The Lord said unto my Lord,
The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit thou on my right hand,
Till thy foes become thy footstool. The Lord said unto my Lord,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Till thy foes become thy footstool.

The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion.
Rule thou in the midst, in the midst of thine enemies;
Rule thou in the midst, in the midst of thine enemies.

The people shall be willing in the day of thy power,
In the beauties of holiness. From the womb of the morning,
Thou hast the dew of thy youth From the womb of the morning.

The Lord said unto my Lord,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Till thy foes become thy footstool.

The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent;
The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent;
The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent:

Thou art a Priest, Thou art a Priest after the order of Melchizidek.
God hath, sworn, God hath sworn: Thou art a Priest-King forever.
Thou art a Priest--Thou art a King; thou art a Priest-King forever.

Frequently a person must understand the occasion of the writing of a song in order to appreciate its message. In other words, he must feel the heartbeat of the composer of the words and music of the song in order to enjoy it fully. I shall therefore tell you how it came to be that this song was written. On one occasion several years ago a Christian gentleman was talking to an outstanding rabbi here in Los Angeles who was highly educated and truly cultured. He sat and listened attentively to this Christian as he presented the claims of Christ in his own way and remained silent during the talk, which lasted something like thirty minutes. Finally the rabbi broke his silence by running his fingers through his hair and exclaiming, "You Christians, you are fools; you are crazy; you are fanatics; you remind me of the man who took his rifle and shot a wall. After firing the gun, he put a circle around the bullet hole and swore he hit the circle." Thus the rabbi continued, "You people believe that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the true Hebrew Messiah. You accept this teaching upon the authority of tradition. You have not made a personal investigation concerning Him. After having believed that He was and is our Messiah, the Saviour of the world, you go to the writings of Moses and the prophets and take verses out of their connections from one book of Scripture and a few words from a chapter of another book. Taking passages from here and there, you throw a wreath of scriptures around Jesus and swear He was the fulfillment of the Old Testament predictions. In such a way you garble our Scriptures.

Moreover the rabbi said that there are not two comings of the one Messiah set forth by Moses and the prophets, but that the doctrine of His second coming was invented by the Christians to explain the fact that Jesus of Nazareth did not in anywise fulfill the role of Messiah as taught by Moses and the prophets. The rabbi continued by saying that, in the first century when Jesus came and presented Himself to the Jewish nation as the long-awaited Messiah, the sages of Israel-who were on the ground, and who were capable of evaluating the evidence and facts--honestly and conscientiously examined His claims, weighed Him in the balances--the language of Daniel the prophet--and found Him wanting. They therefore rejected Him.

Of course, the rabbi was right in asserting that the contemporaries of Jesus were highly educated and keen intellectually. They were great men, great scholars who were on the ground, and who could have investigated the claims of Jesus first hand--had they wanted to do so. As to whether they actually made any attempt to learn the truth in regard to Him, we do not have any authentic information. The Talmud and Midrashic literature are almost as silent as the grave regarding our Lord. But this rabbi was willing to let the case of Jesus rest upon the decision of the sages of Israel, contemporaries of Jesus, who rejected Him. Hence he accepted their appraisal of the Lord and in doing so accepted the responsibility entailed thereby.

Then, our friend, the rabbi, argued that those people who believed on Jesus and accepted Him as Redeemer, tried to present their case for his Messiahship to the rest of their brethren, the Jewish nation. But, when the sages of Israel pointed out that Jesus did not fulfill the Old Testament predictions, these Christians invented a novel scheme of redemption consisting of two comings of the one Messiah. At His first appearance upon earth, He, according to them, would be rejected by the nation; then He would return to heaven, and would remain there for a long time--until the Jewish people see their mistake of rejecting Him and plead for Him to return. Thus they presented this new type of theology to the Jewish people. But, according to this learned rabbi, there is no such scheme or plan for the Messiah of Israel found in the Scriptures. But as set forth by Moses and the prophets, He is to be born as any other man, to become the leader of the nation. He will restore the nation to its ancient glory and then pass on.

Let me say that I knew this rabbi personally. He was a good man; he was a great man; he was a highly educated man--very intellectual--and was a keen thinker. I believe that he wanted truth and was living up to all the light that he had. I therefore had the highest respect for him as a great soul. He has passed out of this life; yet I cherish his memory.

He had studied the Old Testament Scriptures and was a profound believer in them. Whether or not he had studied the New Testament, I do not know. Doubtless he had read it at times in his life; but whether he had made a thorough study of it, I cannot say, because he never opened his mouth to me on that point. But I believe that he lived up to all the light that he had and was seeking more light. This attitude you and I, dear friend, should have regardless of all matters. We should desire truth above everything else. We should desire to do the will of God above everything else and should have courage of our convictions to accept truth whenever it is shown us. Of course, we should be alert against accepting error.

When I saw this Christian man after his interview with the rabbi, he told me what had taken place. He especially emphasized the rabbi's thought that the Christians had invented the theory of the two comings of the one Messiah. In order to prove our hypothesis, declared the rabbi, Christians invented the doctrine of an imaginary redemptive career of King Messiah, consisting of His first coming--His rejection, death, burial, resurrection, ascension to the right hand of the throne of God--His session there during the period of His rejection by the Jewish people, and eventually His return to the earth at the end of the present age.

