There are two readings for today.
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 110
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” [Psalm 110:1]
This is a royal psalm, where David celebrates God’s grace in appointing his family line to the throne of God’s kingdom.
But who is David talking about – the LORD (YHWH, the holy Name of God) says to my lord – who is David’s lord that he refers to here?
David is looking ahead by faith to the day when the final son of David (the one long promised, the Messiah), will finally conquer all nations and complete God’s kingdom.
The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. [Genesis 49:10]
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” [Matthew 22:41-45]
Jesus is pointing out that the Messiah is somehow greater than David, yet also the son of David – born of David’s lineage, yet the Lord of David and all nations.
As we reflect on the words of Jesus, and the reflections of His early followers, we realize that Jesus both human (son of David) and divine (son of God).
Daniel sees of vision of the Messiah, and describes Him as “like a son of man”:
In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. [Daniel 7:13-14]
Who is this Messiah, that even David calls Him ‘Lord’?
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. [Colossians 1:15-20]
This is a beautiful mystery, one that leads us to bow down in wonder, like Thomas, and say, “My Lord and my God!” [John 20:28]
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, like believers throughout the ages, we cannot help but kneel down before You and declare, ‘My Lord and my God!”