… and its crucial implications for two Abrahamic religions.

 

How could a man, purportedly a Christian, have never heard of or at least noted this Psalm when it is central to Jesus’s divinity, referred to by Him a few times and has put Jews and/or Israelis into deep denial? Yet there it is … I never knew until yesterday.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_110

For those reading through that summary and still not making head nor tail of it … my understanding is that it was definitely written by David … but about whom? We do get into the quality of translations from the Hebrew, as well as any later alterations, as in the Filioque Clause.

Among the thousands commenting on the Psalm, three stand out for me … Jesus Himself, Charles Spurgeon and CS Lewis, arguing that it’s beyond doubt that it presages Jesus. The Jews? They just say nah, it looks back at Abraham. They must say that of course.

It has certainly deeply affected high church rituals and music down through the ages and so, this morning, I move outside my comfort zone and actually play one version of it, musically: