Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."
Very much a messianic psalm and the one most quoted in the New Testament, Psalm 110 begins with what is in some ways a rather cryptic statement, made worse in English by the double appearance of the word "Lord". The reason for this is that the Jews would, superstitiously, never say God's real name but would use the word LORD instead. It is important, then, to understand what David is saying in this verse. He is saying that the true, covenant God said something to a person who David calls "my lord" someone superior to him. Various combinations have been suggested but they all fall down at one point or another. The only way to make sense of this is to see that God is speaking to one who is King David's Lord and that must be, as the Jews in Jesus' day acknowledged, the Messiah. What God says is that David's Lord is to sit at his right hand - a place of honour and privilege and intimacy - until God makes his enemies a footstool for his feet. A footstool was often a feature of ancient thrones. It is a low piece of furniture on which the feet can be placed in rest. Victorious kings would sometimes symbolically put their feet on the necks of defeated foes. So here is the idea of victory and of rest after success in war and it is an image that belongs to Messiah. The victory he has won is, of course, redemption. He now sits at the Father's right hand in heaven with all his enemies fast coming under his feet. Not to recognise what is going on is to make a mistake of the first order. He cannot be resisted. We must all bow before him now. We all will one day.
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