genealogy, and now we got this Melchizedek guy who’s a really important guy, and yet he’s not tied to a genealogy anywhere. And then he observes further, verse three, “having neither beginning of days nor end of life.” Again, it doesn’t mean he is necessarily eternal, it just means that he simply appears on the narrative and then disappears. Comes out of nowhere, we see him, he has this fascinating event, and then he’s gone. And so he says in verse three, “he resembling the Son of God continues a priest forever.”

Now many people have argued, and I wouldn’t dispute it, I guess too hardly, but many people have argued that Melchizedek is in fact a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God. I don’t think so. His word here is that he “resembles” the Son of God and continues as a priest forever. So we have here, I think, a statement that he is a type, a pattern by which we can understand the significance of Jesus. So there’s a sense in which Melchizedek reminds us of Jesus. And that is that Melchizedek appears out of nowhere, no ancestors—that resembles the Son of God who is eternal.

Now, verses four and following, he draws some conclusions. And I want you to follow carefully the reasoning here. Verse four: “see how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the spoils.” In other words, this guy must be a really important guy for Abraham, the great patriarch, to pay tribute to him. We would expect someone to pay tribute to Abraham, the great patriarch. But instead, it’s Abraham paying tribute to Melchizedek. So, verse four, “see how great this man was.”

Verse five, he goes a little deeper with that and gives some comparisons. The Levites have thousands of brothers in the other tribes, 11 tribes, they all pay tithes to Levi, or to the Levites to support the priesthood. That’s what Moses’ law prescribed. Directed for all of the other tribes, the 11 tribes, to pay tithes to support the priesthood in their work. But verse 6, this man Melchizedek has no connection at all to the Levites. And yet, he received tithes from Abraham. So he’s reading the narrative carefully and says, this is unusual. Someone who’s not even connected to Levi receives tithes from no less than Abraham.

Some further importance of Melchizedek, verse seven: “He blessed Abraham. It’s beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.” So Melchizedek blessed Abraham. That means that Melchizedek was superior to Abraham. But now we get to verses nine and 10. Wait a minute, that has implications as well. If Melchizedek is greater than Abraham, then he’s greater than Levi. Verses 9 and 10, whoever this Melchizedek is, he’s greater than Abraham and he’s greater than Levi also. You might even say, he says, you might even say that Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek. Levi wasn’t born yet, he was still in the loins of his father, but since Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, in a sense, Levi has paid tithes to Melchizedek.

Well, that’s the theme of this section of the book of Hebrews: the superiority of the priesthood of Jesus. It is a priesthood that is superior to that of the Levites. It is a priesthood that is superior to that of Aaron and the house of Aaron. He’s of a different order, the order of Melchizedek, which is a superior priesthood. And Genesis 14 tells you that. You might not have noticed that the first time you read through Genesis 14, but he’s reading the text carefully. And he’s not adding anything to it, just drawing observations of what is there. To say then that Jesus is a Melchizedekian priest is to say that his priesthood is superior to that of Levi and Aaron.

Now, all of that took place in Genesis 14, a thousand years before David. Two thousand years before Jesus. David writes Psalm 110 some 400 years after Moses. And I’m giving you all these numbers because that’s how the writer of the book of Hebrews is reading Genesis, or reading his Bible. He’s reading chronologically and drawing some conclusions. Some 400 years after Moses, David writes that Messiah from Judah will be a priest. Moses had commanded that Levites would be a priest, the high priesthood from the sons of Aaron. And now 400 years later, David says, in the spirit, that Messiah will be a priest.

So in verses 11 and following, still in Hebrews 7, the writer reflects on all of that. Notice some conclusions he’s drawing. Follow his thinking, verse 11: “Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than the one named after the order of Aaron?” That is, if, as per Moses’ law, Levi and the Aaronic priesthood was already in place, why? Why would David say, 400 years later, announce that Messiah of Judah will be a priest? This is stunning. Psalm 110 verse 4: “The Lord has sworn he will not change his mind. You, the king, Messiah, son of David, descendant of Judah, you’re a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” It’s stunning. A descendant of Judah serving at the altar. That’s unheard of.

Now he’s just reading the Genesis narrative in Psalm 110 and verse 4 chronologically and drawing the conclusions. If 400 years after Moses established Levi and the Levites as the priestly tribe, David announced that a son of Judah would be priest, then already since the time of David, it has been announced that the Levitical priesthood would someday become obsolete. You’re left with that, aren’t you? If Moses says that Levites will be a priest, 400 years later, David says Messiah will be a priest after the order of Melchizedek, you’re left to draw the conclusion: Levi’s days are numbered. They’ll be over.

But notice the parenthesis, the parenthetical remark in verse 11: “If perfection had been attainable through the law, through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people receive the law, what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek?” The parenthetical comment “for under it,” that is under the priesthood, the people received the law. That is to say, the foundation of the Mosaic law is foundationally priestly.

Now this is interesting for one reason, because as many of you, I’m sure, are aware, it is traditional in Reformed theology to describe the law of Moses in three parts. You have the moral law, the civil law, and the ceremonial law. And in Reformed theology, basic to that is the moral law. And then you have the two tables of the law, giving rise to the ceremonial and the civil law. First table of the law, reference to God, the ceremonial law, the expansion of that in Leviticus. Then the civil law, the relationship with one another, that’s expanded in what we call the ceremonial law, or the civil law. Actually, that very language of the two tables of the law is mistaken. In that world, the two tables of the law was one was a duplicate of the other. It wasn’t just the first four commandments and then the last five being the second table of the law. But even so, that reasoning and that understanding of the law of God is exactly opposite of what he says here in verse 11 in that parenthetical remark. Under it, that is under the priestly code, the law was given.

