{Disclaimer: these are my rough teaching notes I use in my Mishkan Katan weekly broadcasts. There will be "typos". Proceed at your own risk, lol.You can find all my Mishkan Katan video teachings on my YouTube channel: genahood2818 . Look on the playlist called Messianic LAMB TV Network.}
Boker Tov! Welcome back to Mishkan Katan. When we ended our time together last week, we did not finish Psalm 106. So, I’m going to quickly walk you through this psalm and give you Scripture references for the stories mentioned in it. Some of you may be familiar with all these episodes, but many will want to go back and read about them after this broadcast is over.
First, mark verse 6 with the reference of Leviticus 26:40, a spiritual prophecy about the future apostasy of the nation of Israel. Moses, speaking for Hashem, knew it would come, and it was fulfilled in the early years of the Hebrew nation, after its betrothal to Hashem at Mt. Sinai. The Psalmist rightly confesses his sin along with that of his nation, because no matter how righteous the walk of a tzaddik, he or she is part of the nation to which the person is attached. The righteous prophet Daniel and others did this as well.
Verses 7-11 - - Exodus 14
Vs. 12 - - Song of the Sea - - Exodus 15:1-12
Vs. 14-15 - - craving meat in the wilderness - - Exodus 16 and Numbers 11
Vs. 16-17 - - the jealousy and rebellion of Dathan and Abiram - - Numbers 16
Vs. 19-20 - - golden calf idolatry - - Exodus 32:1-6
Vs. 23 - - Moses pleads for Hashem to not destroy the nation over the golden calf incident - - Exodus 32:32
Vs. 24-25 - - the report of the 10 fearful spies and the people trusted in their report - - Numbers 13, particularly verse 31.
Verses 26-27 - - Hashem’s promise to cause the disbelieving generation to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, until all of them had died out. Numbers 14:29-33
Vs. 25-31 - - Baal Peor and Phineas’ holy indignation followed by his fierce intervention - - Numbers 25
Vs. 32-33 - - grumbling at the waters of Meribah, waters of strife - - Numbers 20: 1-11.
Vs. 34-35 - - the Israelite’s failure to drive or destroy all the pagan nations from the land - - Deuteronomy 20:16. IF you have ever wondered why they did this, it was not out of compassion for the pagan peoples. It was due to a lust for their women, but mainly because they wanted to enslave their people to do their lowly, menial tasks.
Vs. 36-39 - - idolatry, demon-worship and child-sacrifice, which resulted in the Land becoming polluted by the shedding of innocent bloods. Yes, in the Hebrew, it is “bloods”, not “blood”. Numbers 35:33; Deut. 32:17. Before you ask yourself, “How could they do that?”, remember that in the USA, since the Supreme Court ruling in the 1973, 64 million babies have been aborted as of early 2026. Despite the 2022 overturning of Roe, legal abortion numbers have actually increased, with over 590,000 reported in the first half of 2025. This is due to women obtaining “morning after” pills and other telemedicine drugs, as well as their traveling to states where abortion is still legal, in order to murder their children. No, I am not mincing words here. Remember that the 2022 Dobbs decision did not outlaw abortion in all 50 states. It simply allowed the citizens of each state to make decisions about what their state would do about abortion access.
Verses 40 through 46 refer to the time of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and also to the period of the judges, when the people’s misconduct brought upon their heads the rule of less-than-stellar men, including their enemies who oppressed and humbled them. Eventually, of course, their persistent whoring after other gods led to the two kingdoms being exiled from the land, first Israel, the 10 northern tribes, and later Judah, the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi.
Verses 47 and 48 are a prayer for the final redemption, for a return of the people’s hearts to Hashem and a physical return of them to the Promised Land. We have seen that happen, in our lifetimes, and we will continue to see it happen until this era of birthpangs leads to the Millennial Reign. The sage Maharam Arma’ah observed that these verses serve as a fitting conclusion to the fourth Book of Tehillim, because the bulk of this fourth section is devoted to prayers and supplications for redemption from exile.
