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[0:00] Good morning, Messiah West. My name's Adam. Actually, I'm coming to you from Calvary Baptist Church. I'm not a pastor there. I'm part-time staff, though. I'm the small groups director there. And it's a pleasure to be with you again.

[0:16] And we were here last summer when Pastor Daniel was on break. And I have the pleasure of joining you and filling in for him one weekend then. And it's a pleasure to be with you again this morning.

[0:30] My understanding is that you guys are doing a series on the fifth book of the Psalter, the Book of Psalms. And the fifth book is the last book.

[0:42] And it's usually associated with a period of time where the exiles returned to Israel and looked forward to the restoration of Israel and the fulfillment of God's promises to David.

[0:55] The Psalms were the songbook of Israel, songs that they sung to worship God. At our house, we often sing from a hymnal. And I try to explain slowly what the language means.

[1:16] Because often these older hymns, they have language that's out of date. Sometimes even in hymns I know and love, I come across words or sometimes even entire verses where I need to guess or Google what the meaning is.

[1:35] And I think today's Psalm, Psalm 110, would have been kind of like that for the Israelites. I invite you to turn there now. Psalm 110. It's a Psalm Nisa read just now.

[1:55] My Bible has very sticky pages, so if you'll excuse me. Psalm 110. It's written by King David, who's looking forward in this Psalm to the Messiah, the Savior of Israel.

[2:13] It celebrates the Messiah and celebrates his future victories. And that's clear. But as we go through each verse, I suspect that for the Israelites even, things would have been confusing, even to that original audience.

[2:30] Part of that's the expectations that Israel would have had. When the Psalter was compiled, the Israelites would have been looking forward to a kingdom with sovereignty and prosperity like they had under King David.

[2:43] But God's plan of salvation was greater than that. God's plan of salvation was perfect, promising a king and a kingdom that went far beyond Israel's expectations.

[2:58] God's plan of salvation is fulfilled in Jesus. And today I'd like us to see what this Psalm says about Jesus and to worship Jesus for his greatness and perfections.

[3:10] I've got five points if you've got your liturgy handout and you want to fill them out. Five points. First, Jesus is greater than a human Savior.

[3:23] He's greater than a human Savior. Second, Jesus is a perfect king. So he's a perfect king. Point three, Jesus is the perfect way to God.

[3:36] He's the perfect way to God. Point four, Jesus will bring about perfect justice. He'll bring about perfect justice. And point five, Jesus will come in perfect victory.

[3:48] So he's greater than a human Savior. He's the perfect king. He's the perfect way to God. He will bring about perfect justice. And he will come in perfect victory.

[4:01] Before we start, why don't I pray for our time in God's word. Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing yourself to us.

[4:12] Thank you for revealing Jesus to us. Thank you that you are a God who speaks. Thank you for your Holy Spirit. And may he be illuminating your word to us this morning.

[4:26] May he help us to understand what it says and delight in Jesus Christ. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So point one is Jesus is greater than a human Savior.

[4:40] So King Charles III is the current king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And his wife Camilla is the queen consort.

[4:53] From my understanding, in formal situations, Prince William and Princess Catherine must refer to queen consort Camilla, who's their stepmother, mother-in-law, as your majesty.

[5:06] But when Charles passes away, William will be king. At which point, Camilla will refer to her stepson and stepdaughter-in-law as your majesty.

[5:21] That seems funny to me. It seems odd to refer to your stepson as your majesty. And here in our text today, there's something similarly odd.

[5:32] Look at verse 1. Verse 1, it says, The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

[5:45] In this first verse, we've got two characters. There's the Lord with it being in all caps L-O-R-D. That's referring to God. When you see that L-O-R-D, that's God's covenant name, the I am who I am.

[6:01] So God is speaking. And he says to my Lord, someone who David refers to as his Lord. This is a psalm about the Messiah, the Davidic king promised to David in 2 Samuel chapter 7, where it says in verse 12, When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

[6:33] He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. So, in 2 Samuel, it says that the Messiah was to be the son of David.

[6:45] Of course, King Solomon, Solomon's David's son and successor, he would go on to have a great time of great prosperity and build a physical temple in Jerusalem.

[6:59] But Israel's understanding and hope was that a future king in the line of David would come and establish an eternal kingdom. And it's that king, that savior, that God is speaking to in verse 1, and who David refers to as Lord.

[7:21] The word there, Lord, is often used to refer to God, and it's also used to refer to human beings when they occupy an important position.

[7:31] But in the Bible, referring to someone as Lord means that the person is greater than you. And so, if the Savior is David's son, it's striking and odd that David would refer to him as Lord.