So the law of Moses is deeply and foundationally priestly. Why is that important? It’s important because if now there is a change of priesthood, then the covenant itself has become obsolete. If there’s a change in the priesthood, there’s a change in the law as well. We’ve had a complete covenantal shift. That’s verse 12: “for when there is a change in the priesthood, there’s necessarily a change in the law as well.” That is to say, then, Moses’ law has been eclipsed. A new priest has come, and that is to say, then, that Moses’ law has been surpassed. And so, Psalm 110 then, in verse 4, Messiah will be a king-priest presupposes a new covenant. It’s not just a new priesthood coming, but because there’s a new priesthood, there must be a whole new covenant as well.

If you want to look down, chapter seven, verse 21 and following tells us the same: “But this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him,” again, quoting Psalm 110, verse four, “‘the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever.’ This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.” Because the priesthood has been surpassed, there must be a new covenant to replace the old as well.

Now, as you know, Jeremiah is the prophet who is famous for announcing the new covenant. Jeremiah chapter 31, we have it also in Ezekiel and other places. But it is Jeremiah 31 that gives the expression, the new covenant. And he expounds on the terms of the covenant wonderfully. And he even gives the contrast of the old covenant. The old covenant made its demands—thou shalt, thou shalt not, thou shalt, thou shalt not—but it made no provision for compliance. And under that covenant, what we have is sin magnified. You didn’t do this: condemned. You did what was forbidden: condemned. That’s the old covenant. Jeremiah simply points out that didn’t work for the people; they’re sinful people. So God’s gonna make a new covenant and he says, I’ll forgive their sins. I’ll forgive their sins frankly and fully. And I’ll make sure they comply. And I’ll make them walk after my law. I’ll change their hearts and their lives from the inside out.

Hebrews chapters 8 through 10 then pick up on that and expand on the better covenant and the better provisions that are in that covenant. The writer of Hebrews here then is simply saying here, David, some four centuries before Jeremiah even, implicitly announces the same, that a new covenant is coming. When he said of Messiah of Judah, “you are a priest forever,” he announced the eventual obsolescence of the political priesthood and the old covenant. And so faithful pastor as he is, he reasons with his people who are tempted to go back. He says, going back to Moses, you’re returning to something that’s been outdated, something that’s been surpassed, something that’s been left behind. And whatever purposes the law of Moses continues to have for us—and there are many—whatever purposes it continues to serve, it is not the ground of our approach to God. The old covenant has no adequate priest. And he says, in effect, your own Bible, your own Bible tells you that Jesus has surpassed and replaced Levi and Aaron. And if you turn back from Jesus, where will you find a priest? Who will you have to bring you to God? You turn back from Jesus. Go back to Moses. All you will go back to is something that was only prospective in the first place. It was telling us of Jesus.

The Psalms Really Are About Jesus

There’s so much to take away from all of this and I want to expand on it next time. And actually next time with all of this in place becomes all the more clear. But what can we take away from this today?

Number one, and we’ve seen this time and again in the Psalms, the Psalms really are about Jesus. Again, you may not have read Genesis 14 and Psalm 110 as carefully as the writer of Hebrews, but he is not pointing out for us anything that’s not there. He’s not introducing anything new. He’s drawing out implications to tell us that Genesis 14, Melchizedek, and David’s announcement in Psalm 110 in verse four tells us it was all anticipating the Lord Jesus Christ. The Psalms are about Jesus. The king in view throughout the Psalms that we’ve seen is Jesus. The kingdom in view throughout the Psalms is the kingdom of God that the Lord Jesus Christ will bring to bear on all of the earth one day in its culminating significance. Verses five to seven of Psalm 110 take their place along so many other Old Testament prophecies of the kingship of Christ, saying that he will come and overthrow all of his enemies and establish his rule world over. God’s appointed king will rule; all the world will be brought to his feet. Jesus is the king that David wrote of. And now we find he’s also the priest.

It’s confirming to our faith, isn’t it, to see the person and the work of the Lord Jesus given in biblical prophecy 1,000 years ahead of time. And the historical events we read in Genesis and then the events that we read in the Gospels and interpreted by the epistles, all of it points to something that is really not new. It is something that was announced years and years and years ahead. And then New Testament writers have not brought up something new. What they have done is interpreted the Old Testament for us, drawing out what was already there, whether you saw it before or not.

Number one then, we see again that the Psalms really are about Jesus.

What a Glory It Is to Know That We Are Under the New Covenant

Number two, what a glory it is to know that we are under the new covenant. The terms of the old covenant would never suffice. It will never work for sinners. Nothing wrong with the Old Testament law. Something wrong with us. And its demands are just too steep and we’ll never make it. What we need is a covenant that says, I’ll forgive your sins. We need a covenant that says, here, I’ll send my son and I’ll confirm this covenant in his blood and he’ll provide for sinners, effect their salvation through his work, and bring us to God.

What a Glory It Is to Know That the Enthroned King Is Our High Priest

And that brings us to the third observation then about this passage. And we’ll expand on this next week. What a glory it is to know that the enthroned king is our high priest. The king of heaven who rules over all things at the right hand of God, is our priest, the one who brings us to God and makes intercession for us.

In fact, it’s an intercession that’s grounded in his own saving work. In Hebrews 7, verses 15 and following, we’ll unpack that next week with regard to his priestly intercessory work for us. The old covenant had its demands and it provided a high priest. Turns out he was only prospective, pointing us to a greater high priest. We needed a better one, and we have a better priest in Jesus. Amen.