Heaven's Anthem

Good afternoon everyone, as Paul said, I'm Ian and I'm delighted to join in the welcome you've already had at our Oly's service this morning.

I want to start with a short quiz, test your memories a bit maybe, and our quiz is about national anthems.

Now most of us who are certainly interested in sport would recognise the tunes of quite a few national anthems.

But alongside tunes, most and not all of them also have words, words that are designed to stir us up, to fill us with patriotic pride, and perhaps to strike fear into the hands of our opponents.

But in practice, certainly if you're a Brit, you probably don't know much more than the words of the first verse of your own national anthems.

So we're going to have a quiz about national anthems, and you have to identify which country's national anthem it is.

No prizes, just shout out the answers.

As a clue, all of them are associated with people in this church.

People in this church who come from all the countries that we're going to put up on the screen.

So here's the first one.

Blessed with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land praise the power that hath made and preserved us and nation.

Any idea of what country that is national anthem of?

If we don't get this one, we're going to be really striking later.

Any thoughts?

Any thoughts?

Okay.

It's the Star Spangled Banner.

It's the anthem of the United States.

Second one.

God bless us, your children.

God, we ask you to protect our nation, intervene, and end all conflicts.

I'm not sure the people from that country are here.

Anyone?

Okay.

South Africa.

South Africa.

It's the Rainbow Nation part of the national anthem of South Africa.

Translated to English.

South African anthem is in about four different languages, I think.

This is one of the parts of the verse translated to English.

Okay.

Number three.

We swear to set free the land of our birth.

United for God.

Who can overcome us?

I don't think anyone knows their national anthem.

That's an Italian one.

A rising tune, but it's several verses in.

Right.

Hope we get this one.

O Lord, our God, arise.

Scatter her enemies and make them fall.

UK, yes.

At least someone knows the second verse of the UK anthem.

Right.

That was just a bit of fun.

But I want to think about what could be thought of as a Jewish national anthem.

Say, Psalm 2.

If you are living in the few hundred years before Jesus was born, then Psalm 2 has many

of the same kind of features as the anthems we've been thinking about.

If you are noticing the words, rather than just think what country they were, all of the

words that we put up were countries saying, God is on our side and we will be victorious

in one way or another.

And that very much is what Psalm 2 is about.

It's saying God is on the side of his people and his king, king of Israel, and we will be

victorious through him.

It's a psalm of victory.

It's also, like Psalm 1, an introduction to the book of Psalms.

Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 may originally have been just one psalm.

You notice Psalm 1 starts with, blesses the man who does not walk in the counsel of the

wicked.

And Psalm 2 ends with, blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

And these two verses bracket the two psalms.

They may have been one to begin with.

But there are significant differences between Psalm 1 and Psalm 2.

Psalm 1 is very much about me and my relationship with God.

It's about the individual, the man who walks in God's ways.

Psalm 2 is very much more about the nation.

Nations as represented by kings and by rulers.

But it's more of a corporate psalm about the people of God and about the enemies of God.

Psalm 1 is very much my relationship with God.

It is walking in God's way.

It is recognizing God.

Psalm 2 is about my relationship with the king.

The king of Israel, we'll think about in a few minutes what it originally meant.

For us, looking forward, Jesus, our king.

And then Psalm 1, as we look forward, as we think of a New Testament context,

Psalm 1, as Graham presented to us last week,

Jesus is the perfect example of someone who lives like Psalm 1,

what Graham called Mr. Psalm 1.

If we want to know what it's like to live the way that the psalmist tells us to,

we look at Jesus and he shows that perfectly.

Psalm 2 much more directly points forward to Jesus himself.

And tells us that Jesus is the one whom we have to worship and we have to serve.

It's the first of what are quite often called the Messianic Psalms.

There are quite a number of them scattered through the book of Psalms.

There are songs that look forward, when we look back at them as Christians,

we can see these are about Jesus.

And that's not just us thinking that or putting two and two together.

Psalm 2 is quoted many times in the New Testament as referring to Jesus.

So although there was an original context, which we'll cover briefly,

when we look at Psalm 2 as Christians, as those who know the Lord Jesus,

we look back and see we can see a lot about Jesus in this psalm.

He's pointing forward to him as the ultimate king,

as the ultimate one who is the Son of God.

And let's bear that in mind as we go through it.

Now Psalm divides up very easily.

There are four paragraphs of three verses each, or perhaps four verses because it's a song,

four sections of three verses each that we can look at.

And to make things easy to remember, I've got a heading for each that begins with R.

So the first three verses are about rebellion.

There's a picture here of nations rising up against God's king

and of trying to overthrow him and to win their freedom.

Now some people think Psalm 2 originally was a coronation psalm.

