A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM CX.
_The kingdom, the priesthood, the conquest, and the passion of Christ._ A Psalm of David. 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 hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou _art_ a priest for ever 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. This is a peculiar and glorious prophecy concerning the kingdom of Christ. This Psalm is cited by Christ himself, Matt. xxii. and he applies it to his own kingdom and priesthood. It speaks gloriously of Christ sitting at the right hand of the Majesty in the heaven, and as being the son and the seed of David, according to the flesh, and also David’s Lord and God, the Creator and the Maker of all things, all power being given unto him in heaven and in earth: as the apostle also saith, “Who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness.” Rom. i. 3.
Christ cites this Psalm, (which, as we have said, is a very glorious one) to confound the Pharisees. Indeed there is not a Psalm like it in the whole scripture; and it ought to be very dear unto the church; seeing that it confirms that great article of faith—Christ’s sitting at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. For Christ is here declared to be a King and Priest; sitting at God’s right hand, not only as truly man, but also as properly God; the Propitiator and Mediator between God and men; the Omnipotent and the Eternal! Christ is no where, throughout all the books of the prophets, and of the whole scripture, so plainly and clearly declared to be “a Priest,” and so “a Priest for ever,” who alone did, and alone could abrogate the Aaronic and Levitical priesthood; and who is, and ever will be an eternal propitiation and reconciliation for us; as is most beautifully, most fully, and with a wonderful power of the Holy Spirit, opened by the author of the epistle to the Hebrews. Hence, this heavenly and golden Psalm has a blessed author (David) and a glorious interpreter (Christ.) And all the apostles, all godly consciences, and all who are not utterly unacquainted with the temptations of sin, and of Satan, know how great and firm a consolation it is against all the violent attacks of the devil, to be able to see Christ as our High Priest. Hence it is that Paul breaks forth into those great words, “If God be for us, who can be against us! Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died; yea, rather that is risen again; who is even at the right hand of God; who also maketh intercession for us.” Rom. viii. 31–34.
It is, therefore, of infinite benefit to the universal church of Christ, that the glorious things of this Psalm, the remission of sins, and the reconciliation of God toward us, which are brought in unto us by the priesthood of Christ, and which are infinite and eternal, are most carefully and most fully explained to us in the epistle to the Hebrews; and that such glorious doctrines of the truth concerning the priesthood of Christ are always present, and ready to our hands.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.