What Is Meant By, The LORD Said To My Lord?

Answer: Thank you for the question Edna.

King David was actually citing what the LORD Jehovah had said to the Lord Jesus Christ. In so doing, David was acknowledging that Jesus Christ is also David’s Lord. How could that be, and how could David know since Jesus was not born yet?

Simply put, God revealed it to David. Essentially, Jesus would be David’s Son in the flesh, but David’s spiritual Lord. On another note, I feel that Adam was told something similar by God. That is why Adam said of Eve, before she ever conceived, that she was “the mother of all living.”

All right, now let’s dive into the details.

The LORD Said Unto My Lord

In the following verse, David is giving the account, but who is saying what here?

Psalms 110:1
A Psalm of David. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

The LORD Jehovah was talking to the Lord Jesus Christ, (see: Why Is The Trinity So Confusing?).

There is no doubt, “my Lord” refers to Jesus for what comes next,

“Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”

This phrase occurs all throughout the Bible concerning Jesus, (Mar 16:19, Act 2:34, Eph 1:20-22, Heb 12:2, 1 Pet 3:22).

Now, how could David have known about this conversation?

Scripture does not specifically state, but it’s clear, the Holy Spirit showed David a magnificent prophetic vision. That David’s Son (descendant) would also be David’s Lord. We know that “my Lord” was to be David’s Son from Psalms 110:2.

Jesus is the Rod of Jesse who was the father of David, (Isa 11:1, 10, Mat 1:6, Rev 5:5, 22:16). It was always known that Messiah would come through David, (Jeremiah 23:5, John 7:42). Therefore, this fact was revealed to David through the Holy Spirit.

So essentially, David said, “my Lord” is Messiah, and Messiah is Jesus Christ.

Moreover, Psalms 110 also tells us several more details about Messiah.

1. He sits at God’s right hand, (verse 1, Eph 1:20-22).
2. He will rule His enemies, (verses 1–2, Rev 19:15).
3. He will lead an army, (verse 3, Rev 14:1, 19:14-16, 20:6, also: Ps 2:7).
4. He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, (verse 4, Heb 7:17).
5. He will have divine power to destroy kings, (verse 5, Rev 6:15-17, 19:11).
6. He will judge the nations, (verses 6, 2 Cor 5:10).
7. He will be exalted, (verse 7, Php 2:9).

Now, how could David say “my Lord” concerning Jesus, when Christ was not even born?

Let’s open Scripture to find the answer.

Romans 1:3
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

Jesus Christ has existed since the beginning, (John 17:5). He didn’t suddenly exist through Mary.

It was God who placed the Spirit of Jesus Christ into Mary, who was a descendant of David. It was God who made Jesus into the seed of David “according to the flesh”. Therefore, Jesus is the Son of David through the flesh, but Jesus is the Lord of David through the spirit.

That is why David could call Jesus “my Lord” in Psalms 110:1, without it being a paradox.

We’re not done yet.

How Say They That Christ Is David’s Son?

In the New Testament, we find Christ discussing this subject three times;

• Matthew 22:41-46
• Mark 12:35-37
• Luke 20:41-44

We are going to cite Matthew, as I prefer the extra details compared to Luke.

Matthew 22:41
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,

The Pharisees were essentially the Jews of the synagogue that always tried to trip up Jesus, (Matthew 12:14). Let’s read what He asked them.

Matthew 22:42
Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David.

Whoops!

The Pharisees just made a major mistake right here.

They just admitted, the Messiah is the Son of David.

Remember, “Christ” means “the anointed Messiah”. The Pharisees did not believe in the divinity of Christ. However, they just inadvertently admitted that Christ is the Messiah, who is the Son of David, which fulfills prophecy!

Matthew 22:43-44
43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,

44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Here’s what you have to understand…

King David was the highest power in his kingdom. David would never call his son or any of his descendants, “Lord”. Therefore, David was clearly referring to a prophetical future event. One in which, David’s Son (descendent) would become his spiritual Lord.

The only correct answer then, “David called Him Lord, as He is the Messiah”.

As a side note, in verse 43 you may have noticed Jesus said, “David in spirit call him Lord”. This actually means “by” the Spirit. The Holy Spirit informed David of this wonderful prophecy.

Let’s have the next verse.

Matthew 22:45
If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?

Let me rephrase the verse for you.

If David then called Christ Lord, how is Christ David’s son?

That is what Jesus said to the Pharisees.

The correct answer is, “He is Messiah”.

Let’s see how the Pharisees respond.

Matthew 22:46
And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.

Jesus put the Pharisees to silence, just as He had done to the Sadducees, (Matthew 22:34)!

Why?

Even the Jews of the synagogue believed Psalms 110 concerned Messiah, (Luke 24:44). They already admitted that Christ (Messiah) was the Son of David. So they were put to silence, as they could not answer His question, without admitting His divinity.

If you recall, there is a similar encounter in Matthew 21:23-27.

The “chief priests and the elders” refused to answer Jesus concerning the baptism of John. If they said, “from Heaven”, Jesus would have said, why didn’t you believe him. If they said, “of men”, they feared the people as John was a prophet.

Essentially, it was not in their best interests. So they just lied and said, “we cannot tell”.

Summary

We can now see, God provided David with a prophetic glimpse into the future concerning his Descendent.

Jesus, the Descendent of David, became David’s Son through the flesh, but Jesus was already David’s Lord through the spirit.