Now, let’s move on to Psalm 107, which is a hymn of thanksgiving. As mentioned last week, we are now in the fifth and final “book” of the psalms, according to how David divided them up. The psalm expresses the thanks of people who were in grave danger, yet were delivered home safely. Therefore, it could pertain to several different historical events in the history of the nation of Israel, or in David’s life.
Verse 1 should remind you of Psalm 136. “But, we have not gotten to that psalm yet,” you say. Oh yes we have! We looked at Psalm 136 about six weeks ago, when I did our Pesach Special. How quickly they forget….
At any rate, in psalm 136, you will remember, the verse that serves as a sort of “refrain” in that psalm is practically identical to the first verse of Psalm 107:1.
This is a long psalm, 43 verses, and we are not going to go through it verse by verse.
You will see four perilous situations described in this psalm. They are:
Traveling over the desert, yet arriving home safely despite having become lost, hungry and thirsty - - vs. 4-8
Being in jail, and then being released from captivity. Vs. 10-16
I wonder if Paul and Silas sang this psalm as they were held in captivity in the jail at Philippi? It’s possible! This is recorded in Acts 16:25, where it is revealed that they were doing this and that the other prisoners were listening to them! The Psalms were the praise music of the first century believers. So, it’s not that far-fetched.
Being very sick, and yet receiving healing from Hashem vs. 17-22
King Hezekiah is one of the more famous Old Testament characters to have been stricken terribly ill and yet was healed by Hashem. As I have mentioned before, there was and is a prevalent Jewish belief that a person becomes sick because of some sin in their life, or in the life of their parents. While various treatments of our bodies can certainly bring about illness, such as eating sugar non-stop from morning to night, and while such behaviors are generated from our minds/addictions/decisions, etc., by no means are all sicknesses due to our own thoughts, behaviors or sins. But, in King Hezekiah’s case, he had greatly angered Hashem, who had then sent this deadly illness of horrific boils that broke out all over his body. The Scriptures don’t tell us what the illness was, but the rabbinical writings say this is what the affliction was. In Isaiah 38, we learn that when the king was confronted with his sin, by the prophet Isaiah, he repented. Isaiah, then, instructed the royal physicians to make a paste of fresh figs and to rub it on the boils. This was a miracle cure, the rabbis say, because fig paste is not a good treatment for even healthy skin. However, in this case, it worked and Hezekiah was miraculously healed. In Isaiah 38:19, he exuberantly thanked God for his healing, hearkening back to this psalm, Psalm 107:21, which enjoins the healed person to give God all the glory for his or her healing. It is for this reason that the rabbis say that these verses, verses 17-22 of Psalm 107, prophesy about King Hezekiah and his experiences, which occurred several hundred years after the time of King David.
Allright, the fourth and final perilous situation described in the psalm, is … traveling over the sea, yet arriving home safely, vs. 23-31. Perhaps Jonah was praying this psalm when he found himself on that ship bound for Tarshish, when the seas began to roil and heave, threatening his life. Like Hezekiah, like Paul and Silas, Jonah was saved, although not without terrible experiences in the meantime.
The Talmud says that whenever anyone has any of these four experiences, he or she must offer thanks to God.
The remaining verses, verses 32 through 43, are about the general benevolences of Hashem, to cause the earth to produce its goodness for man’s benefit and to cause families to grow by producing babies. What a blessing!
Psalm 108
I call this the “hodgepodge psalm” or “the regurgitation psalm”, lol, not to be disrespectful. But, the reason for my “tongue-in-cheek” designations is because this psalm in unique. It is an almost exact copy of two other psalms. Psalm 108 contains 13 verses. Of these 13, only two are unique to this psalm. Verses 1-5 very closely resemble verses 7-11 of Psalm 57. Verses 8-13 of this psalm are very much like verses 7-12 of psalm 60.
We are moving on to Psalm 109. (I know. I surprised you, didn’t I?)
It is said by the sages that Psalm 109 was composed by David as he fled from the wrath of King Saul. As you may have noticed, there are a number of psalms that were written during similar circumstances in the life of David. Some of them are: 7, 34, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 63, to name a few. These are called “imprecatory” psalms, because they plead for justice from Hashem against enemies.
