The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” – Psalm 110:1

Today’s  Scripture Reading (March 14, 2013): Psalm 110

In the late seventies and early eighties there was a serious belief by social scientists that the future was going to present us with a significant decrease in the work week and a corresponding increase in leisure time. The reasoning was that with all of the technological advances that were being made, the hours needed for actual work would be significantly less. It was a prophecy that was only partially fulfilled – and one of the reasons was that the predictors seemed to forget that fewer hours would also mean less money. Instead of an increase in leisure time, the actual result of the decrease in working hours was that people began to need to work multiple jobs to earn the money necessary to live – and a corresponding decrease in the leisure time available to the individual.  

One of the problems with art of forecasting the future is that the future never really makes sense until it becomes the past. So it is with this in mind that this passage has received a lot of attention within the Christian Church. David speaks of his “lord” (adown) sitting down at the right hand of his “Lord” (Yehovah). The language would seem to indicate that his lord (often used to indicate a human master) would sit down at the right hand of his “Lord” (or God) - two very different words to indicate two very different people. For the Christian reading this Psalm, this was a clear indication of the Messiah – the one who would be a descendant or son of David and the one who was fully human and fully God.

For the Christian, it also does not hurt this application of the Psalm that Jesus himself identified with this passage. In response to the skepticism of the Pharisees, Jesus himself quoted this verse asking how David could address his son by saying that he was his lord – his human master. The question is how could a son be elevated above the father? It was a question that according to the Matthew (Matthew 22:41-46) was met with silence.

But if the question is whether or not David fully understood what it was that he was writing, the answer has to be no. Prophecy does not work that way. In this Psalm David acts as both a prophet and a poet. As a prophet he writes under the influence of the Holy Spirit things that are beyond both his understanding and his experience. As a poet he uses powerful imagery to describe what it is that Holy Spirit is telling him. The result is this powerful Messianic image that would only be fully understood after the ministry of Jesus Christ. 

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 138