Hi First Presbyterian Church, 

It’s time for our Mid-Week Meet-Up! You might not know it, but this weekend is our next Faith Forward retreat. It’s been a year since our consultant Kevin Ford last facilitated a retreat with our Vision Team, and we’re meeting this weekend to discuss our progress on our strategic plan. I wrote about it in my newsletter article for February, so be on the lookout for the newsletter if you’d like to know more. 

It’s Day 136 of our one-year Bible-reading plan! We’ve are currently reading our way through 1-2 Samuel, the Gospel of John, and the Psalms and Proverbs. I wanted to reflect with you today about Psalm 110, which we read on Monday. This particular Psalm is one of the most quoted Old Testament texts in the New Testament. If you are having trouble understanding how the Old Testament speaks to the same truth and grace of God revealed in the New Testament, this Psalm will help us to understand how Jesus and the early Christians were reading the Old Testament. Let’s take a look. 

The Psalm seems to be talking about a king (who rules with a mighty scepter, v. 2) who is also a priest (“You are a priest forever…,” v. 4). Who is this Psalm about? Well, in the title of the Psalm it says it is a Psalm “of David.” The Israelites would have understood that this Psalm was written by David about David. Here’s the only perplexing part - David never served as both a priest and a king. In fact, the only person who comes closest to this description is the person mentioned in v. 4 - Melchizedek. Who is Melchizedek? Well, he is mentioned in the book of Genesis 18, and he’s not even an Israelite! He lives in Jerusalem before that city belonged to the Israelites. He’s called a king and a priest (Genesis 14:18). He meets Abram while he’s following God into the Promised Land, and Melchizedek blesses Abram when he meets him. That last detail is important, because, in the ancient world, only someone with greater authority can give a blessing to another person. Melchizedek is greater than Abram. So… why is this Melchizedek being invoked in Psalm 110? What is this Psalm about? 

When Jesus read this Psalm, he didn’t see David in it - he saw himself. Jesus said that when the Psalm says, “The Lord said to my lord…,” the Psalm is talking about the Messiah (Matthew 22:41-46). Likewise,  the apostle Peter said that this Psalms refers to the ascension of Jesus into heaven after his resurrection (Acts 2:34-35). And in the Letter to the Hebrews, the author says that Jesus himself is the “priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” Melchizedek blessed Abram and, by extension, all the Israelites would descend from him. Likewise, Jesus is greater than all the promises and covenants made to Israel through Abraham and Moses (Hebrews 7). Jesus himself is the priest and king that Psalm 110 describes.  

I guess here’s my point about what Psalm 110 helps us to see about the Old Testament. Even when it’s not apparent (as in the case of this Psalm) and in ways we don’t expect, the Old Testament eventually leads us to Jesus. That’s the point of the Old Testament. It should leave us longing and hoping for someone like Jesus to come, which he did. Thank God.  

Peace to you,

Pastor Aaron