1–3 Royal enthronement
The first Lord is really YHWH,
the personal name of Israel’s God; the second lord (adonai) probably refers to the king. The enthronement scene is
quite striking. It is God who enthrones the king in the ultimate place of
honor, at God’s right hand. Under the king’s feet are his enemies, placed there
by God. From Zion, the mountain on which Jerusalem stands, the king rules over
all the nations. Traces of ancient Near Eastern royal ideology can be seen in
the reference to the father-son relationship between the deity and the human
king. The metaphor of the daystar is rich with implications. It may refer to
the divine origin of the king’s rule, the freshness of its potential, or the
enlightenment brought by this king. The fact that this is a divine oracle gives
religious legitimation to the king and his rule. (Dianne Bergant, Psalms,
2 vols. [The New Collegeville Bible Commentary 23; Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical
Press, 2013], 2:90-91)
