Growing up, I didn’t really know anything about Pennsylvania Dutch culture or sayings. My mom’s parents were immigrants from Lithuania after World War 2 and my dad’s parents were ancestors of Germans who immigrated and settled in Western Maryland. Shortly after Katlyn and I started dating, I noticed there were some things different between her family and mine. But one of those things is that my mother-in-law would say the phrase: “It’s all.” I noticed she would say this when a jar of something was empty. But, it was strange to me: It’s all…what? Empty? Gone? Disgusting? What? 

To them, it was a normal saying. But to me, it was like a foreign language. And it can be that way for us with the Bible – we read something and to the early authors, it was a normal saying. But to us, 2,000 – 3,000 years removed from the context and situation, we find ourselves perplexed and unsure. That can mean that verses that meant a great deal to the early church seem confusing to us.

And since they seem confusing to us, we may not spend the time meditating on words that are meant to give us great hope and boldness in the face of challenges or when the world feels like it’s falling apart. Today, we’ll be looking at arguably the most important Psalm – at least in terms of how often the New Testament authors cite this one. It’s quoted or alluded to by Paul, Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and the author of Hebrews multiple times. That Psalm is Psalm 110 and it’s a Psalm that will give us a deep and powerful hope. That hope is our main point for today which is: Jesus is the priestly king who has conquered and will conquer sin and death.

Will you please stand with me, if you’re able, as we read Psalm 110?

Who is this King and what does he do?

This is a psalm of King David of Israel and verse 1 opens with an interesting statement: Yahweh (LORD) says to my lord. King David is recognizing that whoever Yahweh is speaking to is of even greater authority and power than David himself. We often have many ideas about who kings are and what they do but to grasp this Psalm, we need to understand who kings were in the Old Testament.

Originally, Israel was to have no king or ruler. Instead, God was to be their king – the one who they give their allegiance to, the one who gives them victory on the battlefield, and who cares for them. But in 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel desired to have a King like the nations around them. Despite Samuel’s warnings, the people doubled down and desired to have a king so God gave them a king: Saul.

King Saul and the kings after him were responsible for a few things:

·      Leading the armies of Israel into war against their enemies to secure the promised land

·      Model covenant faithfulness to the God of Israel, Yahweh, by leading people to obey the Law

·      Shepherding the hearts of the people of Israel and caring for the most vulnerable.

How did Israel’s kings do with these responsibilities? Not great. In 1 Samuel 15, King Saul disobeyed God’s explicit commands to totally destroy Israel’s enemies but instead he spared the best plunder. King David’s son, Solomon was the wisest man in the world but he disobeyed God’s covenant by marrying multiple foreign women who led his heart away from Yahweh. In Ezekiel 34, Ezekiel tells the leaders of Israel: “shepherds who have been feeding yourselves... the weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought.” Ezekiel 34 goes on to indict those leaders and God himself says he is against them.

So we can see that all the Kings of Israel miserably failed. On his own, King David didn’t see the future failures of his son, Solomon. So David, writing by the Spirit, already knew no king – not Saul before him nor the sons who would come after him could carry the weight of the true king that Psalm 110 describes. So, who is the true king?

If you’ve ever been let down by someone you trust: a parent, a friend, a spouse, you know how it feels to be Israel.

But, Matthew 22:41-46 gets us closer to who the true king is, let me read that now. Jesus is helping the religious leaders to see that this messianic king would be someone greater than David – all the human kings were too weak. Ezekiel 34 also picks up on this theme, God's response is direct: because Israel's shepherds failed, he says, 'I will search for the lost, I will bind up the injured, and I will tend the flock myself.'

Looking at the full biblical narrative, we see Jesus as the King that Psalm 110 and Ezekiel 34 points to. In Acts 2, Peter's Pentecost sermon argues the resurrection installed Jesus on this throne (Acts 2:34–36). Paul tells us what that throne is doing right now: 'he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet' — a reign still actively at work, with one enemy, death itself, still left to fall. Through this, Jesus’ kingdom is expanding out of Zion into the entire world through his people who offer themselves to their new king.

This is why Psalm 110 calls Jesus the true king: not one more failed ruler like Saul or Solomon, but the priestly king who has conquered and will conquer sin and death.