[7:48] Now, that's not just my opinion. That was Jesus' opinion. Jesus asks the people in Jerusalem in Mark chapter 12, verse 35 to 37. If you want to turn there, Mark chapter 12.

[8:09] Verse 35. So, Jesus is talking in Jerusalem, and he says, How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?

[8:20] David himself and the Holy Spirit declared, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. Jesus asks, David himself calls him Lord.

[8:32] So, how is he his son? Jesus wants us to see that David knew that this Messiah would not only be from his family tree, but would be much greater than him.

[8:47] On top of that, on top of how striking it is that David calls the Messiah Lord, it's striking that God tells the Messiah that he will sit at God's right hand.

[9:01] The right hand is a position of great authority. So, is this right hand just referring to the throne in Jerusalem? The author of Hebrews doesn't think so.

[9:14] In Hebrews chapter 1, talking about how Jesus is much greater than angels, the author asks in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 13, And to which of the angels has he, has God ever said, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?

[9:33] So, God telling the Messiah to sit at his right hand was more than just a call to a normal position of authority.

[9:45] The Messiah is here prophesied to be the one who will somehow be the son of David, but greater than David, and the king of God's people, but also occupy a position of even greater authority.

[9:58] How can that be? The New Testament tells us the Messiah is God. He is both truly God, God become flesh, and truly man, born in the family tree of David.

[10:15] He lived a perfect life, died and rose again, and as we declared, he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. The right hand is not just the throne in Jerusalem, but the throne in heaven.

[10:30] Turn to Acts chapter 2. At Pentecost, David declares, verse 32 of Acts chapter 2, This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses.

[10:51] Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

[11:02] For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

[11:13] Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. People of Israel were looking forward to another David, but in Psalm 110, God tells us that the Messiah will not just be another David, but greater than David.

[11:38] What about us? What kind of Savior are we looking for? Do we find ourselves looking for mere Davids? Or are we worshiping and trusting the greater David?

[11:53] There are so many, to use Tim Keller's language, counterfeit saviors that we are tempted to put our trust in. Whether it's political figures, celebrities, or spiritual leaders.

[12:09] We have to know that there's only one true Savior, Jesus Christ. And Jesus calls us to believe in him. He said to his disciples in John chapter 14, verse 1, before he died, he said, Let not your hearts be troubled.

[12:23] Believe in God. Believe also in me. And today, church, may we stop looking for Davids, but worship and trust in the greater David.

[12:37] Jesus is greater than a human Savior. Point two, Jesus is a perfect king. King David's reign was a golden age in the time of Israel.

[12:54] It was marked with great prosperity and many victories over Israel's enemies. However, his reign was not always a happy one. As an example, at one point, David's son Absalom, it says in the Bible, he stole the hearts of the men of Israel and started a rebellion, which resulted in a battle which took out the lives of 200,000, no, 20,000 men in Israel, including David's own son.

[13:21] David's reign, while very impressive, was imperfect. Jesus' reign is perfect, and he is the perfect king.

[13:32] What does a perfect reign look like? Well, we don't have a king here in... Well, we do have a king in Canada, but we also have...

[13:45] The governing is done by the government. And not to get too political, but I'm sure our prime minister, Mark Carney, would love it if his... He had success in the midst of his opposition, if he had cooperation from others, and an energetic tenure.

[14:03] He'd love it if he was able to govern successfully, despite threats from the opposition parties and conflict with other countries, if he had cooperation from his caucus, from the provinces and the general public, and if his work as prime minister was seen as energetic and productive.

[14:24] Well, here in Psalm 110, David describes the Messiah's reign. Look at verses 1 to 3. It says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

[14:43] The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power.

[14:54] In holy garments from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours. Translators and commentators find a lot of the language difficult to interpret, but the general picture is of the Messiah reigning with success, a perfect king.

[15:15] He has victory over his enemies. Verse 1 says that God will make the Messiah's enemies his footstool. He'll put them under his feet. And verse 2 says that his reign will extend from Jerusalem.

[15:29] The scepter will go out from Zion. And David says to the Messiah, Rule in the midst of your enemies. So the Messiah's reign will not be stopped by opposition.

[15:44] Also, the Messiah will have complete allegiance from his people. Verse 3 says that the people will offer themselves freely to the Messiah. One commentator describes it as a host of volunteers rallying to their leader in a holy war.

[16:04] And the Messiah himself will reign with youthful vigor. Verse 3 says that in holy garments, in holy garments from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.

[16:17] So, the New Living Translation paraphrases it, you are arrayed in holy garments, and your strength will be renewed each day like the morning dew.

[16:32] The picture is of a king who reigns with vitality, with energy, and with vigor. So that's victory, allegiance, vitality.

[16:42] Is that what we think of when we think of Jesus? When we think of Jesus' reign? We Christians today live in what the theologians call the already, but not yet.

