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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Because often these older hymns, they have language that's out of date.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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Before we start, why don't I pray for our time in God's word.
Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing yourself to us.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Verse 35.
So, Jesus is talking in Jerusalem, and he says,
How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
So, God telling the Messiah to sit at his right hand was more than just a call to a normal position of authority.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Believe in God.
Believe also in me.
And today, church, may we stop looking for Davids,
but worship and trust in the greater David.
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.
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.
David's reign, while very impressive, was imperfect.
Jesus' reign is perfect,
and he is the perfect king.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The picture is of a king who reigns
with vitality,
with energy,
and with vigor.
So that's victory,
allegiance,
vitality.
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.
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.
But,
in the meanwhile,
before eternity,
it can be tempting to think
that Jesus is not in control,
that his enemies are winning.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And while we pray
that God's kingdom come,
Jesus is king right now.
Jesus is greater than a human savior.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You guys can turn there now.
Genesis chapter 14.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Which is very strange,
especially for the book of Genesis.
God says in Psalm 110
that the Messiah
will be like Melchizedek.
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.
Hebrews chapter 7.
Verse 22.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Grace is what God
offers us in Christ.
Instead of hell,
God offers us
eternal life.
Instead of punishment,
he offers us
his blessing.
Instead of his wrath,
he offers us
his love.
The other week,
influential pastor
John MacArthur
died and he went
to be with Jesus.
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.
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.
He said,
that doesn't sound
just.
MacArthur
responded,
Larry,
we don't want justice.
Justice sends
everybody to hell.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
There is victory
in Jesus now
and more
in the future.
Jesus will bring about
perfect victory.
Jesus is greater than
a human savior.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.