"The King's Speech" Psalm 2 Sunday Morning Worship Service

If you have your copy of God's word, would you please turn with me to Psalm two?

Only a fool argues with a king.

And so it stands to reason that only an ultimate fool would dare argue with an ultimate king.

Psalm two is an ancient song answering an important question.

Who's really in charge here?

Who gets to sit on the throne?

Who speaks with authority?

Where does the buck stop?

And if you want, to boil it all the way down.

The message of Psalm 2 is very simple.

King Jesus gets the last word.

So I invite you to turn now your attention to the words of this ancient song.

I would like to sing it for you in Hebrew.

But I can't.

So we're going to content ourselves with the words of the English Standard Version, which you can find in your pew Bibles in front of you if you'd like to follow along.

It's on page 448.

The psalm reads like this Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.

He who sits in the heavens laughs.

The Lord holds them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.

I will tell of the decree.

The Lord said to me, You are my son.

Today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise.

Be warned, O rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

If you were with us last week, Pastor Ryan walked us through Psalm one.

And if you remember, he mentioned that Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 actually work together.

They're a team.

They're like double doors that swing open to the Psalter and swing open to welcome you into the life of worship in the nation of Israel.

Psalm 1 and Psalm 2.

In fact, he pointed out that there's a literary device that the author gives us to let us know that's how they're supposed to work.

It's an inclusio.

The very first word of Psalm 1 is blessed.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

That's a blessed man.

But the last word of Psalm 2 in the Hebrew is also blessed.

The one who takes refuge in the king is blessed.

That is how you are blessed.

So two halves really of one psalm.

Psalm 1, here's how you can be blessed.

Love the law of the Lord, delight in it, meditate in it, let it permeate your heart and pour out into every aspect of your life.

Obey God, obey his precepts, and you will be blessed.

You'll be like a strong tree firmly planted by streams of water.

Your life will bear rich and ripe and abundant fruit.

You will never wither, you will never grow tired, and at the end of the day, you will stand in the assembly of the righteous before your God.

You can be blessed.

Really, it lays out a path for you, a choice.

You can follow that path, the path of the righteous man that leads to eternal blessing.

Or you can follow the other path.

And that's where Psalm 2 comes in.

Psalm 2 is a warning for what's waiting at the end of the other path.

Listen, we're all going to reach the end of the road someday.

Every one of us.

And you need to know that there is someone waiting for you at the end of that road.

And you will have to reckon with him.

Psalm 2 is a literary masterpiece.

It's beautifully parallel in its construction.

It's made up of four stanzas, four verses, if you will, of this ancient song.

Each verse has three verses inside of it, each one contributing a unique part to the whole message of Psalm 2, this word of warning that comes in four movements, like a symphony, like an orchestral piece.

And as you look at each one of these stanzas, as you look at each one of these verses of this magnificent song, you'll see that all of them focus on words, on speech.

The first three stanzas that we just read all included a quote.

And the last stanza, the fourth verse of this song, is just one speech.

But together they come and they offer a warning to all who would seek to reject the king of Israel.

Know that he gets the last word.

And here we hear the words of rebellion.

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, and here is the quote: Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.

In Psalm 1, we learn that the whole world is in rebellion against God.

And my guess is that you probably already knew that.

Ever since Genesis 3, when sin first entered into creation through the act of disobedience of our father Adam and his wife Eve, and then sin begins to infect every human heart.

From that moment, every one of us has been born at war with God.

We come into his creation as his enemies.

And then, ever since Genesis 8, when God scatters the nations after the flood across the globe, and tribes and clans and nations begin to form, they have risen up in opposition against God and against his authority.

And what we see in Psalm 2, what the psalmist envisions is a great global worldwide summit of cosmic sedition, where all of the rulers and the leaders from every nation and every tribe and every people have all come together, united by only one thing.

Their hatred of God.

That is the one common thread that runs throughout all of human history.

This world hates God.

It says here that they are enraged, that they're plotting enraged, they're worked up into this cacophonous frenzy of rebellious anger against the God who created them.