So if Jesus is the King but how do people get into his Kingdom? Do they just move someplace? That answer can be found in Psalm 110:4.

Who is the priest and what does he do?

In verse 4 of our Psalm, King David speaks that this person won’t just be a King – they’ll also be a priest – a priest who is in the order of Melchizedek. Now, Melchizedek is a curious character. In Genesis 14, Abram goes to battle against a couple of Kings who have kidnapped his nephew, Lot. God leads Abram’s household to victory and after the battle, Melchizedek comes to visit Abram. Genesis 14 says Melchizedek was a priest of the most high God and his name means King of Righteousness. He’s the King of Salem which also means king of peace. So, Melchizedek is a ruler or a king but he’s also a priest.

So, what do priests do?

In Israel, priests served vitally important functions – you could only be a priest in the tribe of Levi: they were to offer sacrifices and mediate atonement for the sins of the people, they were to teach the law, take care of the sanctuary, and bless the people of Israel. But like the kings of Israels, the priests also failed.

In 1 Samuel 2, Eli is a priest who has two sons: Hophni and Phinehas were priests too. And you know what they would do? They would take the best cuts of meat from the sacrificial animals by force. They didn’t care about God. The prophet Malachi also rebukes priests who give the worst animals for sacrifice, not the best. And once again, David speaking by the Spirit, looks forward to the day when God’s hand-picked King will also be a priest in the order of Melchizedek because he will not fail, he will be righteous. He will bring peace between God and man. Going a step further, the Psalm says: “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind” – meaning whoever this priest is, he is going to finish the job. He’s going to win.

Who then is this high priest? Well, according to Hebrews, the high priest is Jesus Christ himself. The author of Hebrews calls Jesus the high priest multiple times in the book. There are two areas I want us to draw out about Jesus as the high priest:

1.      Hebrews 2 and 4 tells us that he is a high priest who ascended into heaven and since he is human, he is merciful and empathetic towards our weaknesses.

2.    Hebrews 5 tells us the he is a high priest who was the sacrifice for the sins of his people. It goes deeper still: He was appointed priest by God's own oath — not because he sought the honor. And because he learned obedience through what he suffered, he's able to be the source of salvation for everyone who follows him.

Jesus Christ isn’t a far off distant being who doesn’t care about you. He’s not a god on top of the mountain. He’s the God of the mountain, who descended, and who did what we cannot do. This is why Psalm 110 calls him priest: not one more failed mediator like Hophni or Phinehas, but the priestly king who has conquered and will conquer sin and death.

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that I’m using the term “Priestly King” a lot today. Why is that necessary?

Why does the King need to be a priest too?

In Israel's law, you could be born a king, or you could be born a priest — but never both. If you came from Judah's family line, like David, you could rule, but you could never enter the priesthood — the priesthood belonged only to Levi's family line. It was that strict. So when Psalm 110 says one person will be both — a king from Judah's own line — it's not a small detail. It's saying: this person breaks a rule that had never been broken before, because he's not getting his priesthood the ordinary way, by birth. He's getting it the way Melchizedek did, before Levi's family line even existed — by God's own oath.

So, we now have these two incredible perspectives of Jesus: he’s the King in the Kingdom of God. As the King, he leads his people with care. The Kingdom of God is taking ground – just think how Jesus started with a few followers after his ascension to where we are today. But, Jesus is also the priest in the Kingdom of God. And he’s a perfect priest. I often say this when we celebrate communion but the Levitical priests would make sacrifice after sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people. But, Jesus is the perfect sacrifice – once and for all.

And since he’s at the right hand of the Father as King, he’s also at the right hand to continuously intercede (Hebrews 7:25) or to plead on your behalf as a priest - forever. He’s not going anywhere, he’s not giving up. He’s not getting tired of applying his blood to cover his people’s sin.

So the next time you sin, you don’t have to run from God. Jesus is ensuring that you receive forgiveness because he’s the priest but also as King, he’s given you the Spirit to form you to look more like Christ. You don’t need to hide from God, you need to go run to him because it’s only through him that you find the help you need.

