Psalms 110:4

Psalm 110:4 . The Lord hath sworn — He did not swear in constituting the Aaronical priesthood, Hebrews 7:21 , but did here, that it might appear to all mankind that this priesthood was made irrevocable, which that of Aaron was not. Thou art a priest — As well as a king. Those offices, which were divided before between two families, are both united and invested in thee, both being absolutely necessary for the establishment of thy kingdom, which is of a nature totally different from the kingdoms of this world, being spiritual and heavenly, and therefore requires such a king as is also a minister of holy things. For ever — Not to be interrupted or translated to another person, as the priesthood of Aaron was upon the death of the priest, but to be continued to thee for ever. After the order of Melchisedek — Or, after the manner, &c.; that is, so as he was a priest and also a king, and both without any successor and without end, in the sense intended, Hebrews 7:3 .

4 The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. We have now reached the heart of the Psalm, which is also the very centre and soul of our faith. Our Lord Jesus is a Priest-King by the ancient oath of Jehovah: "he glorified not himself to be made a high priest," but was ordained thereunto from of old, and was called of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. It must be a solemn and a sure matter which leads the Eternal to swear, and with him an oath fixes and settles the decree for ever; but in this case, as if to make assurance a thousand times sure, it is added, "and will not repent." It is done, and done for ever and ever; Jesus is sworn in to be the priest of his people, and he must abide so even to the end, because his commission is sealed by the unchanging oath of the immutable Jehovah. If his priesthood could be revoked, and his authority removed, it would be the end of all hope and life for the people whom he loves; but this sure rock is the basis of our security - the oath of God establishes our glorious Lord both in his priesthood and in his throne. It is the Lord who has constituted him a priest for ever, he has done it by oath, that oath is without repentance, is taking effect now, and will stand throughout all ages: hence our security in him is placed beyond all question.

The declaration runs in the present tense as being the only time with the Lord, and comprehending all other times. "Thou art," i.e., thou wast and art, and art to come, in all ages a priestly King. The order of Melchizedek's priesthood was the most ancient and primitive, the most free from ritual and ceremony, the most natural and simple, and at the same time the most honourable. That ancient patriarch was the father of his people, and at the same time ruled and taught them; he swayed both the sceptre and the censer, reigned in righteousness, and offered sacrifice before the Lord. There has never arisen another like to him since his days, for whenever the kings of Judah attempted to seize the sacerdotal office they were driven back to their confusion; God would have no king-priest save his son. Melchizedek's office was exceptional; none preceded or succeeded him; he comes upon the page of history mysteriously; no pedigree is given, no date of birth, or mention of death; he blesses Abraham, receives tithe, and vanishes from the scene amid honours which show that he was greater than the founder of the chosen nation. He is seen but once, and that once suffices. Aaron and his seed came and went; their imperfect sacrifice continued for many generations, because it had no finality in it, and could never make the comers thereunto perfect.

(4) After the order of Melchizedek. —This follows the LXX. and Vulg. Better, after the manner of since there could have been with the psalmist no intention of contrasting this priesthood with that of Aaron, as there naturally was when the Aaronic order had come to an end or was visibly doomed to extinction. The previous history of Israel itself offered no example of the formal union of kingly and priestly offices in one person. It first appears in idea in Zechariah 6:12-13; in actual fact in the pontificate of Jonathan (1 Maccabees 10:21). It is true that the royal and priestly functions were sometimes united, especially in the case of David, and in 2Samuel 8:18, David’s sons are called “priests” (in English version, “chief rulers;” margin, or princes). It was therefore necessary to go back to Melchizedek, in whom history recognised this sanctioned and formal union (Genesis 14:18). For the various points brought out in the Epistle to the Hebrews 6, 7, see New Testament Commentary.

Verse 4. - The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent . "A fresh revelation" (Cheyne). David, admitted into the councils of the Most High, has been made aware that the Messiah is, by God's decree, to be both King and Priest. God has "sworn" this, and will certainly not draw back from his oath. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek . Not, like ordinary priests, a priest for a few years, or for a lifetime, but a priest forever and ever ( לעולם ) - seeing "he ever liveth to make intercession for us" ( Hebrews 7:25 ). And a priest "after the order of Melchizedek." Not, that is, after the order of Aaron, who was a priest and nothing more, but after that of Melchizedek, the elder priesthood, which combined the offices of priest and king (see Hebrews 5:6-10 ; Hebrews 7:1-10, 20-28 ). Psalm 110:4

