Psalm 110 is a royal psalm. Without any extra information, we might interpret it in much the way we do Psalm 45. A prophet has received a revelation from God about his lord, the king of Israel. And since the king of Israel is a type of the Messiah, the psalm points ultimately to the Messiah.
However, we do have extra information. The psalm's superscription connects the psalm to David. Moreover, Jesus (Matt 22:41-46, Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44) identified the psalmist as David and David's lord as the Messiah. For his argument to have been convincing, his listeners must have accepted these identifications as well. (Later rabbinic interpreters saw the psalmist as Abraham's servant Eliezer and Abraham as Eliezer's lord. Were they, in part, reacting against Christian application of Psalm 110?)
The first verse of Psalm 110 is especially important in Christian theology: "The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.' " This verse places the Messiah in a very high position. To be at God's right hand is to be very close to God, with God's full support.
And in the ancient world it was the ruler who sat. Everyone else stood. This verse pictures the Messiah sharing God's throne. God rules everything because he created everything. So the Messiah who shares his throne is a Creator, not part of the creation.
The apostles used Psalm 110 to describe Jesus' current position on God's throne:
Eph 1:20-23: "that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."
The New Testament use of Ps 110:1 supports the "early high christology" position that the first Christians believed in the deity of Jesus.
The deity of the Messiah is also supported by Ps 110:5: "The LORD is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath." Depending on which Lord is which in this verse, it either says that the Messiah at God's right hand is himself the LORD, or that the LORD is at the Messiah's right hand. Either reading would place the Messiah at a level equal with God.
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