That it was one that would have been sung when a new king, perhaps Solomon,

or perhaps one of the later kings, when a new king was crowned.

And as there's always lots of pomp and ceremony to coronation,

this might have been one of the songs that was sung.

And that might be quite relevant as we think about these verses.

One thing that sometimes happens when there's a new king in one of the powers of the world

is that those who are under that power and perhaps resent it think,

here might be an opportunity for us to win our freedom.

The old king has been very powerful and has trodden us down,

but this new king might not be as strong.

We can take our chance and see if we can defeat him and win our freedom.

In a slightly more everyday context,

sometimes when children at school get a new teacher,

they think, let's just test them out and see how far they'll go.

Let's be a little bit naughty and see if they clamp down on it

or see if they're a bit more lax than our previous teacher

and we can take advantage of that.

That's possibly the kind of thought that's here.

New king, new opportunities for those who oppose him

to rebel and to take their stand against him.

But the psalmist says,

why do they do that?

Because it's pointless.

They're never going to be victorious against the great king who God has appointed.

There's a big difference between this anthem,

we teach us that,

and most national anthems.

Most national anthems,

we hope God is on our side

and we sing in some assurance that God's on our side.

When it came to the Jewish nation,

they knew that they were God's special people

and that if they were obedient,

they would be triumphant.

When we come to the Lord Jesus,

we know that he is God's son

and that God will put everything under his feet.

So standing against him ultimately is futile.

In the New Testament,

right at the beginning of the book of Acts,

there was a time of persecution.

And Peter and John were thrown into prison

and were eventually released.

And the disciples got together

and they had a big prayer meeting.

It was a wonderful prayer meeting.

At the end of it,

the whole building shook.

But as part of that prayer meeting,

they quoted these words from Psalm 2.

Why do the nations conspire

and the people plot in vain?

And they said this,

Herod and Pontius Pilate

met together with the Gentiles

and the people of Israel in this city

to conspire against your holy servant,

Jesus, whom you anointed.

So they looked at Psalm 2

and they said,

Ultimately, it's about people

who are conspiring against Jesus.

And they knew that ultimately

they wouldn't be successful.

So how can we translate that to our day?

Well, there are many places in the world today

where if you're a Christian,

you're in great danger.

And our brothers and sisters

in many foreign lands

could probably take these verses

and they would be very real to them

because they see their rulers

conspiring against the Christian faith

and against the Lord Jesus.

Countries like North Korea,

China still to some extent,

countries in the Middle East,

a lot of places where Christians,

if they take a stand for Jesus,

feel that they're in real danger.

Now, we probably don't feel that.

I don't think any of us worries too much

about physical violence against us

if we take a stand for the Lord Jesus.

But yet in our country,

there is still an undercurrent

against Christian things.

I was really encouraged

by what Scott said earlier

about that atheism hasn't got the same hold

that it used to among many students.

But there's no doubt

that there is still,

among particular people,

what they call the new atheists,

there is a real hostility to Christianity

and a tendency to mock it

and to say it's irrelevant

and we should do away with it

and have nothing to do with it.

It's not persecution in the sense

that our brothers and sisters

in other countries experience,

but nevertheless,

it is people conspiring against Jesus

and against the gospel

and seeking to bring it down.

It's really good to know

in these circumstances

that we have a God

who is all-powerful

and that ultimately

he will prevail

and that Jesus is the only one

who can bring real peace

and real satisfaction in life.

So there's a rebellion

to begin with.

I've got verses 3 to 4 to 6,

reaction.

So God sees this rebellion

and he reacts against it

perhaps in a surprising way.

He laughs.

I don't often think,

I suspect,

of God laughing,

but it is, I think,

the thought here

that the suggestion

these people are making

is laughable.

That would be quite a good expression

we would use in our land today.

It is laughable

that they should think

that they could stand against God

and against his chosen people

and that they could emerge victorious.

There's a good Scots expression

that might slightly describe

what God's reaction would be.

You and whose army?

Someone tries to come against you.

You and whose army

is going to beat me?

Or this evening

we'll be looking at the story

of David and Goliath.

Nilo will be taking us through that.

You remember when David

came up against Goliath?

Goliath's reaction was,

am I a dog

that you come to be with sticks?

He thought there was no chance

that David could beat him.

Now Goliath was wrong.

But God is absolutely right.

As he sees the people coming

and opposing him,

he knows that ultimately

he will be triumphant.

But it goes beyond laughter

and scoffing.

And God then rebukes them.

He terrifies them,

says the psalmist.

And then he installs his king

on Zion.

So God says to these people,

my reaction,

there's no way you're going

to end up victorious.

And you're going to have

to consider the consequences

of what you're doing.

I have installed my king

and he is going to be the one

who is my judge.

Now for these three headings,

I've got a verse

from the book of Acts

that we're going to look at.

