Would you turn with me to Psalm
110? This psalm is either quoted or
alluded to 26 times in the New Testament. There's no other psalm
that is alluded to this many times, and I think that that
should give us some idea of the importance of Psalm 110. Now, I would like to think that
every psalm is my favorite psalm. But this morning, Psalm 110 is
my favorite psalm. Let's read it together. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of
the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord has sworn and will not
repent. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall
strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge
among the heathen. He shall fill the places with
the dead bodies. He shall wound the heads over
many countries. He shall drink of the brook in
the way. Therefore shall he lift up the
head. Let's pray. Lord, how thankful we are for
your word, how thankful we are that you've given us this glorious
description of our Redeemer and our Lord. And Lord, we ask that
we might. Be willing, be volunteers in
the day of thy power. We pray that you would exert
your power over us and cause us to be willing. Lord, we confess our sins. We
pray for forgiveness and cleansing. We pray that you would unite
our hearts together to fear your name. Lord, we ask that you would
accept our thanksgiving. Make us truly thankful by your
grace. Don't cause this to be forced,
but cause us to be truly from our hearts, to be grateful for
who you are, everything you do. Give us grace to love you more
and love one another more. And Lord, give us, cause your
gospel to be preached this morning in the power of your spirit.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen. The Lord said unto my Lord. Now, right off the bat, that
tells us that David had some understanding of the Trinity,
didn't he? He's talking about the Father. He says, the Father
said to my Lord. In another place, he said, take
not thy Holy Spirit from me. David didn't understand the Trinity
even any more than me or you understand it, but he believed
it. You know, the believers in the Old Testament believe the
same thing the believers in the New Testament do. No difference. And this is the scripture that
the Lord quotes. And I can almost feel the delight
in David's voice when he says, the Lord said to my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand till I make thy foes thy footstool. Now, do you remember when the
Pharisees and the Sadducees came to the Lord and tried to make
an issue over what do you think about government? Paying of taxes,
that's when he said, render to Caesar the things they're Caesar's.
I love that beautiful answer. And then they tried to make an
issue of the end times. Whose wife shall she be? She was married to seven different
men. And the way he answered that,
and then they tried to make an issue of the law. What's the
greatest commandment? Now turn with me to Matthew 22
for a moment. Hold your finger there in Psalm
110. Matthew 22, beginning in verse
41. While the Pharisees were gathered
together, this is after they confronted him with those three
different things. Jesus asked them. Saying. What think ye? Of Christ. Whose son is he? That's the issue
of all issues. What do you think? What are your
personal thoughts right now? When God looks into your heart,
when he looks into my heart, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They said unto him, the son of
David. Verse 43, he saith unto them, how then doth David in
spirit call him Lord, saying, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
If David then called him Lord, how is he his son? And no man
was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that
day forth. Ask him any more questions. They
thought we better just keep our mouth shut when we're around
him. We obviously cannot deal with his wisdom and the things
that he says. Now, if you and I can answer
that question, we've learned the gospel. We've learned who
he is, and that is the gospel. Peter used this in his sermon
on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, verses 34 through
36. He quoted this in that very first
gospel message. And David, it's said by the writer
to the Hebrews also, to which of the angels said he
at any time Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. From Psalm 110. Now, back to
Psalm 110, the Lord, Jehovah, God the Father, said unto my
Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, sit thou at my right hand until
I make thy foes thy footstool. Now this is a statement I love
making. He's the sitting Savior. I just
love the imagery of that. He's the sitting savior. Hebrews
1.3 says, when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down
at the right hand of God. Why did he sit down? Because
the work of purging sins was finished, completed. The writer to the Hebrew said
in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 11, but this man, This man, he talked
in the previous verse of the priests standing daily, offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins,
standing. They didn't ever sit down because
their work was never finished. But this man. After he'd offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool for by one offering he hath, what? Perfected. Forever. Them that are sanctified, child
of God, you've already been perfected forever, eternally by this man
who sat down at the right hand of God. In the tabernacle, there
was no chair, but in heaven, there's a throne. And he seated. And God says, sit at my right
hand until I make your foes, your enemies, your footstool.
