In the famous prophecy of David in Ps 110:1 we read: “The LORD [i.e., YHWH] says to my lord [adoni].”

The Hebrew word translated “my lord” is not Adonai (i.e., YHWH) but adoni, a word that is never used for God in all 195 occurrences. This means David’s “my lord” is not the LORD-Yahweh God addressing another who is also LORD-Yahweh God! Anyone can easily verify this fact by looking in the article for the word “Lord” in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Vol. 3, p. 157):

“The form adoni (‘my lord’), a royal title (1 Sam. 29:8), is to be carefully distinguished from the divine title Adonai.”

The Word Biblical Commentary on Matthew (called the state of the art in theology) adds:

“Underlying the two uses of kyrios [in Mat 22.44] are two different Hebrew words: The first is the tetragrammaton (the personal name ‘Yahweh,’ which was not spoken by the Jews, who substituted the word adonay). The second is adoni, ‘my lord.’ David calls his son not Yahweh but adoni, ‘my lord’: ‘Yahweh [the Lord] said to my lord.'”

That the Psalm is about two different Lords is also shown by the fact that the “my lord” is exalted by YHWH at His right hand. And to “sit at the right hand” connotes conferred authority in a royal setting, I.e., a person who has been told to sit in a place of honor. As a result, the one person taking orders is subordinate to the other person who has ordered him to sit at their right hand!

This simple common sense is spelled out to us by Study Bible commentaries like The NET Bible:

“To sit at the ‘right hand’ of the king was an honor (see 1 Kgs 2:19). The Lord’s invitation to the Davidic king to sit down at his right hand reflects the king’s position as the Lord’s vice-regent.”

The noted Bishop N.T. Wright, in his Preface to How God Became King: Getting to the heart of the Gospels, 2012.

“Jesus, through his Ascension, was seated at the right hand of the Father. In ancient Jewish thought, with echoes of Daniel 7, this could only mean that, from that moment, Jesus was the Father’s right-hand man….The Father’s accredited and appointed agent.”

Similarly, when the Apostles ask Jesus “Let one of us sit at your right” in Mar 10.37 no one at the time would have confused the Apostles with Jesus! The same when Peter preached:

“God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2.36). And “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Acts 10.38), the Apostles were not talking about one and the same person!