In the superscription, we see David calling Hashem “God of my praise”. David had a unique quality of turning to God in praise and supplication when controversy and trials came. He did not merely growl and complain about them, sinking into a pit of despondency. He instead praised God and implored Him to intervene on his behalf. The sages say that verse 1 indicates David had been slandered by evil men, to the face of Saul, which had in turn caused Saul’s troubled mind to believe David was an enemy, needing to be hunted and killed.
In verse 3, David maintained that he had done his best to obey Scripture in regards to his enemies. Deuteronomy 23:8 says to not despise the Edomite. Hosea 1:11 described Hashem’s similarly tolerant attitude toward the sons of Edom, because they had not pursued Jacob’s descendants with the sword. The Romans are said to have descended from Esau. And then, in the second half of that verse, David makes a startling statement. “I am prayer”. This is the ArtScroll translation. David truly prayed so hard for his enemies that his words here can be translated as “I am a living prayer”. What an inspiration!
Similarly, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Temple was present and operational, the nation of Israel would sacrifice 70 bulls on behalf of the 70 non-Jewish nations of the world. What other nation would do such an expensive act, such an act of intercession and supplication, for their enemies? I can’t think of another one. Yet, this intercession was not only unacknowledged, but the other nations also constantly sought to harm Israel.
Verses 5-18 contain a series of curses that David’s enemies spoke over him and over the nation of Israel. Many of the sages apply these verses to the actions of Esau. For example, verse 17 says, in the ArtScroll translation…. “He loved the curse and now it has come upon him; he desired not blessing and it stayed far from him.” This verse brings to mind how contemptuously Esau treated his birthright. In so doing, it was tantamount to blaspheming God. In this manner, he invited curses from God upon his life.
Verse 19 sums the list up by saying, “This is from Hashem for the deed of my adversaries and those who speak evil against my soul.” In other words, David is turning his enemies’ curses back onto them. The next set of verses show David asking Hashem to instead to deal kindly with him, for Hashem’s Name’s sake. David is asking for rescue, because as verses 22-25 say, David is entirely incapable of his own rescue.
Let’s read verses 26-31, which close this psalm. From the CJB - -
26 Help me, Adonai, my God!
Save me, in keeping with your grace;
27 so that they will know that this comes from your hand,
that you, Adonai, have done it.
28 Let them go on cursing;
but you, bless!
When they attack, let them be put to shame;
but let your servant rejoice.
29 Let my adversaries be clothed with confusion,
let them wear their own shame like a robe.
30 I will eagerly thank Adonai with my mouth,
I will praise him right there in the crowd,
31 because he stands alongside a needy person
to defend him from unjust accusers.
David rightly in verses 27 and 31 promises to give all the glory for his deliverance to Hashem.
Before we end here, is Psalm 109 quoted in the New Testament? Yes, it is, in Acts 1. There we find that a replacement was being sought for the Satanically-driven former apostle, Judas, who had recently committed suicide after betraying the Messiah into the hands of his enemies. Peter quotes both Psalms 69:25 and 109:8 in Acts 1:20. Here is what Peter said, there in the upper room, as the election was being held.
20 “Now,” said Kefa, “it is written in the book of Psalms,
‘Let his estate become desolate,
let there be no one to live in it’;[a]
and
‘Let someone else take his place as a supervisor.’[b]
Footnotes
Acts 1:20 Psalm 69:25
Acts 1:20 Psalm 109:8
Psalm 109:25 is also fulfilled, though not directly quoted, in Matthew at the scene of the crucifixion. Look at 109:25 in your Bible as I read the verse from Matthew 27:39.
39 People passing by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads.
Let’s look now at Psalm 110, a short but very powerful psalm. Only 7 verses. However, in the Bible, 7 is the number that represents completion.