[16:56] So we look forward to a day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and when we'll live with Jesus, who will be the light that fills the world forever and ever.

[17:10] But, in the meanwhile, before eternity, it can be tempting to think that Jesus is not in control, that his enemies are winning.

[17:20] We look at wars around the world and bad influences around us and around our children who attempt to draw us away from Jesus. We're tempted to believe that maybe Jesus is sleeping, or at least unproductive.

[17:35] But King Jesus reigns, and he works, and he's for us in this age right now. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, and he is with us always until the end of the age.

[17:50] If you are troubled today, may you know that Jesus is king, that Jesus reigns. As he says in John chapter 16, verse 33, I've said these things to you that in me you may have peace, in the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

[18:12] So church, let us take heart, and then in response, let us offer ourselves freely to Jesus to do his work, to live lives that glorify him, lives of worship.

[18:24] And while we pray that God's kingdom come, Jesus is king right now. Jesus is greater than a human savior.

[18:36] He's the perfect king. And point three, Jesus is the perfect way to God. David's son Solomon, he built a temple where the priests offered sacrifices on behalf of the people.

[18:52] But here in Psalm 110, we get glimpses of what will be revealed when the Messiah comes. Look at verse four. Verse four, it says, the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

[19:14] Notice three things. The Messiah will not just be a king, but will be a priest king who acts as a mediator between God and man. Also, the Messiah will be an eternal priest.

[19:28] His priesthood will have no end. And finally, he won't be a Levitical priest. Israel already had priests, priests from the tribe of Levi, who would offer sacrifices to the Lord.

[19:41] God here says, I'm going to give you a better priest after the order of Melchizedek. To understand the reference to Melchizedek, you'll need to understand in at least a little bit Genesis chapter 14.

[19:59] You guys can turn there now. Genesis chapter 14.

[20:12] Abraham's nephew, Lot, settled in Sodom and he found himself in the middle of a war. And the enemies take him captive, so Abraham goes and rescues Lot.

[20:24] And later, the king of Sodom goes to greet Abraham and a man named Melchizedek joins. It says in chapter 14, verse 18, it says, And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine.

[20:40] He was priest of God most high. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by God most high, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God most high, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

[20:55] And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. everything. This is really weird. We see very early on a priest of God who is also a king whose origin and lineage is not identified.

[21:09] Which is very strange, especially for the book of Genesis. God says in Psalm 110 that the Messiah will be like Melchizedek.

[21:21] Verse 4 says that this is an oath from God. The author of Hebrews explains this in Hebrews chapter 7. You guys can turn there.

[21:35] Hebrews chapter 7. Verse 22. Verse 22.

[21:53] It says, This makes Jesus the guarantor of a greater covenant. The former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever.

[22:08] Consequently, he is able to save to the othermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.

[22:21] See, the old system of priests and animal sacrifices could never remove our sin. And that's the point. The point of the system was to point us to our need for salvation and our need for a greater savior.

[22:38] In the old system, priests just kept on offering sacrifices over and over and over again. Jesus Christ, the priest king in the order of Melchizedek, offered himself as a sacrifice once for all.

[22:54] He was raised from the dead and he's now our living great high priest continuing to intercede on our behalf before the Father. The old system was meant to point us to a greater way to God and Jesus through his priesthood and his sacrifice offers a greater covenant with God.

[23:14] Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the perfect way to God. That's what David is trying to tell us in Psalm 110.

[23:27] The Messiah will be this perfect way to God and today, like the author of Hebrews, I urge you to put your trust in no other way. Do not put your trust in your good works, in your religious rituals, in some kind of sacramental system.

[23:45] Our relationship with God is secured through the work of Christ alone, received through faith alone. And because Jesus is the perfect way to God, we can worship him.

[23:56] Jesus takes away our sins as far as the east is from the west. And that's great news because, point four, Jesus will bring about perfect justice.

[24:13] Someone I know heard him say that they want to follow Jesus, but they find it hard to read the Bible because it's so violent. And it is hard.

[24:25] Look at verse five. Verse five and six says, Lord is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses.

[24:40] He will shatter chiefs over the wide world. The psalmist now, David, turns to the work of the Messiah. The Messiah at the right hand of God the Father is a wrathful king.

[24:53] And he is described here as destroying his enemies, executing perfect judgment and filling the nations with the bodies of his enemies. This is supposed to be good news.

[25:09] We're very blessed to be in a time of relative peace, peace not enjoyed by people all around the world or by those who came before us in history.

[25:19] And so usually we find it hard to understand how you could celebrate the slaughter of your enemies. But David, during his days, was surrounded by enemies who posed a serious threat to him and his people.

