Christ as Lord, Priest, and Wisdom: Psalms 102–150 and Wisdom Literature

Come Follow Me 2026 — Combined Lesson C18 | Weeks 35–36 | Psalms 102–103; 110; 116–119; 127–128; 135–139; 146–150; Proverbs 1–4; 15–16; 22; 31; Ecclesiastes 1–3; 11–12

Three Titles, One Person

The two weeks covered by this combined lesson circle around a single, magnificent claim: Jesus Christ is not merely a teacher whose advice we can take or leave, not merely a historical figure whose example is inspiring, not merely a divine being who earned our salvation by his suffering. He is Lord (the exalted King at the Father’s right hand, Psalm 110:1), Priest (the eternal high priest after the order of Melchizedek, Psalm 110:4), and Wisdom (the divine intelligence through whom all things were made, Proverbs 8:22–30).

These three designations are not merely theological categories. They describe the full scope of Christ’s relationship to human beings and to the created order. As Lord, he governs. As Priest, he mediates. As Wisdom, he illuminates. Every human need — for governance and order in a chaotic world, for reconciliation and access to God, for understanding and guidance in navigating life — is met in him.

The Old Testament scriptures covered in Weeks 35 and 36 make this case from two angles. The Psalms make it from the angle of prophecy and prayer: Israel’s prayers anticipate and describe the Messiah in his suffering (Psalms 102, 118, 119 in its desperation), his priestly authority (Psalm 110:4), his exaltation (Psalm 110:1), and the cosmic praise his reign will ultimately evoke (Psalms 146–150). Proverbs and Ecclesiastes make it from the angle of wisdom: the personified Wisdom of Proverbs 8 is the preexistent Christ; the fear of God that Ecclesiastes champions as the whole duty of humanity is the fundamental posture toward the God who is Lord, Priest, and Wisdom.

Together, these books paint one of the richest christological portraits in the Old Testament — not in the form of narrative (as in the Joseph story or the Exodus) or direct prophecy (as in Isaiah 53) but in the form of prayer, praise, and wisdom reflection: the lived experience of Israel encountering the God who is all of these things at once.

Christ as Lord: The Exaltation of the Rejected Stone

Psalm 110:1 — “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand” — is the declaration of Christ’s supreme Lordship. It describes a conversation within the Godhead: God the Father inviting the exalted Son to the position of co-regency. The enemies who resist his reign will be made his footstool; his dominion will extend in the day of his power. This is not the description of a limited or regional authority. It is the declaration of a reign that encompasses everything.

Psalm 118’s cornerstone prophecy maps the path to that Lordship through rejection: “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.” The route to the throne runs through the cross. The Lord who sits at the right hand of the Father is the same Lord who was crucified between criminals. His Lordship is not despite his suffering but through it. The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone because the rejection is itself part of the plan.

Psalm 102 adds a dimension of Lordship that the New Testament makes explicit: the permanence of Christ against the backdrop of creation’s transience. The Psalm speaks of a heavenly being who laid the foundations of the earth and who endures while heaven and earth wear out like a garment: “But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end” (verse 27). Hebrews 1:10–12 applies this to Christ directly — the eternal Creator who, unlike creation, does not change or wear out. Christ is Lord because He is the permanent foundation of all that exists.

Christ as Lord

Psalm 110:1 — Exalted to the Father’s right hand — cited 20+ times in NT

Psalm 118:22 — Rejected stone becomes cornerstone — Matt 21:42; Acts 4:11; Eph 2:20

Psalm 102:25–27 — Eternal Creator — applied to Christ in Heb 1:10–12

D&C 76:23–24 — The Only Begotten of the Father, maker of worlds

Christ as Priest: The Eternal Mediator

Psalm 110:4’s declaration — “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” — is the pivot on which the book of Hebrews turns. The argument of Hebrews is that Christ’s priesthood is the superior priesthood of which the Levitical system was always only a shadow. The Levitical priests died; they had to be replaced; their sacrifices were offered repeatedly without permanent effect. Christ is a priest “for ever” — his priesthood is permanent because his life is permanent, and his sacrifice is offered once for all time with permanent effect.

Melchizedek, the mysterious king-priest of Salem who received tithes from Abraham and blessed him (Genesis 14:18–20), appears in the Psalter as the pattern of Christ’s priesthood: a priesthood that is royal and priestly simultaneously, that is not inherited through genealogy but received directly from God, that is without the temporal limitations of the Levitical order. The figure of Melchizedek appears in the Old Testament only twice (Genesis 14 and Psalm 110), but the Latter-day Saint scriptures greatly expand this portrait (Alma 13; D&C 107; JST Genesis 14).

The priestly function is mediating: bringing God and humanity into the same space, creating access where there was separation, enabling encounter where there was estrangement. This is what the temple is for, what the ordinances are for, what the Atonement accomplishes. Christ as priest is Christ making the impossible possible: sinful, mortal, finite human beings having access to the presence of the holy, immortal, infinite God. Psalm 110:4 declares that this mediation is not temporary or institutional — it is personal, permanent, and rooted in the eternal nature of the One who mediates.