And the next verse

is something that Paul said.

Paul, when he went to Athens

and he saw everything

was happening there,

preached a great sermon

up on Mars Hill

talking about the greatness of God.

but his nearness to us.

And then he talks about

the Lord Jesus.

And he says of God,

he has set a day

when he will judge the world

with justice

by the man he has appointed.

That if we're looking forward

is not explicitly there,

but that is what this means

when it says,

I've installed my king

on Zion,

my holy hill.

God has set a day

when we will all have to give

account of ourselves

before Jesus.

And he is the one

who will be

the ultimate judge.

And how we will be judged

will be on our response

to him

and whether our trust

is in him

as we'll see

as we go down

through the psalm.

So there is reaction.

Our third R

is recognition.

Now,

important to note

at this point

in the psalm,

the speaker changes.

So there's been a bit

of God speaking

in verse 6,

but mostly it's been

the narrator up to now.

In verse 7,

it changes to the king speaking.

So we might like to think

of it as Jesus speaking,

but only speaking

very briefly

and then quoting

the words of God

to him.

So these verses,

verses 7 to 9,

are about the recognition

that God gives

to the king.

To the king

in Old Testament times

to the king,

Jesus.

In the book of

2 Samuel,

David is the king

and he wants to build

a temple for God

and God says,

no, it's not your job

because you've been

a man of war.

It's your son

who will become the king.

But he also says,

I will be his father

and he will be

my son.

And that's very much

the thought that's here

if we look in

the Old Testament context

that God has

used the king

almost as an adopted son

as his representative

here on earth.

But of course,

as we look forward,

as we think about

the New Testament,

the Christian context,

we think of Jesus

as the son of God.

Many times

through the Gospels,

Jesus is referred to

as the son of God

or God indeed

speaks from heaven

and says,

this is my son

with whom I am pleased.

And so these verses

very much point forward

to Jesus.

These three verses

are quoted,

I think,

six times

in the New Testament.

One of them

we read earlier,

what Kat read to us,

and here's a few

couple of verses

from that passage,

following when

it says that God

has called Jesus' son,

or before that,

rather,

we tell you the good news

what God has promised

our ancestors

he has fulfilled

for us,

their children,

by raising up

Jesus.

And then he quotes

from Psalm 2.

In the book of Hebrews

there are two quotations

of the reference

to Psalm 2

of God's son,

and one is presenting

him as being

so much more powerful

than the angels,

that none of the angels

were ever called

God's son,

and the other is

in connection with him

being the great high priest,

the one appointed

by God

for the priestly function,

and the writer quotes

from Psalm 2

there as well.

So we come today

and we have a God

who has very clearly

identified for us

and recognized

the Lord Jesus

as his son,

as the one

who is his representative

and who always does

what he wills,

and the one

to whom,

as it says here,

he has made

the nations

his inheritance,

the end of his earth,

your possession.

Or as Jesus put it,

all authority

has been given to me

in heaven

and on earth.

And then at the end

in verse 9,

there's the bit

about the rule,

the authority,

the judgment

of Jesus.

You will rule them

with an iron scepter,

you will dash them

to pieces like pottery.

This picture

of ruling

with an iron scepter

is referred to

three times

in the book of Revelation,

all of them

arguably about Jesus,

one or two of them

may not be,

but certainly

it is relevant here.

Now it's quite interesting

if you look

at the root meaning

of the words here,

the word that is

translated rule

can also mean

shepherd.

And the word

that's translated

iron scepter,

some people think

has the picture

not of a kind of

big iron rod,

but actually

of a shepherd's crook.

So although there's

an element of judgment

here,

and of God

standing against

his enemies

and condemning them,

there's also

an element

of Jesus

as the shepherd,

as the one

who lovingly

looks after

and disciplines

his sheep.

And for those

of us

who know Jesus,

that discipline

is an important

part of our lives

and the way

that he shepherds us.

But for those

who don't know him,

again,

it's something

that should,

the psalmist says,

strike fear into them

because he is

the ruler,

he is the one

who will judge.

And then finally,

let's look briefly

at verses 10 to 12.

And in these verses,

the psalmist

urges reflection.

Think about

everything that's

been said up

till now,

reflect on it,

and you're not

going to want

to rebel

if you really

think about it

seriously.

The only wise

thing to do

is to recognize

the Son

and to pay

allegiance

to him.

Therefore,

you kings,

be wise,

be warned,

you rulers of the earth,

serve the Lord

with fear,

rejoice with trembling,

kiss the Son.

The idea of kissing

the Son

is really of submission,

of submitting

to the will

of the Son.

Let's look at

another verse

from the book

of Acts.

Sorry,

that's come a bit

off the screen

at the bottom there,

but hopefully

you can see it.