[25:35] And because of this threat, Israel was better able to see the seriousness of sin and the goodness of justice. Justice is good if there's a terrorist or a school shooter and he's taken out before they can kill people, that's cause for celebration.

[25:56] So we should worship God because of his justice and his wrath. We should worship him that he will ensure that evil is punished. We can also acknowledge, though, that justice is scary because we're all sinners.

[26:13] You know, if we think about it, we know the evil in our hearts. We know that we are, by nature, God's enemies and that we deserve to be treated by him as such. And justice should, therefore, make us appreciate grace all the more.

[26:28] Grace is what God offers us in Christ. Instead of hell, God offers us eternal life. Instead of punishment, he offers us his blessing.

[26:39] Instead of his wrath, he offers us his love. The other week, influential pastor John MacArthur died and he went to be with Jesus.

[26:52] And back in 2005, he was on the Larry King show on CNN on a panel about the afterlife and he was asked where we go when we die. He said, one of two places, either outside of the presence of God forever or into the presence of God forever.

[27:10] And if it's into, he said, only through faith in Jesus Christ. So Larry King asked, so a bad guy believes in Jesus and he goes to heaven and a good guy who doesn't goes to hell.

[27:23] He said, that doesn't sound just. MacArthur responded, Larry, we don't want justice. Justice sends everybody to hell.

[27:36] We need grace. We need forgiveness. We need mercy. friends, if any of you do not know God's grace, he offers it to you this morning.

[27:53] The day of wrath will come and all who have faith in the Messiah and Jesus Christ will be saved. Turn from your sins and believe in Jesus.

[28:05] If you want to talk more about what it means to be saved from your sins, please talk to me after the service or talk to one of the leaders of this church. For those of us who are Christians, may we rejoice that Jesus is the Savior of true justice and may it remind us of how great his love and mercy is towards us who have been shown amazing grace.

[28:30] Jesus is greater than a human Savior. He's the perfect king. He's the perfect way to God. He will bring about perfect justice. And finally, Jesus will come in perfect victory.

[28:45] In the Old Testament, David defeated Goliath and then he was returning back and he was greeted with singing and dancing. But if you recall, this victory over the Philistines did not lead to peace for David or for Israel.

[29:01] It actually began a conflict between David and the king at the time, King Saul. It also didn't end the conflicts between Israel and the Philistines.

[29:11] The very next chapter, we see David being sent out again to fight against the armies of the Philistines. And he kept fighting them his entire reign. As king, David did not, David did bring many victories over the surrounding peoples.

[29:31] But here in Psalm 110, we see that David looks forward to a Savior who will have even greater victory. Look at verse 7. Verse 7 says, He will drink from the brook by the way, therefore he will lift up his head.

[29:48] So this verse shows us the Messiah pausing to drink from brooks and then lifting up his head refreshed with vigor and power. Commentators differ on whether this is, this seems to be in the context of a battle, but it's unclear whether this is before or during or after.

[30:08] But it's clear that the Messiah is a king who will be mighty to save and who will conquer over his enemies and bring true victory. The New Living Translation paraphrases it, but he himself will be refreshed from brooks along the way.

[30:25] He will be victorious. The Messiah will be victorious. Jesus will come again in perfect victory. He's already declared that it is finished on the cross and he bowed his head.

[30:39] He rose again on the third day and declared that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to him. And in Revelation chapter 19 it says in verse 11, then I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse, the one sitting on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

[30:59] verse 15 it says, from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron and he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

[31:12] On his robe and on his thighs he has a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus will come back in perfect victory and we can look forward to his return when peace will reign and where we will be free from the presence of sin and death forever.

[31:36] And we can cry out we can cry out now Maranatha come Lord Jesus. And in the meanwhile in the already but not yet there is victory available available to us today.

[31:50] Victory over death, victory over the punishment of sin over the power of sin and that should lead us to worship Jesus worshiping him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

[32:05] There is victory in Jesus now and more in the future. Jesus will bring about perfect victory. Jesus is greater than a human savior.

[32:18] He is the perfect king. He is the perfect way to God. He will bring about perfect justice and he will come in perfect victory. Now those who initially sang David's psalm or sung it when the psalter was compiled did not get to see the appearing of the Messiah.

[32:39] But now we can see and hopefully have seen today in scripture how Jesus Christ came and how his greatness and perfections fulfill this psalm.

[32:52] So may it cause us to worship him with hearts that rejoice in the revelation of his perfections. Let's pray. Heavenly Father thank you for Jesus.

[33:06] We thank you for how great he is and how perfect salvation he has brought. We thank you that he is the perfect savior. Thank you that through him death has been defeated and we can through him know eternal life.

[33:23]  May we trust in him and him alone and may we worship you with hearts full of thanksgiving. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.