Hath sworn; which he did not in the Aaronical priesthood, Hebrews 7:21 , but did it here, partly because the thing was new and strange, and might seem incredible, because God had already erected another, and that an everlasting priesthood , Numbers 25:13 , and given it to Aaron and his posterity for ever, and therefore this needed all possible assurance; and partly that his priesthood might be established upon better promises, as is said, Hebrews 8:6 , and made sure and irrevocable, and such that God neither could nor would repent of it, as it follows. Thou art, to wit, by my order and constitution; thou shalt be so, and I do hereby make thee so. A Priest, as well as a King. Those offices which were divided before between two families, are both united and invested in thee, both being absolutely necessary for the discharge of thine office, and for the establishment of thy kingdom, which is of another kind than the kingdoms of the world, spiritual and heavenly, and therefore needs such a King as is also a minister of holy things. This word plainly discovers that this Psalm cannot be understood of David, as some of the Jews would have it, but only of the Messias.

And although this word cohen be sometimes used of a prince or great person in the state, as the Jews object, yet it cannot be so understood here, partly, because it signifies a priest in Genesis 14:18 , from whence this expression is borrowed; partly, because that word is never used of a sovereign prince or king, (such as the Jews confess the Messiahs to be,) but only of inferior princes or ministers of state, as Genesis 41:45 2 Samuel 8:18 ; partly, because such an inconsiderable assertion would never have been ushered in by so solemn an oath, especially after far greater things had been said of him in the same kind, Psalm 110:1-3 and partly, because the Messias is called a Priest , Zechariah 6:13 ; compare Jeremiah 23:21 35:15,18 . For ever ; not to be interrupted or translated to another person, as the priesthood of Aaron was upon the death of the priest, but to be continued to thee for ever. After the order of Melchizedek, or, after the manner , &c.; so as he was a priest and also a king, and both without any successor and without end, in the sense intended, Hebrews 7:3 .

4. The perpetuity of the priesthood, here asserted on God's oath, corresponds with that of the kingly office just explained. after the order—(Heb 7:15) after the similitude of Melchisedek, is fully expounded by Paul, to denote not only perpetuity, appointment of God, and a royal priesthood, but also the absence of priestly descent and succession, and superiority to the Aaronic order.

4 . The priesthood of the king. Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent ] The king is also priest by an immutable Divine decree. The immutability of this decree is affirmed in the most solemn manner possible. The ‘oath’ of Him who cannot lie is no stronger than His word; He who knows all things from the beginning cannot repent or change His purpose ( Numbers 23:19 ; 1 Samuel 15:29 ), though man’s failure or change may necessitate a temporary interruption of His purpose which appears to finite man in the light of a ‘repentance.’ But He who is absolutely true and unchanging condescends for man’s sake to confirm His word by an oath. Cp. Amos 6:8 ; Psalm 132:11 . Thou art a priest for ever after the order (or, manner ) of Melchizedek ] Melchizedek, king of Salem, and priest of God Most High ( El Elyôn ), appears in Genesis 14:18 ff. as the representative of a true faith in the primitive world. He was a type of that union of civil and religious life, which must be the ideal of the perfect state. The thought here affirmed is that the new king of Jerusalem must hold a position in no way inferior to that of the ancient king of Salem. As the representative of “a kingdom of priests and an holy nation” ( Exodus 19:6 ) he had a priestly character. As the representative of God to the people and of the people to God he had a mediatorial office.

David, when he brought up the Ark into the city of David, laid aside his royal robes and wore the dress of a priest ( 2 Samuel 6:14 ): both he and Solomon exercised priestly functions in offering sacrifice, or at least in directing the sacrifices, if they did not actually offer them ( 2 Samuel 6:17-18 ; 1 Kings 8:62 ff.), and in blessing the people ( 2 Samuel 6:18 ; 1 Kings 8:14 ; 1 Kings 8:55 ); Solomon deposed and appointed a high-priest ( 1 Kings 2:27 ; 1 Kings 2:35 ). David’s sons, in whatever sense the term may have been used, were styled priests ( 2 Samuel 8:18 ). But the priesthood of the king is here implicitly distinguished from the hereditary priesthood of the family of Aaron, as a priesthood ‘after the manner of Melchizedek.’ For ever , as applied to an individual, may be a relative term, as in 1Ma 14:41 , quoted above, p. 663. Cp. 1 Samuel 1:22 . But the promise of an eternal priesthood corresponds rather to the promise of eternal dominion in 2 Samuel 7:13 ; 2 Samuel 7:10 ; 2 Samuel 7:25 ; 2 Samuel 7:29 . Made to an individual, it is realised in his descendants. Jeremiah speaks of the priestly right of access to God which is to be conferred upon the Messianic prince ( Jeremiah 30:21 ); and the union of civil and religious life was symbolised under the altered circumstances of the return from Babylon by the coronation of Joshua ( Zechariah 6:12-13 ).