Paul is in Philippi,

he's been in prison

with Silas,

his companion,

the prison doors

have burst open,

the prisoners

are all in theory

free,

although all of them

stay,

the jailer comes in

and he's about

to kill himself,

Paul says,

don't do that,

we're all here,

and he says,

what must I do

to be saved?

And Paul says,

believe in the Lord

Jesus

and you

will

be saved.

And that is

the New Testament

equivalent,

I think,

of verse 12,

blessed are all

who take refuge

in him.

So the psalmist

says,

there's a judgment

to come,

but if we take

refuge in the Son,

in the King,

as we think of it,

in Jesus,

then there will be

salvation,

there will be

forgiveness,

we won't face

the wrath

of God.

And that's the

ultimate message,

I think,

of Psalm 2.

It's a psalm

that presents

the power of God,

how futile it is

to rebel against

God ultimately.

It presents to us

the judgment of God,

that God has to

punish those

who rebel against

him,

and will

ultimately

crush them.

But it's a psalm

about the love of God,

and the way in which

God has prepared

a way for us

to have peace

with him,

and to be forgiven.

And that is

through the Lord Jesus,

particularly through

his death for us

on the cross,

as he went there,

and as he took

the punishment

for our sins.

As we read again,

it was in Acts chapter 13,

Acts 13 · chapter mention

was it the one

who has died,

and the one

who has risen again,

and the one

whom the God

has pronounced

as his son.

So let's finish

by returning

to anthems.

Not national anthems

this time,

but let's think about

heaven's anthem.

Now I'm sure

there are many

psalms,

songs in the Bible

that we could think of

as suitable anthems

for us as Christians,

are many of the songs

we sing

that have been written

by godly people

that present

the truths

of the gospel

and of the Lord Jesus

in wonderful

and stirring ways.

Let me just talk

about three things

that perhaps

we should have

if we have

heaven's anthem.

And the first thing

is allegiance

to the sun.

That is what

the psalm is about,

and that is what

we are about

as a church.

It is about

Jesus.

It is about

knowing Jesus.

It is about

loving him.

It is about

trusting in him.

It is about

following him.

And we,

I'm sure all of us,

if we know Jesus,

would wish to express

that allegiance

to him

and to demonstrate

it to others.

And there's a challenge

if you don't know

Jesus,

if you don't feel

your allegiances

to him this morning,

to recognize

that you need

to put your trust

in him

and to come

to him

for forgiveness

and to know

that his death

on the cross

is enough

to cover over

all your failure.

So allegiance

to the sun

is a key part

of heaven's anthem.

Second thing

which is a key part,

key part of Psalm 2

and of many

other passages of Scripture

is the warning

of judgment.

We need,

if we're believers

in the Lord Jesus,

to be aware

that there is a judgment.

It's something

that will happen

and we need

to be telling people

about it

but telling them

about it

in the context

that we have

a loving God

who sent his son

to die on the cross

and we can have

forgiveness

through him.

We can have

the knowledge

that we have

eternal life,

that we're going

to be with Jesus,

that ultimately

we have been saved

from the punishment

for all the wrong

we've done.

The warning of judgment

is a very important part

of what we want

in an anthem

about our faith.

And then the final thing

is the confidence

in victory.

We should look

at a Psalm like this

and we should give thanks

that we have a God

who is all-powerful,

who is in control

of the universe,

who is holy

but who is loving as well

and who will give us

the victory

through the Lord Jesus.

And let's go away

rejoicing in that

this morning.

That as we face

difficulties in life,

perhaps as we face

in some measure

opposition to our position

as Christians,

that we are on the side

of victory.

We know the Son,

we love him

and we know that

ultimately

he will triumph.

And let's go away

rejoicing in him

and confident

that through him

we will emerge

victorious.

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you

for this wonderful Psalm.

We thank you

for the way

in which it presents

to us

your greatness,

that you are

the Almighty One,

that you are the one

who is all-powerful.

We thank you too

as it presents to us

our failure

and the failure

of many, many people

down the years,

that we,

in a real sense,

are or have been

the rebels

that the Psalmist

talks about.

But we thank you

that it tells us too

that through the Son

there is peace,

there is forgiveness,

there is a relationship

with the great God

of heaven.

Help us all

to put our trust

in Jesus,

to come to know

him for ourselves

and then to go on

victorious,

to serve him,

to tell others

about him

and to live for him

in every aspect

of our lives.

We thank you

for your word

to us this morning.

We thank you

for what we thought

about earlier on too.

We pray again

for the students

at the universities

around our city

that you will help them

to be good witnesses

and to know

the power of the Lord Jesus

and the victory

that comes through him.

We give you our thanks

and commit ourselves

to you now

in Jesus' name.

Amen.