"A Psalm of David.
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion
your mighty sceptre.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
3 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.
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest for ever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6 He will execute judgement among the nations,
filling them with corpses;
he will shatter chiefs
over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook by the way;
therefore he will lift up his head."
Psalm 110
The implication of our Lord's words about this Psalm is surely that David in spirit saw the completion of His atoning work and victory and the divine attestation of it (Romans 1:4; cf also Acts 2:34; 5:30ff; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25ff; Hebrews 1:13; 10:11 f). The general picture in these references substantiates the Psalmist's words in 2 about 'the rod of thy strength' going forth from Zion - it is surely that of the victorious Christ going forth conquering and to conquer. What follows in 3 is the natural and inevitable accompaniment of that picture - 'a host of volunteers rallying to their leader in a holy war' (Kidner). One thinks readily of the words of Deborah's song in Judges 5:2, 'the people willingly offered themselves'. The thought is of 'willing sacrifices' ('freewill offer- ings'), and this readily links with Romans 12:2 as indicating the one adequate response to the mercies of God in Christ and the gospel. It is the enthusiasm of dedicated spirits that is expressed here, and this is surely something worth its weight in gold. Of the phrase 'in the beauties of holiness' one commentator says 'For such high warfare as that which is here involved, certain moral qualifications must mark those who participate'. One thinks of the beauty and attractiveness of the Early Church in Acts - the beauty of the Lord their God was upon them. The 'dew' in 3 has reference to the willing people: there is always a freshness about them - not old and jaded, but ever young, with youth constantly renewed (Isaiah 40).
The statement in 4 about the 'priest forever after the order of Melchizedek' almost interrupts the flow of the Psalm, with 5-7 continuing the picture of the warfare and warriors and we shall make some comment on this in the next Note.