Very simply, the world hates God.

And that truth perplexes the psalmist.

Why?

Why do you do this?

It makes no sense.

God is good.

He gives good gifts.

He gives good gifts even to you, you rebellious nations.

He gives you sunshine and rain for your crops.

God gives you life itself, and you hate him for it.

But it's not the gifts they hate.

It's not the gifts and the good things that God gives that the world rejects.

The world loves sunshine and rainbows and puppy dogs.

It comes down to authority.

That's what they hate.

Listen to the way they voice their rebellion in the quote: Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.

The world sees all of God's goodness and mercy and kindness and blessing, his wisdom and his character as oppressive bonds.

Never mind that Jesus describes his yoke as easy and his burden light.

Never mind that God's design for life and his wisdom is a blessing and provides flourishing everywhere it goes.

Never mind that God is himself the source of life and goodness and joy and peace.

Our human hearts are hardwired from the cradle for hubris.

We reject God's authority and we pursue autonomy at all costs.

That is our highest good.

I am in charge, I call the shots.

And it's worth being reminded here that there's more than one kind of rebellion.

I used to read Psalm 1 and hear these rebellious nations and rulers and leaders and have only one kind of stereotype of rebellion in my mind.

The maximum hedonistic pleasure rebellion.

I don't need you, God.

I got a God or better plan.

I'm going to pursue all of the pleasures this world has.

You can't tell me who I can marry and what I can do and who I can sleep with and what I can read and what I can watch.

I'm in charge.

And that was the only kind of rebellion that I brought the Psalm to for a long time.

But there's another kind of rebellion.

In addition to rank hedonism, there's pious self-righteousness.

I don't need you, God.

I've got this under control.

I don't need your king.

I can run my own life, and I'm a good man and a moral man, and I do the right thing, and I'm faithful to my wife, and I don't cheat on my taxes much, and I don't need you.

I can run this thing on my own, and that is just as rebellious and just as rank and just as evil in the sight of God.

And here the psalmist envisions all of the might of every human authority, of every stripe and kind, from the most pagan of the pagans to the most self-righteous of the righteous, massed together against God and against his anointed.

That's an interesting word, anointed.

It's one of the very few words you might be more familiar with in Hebrew than you are in English.

It's the word Messiah.

It means the one God has chosen and anointed and set his blessing upon and uniquely set apart to accomplish his purse, his purpose.

And here it stands for the king.

All of the nations of the earth hate God and they hate that he has a king.

And so they rage.

And they seek any way to shake off God's authority and accountability to God and to his king.

And when we read Psalm two, we see that the psalmist has in his scope nations, peoples.

But we should recognize that this war is raging in every one of our hearts.

We're born enemies of God, dead in our trespasses and sins, children of wrath, just like the rest of mankind.

We are born rejecting his authority and trusting in ourselves.

And every one of us tries to slip out of the cords of God's love in order to put on the shackles of our own preferred passionate lusts.

And so our rebellious hearts join the army arrayed against God and against his anointed.

And that sounds like a pretty impressive army.

All of the nations and all of the peoples and all of the kings and all of the rulers, and guess what?

All of our hearts amassed against God.

And how does God respond?

He laughs.

Second verse shows us the words of wrath.

He who sits in the heavens laughs.

The Lord holds them in derision.

God isn't scared because all of the nations have come together against him.

He isn't hiding because all of the peoples are conspiring against him.

God is where God always is, sitting on his throne.

And from that throne you hear laughter.

Do you think the God who calls stars into existence and holds galaxies in the palm of his hand, who commands the wind and the waves and the beasts of the sea and the birds of the air, the God who existed from all eternity, do you think he has anything to fear from all of the massed armies of the world?

These petty kings?

These pretenders to true authority?

These two-bit tyrants whose temporary thrones rise and fall like the blinking of God's eye?

Do you think he trembles from them?

Of course he laughs.

What could be more ridiculous than earthly rulers trying to shake their fists and fight the God of heaven?

