Christ, the Morning-star
1 The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!
3 Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.
4 The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
“From the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.”
What does this sentence mean?
What does a “womb of the morning” have to do with the king referenced in the first two verses? And what does the “dew of your youth” have to do with the king’s people in verse three?
The following English translation of the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament that Jesus and His apostles studied and often quoted in the New Testament provides, in my opinion, a clearer translation of verse three.
It reads:
1 The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool.2 The Lord shall send out a rod of power for thee out of Sion:
rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.3 With you is rule on a day of your power
among the splendors of the holy ones.
From the womb, before Morning-star, I brought you forth.4 The Lord swore, and will not change his mind,
you are a priest forever,
according to the order of Melchisedek.
(LXX Psalm 109:1-4) (110)
Verse three of this translation reveals the following rich truths concerning the prophesied king of Israel referenced in Psalm 110:1-2, 4:
In the beginning, when God made all things, both seen and unseen, this King was with God and was God.
The psalmist prophesies that this Divine King is also a man.
God established this King’s throne before the foundation of the world.
A radiant host of holy ones—a people redeemed by this High Priest-King of Righteousness and Peace—will rule with Him over all creation, in His full authority and power, when God consummates His Kingdom.
Let us savor the glorious prophecy of Christ, our High Priest-King and Savior, by closely considering every word and phrase of verse three in its context, and within the full counsel of God.
“From the womb, before Morning-star, I brought you forth.”
What is this “Morning-star”?
Better asked, Who is this “Morning-star”?
This Morning-star is a celestial being.
He predates creation and was engaged in creating the heavens and the earth. The name harkens back to “the beginning,” when “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” Genesis 1:3 (ESV) The Morning-star shone that light, not a physical light like that of the sun, moon and stars created on Day Four of creation (Genesis 1:14-19 (ESV)), but a divine Light. In the Morning-star “was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4 (ESV)) This Morning-star “was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:2 (ESV)) To borrow from the apostle John we can dare say that in “the beginning was the [Morning-star,] and the Morning-star] was with God, and the [Morning-star] was God. (Cf. John 1:1 (ESV)) The “world was made through” the Morning-star. (John 1:10 (ESV)).
Why do I ascribe divinity to this Morning-star? Because Peter does. He saw Christ transfigured before him, when Christ’s “face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” on the holy mountain. Then Peter heard the LORD say of Christ, “‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”” (Matthew 17:1-8 (ESV)). Many years later, recalling the transfiguration, Peter encouraged Christians to look upon Old Testament prophecy, such as Psalm 110, as a lamp in the darkness pointing us to Christ, but only until the last day, when the “morning star” rises in our hearts. (2 Peter 1:19 (ESV)) Then, we will see Him perfectly in all His brightness.
Peter was right to connect the transfiguration of Christ to the “morning star” that will rise in our hearts. On that mountain, Christ was speaking with Moses and Elijah about the manner of his exodus from Jerusalem—that is to say, about His resurrection from the grave. (Luke 9:30-31 (ESV)) With His face shining like the sun, as He spoke of His coming resurrection, Christ was showing Himself to be the prophesied “sun of righteousness” that “shall rise with healing in its wings.” (Malachi 4:2 (ESV))
The Morning-star of verse three is also a divine king. According to verse two of Psalm 110, the Morning-Star is a ruler that is given an everlasting dominion over all creation. Thus, the Morning-star is a divine king established by God akin to the divine high priest Melchisedek, Who is referenced in the very next verse (Psalm 110:4), and is more fully described in Hebrews 7:
1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.
To borrow from the author of Hebrews, we can dare say that, like the High Priest Melchisedek, the Morning-star “is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues” a king forever.
“From the womb, before Morning-star, I brought you forth.”
But this Morning-star is not just a divine king. “From the womb, . . . I brought you forth” refers to a physical birth. This Morning-star, a divine ruler that pre-existed creation and participated in making creation, is also prophesied to be a man, engendered or “brought forth” by the LORD from a woman’s womb. This Morning-star, resembling the Son of the Most High God, is also human! He is a ruler with divine pre-existence and divine authority in human form. In a word, He is One like a son of man. (Daniel 7:13 (ESV)) This is exactly what Jesus taught concerning Himself when He cited Psalm 110 and asked the Pharisees Whose Son is the Christ:
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
44 “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?45 If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
The prophet Balaam prophesied of this divine-human ruler that would arise out of Israel in his Final Oracle:
15 And he took up his discourse and said,
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
and knows the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down with his eyes uncovered:
17 I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the forehead of Moab
and break down all the sons of Sheth.
18 Edom shall be dispossessed;
Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.
Israel is doing valiantly.
19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion
and destroy the survivors of cities!”
All this points to the conclusion that the Morning Star of Psalm 110 is a prophecy of Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who is also the Son of David:
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches.
I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
“From the womb, before Morning-star, I brought you forth.”
Here, the LORD is saying “I brought you forth before the Morning-star shone in the beginning.”
The LORD decreed Christ’s atoning death and established His victorious throne before the foundation of the world—before God said, “Let there be light.” (1 Peter 1:20 (ESV); John 17:5 (ESV); John 17:24 (ESV))
“With you is rule on a day of your power
among the splendors of the holy ones.”
Here, the LORD decrees that the Morning-star, the High Priest-King of Righteousness and Peace, will rule with His radiant “holy ones.”
Who are the radiant “holy ones?”
The Redeemed!
The spiritual offspring of Abraham will rule with Christ when He consummates His kingdom.
For it is written:
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
And it is also written:
And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above;
and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
This is exactly what was promised to Abraham and “‘to His offspring,’ who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16 (ESV))
1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
The children of promise, the spiritual offspring of Abraham shall number and shine like the stars of heaven! The redeemed will rule with Christ! They will be given the scepter, Christ Himself, the Morning-star!
The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star.
