INTRODUCTION Four astronauts just returned from NASA's Artemis II mission — 270,000 miles from earth. From that distance, earth looks like a small blue marble hanging in infinite darkness. The questions that image raises: · Is there a point to all of this? · Is anyone in charge? · And if someone is in charge — do they know what they're doing, and do they care about us? Those questions are underneath the anxiety many of us carry every day. This morning we will see that somebody is steering — and he published his plans in a psalm written three thousand years ago. A SCENE FROM PENTECOST — Acts 2 Fifty days after Easter. Jerusalem is packed for the festival. · A rushing wind. Tongues of fire. Disciples speaking in languages they never learned. · The crowd is stunned. Some amazed. Some think they've had too much to drink. Peter stands up — the same Peter who denied Jesus three times by a courtyard fire. He is no longer nervous. He is certain. Something happened between that courtyard and this moment. Peter's conclusion: “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” — Acts 2:36 (NIV) To make his case, Peter quotes Psalm 110: “The Lord said to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.'” — Acts 2:34–35 (NIV) The cosmic became specific. The infinite became personal. The plan — it turns out — had always included you. WHY PSALM 110? Three reasons we are spending three weeks here: It is the most quoted and alluded to psalm in the entire New Testament. · Quoted in Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians, Hebrews, and Revelation. It is a powerful reminder that the Bible is one unified story. · “The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.” · As the BibleProject puts it: "The Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus." It speaks directly to our anxiety today. · This psalm reminds us of one of the most important truths in all the world: Jesus is King. THE TEXT — Psalm 110 (NIV) "The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, 'Rule in the midst of your enemies!' Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning's womb. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’ The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath. He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high." Today we focus on verse 1. Melchizedek, crushing kings — that's weeks 2 and 3. WHO IS DAVID TALKING ABOUT? — Mark 12:35–37 David was the most powerful man in Israel. No one outranked him except God. And yet he refers to someone as his Lord — someone he bows to. Jesus put this same question to the Pharisees: "Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’ David himself calls him Lord. How then can he be his son?" — Mark 12:35–37 (NIV) No one could answer. The answer the New Testament gives us: Jesus is both. · Son of David in his humanity — born in David's city, in David's family line · Son of God in his divinity — eternal, pre-existent, Lord before David drew breath This fulfills the promise God made in 2 Samuel 7:16: “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” The storyline of Scripture: · Born as King in Bethlehem · Welcomed as King on Palm Sunday · Crucified — which doesn't seem to fit the king narrative… · Raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father — reigning now NEWS FROM HEAVEN — Psalm 110:1 David is not just writing — he is overhearing a conversation in heaven. The Father speaking to the Son. Published in Israel's hymnbook. Sung for a thousand years before they fully understood it. Two Lords in verse 1: · LORD (all caps) = Yahweh = God the Father · Lord (not all caps) = Adonai = God the Son We have been let in on the conversation. We have access to the strategy and plans of God. Spurgeon wrote: “How condescending on Jehovah's part to permit a mortal ear to hear, and a human pen to record his secret converse with his co-equal Son!” — C.H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David This is not history spinning out of control. This is a strategy. A strategy that goes all the way back to Genesis — and even before that, to the foundation of the world. Question to sit with: Are we giving more attention to the news from below than to the news from heaven? JESUS IS SITTING — Hebrews 10:11–14 “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.” — Hebrews 10:11–13 (NIV) The Old Testament priests never sat down. Their work was never finished. Jesus sits down. His work is finished. One sacrifice. Once for all. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” — 1 John 5:13 (NIV) In the ancient world, a victorious general would sit down on the battlefield — not retreat to his tent. It was a public declaration: this fight is finished. I am not worried about a counterattack. Spurgeon: “His work is done, and he may sit; it is well done, and he may sit at his right hand; it will have grand results, and he may therefore quietly wait to see the complete victory which is certain to follow.” — C.H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David The priests stood because the work was never finished. Jesus sits because it is. THE RIGHT HAND — 1 Corinthians 15:24–25 The right hand is the position of authority. Jesus is not just resting — he is reigning. “Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” — 1 Corinthians 15:24–25 (NIV) The victory is absolutely secure — but it is not yet fully consummated. Until I make your enemies a footstool. The outcome is not in doubt. The battle, however, is not yet over. (Win probability illustration — Super Bowl LI, Patriots vs. Falcons) · At one point Atlanta's win probability was 99%. The Patriots came back and won. · Our anxiety tracks with the win probability of our team. (Win probability chart — God vs. Satan) · God's win probability has been 100% from beginning to end. · The outcome has never been in doubt. Spurgeon: “There is no cause for alarm whatever may happen in this lower world; the sight of Jesus enthroned in divine glory is the sure guarantee that all things are moving onward towards ultimate victory.” — C.H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET — Joshua 10:24–25 “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings… Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the Lord will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.” — Joshua 10:24–25 (NIV) Total, decisive, overwhelming victory. That is the image. Picture King Jesus — his foot on the neck of every power that sets itself against him. The movie illustration: · Forty minutes in, everything is going wrong for the hero. The tension is unbearable. · Your friend who has already seen it leans over and whispers: don't worry — it ends well. · Everything changes. You're watching the same movie. But you're not anxious anymore. That is what Psalm 110 is. God leaning over and whispering: don't worry. I've already seen how this ends. The king is on his throne. Sit down. Watch. INVITATION Maybe you walked in today carrying the weight of the world. The headlines. The uncertainty. The sense that things are spinning out of control. Today is a good day to loosen your grip. · The king is on his throne. · The victory is secure. · The win probability has been 100% since before the foundation of the world. · The God who planned the resurrection knows your name — and he is not nervous. You don't have to be either.