There's an old quote.

It's just as true today as it ever was.

Your arms are too short to box with God.

But just know if you try to step into the ring, he's not scared.

In fact, you might hear laughing from the other corner.

But it's not the laughter of mirth or joviality.

It is the laughter of derision, of mocking.

As H.B.

Charles said, when God laughs, ain't nothing funny.

It's pathetic, actually.

It's pitiful for us to fight against God.

The audacity it takes to use the very breath that God puts into our lungs to shout rebellious utterances against God is incredibly, incredulously laughable.

But you notice that God's laughter soon gives way to his fury and his wrath.

His anger is kindled against sin.

And I fear we have an overly sanitized version of God in our minds.

He's a kindly old man, probably looks like George Burns or Morgan Freeman, depending on your age.

And he he walks playfully, bantering with humans, and occasionally gives them a stern glance when they've done something wrong.

That's not the God of Psalm 2.

The God of Psalm 2 speaks with fury and wrath.

He is a God of vengeance.

His presence shakes mountains.

He's a God who stores up wrath against all unrighteousness.

The God of the scriptures, the God of Psalm 2, is a God whose justice burns red hot against sin, and he has a king.

That's the quote that God gives us.

As for me, I have set my king on my holy hill, Zion.

So how does Yahweh answer all of the threats of all of the rebellion of all of the world?

He crowns a king and he gives him authority.

And in the Old Testament, It was understood that the Davidic kings, the sons of David, were the representatives of God, and they existed as a type of his son, and that Zion, where they reigned, was the place of God's dwelling, where his ark and his presence and his glory and his temple were.

But understand, if the declaration that God gives of anointing his king are spoken out of wrath and fury, what does that imply about the king?

That he is the mediator of justice, that he speaks wrath and fury.

And that's what you see in the third verse of this song.

The nations have spoken their rebellion, and God has spoken his wrath, and now the king speaks his authority.

I will tell of the decree.

The Lord said to me, You are my son, today I have begotten you.

And now the identity of this king begins to come into view.

David had sons.

They ruled from Jerusalem.

But only one of them meets these qualifications.

Only one son of David is the eternally begotten Son of God, who existed without beginning and has no end.

Only one Messiah will inherit the nations, and that is Jesus Christ.

And so that we wouldn't miss it, the New Testament authors quoted this psalm frequently.

These words, you are my beloved son, come both at the baptism of Jesus and the transfiguration of Jesus.

This psalm is quoted in Acts chapter 13, where the apostle Paul is preaching to the nations and preaching, and he declares that in the resurrection from the grave, God has put his stamp of approval, his divine seal of authority on his begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

As he wrote to the Romans that it was at the resurrection where Jesus Christ was proclaimed in power to be the Son of God and the Son of David.

He's more than another priest, he's more than another king.

He is the king, the uniquely begotten Son of God the Father.

And it is to Jesus that God the Father has given all power and all authority for all time in heaven and earth.

The Father says to his son, just ask.

All you have to do is ask.

I'll give you the nations, they're yours.

I'll give you the ends of the earth, they're yours.

And then he gave to his son, his only begotten son, a rod of iron, a scepter that the king would hold, the symbol of his authority.

But notice that his scepter is iron.

It's strong, it's unbreakable, and with it he will rule the nations.

That's what the Apostle John tells us multiple times in the book of Revelation, both in chapter 12 and in chapter 19, that Jesus Christ, when he comes to reign again, will have in his hand his scepter, and he will rule the nations.

And it says here, he will break them like they are pottery.

Because Jesus is the one who's worthy to open the scroll.

Jesus is the one who's worthy to take possession of the very ends of the earth.

There is not a blade of grass or a grain of sand over which Jesus Christ does not claim ownership.

How much more so is that true of every human soul?

Every person belongs to him.

They are his.

And as we read in Philippians 2, one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord.

He is the King.

He is God's Messiah.

And so on that day, Jesus will get the last word.

But he hasn't spoken his last word yet.