The first verse of Psalm 110 is quite extraordinary, in that it is the most quoted verse from the Tanakh in the entire New Testament. Verse 1 is quoted in: Mat 22:44; Mat 26:64;
Mark 12:36; Mark 14:62; Mark 16:19;
Luke 20:42-43; Luke 22:69;
Acts 2:34-35;
Heb 1:3; Heb 1:13; Heb 8:1; Heb 10:12-13; Heb 12:2;
1Cor 15:25; 1Peter 3:22;
Eph 1:20; Col 3:1.
This is just a few. This psalm is quoted over 30 times in the New Testament. Remember that in Jewish practice, if a person quoted the first verse of a psalm, he or she was invoking the content of the entire psalm. Probably the best example of this was when Yeshua was dying on the cross and cried out the first verse of Psalm 22, that psalm which with vivid accuracy predicted how Mashiach would die. Yeshua was drawing attention to the fact He was fulfilling that entire Psalm 22.
Most scholars agree that this, psalm 110, is a psalm of David, and David tells us that the person speaking the words is Hashem Himself. Now, this is curious, but the Jewish sages say that the recipient of these words from Hashem is the patriarch, Abraham. And, there are all kinds of stories that supposedly bolster that interpretation. I’m not going to go over all of them with you today, because they are really stretching at the bounds of credulity. But, I will share one of them, as you look at verse 1.
You may recall the story in Genesis 14 of Abraham going out to battle against four powerful, regional kings. The Talmud, in Sanhedrin 108b, relates that Shem, the son of Noah, who was still living in Abraham’s day, once met Abraham’s servant, Eliezer. At the meeting Shem supposedly asked Eliezer how Abraham defended himself against those mighty kings. Eliezer told Shem that Hashem had snatched Abraham up to the heavenlies and placed him at His right side. “We threw dust at the enemy and it turned into swords. We threw stones at the enemy and they became arrows.” Rashi says that Hashem told Abraham that his efforts and prowess were not necessary in this war campaign and that Abraham should just sit back and watch Hashem vanquish the enemy troops.
Another sage attributes this psalm of praise to HaShem praising David’s devoted solders, ostensibly because of verse 3. These sages deem Psalm 110 to be “backward-looking”, that is looking back in history when Hashem spoke these words to David. Surprisingly, few of the Jewish sages consider this to be a forward-looking psalm, that is a prophetic Messianic psalm, although Sforno is one such sage who does. Some theologians see this psalm as referring to David’s immediate successor, Solomon, and his subsequent enthronement. While that is more plausible than these other explanations, the best fit is not that. Were that the case, wouldn’t it have been more sensible for David to say in verse 1, “To my SON”? But, that’s not what he says. Instead, he uses the word Lord, which implies that this future king, this future offspring of David’s would be no mere human, but would instead be an embodiment of the divine Yahweh Himself. It seems obvious to me that these verses apply to the future Messiah, and specifically to THE Messiah who has since these words were prophetically written been revealed to us, namely, Yeshua HaMashiach. The many quotes of verse 1 in the New Testament are a testimony to the reality that Yeshua fully fulfilled this psalm. Let’s explore that in a little more depth.
Psalm 110 is what is called a “royal psalm”, which means that the subject of the psalm is the King of Israel. The other royal psalms are 2, 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 89, 101 and 144. In all of the royal psalms, the bedrock of each is the Davidic Covenant, which we find in 2 Samuel chapter 7:11-17.
“‘Moreover, Adonai tells you that Adonai will make you a house. 12 When your days come to an end and you sleep with your ancestors, I will establish one of your descendants to succeed you, one of your own flesh and blood; and I will set up his rulership. 13 He will build a house for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. 14 I will be a father for him, and he will be a son for me. If he does something wrong, I will punish him with a rod and blows, just as everyone gets punished; 15 nevertheless, my grace will not leave him, as I took it away from Sha’ul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Thus your house and your kingdom will be made secure forever before you; your throne will be set up forever.’” 17 Natan told David all of these words and described this entire vision.
It was in that binding agreement that Hashem promised David, through the prophet Nathan, that He would establish David’s kingly dynasty forever. Psalm 110 gives further details to that covenant, namely how Hashem plans to fulfill that promise.
