Psalms 110:4

The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. THE LORD HATH SWORN, AND WILL NOT REPENT, THOU ART A PRIEST FOREVER AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK - who in Zion ("Salem," ) united the priestly with the kingly office. David could bring judgment on his people, but could not effect an atonement and reconciliation (). He was not a priest. The Son of David, our ever continuing Priest (as contrasted with the Aaronic priests, ever needing, through death, renewal) puts away the sin of His people (God's hand having been against Him instead of against us), so that they wear the holy garment of His perfectly imputed righteousness, and shall be finally sanctified wholly. God Himself "swears" irrevocably ...

4_Jehovah hath sworn _This verse is a satisfactory proof that the person here spoken of is none other than Christ. When the Jews, with the view of mystifying this prediction, render the term כוהן, _chohen, a prince, _their translation is at once feeble and frivolous. I acknowledge, indeed, that those of noble descent or of royal blood are in Hebrew denominated כהנים, _chohanim; _but would it have been saying any thing to the honor of Christ for David merely to give to him the title of a chief, which is inferior to that of royal dignity? Besides, what would be the import of saying that he was a prince for ever, and according to the manner of Melchizedek? There can be no question then, that the Holy Ghost here refers to something specific and peculiar, as distinguishing and separating this king from all other kings. This, too, is the well known title with which Melch

Verse Psalms 110:4. _THE LORD HATH SWORN_] Has most firmly purposed, and will most certainly perform it, feeling himself bound by his _purpose_, as an _honest man_ would by his _oath_. _AND WILL NOT REPENT_] Will never change this purpose; it is perfectly without condition, and without contingency. Nothing is left here to the will of man or angel. Christ shall be incarnated, and the Gospel of his salvation shall be preached over the whole earth. This is an _irresistible decree_ of that God who loves mankind. _THOU_ ART _A PRIEST FOR EVER_] The word כהן _cohen_ signifies, not only a _priest_, but also a _prince_; as, in the patriarchal times, most heads of families had and exercised both _political_ and _sacerdotal authority_ over all their descendants. Every priest

THE LORD HATH SWORN - He has confirmed the appointment of the Messiah by a solemn oath, or as by an oath. That is, It is as sure and fixed as if he had taken an oath. Compare Hebrews 6:13. The “time,” so to speak, if the word time can be applied to transactions in a past eternity, was that when he was designated in the divine purpose as Messiah; in the eternal counsels of God. Compare Psalms 2:7. AND WILL NOT REPENT - Will not change his purpose. THOU ART A PRIEST FOREVER AFTER THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK - The word rendered “order” here means properly a word, a thing, a matter; hence, a way or manner. The meaning here is, that he would be a priest “after the manner” of Melchizedek; or, such a priest

EXPOSITION ACCORDING to the recent criticism, which calls itself "advanced," this psalm is the composition of an unknown prophet, addressed to his earthly sovereign, communicating to him certain Divine utterances, or oracles (Psalms 110:1, Psalms 110:5), of great weight and strangeness, and promising him complete victory over all his enemies. The king is supposed by some to be David; by others, a Davidic monarch; by others, again, a Maccabee prince or king. According to its "title," it is "a Psalm of David;" according to our Lord's comment upon it, it is an address of David to the Messiah; according to every Christian commentator for fifteen centuries, it is Messianic and Davidic. Even Professor Cheyne, who inclines so strongly to the skeptical school, grants that "it may pe

THE LORD HATH SWORN, AND WILL NOT REPENT,.... What he swore about, and did not repent of, was the priesthood of Christ, as follows; and which shows the importance of it, since when Jehovah swears, as it is by himself, because he can swear by no greater; so it is about matters of great moment only that are sworn to by the Lord, as this of the priesthood of Christ was; which was concerned in things pertaining to God and his glory, as well as in making reconciliation for the sins of his people: and it shows the truth, and was for the confirmation of it; since doubts might arise whether the Aaronic priesthood was changed, seeing it was given to Phinehas for an everlasting priesthood; and since so great a person as the Son of God is said to be a priest; and since, in the human nature, he was of the tribe of Judah, of which tribe nothing was said concerning the priesthood: and this oath was no...

Psalms 110:1. _The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies._ You do not need a comment upon this Psalm when you remember how our Lord himself applied it to himself. It is David speaking concerning the Son of David, who is also David's Lord and our King, who at this hour is sitting at the right hand of Jehovah, the Lord of all; waiting until his monarchy shall be extended visibly over all creation. Psalms 110:3. _Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth._ Christ, like the rising sun, shall not come alone in his bright

REPENT (_ See Scofield) - (Zechariah 8:14). _...

Psalms 110 The Psalm of the King-Priest _ 1. His person, exaltation and waiting (Psalms 110:1)_ 2. His manifestation and His glory (Psalms 110:2) 3. His judgment and His glory (Psalms 110:5) Seven verses only, but what revelations and depths we find here! The Psalm is frequently quoted in the New Testament. Who is the person of whom the first verse testifies? Here is the critics' answer. “Is the Psalm Messianic? Looking at it by itself, and without prepossession, one would not say that it is, for the writer has in mind some actual ruler of his own day, and his references are to events of his own times”

CX. We may with some confidence refer this Ps. to 141 B.C., when Simon the Maccabee prince was accepted by the people as supreme Governor, though he was not a descendant of David, and as High Priest, though he was not a descendant of Aaron's first-born (see 1Ma_14:35). To Jonathan first the double dignity belonged. But Simon owed his dignity as High Priest to his own people, and not, like his brother Jonathan, to the favour of a foreign potentate (p. 608). The idea of supreme priesthood and supreme secular rule over Judah being united in the same person does not appear elsewhere in the OT except in Jeremiah 30:21, a very late and possibly a Maccabean passage. These arguments are clinched by the fact that the oracle beginning Sit thou forms an acrostic on Simon's name. The Maccabees only needed a prophetic sanction for their inevitable changes in the constitution (1Ma_14:41 ff.), and the