That's what Psalm stanza for reminds us.

Get a word of warning.

I'll admit to you, I used to read Psalm 2 wrong.

I used to come to Psalm 2 and I saw it as nothing more than a divine victory lap.

This was God and his king spiking the football in the end zone of the end times.

And I used to read Psalm 2 wanting to point my finger into the chest of everyone else.

You wicked person, you're gonna get what's coming to you.

Just you wait and see.

But I don't think that's how you're supposed to read Psalm 2.

There is victory here.

Amen.

God gets the victory.

There is celebration here.

Amen.

There is confidence and hope in here for every believer in Jesus Christ that no matter what this world throws at you, if every nation and every king and every ruler amass themselves against you, God is still laughing.

Amen.

But here's the deal: the laughing, the mocking, the scorn and the derision, those are God's.

He gets those.

We get warning.

I think Psalm 2 is a psalm of tenderness and love.

I think here in the fourth stanza, the psalmist is begging and pleading with them.

Be wise, I beg you, be warned.

I'm pleading with you.

Your end does not have to be destruction.

God is going to send his son back and he will break the nations, he will destroy them.

But you don't have to be part of it.

Jesus gave a parable in Luke 14 and he asks a question What king, if he's about to go to war, doesn't consider?

First, if with 10,000 men he can prevail against 20,000 men.

This psalmist is asking the same question to the rulers and the kings of this earth.

Do the math, guys.

You're gonna lose.

Come to the king.

You don't have to be consumed by his anger.

Come to the king.

Serve him with fear, rejoice with trembling.

The king is inviting you into his courts if you will only humble yourselves and submit to his authority.

That's what it means by kiss the sun.

This isn't romance, it's submission.

When a king was defeated, he would come to the victor and he would bow before him and kiss his feet, or kiss the ground, or kiss the royal ring.

And here the psalmist invites every rebel, come kiss the sun.

Do homage to him, bow down before him.

You don't have to be destroyed in his fury.

There are only two ways to meet this king.

You will meet him through his mercy, or you will meet him through his wrath.

But you will meet him.

He will get the last word.

And perhaps you came in here this morning shaking your fist at God.

Today he invites you.

Bend your knee.

This is the reason for which Jesus came.

It's the reason he took on flesh.

That he could rescue rebels.

You might have walked in here God's enemy, but you can walk out in peace.

If you'll just lay down your arms and lift up your hands in a prayer of submission, confessing your sin, acknowledging your sin, asking for his mercy, pleading for his forgiveness, God hears that prayer and he answers.

And Jesus promises forgiveness.

John writes, If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Jesus, the King, has in his hands the authority to condemn and to forgive.

The iron scepter that he is holding is able to break nations, but it is just as capable of breaking the bonds of sin and death.

Jesus is a judge, but he is also a savior.

And that is why he came.

So that he could save you from his own wrath.

So come to him today and find refuge.

Experience the blessing of forgiveness.

Jesus is going to get the last word, my friend.

And it will either be, well done, my good and faithful servant, enter my rest.

Or it will be, depart from me, you worker of lawlessness.

I never knew you.

Jesus gets the last word.

You have to choose.

Shake your fist or bend your knee.

Let's pray.

Almighty God, we do worship you.

For you are good.

We worship you for you are great.

We worship you for you are glorious.

You sit on a throne.

God, I pray for anyone here who is still your enemy that they would come for your offer of forgiveness.

I pray, God, that you would bring them to salvation.

I thank you, God, for the gift of your grace that you have shown to us who are redeemed rebels.

And it's in your son's precious name that we pray.

Amen.

And now, for a parting word for Pastor Jesse Johnson.

Thanks for joining us.

If you're in the Washington, D.C.

area, I would love to see you at Emmanuel Bible Church.

For more information on our church or our current service times, go to IBC.church.

For more information about the Master Seminary and their Washington, D.C.

location, go to TMS.edu.

I hope this resource has been a blessing to you and it helps you seek the Lord daily, serve others around you, and share the gospel with boldness.