Verse 1 starts things off with a bang. Here, Hashem is saying “To my master, wait at My right; until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.” Again, the key puzzlement is … who is being referred to here as “my master”? In the original Hebrew, this word is “adoni”, a word usually applied to a human king or master, whereas the plural of the word, which is Adonai, is reserved for God, and means “my masters”. Do you remember the story of the stoning of the first follower of Yeshua? We know from the stoning of Stephen, and the vision he recounted as he was dying, that Yeshua, who had recently left the earth, was seen by Stephen as having stood up there at the right hand of Father Yahweh, where presumably Yeshua was sitting before. This is recorded in Acts chapter 7, a remarkable chapter.
The “right hand” position referred to here a place of honor, respect and elevated authority. People in the ancient near east would have recognized it as such. Yeshua as much as confirmed his identity in this psalm when he questioned the Pharisees about it in three of the gospel accounts. The three synoptic gospel writers believed this exchange to be so important and so definitive that all three of them included it! (Matt. 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44).
Let’s look at the Matthew passage.
41 Then, turning to the assembled P’rushim, Yeshua put a sh’eilah to them: 42 “Tell me your view concerning the Messiah: whose son is he?” They said to him, “David’s.” 43 “Then how is it,” he asked them, “that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord,’ when he says,
44 ‘Adonai said to my Lord,
“Sit here at my right hand
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?[e]
45 If David thus calls him ‘Lord,’ how is he his son?” 46 No one could think of anything to say in reply; and from that day on, no one dared put to him another sh’eilah.
This verse, verse 1 of Psalm 110, troubles some because it presents Messiah as a co-regent, a co-ruler, a co-equal with Hashem. To conceptualize such as this challenges for some the “oneness” of Hashem/Yahweh, which some interpret to be the singularity of Hashem. However, oneness and singularity are not the same.
Another interesting point about this verse is that we know from Psalm 2:7-9 and later on here in Psalm 110 that Messiah will subdue all nations. But, here, in verse 1, Messiah’s exaltation PRECEDES His defeat of the pagan nations, His enemies. Normally, you would expect the trouncing to precede the exaltation, right? Hmm…interesting….
In verse 2, we see the Mashiach/Messiah and Hashem/Father Yahweh working in tandem with one another to initiate the great battle, starting from the city called Zion. This refers to Jerusalem, which eventually became the seat of King David’s power and rule. It will likewise the be ruling, conquering nexus for the Messiah’s conquering kingdom.
Verse 3 switches a bit, to focus on the army of the Messiah. Here it is, from the CJB - -
3 On the day your forces mobilize,
your people willingly offer themselves
in holy splendors from the womb of the dawn;
the dew of your youth is yours.
There is no mandatory, military draft that is needed for this army. It will be composed of willing young men, who will gladly offer themselves in service to the King.
Now, let’s look at verse 4 where we find another key piece of prophetic information. The person to whom these verses are addressed inherit a sworn promise from Hashem, namely that that person will be a priest forever, after the pattern of, in the way of Melchizedek, who is also described in Genesis 14. The key Hebrew word here is “deeBRAHtee”, which has as its root the word “davar”, which means “word” or “thing”. Another way of saying this would be to say, that according to the model of Melchizedek’s priesthood, this Messiah will serve as a priest, as well as a king. The author of the book of Hebrews believed that this oath on the part of Father Yahweh to Yeshua the Son to be so crucial, he referred to it no less than five times in that book.
Now. Here is the puzzling part. In the ways of Mosaic law, the designated priests were Levites, of the tribe of Levi. David’s descendants were of the tribe of Judah and could therefore not ever be Levites or priests, according to the Torah, which cannot be changed. The Word of God stands forever. This is part of the reason some of the Jewish sages attribute these accolades to Abraham, because he was the greatest luminary to precede Moses, and he was therefore not from any of the tribes of Jacob’s descendants. So, he could not be locked out of this prophecy for that reason.
