Psalm 110 · a question people ask
"The LORD says to my Lord" (110:1). Who is "my Lord"?
The psalm is titled "A Psalm by David" (Psalm 110:1), and the psalm itself doesn't name the one it calls "my Lord". The New Testament answers from the psalm's own words. Jesus, as he taught in the temple, asked, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?" (Mark 12:35). "For David himself said in the Holy Spirit" (Mark 12:36), and he gave the psalm's first line. Then he asked, "Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?" (Mark 12:37). In Matthew's telling, "No one was able to answer him a word" (Matthew 22:46). Peter, speaking on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1, 2:14), argued that the words aren't about David himself: "For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself" (Acts 2:34), and after the psalm's words he said, "God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus" (Acts 2:36). So the New Testament reads David's Lord as the Christ, and names him as Jesus. These verses don't explain further how David's son is also David's Lord, and these notes don't add to them.
The verses
“A Psalm by David. The LORD says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.””
“Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? For David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’ Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?” The common people heard him gladly.”
“Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “Of David.” He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’? “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” No one was able to answer him a word, neither did any man dare ask him any more questions from that day forward.”
“Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all with one accord in one place.”