Now, don't overlook this. The Lord Jesus Christ has enemies. That's a very scary, sobering
thought. But the Lord Jesus Christ has
enemies, people who, if it were in their power, they'd put him
out of business. They'd rip him off this throne,
if they had the power to do it. Who are these people? Every unbeliever. Everyone who does not love him. This lack of love is hatred. Hatred of him as he is. And they
would pull him from his throne, but they can't, can they? Not
gonna happen. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Verse two, the Lord shall send
the rod of thy strength or the scepter of thy strength out of
Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. Now, the rod of thy or the scepter of thy strength. That's talking about his sovereign
power. Oh, the power of Jesus Christ. Now, when you see, watch sports,
you know, the guys get flexing their biceps and, you know, that's
silly. That doesn't have anything to
do with power. When we're talking about the power of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we're talking about his power to make sins not to be. That thrills my heart to think
of my sins. David said, my sin is ever before
me. He's made it to where it is not. Not simply covered, but
not existent. Only omnipotence can do that. And omnipotence, the omnipotence,
the rod of his strength, the scepter of his strength, the
kingly power of his strength, Omnipotence has made me perfect
in God's sight, holy, unblameable, and unreprovable. The power of
his cross, he is the power of God into salvation. Now notice
he says, the Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of
Zion. What is Zion? Well, according to Hebrews chapter
12, Zion is the church. The general assembly and church
of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven. He sends
the rod of his strength out of the church. Now the church, what
we're doing right now, brings the message of the rod of his
strength. What a blessed privilege it is
to be in his church. Turn back to Psalm 87 for just
a moment. Verse two, the Lord loveth the
gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Now he's
talking about the gates the public assembly of Zion more than all
the private dwellings of Jacob. Oh, there's something powerful about the Lord bringing
his people together to hear his gospel. Private worship is important. Public worship is more important. And if there's not public worship,
there's not really private worship. And really the best private worship
we have is when God enables us to hear the gospel in the power
of the Holy Spirit. When I'm hearing the gospel preached,
that's when I know I'm a child of God. when I hear and believe
the message that is preached. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. Romans 1 16, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ for it's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first and also to
the Greek. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of
Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. And this is something that thrills
a child of God to think of his rule. He doesn't have any rivals. He's not disturbed by opposition.
He's in absolute sovereign control, ruling and reigning right now. Aren't you glad? Aren't you thankful? Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. Now, verse three, thy people. Well, who are his people? Short
answer, the elect. The elect. Those he calls his
people. Thou shalt call his name, Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Those given
to him by the father, those he represents the elect. Now what's
it say about his people? Verse three, thy people shall
be willing. Volunteers. You remember when God said to
Isaiah, who shall I send? Who will go for us? Now, in that
statement, who am I going to draft? Who's going to volunteer?
That's what that's saying. Who shall I send? Who will go
for us? Isaiah replied, here am I. Send me. Thy people shall be
volunteers. Now by nature we're not volunteers
because our will is controlled by sinful natures. The Lord said
you will not come to me. that you might have life. By
nature, we are not willing. And have you ever tried to make
somebody willing? Can't do it, can you? You can
lead a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink. You
can't make anybody willing. The glorious power of God is
that he can actually make his people willing. That's just an amazing concept,
isn't it? To make me willing, now you can make me do what I
don't want to do. A lot of my life is made up of
doing things I don't want to do. You're the same way. I mean,
that's just, we do what we should, but to be willing, volunteers,
totally voluntary. in the day of his power. The
Lord's army is a draft, and everybody that's drafted is volunteers.
Thy people, willing. You know what, Paul put it this
way, to will is present with me. I would never sin again. I would be poor in spirit. I would mourn over my sin. I would be meek before God. I would hunger and thirst after
righteousness. I would be pure in heart. I would
be merciful. I would be a peacemaker. I would
be persecuted for righteousness sake. That's what I want for
Christ's righteousness sake. I would take the lowest seat
in the house. I would esteem you as better than me. I would. To will is present with me. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. It's only his omnipotence that
makes us willing, but this is what only omnipotence can make
somebody willing. And that's what he does. Thy
people. Are you willing to be saved by
Christ? Are you willing to be saved by
his sovereign grace? Are you willing to be saved by
his righteousness only, where his righteousness is the only
righteousness you have? Are you willing? Are you willing? In the beauties of holiness,
verse three, from the womb of the morning, thou hast the due
of thy youth. Now, what this is telling us
is the Lord Jesus Christ never gets old. He never gets infirm. He always has the dew of his
youth. The dew of his youth is on his
brow all the time. He never gets old or worn out. What he was, he is. What he is,