So, we see that Jesus is the priestly king – he’s dealt with sin on the cross, he’s demonstrated his victory over Satan (Hebrews 2:15), and he’s defeated death but we still die. I know of many situations here today where we may rejoice in the victory of Christ but there are struggles with our kids, failures we feel as spouses, or illnesses that we’ve asked God to heal and yet, it seems like healing isn’t on the table for us. The Bible describes Jesus’ reign as our priestly king as a “Already / Not Yet reign.” Some theologians compare this idea to World War 2. When the Allies invaded France with the D-Day on June 6, 1944 – the decisive battle was already won and Germany knew it. But, Victory in Europe day didn’t come until May 1945. So between those two dates, people still died, homes were still destroyed, and pain was still felt.

So in a sense, we know Jesus has won but he’s also still winning which means there are hard things that happen. 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 says: “ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” Although we know that when we die, we shall rise with Christ – it’s still a reality in our world. Hard things happen to us. And because of that, we’re going to ask one final question that Psalm 110:5-7 wants us to see…

Whose side are you on?

I want to re-read verses 5-7 so we can sit with this hard text. PAUSE Do you realize how terrible that day will be? Most pastors, including myself, likely don’t talk about judgment enough and I think that may be a tragedy.

These verses should make us uncomfortable. “He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead, and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.” ESV: “The 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 earth.

On the day of his wrath, the enemies of Jesus do not stand a chance. The LORD will not change his mind like verse 4 says. As we sit in these harder verses, you may think: “This seems a bit harsh. Why would Jesus do this?” My friends, Psalm 110 is highlighting a day where the enemies of God refuse to bow down and serve him as Lord. His enemies aren’t saying: “Please, Lord, have mercy.” No, they’re actively going to war against Jesus. Revelation 19 gives us this full picture that the army of Satan doesn’t go: “Oh, we’re wrong. Forgive us, Jesus.” No, they go into battle hoping to defeat Jesus and do they? No.

Jesus completely and utterly defeats them. How do we know this? Verse 7 (Read it) – remember how I shared that my mother-in-law would say “It’s all” and I would have no idea. We likely have no idea what verse 7 means because it’s out of our context. In the old testament, drinking from a stream or a brook and lifting your head up high was to signify military victory. That means this priestly king will defeat his enemies.

If death itself couldn’t defeat Jesus, the rest of his enemies have no chance. So, the question I want you to ask yourself is this: whose side are you on today? And truly, whose side are you on? Search your heart.

Is Jesus your priestly king? Or are you his enemy? Do you do the right things like come to church but don’t really care about Jesus any other time of the week? Then, he’s not your King.  And to my struggling friends in the room, the ones who struggle to open their bibles or pray but you still love Jesus. you don't need to manufacture more devotion to earn his favor — he's already interceding for you, right now, as your priest. Keep pursuing him because he never stopped pursuing you. Psalm 110:3 gives us an idea of what the king’s army looks like: they’re people who are dressed in holy splendor. They’re people who are distinct, holy, and have a heart that is given to their King. Why have they given their heart to the King?

Because the King has given them himself. While we were enemies of God, in sin, Christ Jesus died for us.  We all face multiple problems in our lives – sicknesses, finance stressors, job dissatisfaction, and troubled relationship. But across the globe, every single human being shares the same problem: because of sin, we all die. Full-stop. And sin impacts us now – it slowly destroys us, damages our relationships, and decimates our communities. We can try harder, try to be good people, and try to love everyone through gritted teeth but we will fail.

Psalm 110 shows us that: Jesus is the priestly king who has conquered and will conquer sin and death. So, are you on his team or are you his enemy? The cross and the resurrection were the decisive battles that Jesus won and someday soon, he’ll return. Will you be arrayed in holy splendor or will you be crushed and judged?

If you’re unsure where you’re at today, today’s the day to decide. Please come talk to me after service if that’s you. There are also people in the back who would love to pray with you whether that’s you coming to faith in Christ today or you need prayer over a specific situation. PAUSE And if you are a follower of Jesus, today’s a day to rejoice in that – Jesus’ victory is guaranteed. No matter how dark things may appear, Jesus has already won the decisive battle, and the final victory is coming. Let us pray.