Why Psalm 110 Terrifies Modern Judaism

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]If Psalm 110 is not about the Messiah, then Jesus made a terrible argument. But if Jesus was right, then modern Judaism has a serious problem. Because this psalm does not merely say the Messiah will come from David. It presents someone David calls my Lord. Someone invited to sit at God's right hand.

[00:00:21]Someone who is both king and priest. So before anyone dismisses Jesus as a later Christian invention, there is one question that must be answered. Who exactly is David talking about? The psalm begins with these words. The Lord says to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a foottool for your feet." Now notice the problem. The psalm is introduced as a psalm of David.

[00:00:49]So David is speaking but David says the Lord says to my Lord. In other words, the God of Israel is speaking to someone David himself calls my Lord. That is already unusual because in Jewish expectation, the Messiah was known as the son of David. He would come from David's royal line. But if the Messiah is David's son, why does David call him Lord? A father does not normally call his son my Lord. An ancestor does not normally speak beneath his descendant.

[00:01:22]And this is exactly the question Jesus asked. In Matthew 22, Jesus asked the Pharisees, "What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?" They answered, "The son of David?" That was the expected answer. But then Jesus quoted Psalm 110 and asked, "If David calls him Lord, how is he his son?"

[00:01:44]And Matthew says no one could answer him a word. That silence matters.

[00:01:50]Jesus was not denying that the Messiah is David's son. He was pressing the question deeper. What kind of son of David is so great that David himself calls him Lord. This is why Psalm 110 is so powerful. It does not present the Messiah as a normal political ruler. It presents a figure who comes from David but is greater than David. A king from Israel yet seated at the right hand of God. And the psalm goes further. Verse four says, "You are a priest forever in the order of MelkiseDC."

[00:02:24]Now the figure is not only royal, he is priestly, but not a normal Levitical priest. He is connected to MelkiseDC, the mysterious priest king who appears in Genesis before the priesthood of Levi even exists.

[00:02:38]So Psalm 110 gives us three claims in one figure. David's Lord, God's right-hand ruler, a priest forever. That is not easy to explain away. Modern Jewish interpretations may say this psalm refers to David, Abraham, or another honored king. But the question remains, why does David call this figure my Lord? Why is this figure placed beside God's throne? And why is he called a priest forever? The early Christians did not invent this tension.

[00:03:11]They found it already sitting inside the Hebrew Bible. That is why Psalm 110 became one of the most important scriptures in the New Testament. Jesus used it. Peter used it. The book of Hebrews built a major argument from it.

[00:03:26]Because for the early followers of Jesus, this psalm explained exactly who Jesus is. He is the son of David by birth. He is Lord by identity, king by promise, and a priest by divine appointment. And now he is seated at God's right hand as the risen Messiah.

[00:03:44]So why does Psalm 110 trouble modern Judaism? Well, it's not because there are no alternative interpretations, but because the central question refuses to disappear. If the Messiah is only David's son, why does David call him Lord? If he is only an earthly king, why is he invited to sit at God's right hand? And if he is only political, why is he called a priest forever? Jesus did not create the difficulty. He exposed it. The words were already there. The question was already waiting. And when Jesus asked it, silence followed. Maybe that is the real power of Psalm 110.

[00:04:26]Sometimes the strongest argument is not a long explanation. Sometimes it is one question. If David calls him Lord, how is he merely his son? Now let me know your thoughts in the comment. See you in the next one.