The Day of His Wrath

“The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries” (Psalm 110:5-6). Many Christians today wish to ignore these verses, and would rather not associate them with Jesus Christ—as though all of a sudden this has ceased to be a Messianic psalm. They do not recognise this mighty, righteous, wrathful, warrior-judge of kings and of all who war against him as Jesus. They are more comfortable with a sleeping baby Jesus in a manger in a cattle shed. Or a meek and mild Jesus, the ultimate pacifist. Or a limp and lifeless Jesus held up by nails through his hands and feet on a wooden cross.

But Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Our Sovereign Lord is enthroned above all principalities and powers. He has the preeminence over all things. He has all power in heaven and earth. He is our Blessed and Only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords; and we are his people whom he saves, as our great High Priest; and he saves us to the uttermost. While upholding all things by the word of his power, the Word of God through whom all things are made is even now building his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

The Lord Jesus Christ will one day rise up and judge all those people, great and small, living and dead, who do not repent of their sins, do not turn to him for salvation, do not acknowledge him as Lord. The day will come when this king of kings, enthroned at the right hand of Jehovah, rises to deal with those last wicked rulers, and all their armies.

The Lord at the LORD’s Right Hand

He whom David worshipped as “my Lord”, whom the LORD called to sit at his right hand (Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 10:12-13) is the same here called “the Lord at thy right hand” who “shall strike through kings”. Suddenly Psalm 110 jumps forward to the end of the world. On that day, that eschatological “until” in the “until I make thine enemies thy footstool” gives way to the “shall” in the “he shall judge among the heathen”. The day of Christ’s wrath. This is how the world will end.

The fulfilment of this verse is described in greater detail in the Book of Revelation: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God…And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11-16).

And Jesus said of himself, that this is what will happen: “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” (Matthew 25:31-34, 41).

Believers and Unbelievers

This warning of the coming day of Christ’s judgment of all mankind is part of the essential context of the gospel. For those people who unrepentant and unforgiven, it is the ultimate bad news. And, given that this is indeed what is to come, there really is only this good news: this same Jesus saves all who turn to him in repentance and faith—as he himself declared: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world [the first time] to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18).

The first proclamation of the gospel after Christ’s ascension to the right hand of God was by the apostle Peter to the Jews: “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it…This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:22-24, 32-36).

Many of those Jews who heard Peter came to understand their awful predicament. They had rejected, crucified and slain their Messiah, the Son of David, David’s Lord; and they had made themselves his enemies. Understanding this bad news: “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:37-39).

Peter preached this same good news to the Gentiles, and warned of this same bad news of the judgment to come. “The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I say, ye [Gentiles hearing me now] know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John [the Baptist] preached; How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick [i.e. living] and dead” (Acts 10:36-42).

The Last Day

You must believe Jesus’s own words on this matter: “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them [i.e. gives them new life]; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:21-29).

“Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psalm 2:10-12). All people are warned: “And thinkest thou this, O man…that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:3-6).

Each of us will have our own last day in this world. On that day we will not avoid the Lord’s judgment but we will be ushered into it. “It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). And all mankind, all who ever lived, small and great, will appear before Christ, at this world’s last day. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:11-15).

Only the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). We were “children of wrath” like all other sinners are, but Christ has saved us and reconsiled us to God (Ephesians 2:3, 8, 16-18). And therefore this is now true, for true Christians: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life” (Romans 5:6-10). Paul speaks of Christians as people who have “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10).

On the last day of this present world, “He [David’s Lord] shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head” (Psalm 110:7). What does this allegory mean? “He shall drink of the brook in the way”: like with a harvest that must be gotten in “today”, or like a decisive battle that must be won “today”, the Lord Jesus Christ will take no breaks for refreshment or rest while he is about this important work. This idiom would be well known by warriors who fight hard to win, and well known by all hard workers in the countryside who have a massive task before them, that they really must finish on time, all in that one day. “Therefore shall he lift up the head”: the Lord finish the work, win the war, and put all his enemies under his feet. He will not rest his head in exhaustion nor hang his head in shame or defeat, but he shall lift his head up in total victory.