As a descendant of David, Yeshua was of the tribe of Judah as well. But, this verse does not say that Messiah would be a priest-king after the pattern of the Mosaic law, of the Levitical priesthood. It says that He will be a priest after an entirely different pattern, a pattern (or order is probably what your translation says) that preceded the Levitical priesthood! There is a lot of mystery that surrounded Melchizedek. He was called both the king of Salem, and his name means “King of Righteousness”. He was also a priest of the Most High God (Yahweh, that is). He was both. AND, the Scriptures do not give his lineage there in Genesis, which would have been a perfectly appropriate thing to do, in that day and time. However, it is just…missing! The book of Hebrews (7:3) goes on to say that he had no genealogy, without father, without mother. It’s like Melchizedek just appears out of nowhere, and is sort of a “new prototype”, isn’t it? Very mysterious. What the theologians call an “oracle”, hard to explain, a mystery… This is looking less and less like one of our fellow, run-of-the-mill human beings and instead looking more like one of the manifestations in Scripture of God Himself.
Furthermore, note the word “eternally” or “forever”, depending on your translation, in verse 4. The Aaronic Levitical priesthood according to the Bible commentator, Horne, was “figurative, successive and transient”, whereas Messiah’s priesthood is effectual, fixed, eternal and unchangeable.” Only one person could fulfill the “eternally” component of this prophecy, and that is The Messiah, Yeshua, who is now serving as our High Priest at the right hand of Father Yahweh. We need no other priest or intermediary, Baruch Hashem!
One theologian I read contends that David himself was both priest and king and that his priesthood followed after the order of Melchizedek. He is basing this off his interpretation that Psalm 110:4 referred to David Himself. Now, I don’t agree with that interpretation. However, 2 Samuel 8:18 says clearly that David’s sons were priests (kohanim). If that is true, and I trust that Scripture is infallible, then they could not have been Levites. They, too, would have had to have been after the pattern Melchizedek set, and they would NOT have served in the Tabernacle according to Mosaic law. So, this Melchizedekan priesthood, there’s a lot of unknowns about it, for now.
Let’s move on through the psalm now. The remaining three verses describe some of the actions of this priest-king when He returns to earth, to make His enemies His footstool. What we see here in verse 5 is the unified Godhead, the One, operating as One to crush kings and subdue nations in battle. Verse 6 talks of the judgment that occurs after the last great battle, a battle so intense that the nations will literally be filled with corpses. The battle will be over when He, Mashiach, crushes the leader of the rebellion against Hashem Himself.
Verse 7 is both highly picturesque and again, somewhat of a puzzle. The traditional Jewish interpretation is that the battle will be so massive that literally rivers of blood will run throughout the land. The sages say that the victor drinking from a river of blood is a metaphor for decisive victory. For another interpretation, the sage Ibn Ezra believes that the army of the righteous, Messiah’s troops, will be so great that they will be forced to do battle beside a flowing river, to assure its men will have ample water. Yet another, Rashi, believes this is an analogy of Egypt, whose sustenance came from the mighty Nile River, the river in which Egypt placed its trust. In subduing Egypt, Messiah is seen in this interpretation as the Nile river being the place of Egypt’s downfall, since it was the place that fostered her arrogance. At any rate, regardless of which interpretation resonates with you, it is obvious that Messiah’s triumph will be decisive and complete. This final battle occurs at the end of the Millennial reign of Mashiach, where HaSatan is crushed one, final time. And, after that, the final judgment, which Christendom calls the Great White Throne judgment, the one spoken of in Revelation 20:11-15.
Isaiah 12:2-6 foretells of this same victory. Those verses from the CJB - -
2 “See! God is my salvation.
I am confident and unafraid;
for Yah Adonai is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation!”
3 Then you will joyfully draw water
from the springs of salvation.
4 On that day you will say,
“Give thanks to Adonai! Call on his name!
Make his deeds known among the peoples,
declare how exalted is his name.
5 Sing to Adonai, for he has triumphed —
this is being made known throughout the earth.
6 Shout and sing for joy,
you who live in Tziyon;
for the Holy One of Isra’el
is with you in his greatness!”
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