Study in Psalm 110

Outline the 4-part structure

(1) YHWH makes ‘my Lord’ a triumphant ruler

(2-3) YHWH extends his rule, and he has a great army of volunteers

(4) YHWH makes ‘my Lord’ a priest after Melchizedek

(5-7) ‘my Lord’ will shatter kings, bring judgement, and be refreshed and vindicated.


Draw pictures of…
verse 1
verses 2-3
verses 5-7

Notice who is doing the speaking, who is addressed in each scene, where they are in relation to each other, what action is going on. This should bring up all sorts of questions and discussion about detail in the text. Notice particularly how the addressee changes in vv.5-7; the ‘you’ there is YHWH, as the Psalmist directly speaks to God about this ‘Lord’. Thus in the last picture the figures are sitting/standing in the same way as in the first]

What are the jobs of “my Lord” through the Psalm?

So who is this Lord?

for Melchizedek, read Genesis 14 and Hebrews 5:1-10 & Hebrews 7, noting that Melchizedek was king of {Jeru}Salem long before David…

Jesus confronts the authorities with Psalm 110 in Mark 12. Confrontation and legitimacy of rule are key points in the crescendo of clashes in the Temple courts – these are the very themes of the Psalm. By the time we get to Jesus’ use of Psalm 110 he has batted away the attacks and is going on the offensive himself

Re-tell the 4-part story outline of the Psalm to help you learn it.

Where are we in the Psalm?
Hopefully the volunteers of verse 3. This is a spiritual battle, Ephesians 6.

Mark Experience report!

Last Thursday night I met the director for the first time, discovered who I was playing in the first 25% of the gospel, and rehearsed hard, knackering my ankle in the process.

Last Friday night those of us who were not Jesus, Peter, Andrew, James, John or Pharisee discovered who we were playing in the next 25% of the gospel. Another solid 3 hours of rehearsing…

Last Saturday morning we got our parts for the second half of the drama and worked for another 3 hours. Last Saturday afternoon we ran the whole thing, which encouraged us in the face of slight ropeiness earlier in the day. 

Last Saturday evening the massed ranks arrived for the first performance. 90 minutes later it was all over, bar the tea, coffee, biscuits and mingling. Second show on Sunday night after church. Perhaps 500 people in total came to see it.

Theatre in the round was fairly new to me, especially with such a small ‘stage’ in the middle – only big enough for 15 people to stand crammed next to each other in a huddle. Semi-improvisation is quite a scary way to go for te untrained, but that worked well. We got enough direction from Andrew Page and assistant Chris White where it was needed, and enough room to manouevre where appropriate. 

The drama itself, based on the greatest story ever told, was very powerful. There was a lot of enthusiasm from the cast, and the rawness of amateurs on minimum rehearsal was usually a virtue. Some of the scenes were uproariously funny, and some were pin-droppingly tense. God was very good to us and helped almost everyone remember almost all of their lines. [On Sunday there was the added drama of a faint elderly gentleman who needed to be carried out after an hour. He was heavy! Although the tension was somewhat broken, we resumed after 10 minutes without a hitch.]

Audience feedback from Christians and non-Christians was overwhelmingly positive. Praise the Lord, this drama seems to have opened eyes to aspects of the truth that conversation and reading have not yet revealed to various friends and family members of the cast.

Last but not least, the experience of intense team work in drama was wonderful (or should that be wonderful, darling…?) This was something I missed out on as an undergraduate, despite having quite a few thesp friends so am grateful to have tasted it in near middle age. The post-play mood droop was significant, but survivable. I really hope this becomes an annual event and even more churches get involved. This kind of creative inter-church collaboration is just what we need to adorn the gospel of Christ

The Mark Experience

Mark's gospel as a drama, with a cast of 15 from churches all over Cambridge. 90 minutes of excitement and compelling story, and truth of eternal significance.

This weekend at Emmanuel URC, site of many a fun concert.

I am in it! So I've learned the whole of the book - not word-for-word, but incidents, structure and gist of conversations. It's been really exciting, and easier than I feared. From a dramatic perspective things are less certain... it's the first time I've been in a play since Tom Stoppard's "Fifteen-Minute Hamlet" in which I was Queen Gertrude, and that was way back in 1992. For the Mark Experience I will be a host of minor roles, including (since I have man flu) the well-known man with a cough.

And immediately a man with a slight cough came to him, and immediately began to complain of other aches and pains... the disciples asked him, 'why couldn't we drive him out?'..."

[From Mrs L's apocryphal version of Mark's gospel!]