Psalm 110 Overview
Sit at my right side
Psalm 110
Welcome to the Overview of Psalm 110
This page will introduce and provide orientation to Psalm 110 as a whole. It includes the following sections:
Introduction to Psalm 110
Author
- David
Book
- Book 5 of the Psalter (Chapters 107–150)
Psalm 110 in Brief
- This psalm presents a startling picture of the enemy kings being violently smashed, and their nations filled with corpses, as the first step to YHWH and his promised king reigning over these nations. YHWH vows to extend this king’s reign from Zion throughout the wide world; in the words of Ps 2, to the ends of the earth. YHWH does this for the king whom he invites to sit next to him, sharing YHWH’s own throne. This king is one whom David addresses as his superior: a descendant of his who will nonetheless be greater than he is, because he will receive the eternal and universal promises YHWH has made. This descendant will be greater not only in the extent of his kingdom, but also in his relationship to YHWH: he will be both priest and king, having immediate access to YHWH and receiving assurance of success because YHWH, himself, will do battle against his enemies.
“Sit at My Right Side” This title is a memorable phrase that helps remember the unique character and content of this psalm.
- A way to remember this Psalm is with the phrase, "Sit at my right side!" With these words God invites a human king, from the line of David, to join him, sharing YHWH’s throne, to reign over the earth together.
Purpose The Purpose was the psalmist's probable intent or reason for writing this psalm.
- To assure the king of his certain success.
Content The Content is a concise summary of the whole psalm's content.
- YHWH will subdue your enemies and extend your dominion!
Message The Message is the main idea the psalmist probably wanted the audience to remember upon or after hearing the psalm.
- YHWH will give universal dominion to his king (cf. Ps. 2).
Psalm 110 At-a-Glance
These sections divide the content of the psalm into digestible pieces , and are determined based on information from many of our layers, including Semantics, Poetics, and Discourse. The columns, left to right, contain: the verse numbers; the main title of the section; a brief summary of the content of that section (quote marks indicate the text is taken directly from the English text of the psalm (as per our Close-but-Clear translation); and an icon to visually represent and remember the content.
Background Orientation for Psalm 110
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
Background Orientation for Psalm 110
Following are the common-ground assumptionsCommon-ground assumptions include information shared by the speaker and hearers. In our analysis, we mainly use this category for Biblical/Ancient Near Eastern background. which are the most helpful for making sense of the psalm.
- David is a prophet (cf. 2 Sam. 23:1–7; Acts 2:29–30; David's Compositions; cf. Kugel "David the Prophet" 1990).
- To sit at YHWH's right side implies access to YHWH's presence as a priest.
- Melchizedek was both the king of the ancient city of Jerusalem/Zion and a priest of El-Elyon (see Gen. 14:18ff).
- Drinking foreign water is a gesture of dominance (cf. 2 Kgs. 19:24 // Isa. 37:25; cf. von Nordheim 108).
- A king's conquest is ultimately the work of the king's god (cf. 1 Kgs. 5:3; cf. Neo-Assyrian royal prophecies in Hilber 2005 and Nissinen 2019).
Background Situation for Psalm 110
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Background Situation for Psalm 110
The background situation is the series of events leading up to the time in which the psalm is spoken. These are taken from the story triangle – whatever lies to the left of the star icon.
Participants in Psalm 110
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