he always will be. Thou hast the dew of thy youth. Verse four, the Lord hath sworn
and will not repent, thou art a priest forever, eternally after
the order of Melchizedek." Now Melchizedek, this amazing figure
that we're first introduced to him in Genesis chapter 14, after
Abraham has rescued Lot and brought him back. Melchizedek, the priest
of the Most High God at that time, this was 400 years before
the Levitical priesthood. The priest of the Most High God,
Melchizedek, comes and blesses Abraham and he brings him bread
and wine. Now since when does a priest
bring bread and wine? The Lord Jesus Christ. This prefigures
the Lord's table. He already accomplished his work. Now, turn with me for a moment
to Hebrews 7. He's mentioned in Genesis 14,
then in Psalm 110. That's the only time, again,
he's mentioned in the Old Testament, and then again in Hebrews 5,
6, and 7. But look in Hebrews 7. For this Melchizedek, king of
Salem, or king of Jerusalem actually, priest of the most high God who
met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed
him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all. First, being
by interpretation, king of righteousness. After that also, king of Salem. which is king of peace. Now Melchizedek,
first king of righteousness. That's how I'm righteous because
he's the king of righteousness and he gave me his righteousness
and that's my righteousness before God. That comes first. After
that, king of peace. If I have perfect righteousness
before God, I have peace. First, king of righteousness. After that, king of peace. Verse three, without father,
without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days
nor end of life. Now, who is the only one that
fits that description? The Lord Jesus Christ. but made like unto the Son of
God, abideth the priest continually." Now, some people thought, well,
he's not the Son of God if he was made like unto the Son of
God. I've heard people use that argument to say that Melchizedek
was a figure of Christ, but not Christ himself. Well, the way
I would answer that is in Daniel chapter three, when Nebuchadnezzar
saw the fourth like unto the Son of God, Was he the son of
God in the fire with the three children of Israel? When John
saw one like unto the son of man, does that mean he wasn't
the son of man? He was somebody else? No, obviously not. Made like unto the son of God,
abideth. Before time began, right now,
he always will be. He abides. The high priest continually. You see, he was my high priest
before time began as the lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. And he abides my priest continually all the time, whether
I'm aware of it or not, he still abides my high priest continually. You see, he's the priest. He's the sacrifice. He's the altar. He's Melchizedek,
the one who abides, high priest continues. See Aaron and the
Levitical priesthood never saved anybody. It represented the Lord's
salvation. But Aaron, I mean, Aaron was
like me and you. He was a weak, sinful man. But
Melchizedek, this is the Lord Jesus Christ. He abides a priest
continually right now. He is representing my interest
before the Father and makes me perfect in God's sight. What
a high priest we have. Back to Psalm 110. The Lord has sworn. and will
not repent, thou art a priest forever, eternally, after the
order of Melchizedek." Not after the order of Levi or Aaron, but
Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall
strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge
among the heathen. He shall fill with the dead bodies. He shall wound the heads over
many countries. He shall drink of the brook and
the way, therefore shall he lift up the head." Now I can remember
When I would read that, it almost sounds like, when I was a kid,
I used to love to read Greek myths, that let you know how
weird I am. And you always had those angry,
wrathful, vindicative, vengeful gods that were out to just smash
everybody and get their vengeance on everybody. And somebody looks
at this passage of scripture and they might think, was the
Lord like that? What I want us to remember is
the Lord's wrath is a holy wrath, a just wrath, a perfect wrath. You know, we read in the book
of revelations of people calling out for the mountains and hills
to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. It's kind of a scary term, isn't
it? The wrath of the lamb. You don't
think of a lamb being wrathful? He is. He is because of his love
for his father, because of his absolute justice. And he didn't
come to condemn the world. He came to save the world. He
said that. The father didn't send him to condemn the world.
The world was already condemned. But he came to save. And this
glorious savior One time, he's going to exercise his wrath against
all of his enemies. Now that time is coming. The
door's open right now, but I think of the parable of the foolish
virgins when they didn't have any oil. I love it. They look just like the wise
virgins. You couldn't see the difference
between the two. What was the difference? Something that one
had that the other didn't have. The oil, the grace of God, the
grace of the Spirit. Something you couldn't see. If
you looked at them on the outside, they look the same. But when
the Lord comes and the wise virgins are brought in, the foolish have
gone out to find oil for the lamp, they come in and the door
has been shut. And they say, open to us, open
to us. And the Lord says, I don't know
you. Now the time is coming when the door will be shut. Verse seven. He should drink of the brook
in the way, therefore shall he lift up the head. He's always refreshed. That's
what the imagery is, he's always refreshed. He drinks of the brook
and the way and he's always refreshed, always powerful, never worried,
never troubled, always powerful, always fresh. Our Melchizedek,
king of righteousness, king of peace. And you know what I want
to be? I want to be one of these volunteers
spoken of. Thy people, thy people should
be volunteers in the day of thy power. I want to say with Isaiah,
Lord, here am I. Send me. Amen.