translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: PSA

label: NET study note

text: . In this royal psalm the psalmist announces God’s oracle to the Davidic king. The first part of the oracle appears in v. 1 , the second in v. 4 . In vv. 2-3 the psalmist addresses the king, while in vv. 5-7 he appears to address God.


text: My lord . In the psalm’s original context the speaker is an unidentified prophetic voice in the royal court. In the course of time the psalm is applied to each successive king in the dynasty and ultimately to the ideal Davidic king. NT references to the psalm understand David to be speaking about his “lord,” the Messiah. (See Matt 22:43-45 ; Mark 12:36-37 ; Luke 20:42-44 ; Acts 2:34-35 ).


text: The point of the metaphor is not entirely clear. The dew may symbolize the king’s youthful vitality or, more likely (note the parallelism), may refer to his army of strong, youthful warriors.


text: You are an eternal priest . The Davidic king exercised a non-Levitical priestly role. The king superintended Judah’s cultic ritual, had authority over the Levites, and sometimes led in formal worship. David himself instructed the Levites to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem ( 1 Chr 15:11-15 ), joined the procession, offered sacrifices, wore a priestly ephod, and blessed the people ( 2 Sam 6:12-19 ). At the dedication of the temple Solomon led the ceremony, offering sacrifices and praying on behalf of the people ().


text: The Davidic king’s priestly role is analogous to that of Melchizedek , who was both “king of Salem” (i.e., Jerusalem) and a “priest of God Most High” in the time of Abraham ( Gen 14:18-20 ). Like Melchizedek, the Davidic king was a royal priest, distinct from the Aaronic line (see ). The analogy focuses on the king’s priestly role; the language need not imply that Melchizedek himself was “an eternal priest.”