ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE & PSALM 110
Here is the English rendering of Psalm 110 from the Orthodox Study Bible (OSB), which is Ps. 109 in the Greek versions commonly referred to as the Septuagint, along with the accompanying footnotes:
The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I make Your enemies the footstool of Your feet.”
2 The Lord shall send forth the rod of Your power from Zion, And rule in the midst of Your enemies.
3 With You is the beginning in the day of Your power, In the brightness of Your saints; “I have begotten You from the womb before the morning star.”
4 The Lord swore and will not repent, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord at Your right hand crushed kings in the day of His wrath;
6 He shall judge among the nations; He shall fill them with dead bodies; He shall crush the heads of many on earth.
7 He shall drink from the brook on the way; Therefore, He shall raise His head high.
109 Ps 109 is a prophecy concerning the Melchizedek Priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which explains the true meaning of the Nativity. In Gn 14:18–20, Melchizedek is called the king of Salem and priest of the Most High God (see also Heb 7:1). His priesthood was not based on genealogy (Heb 7:3). It was based on himself alone, for no one preceded him in priesthood, nor succeeded him (Heb 7:8). On this basis he was a type of Christ, whose priesthood is based in His endless life, for He rose again from the dead (Heb 7:16).
The Lord [the Father] said to my Lord [Christ], “Sit at My right hand” (v. 1). For Christ is not only Man, but also the Lord God, coequal and one in nature with the Father. For He is begotten from the Father before all time (before the morning star, v. 3), and is therefore His eternal Son (v. 3; see also Creed). He is the Son of David according to the flesh (Mt 1:1), but He is also the Lord of David according to His divinity (see also Mt 22:41–45).
At the Father’s right hand, this Melchizedek Priest rules and reigns over all things, including His enemies (vv. 1, 2, 5–7), and leads His Church in heavenly worship of the Blessed Trinity (v. 3). (The Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today’s World [Thomas Nelson, 2008], p. 757; emphasis mine)
The notes are faithful to the way our Lord Jesus and his Spirit filled Apostles and writers of the New Testament interpreted this specific Psalm:
“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, ‘What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, ‘The Son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How then does David in the Spirit call Him “Lord,” saying: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’”? If David then calls Him “Lord,” how is He his Son?’ And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.” New King James Version (NKJV)
“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:29-36 NKJV
“who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high… But to which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’?” Hebrews 1:3, 13 NKJV
“So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’ As He also says in another place: ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’;” Hebrews 5:5-6 NKJV
“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.” Hebrews 10:12-13 NKJV
“looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 NKJV
FURTHER READING
PSALM 110 IN EARLY CHRISTIAN SOURCES
Psalm 110:1 – Another Clear Testimony to Christ’s Deity Pt. 1
The Binitarian Nature of the Shema [Part 1]
DAVID’S MULTI-PERSONAL LORD PT. 2
APPEARANCE OF THE TRINITY TO ABRAHAM AND DAVID PT. 3
Revisiting the implications that Psalm 110 has on the divine identity of the Messiah Pt. 1