The Father’s Passion for the Son’s Glory

“The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion; rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people shall be willing in the day of your power”.

The text quoted is found in the most-quoted Psalm in the New Testament: Psalm 110. Our Lord Jesus used this text in His debate with the Pharisees in Matthew 22:44 to prove that the Son of David was simultaneously the Lord of David.

How could that be so? Well, according to Christ, the Son of David is the Lord of David because the Son of David is God.

Who is this Son of David, then?

Matthew’s Gospel gives us three clues:

- Two blind men shout out in Matthew 9:27, “Have mercy upon us, Son of David!”

- A Canaanite woman with a possessed daughter in Matthew 15:22 cries aloud, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

- The young men raised their voices saying, “Hosanna, Son of David” on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:15).

Again, who is this Son of David? The three texts attest that the Son of David is the Lord Jesus Christ.

So Psalm 110 kicks off by saying, “The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool”.

Or, in trinitarian language (as Acts 2:35 and Hebrews 1:13 allow us), “The Father said unto the Son: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool”.

God the Father is passionate about the glory of God the Son. He wants to exalt Him. And how does He do this?

Two ways!

The first way is recorded in the second verse of the Psalm, “The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion”. God the Father conquers His Son’s enemies by the power of Christ’s rod of strength.

What is this rod? It is the inerrant Word of God i.e. Sacred Scripture, Christ’s Book. By means of the public proclamation of Holy Scripture, God brings His enemies to the feet of the Son.

The second way appears in verse number three, “Your people shall be willing in the day of your power”. The power of the Lord is the Spirit, namely, the blessed Third Person of the Godhead.

The day of Christ’s power occurs when the Spirit, acting upon the preached Word, blows secretly in the hearts of His adversaries, leading them to embrace Christ with fervent love.

Rebels come to relish themselves in the blessed Saviour.

Application

Today let us give thanks to the Lord God Almighty if we are believers in Jesus Christ. We trust Christ because the Word of God and the Spirit of God worked effectually in us, bringing us from spiritual death to life.

God gave us a new heart that delights in His Son.

So let us offer ourselves willingly unto the Most High this day, praising Him for the precious person and work of the King of glory, Jesus Christ.

May God ablaze in our souls the same passion that He has for His Son’s exaltation and glory!