Seeing the dilemma with which the rabbi was confronted, and wanting to be of the greatest possible help to him and to others, I said to myself, I am going to search the Scriptures thoroughly to see if there are any passages that present the entire redemptive career of King Messiah consisting of His first coming culminating in His tragic death, His glorious resurrection, and His triumphant return to glory; of His session at the right hand of the Almighty during the present age; of His return to earth at the close of the present era; and of His reign of righteousness upon this earth.

For several months I searched as diligently and conscientiously as I knew how--and as scientifically as possible for such a passage. In its embryonic form it appears for the first time in Genesis 49:10. However, I reached the conclusion that one of the most important passages on this point was to be found in Psalm 110, which reads this way:

"1 Jehovah saith unto my Lord,
Sit thou at my right hand,
Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

2 Jehovah will send forth the rod of thy strength out of Zion:
Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

3 Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy power, in holy array: Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth or (youthful one)."

As I studied this Psalm, I saw clearly the two comings of the one Messiah and the interval separating these two advents during which He is at God's right hand.

In order to approach this passage properly, I will speak in dramatic terms. When the curtain rises the scene is laid in Jerusalem. Messiah is in the midst of the leaders of Zion. Instead of their being joyful and welcoming Him as one would expect, David showed that they would be hostile to Him. But King David did not tell us how He arrives in Jerusalem or the extent to which their hostility drives them. This information must be gathered from other passages of scripture.

But we know how Messiah, who is God in human form, was scheduled to come to this earth. This is shown in such a passage as Isaiah 7:14, which declares, "the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Here then is a prediction by the statesman-prophet Isaiah that God would enter the world by miraculous conception and virgin birth and appear among men and be called Immanuel, which means "God with us," or "God is with us." Thus the information which we need in studying Psalm 110 is supplied by Isaiah 7:14. But what is the extent to which their hostility against Him drives them? This information is given in Isaiah 52:13--53:12. May I ask you, dear friend, to read it for yourself; because it is most important. According to this marvelous prediction, Messiah comes, but Israel does not recognize Him. On the contrary, the leaders demand His death, which is brought about by the overruling providence of God. The Lord always overrules the mistakes and sins of men in order to advance His beneficent plans and purposes to bless them in every way possible.
Now let us again notice carefully the text of Psalm 110:1,2:

"1 Jehovah saith unto my Lord,
Sit thou at my right hand,
Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

2 Jehovah will send forth the rod of thy strength out of Zion:
Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies."

Here we see Him whom David recognized as His superior, His Lord, in Jerusalem, in Zion. But the people of Zion are hostile to Him. God the Father therefore speaks to Him, inviting Him to leave earth, to ascend to heaven, to take His seat at the right hand of the Almighty and to remain there until He (Jehovah) makes the enemies of King Messiah, David's Lord, the footstool of His feet. According to ancient custom of the Orient, no one would, on a state occasion, be invited to sit at the right hand of a king except someone of regal rank, authority, and power. When Jehovah the God of the universe invites David's Lord to leave earth, after He is rejected by His people, and to sit at His right hand, this fact is a tacit admission, yes, a bold declaration, that this one thus honored is equal to God. About that proposition there can be absolutely no mistake.

We may be sure that Messiah after He is rejected by His people and when He is invited to leave earth and to ascend to heaven, does. Moreover, He is invited to remain at the right hand of God--in this place of honor and authority--until God overrules providentially the deeds and actions of men, changes the entire course of history and event, and put Messiah's enemies, the Jewish people, under His feet. When He does that, Messiah will return to earth and reign in the very place where He was rejected by His people at His first coming.

"2 Jehovah will send forth the rod of thy strength out of Zion:
Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies."

When will Messiah leave His seat at the right hand of the throne of God and come and reign in Jerusalem? The next verse of this passage gives us this information:

3 Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy power..."

We learn from other passages of scripture that the people of Israel will be given the truth concerning their long-rejected Messiah, will in genuine repentance repudiate the national sin of rejecting Him, and will plead for Him to return. When they do this, Messiah, will return and reign in the very place where He was rejected. Thus in the first two verses of Psalm 110 we have the entire redemptive career of King Messiah, which consists of, as we have already seen, His coming to His people, their becoming hostile to Him; and their rejecting Him. When their hostility drives them to demand His execution, He is killed, is buried, and is raised from the dead. Then God invites Him to leave earth, return to heaven, and to sit down at His right hand, and to remain there until the Lord puts those who are opposed to Him under His feet. When the Lord providentially brings them to see their mistake of 1900 year's standing, they will plead for Him to return and become their King. When He hears their penitential cry, He will come and save them.

Knowing that Psalm 110 gives the outline of Messiah's redemptive career, I wanted the message of the psalm put to music. I searched in the song books to which I had access to see if there were any hymns that present the redemptive career of Messiah; but I searched in vain. I inquired whether or not anyone knew of any hymn that presents this vital truth; but I found none. Suddenly the thought came to me that I would expound the truth of Psalm 110 to my good friend, Dr. W. Stillman Martin, the author of God Will Take Care of You and His Eye is on the Sparrow and many other gospel hymns.

I therefore went to Dr. Martin and laid my case before him. And while I was talking with him, the music of this theme song of ours entitled King Messiah came to him. Having written out the words of two-thirds of it in just a very few minutes, he went to the piano and began to play it.

I was with him in a conference in North Carolina three months before his death. I asked him to embrace in that hymn that which is found in the middle of the psalm--the truth concerning Messiah's being a priest-king after the order of Melchizidek. Dr. Martin returned to his home in Atlanta, and completed the last section of it just a few days before his home-going.