Christ as Wisdom: The Mind of God Made Accessible

Proverbs 8’s personified Wisdom — with God from before creation, the divine craftsman at the Father’s side, rejoicing in the inhabited world and delighting in humanity — is the Old Testament’s most direct portrait of the preexistent Christ. The New Testament makes the identification explicit:

1 Corinthians 1:24, 30

“But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God… But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”

Paul’s identification of Christ as “the wisdom of God” is not merely a metaphor for clever teaching. It is a theological claim: the wisdom by which the universe was created, the intelligence and order and goodness that underlies all of reality, is not an abstraction but a Person. Colossians 1:16–17 extends this: “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth… And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” The word “consist” is sunistemi — to hold together, to cohere. Christ is the principle of coherence of the universe.

Proverbs 3:5–6 — “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” — takes on profound significance in this light. The call to trust God rather than your own understanding is a call to orient yourself toward the personal Wisdom of the universe, the one in whom “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). It is not a call to anti-intellectualism but to a right ordering: human intelligence aligning with divine intelligence, the creature’s mind finding its proper orientation in the Creator’s mind.

Ecclesiastes’ conclusion — “Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” — is, in this light, the conclusion not of resignation but of discovery. The whole duty of humanity is to orient itself toward the God who is Lord, Priest, and Wisdom: the God who governs history, mediates access, and illuminates the mind with the light of eternal truth.

Formation, Not Just Information: The Goal of Wisdom

One of the most important insights the wisdom literature offers is about the purpose of wisdom itself. Proverbs does not present wisdom primarily as a collection of useful techniques for successful living — though it does contain much practical guidance. At its core, Proverbs is about character formation: the long-term, sustained process by which a person becomes the kind of human being who naturally makes wise choices, relates rightly to God and others, and reflects the character of the God who created them.

This formation is not primarily intellectual. The “fear of the LORD” — which Proverbs repeatedly calls “the beginning of wisdom” (9:10) — is not primarily a feeling of terror. It is an orientation of the whole person: reverential awe, humble submission, trustful dependence, and obedient response. It is the posture of someone who has rightly perceived both who God is and who they are in relation to Him.

The Psalms in this week’s reading reflect the same concern. Psalm 119’s love of God’s word is not primarily about knowing more scripture; it is about becoming a person who is shaped by it: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The word hidden in the heart becomes the orientation of the will, the instinct of the character. The Hallelujah Psalms (146–150) are not just about the content of praise but about what happens to the person who regularly engages in it: they are reoriented toward God, their priorities reshuffled, their identity clarified as creatures of a Creator who is worthy of all their love.

This is the deep resonance between Weeks 35 and 36: both the Psalms and wisdom literature are fundamentally about formation. Not just what you know, but what you become. Not just the information you hold in your head, but the character that has been shaped by sustained encounter with the God who is Lord, Priest, and Wisdom. The Psalms form us in prayer; Proverbs forms us in daily wisdom; Ecclesiastes forms us in eternal perspective. All three are necessary for the integrated life of a covenant disciple.

Discussion and Application Questions

How does knowing that Christ is the personified Wisdom of Proverbs 8 change how you understand his relationship to creation?

What does it mean practically to hold a Melchizedek Priesthood that Psalm 110:4 and Hebrews declare to be eternal and after the order of Christ?

Proverbs 3:5–6 calls for trusting God rather than your own understanding. Where in your life right now do you feel that tension most acutely?

Ecclesiastes concludes that the whole duty of humanity is to fear God and keep his commandments. How does that conclusion strike you after reading all the ways the Preacher found human achievement to be “vanity”?

Which of the three roles — Lord, Priest, or Wisdom — is most meaningful to you right now in your life, and why?

Psalm 119 describes hiding God’s word in the heart as protective against sin. What practices help you do this, and what does it mean for scripture engagement to be formative rather than merely informative?

The End of the Psalter and the Whole of the Law

There is a striking parallel between the end of the Psalter and the end of Ecclesiastes. Psalms 146–150 conclude the entire Psalter with a crescendo of praise — every created thing joining in the worship of the Creator. Ecclesiastes 12:13 concludes the Preacher’s investigation with the simplest possible statement of the whole duty of humanity. Both endings arrive at the same place from different directions: God is worthy of everything.

The Hallelujah Psalms are praise that has come through lament, through confusion, through the experience of God’s hiddenness and the suffering of the righteous. They are not the praise of people who have never been tested; they are the praise of people who have been through the darkness of Psalms 22, 69, and 77 and have arrived at the other side still singing. This is doxology forged in the furnace.

And Ecclesiastes’ conclusion is the wisdom of a man who has had everything the world can offer — riches, power, wisdom, pleasure, achievement — and has found it all to be vapor. He arrives at “fear God and keep his commandments” not as a default because everything else failed, but as the distilled conclusion of a thorough investigation: this alone endures; this alone corresponds to what human beings actually are and what they are actually for.

Together, these are the two great culminations of Israel’s wisdom tradition: the prayer tradition (the Psalms) arrives at infinite praise; the observation tradition (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes) arrives at the fear of God. Both are pointing at the same reality. The One who deserves all praise is the One who deserves all fear; the One who is worth fearing is the One who is worth praising. And that One — the LORD, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob — has come to us in Jesus Christ: Lord, Priest, and Wisdom, the One in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells, the One whose praise will one day be the song of every creature in every realm of existence.