Very Present Help in Trouble: God is in Control, No Matter What (Psalm 2)

Hello, I'm Pastor Craig, and thank you for tuning in to New Summon Churches Podcast.

We're a gospel center church and work here in Ontario proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors.

May God bless you today through his life-giving word.

The psalm appointed for this morning is Psalm number two.

Please respond with the folded text.

Why do the nations so furiously rage together?

And why do the people survive the rain?

The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together.

Let us break their bonds asunder.

He who dwells in heaven shall laugh them to scorn.

Then shall he speak to them in his wrath.

Be wise now, O you kings.

Serve the Lord in fear.

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

Stand, let us pray together.

Father in heaven, we do praise you and thank you for the gift of the Lord Jesus for us and for our salvation.

And we pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit you will speak through your living word this morning that we will see Jesus, that we will see his goodness, his power, his salvation for us, and glorify him in our life so that we might bless the world with this great gift of the good news of Jesus.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Well, what a joy to be with you, uh, and what a joy to be able to celebrate a con two confirmations today.

And I understand uh there hasn't been that many in the past, uh, just one.

Was that right?

So here we go.

Um, we get to see confirmation together.

And I just find it such an encouragement to be part of confirmation services.

Encouragement for me, witnessing people standing up publicly saying that they want to follow the Lord Jesus with all their heart, mind, and soul, and to minister in his name, to serve the Lord as lights in this world.

And it is a real encouragement for each of us as we live out our lives that God actually put us here to bless the world with the Lord Jesus, with the knowledge of him, with those who serve in his power, and by his guiding and leading as our shepherd.

And that's what this church is all about.

It is here to be able to bless Port Perry and far beyond with this precious gospel of the Lord Jesus.

Um this is the person that uh Jonathan and Emma will be entrusting their lives to this morning.

And we get to pray for them together.

Pray for the Holy Spirit's work in their life.

It's a little bit like a it's like an ordination.

Last time I was here, I was here for the ordination of Matt Usherwood.

And uh here we are, in a real sense, ordaining um Jonathan and Emma to be uh those who are ministering in Jesus' name to the world, to the people that they know in their world.

And it's a gift, it's a gift to be part of it.

Uh it's also a great privilege to be taking my part in a sermon series uh called Very Present Need in Trouble, a very present help in trouble.

And uh Trusting God in Anxious Times is the subtitle, and I like that because we uh I think we are in a time where anxiety is really kind of peaked.

I have a I have a good friend who is my doctor in Vancouver who is also a Christian, and he said, Boy, during COVID, the the rate of anxiety, people coming for um different aspects of anxiety just spiked.

And he said it kind of stayed there.

And I think uh other friends who are doctors who have said the same thing, and I think that's pretty widespread.

And there's lots of reasons for that.

Yeah, the rise of the internet and social media and so forth has brought this really home to us, but also there's a sense of feeling like I have to measure up.

I'm anxious because I have to measure up to what's being presented online.

Um it's also a time, of course, where the pandemic really instilled a fear of death, but more than that, um a real disruption in life and kind of undercut where our security came from.

There's some good in that, isn't it?

Where we realized that the security that comes from the things of this world, they do fail us.

They will always fail us at some point, and that the one security we have is the Lord Jesus.

It is in God Himself who created all things, and more than that rules over all things as well.

If we watch um video of wars that are happening in our world, and of course they are so prominent now, wars in Ukraine, in Gaza especially, uh we see fear and destruction and death.

And um we we think that uh things are out of control.

And for us in Canada, it's been brought home because uh those that we understood to be our closest ally have been in recent months seen as a threat, haven't they?

And we pray about that, and we think that this is something that uh that undercuts feelings of security and well-being as well.

So it's a very good time to look at Psalm 2.

And Psalm 2, if you can turn to that, um if you have a Bible, it's most helpful.

The the uh bulletin doesn't have the verse numbers, but it if you don't have a Bible, that will work as well.

Uh but if you have a Bible, turn to Psalm 2.

Because there it reminds us that God rules over all things, uh, even over the greatest political powers that we can imagine, even over the greatest threats to our well-being.

God rules over that.

Our security and our well-being are completely in his hands.

And that's what is happening in the confirmation service, where they're going to say that I renounce the things of the world that corrupt and destroy the people of God, and I turn to the Lord Jesus, and he will be my life.

I entrust my life to him.

He will be my Lord, knowing that he is my Savior, the one who has actually brought about my eternal security.

That's that's who it's in.

Uh and this psalm does this for us.

It is so important because the context of the psalm is that it's written for the people of God in the Old Testament.

Uh, originally, they would sing this song together in worship as we were singing.

It was a coronation uh psalm as well, where kings would, this would be sung and said uh for those who are made king in Israel.

And the history of Israel was such that they, of course, went through many, many difficult times.

Many times where it seemed like their, in fact, their enemies were victorious over them, where they were threatened on every side.

They, of course, were a people that were taken out of their own country and deported to uh um to Babylon.

And in those times, people would ask, can you trust your God?

Is he actually in control?

Does he actually rule?

And over and over again they would they would say, I believe he does, I believe he does.

This is true.

Uh and for us as Christians, those who have come to know the Lord Jesus and his resurrection power, that he has risen as Lord over all things, we know that it is revealed that yes, God is Lord over all things, even the power of death, the greatest power in this world, God is sovereign over.

He is powerful over.

And I don't know if you are facing difficult things this morning.

You may, uh, and you may not.

Um, you will at some point in your life, but if there is unrest in your heart because of things that you face in your personal life, or because of what you are seeing around you in this world, there may be financial uncertainty, there may be anxiety over political threats.

This psalm and the living God is deeply relevant to you.

He is the great constant truth in your life, and he is the one who is not only king over all things, which this psalm says, but he is personally speaking to you.

That he has personally brought his salvation into your life in the Lord Jesus Christ.

God is both king and he is also the Savior who suffered for you, for your salvation.

In his sovereignty, he overturns even the most destructive things that can happen to you, and he overturns it with his goodness.

And this is the truth of uh of this psalm as well.

Now I want you to look um at the psalm.

Um verse one uh begins with a question, which is really, really important for us.

And this, I'll tell you what, there's there's four speakers.

There is the guy who is writing the psalm, the psalmist, and he introduces it, that first verse.

And then he also finishes the last part of the psalm as well, verses 10 through 12.

He finishes by speaking to us about what's going on.

Now, this the the uh um the next speaker are the kings and the rulers of the world, verses two and three.

And then the third speaker is God the Almighty, verses four-six.

And God the Almighty points to the Messiah, the anointed one, in verses seven through nine.

Uh, and so this these are the speakers that are there, and it's done in the in the in the um context of a song.

There's four stanzas that correspond to what I was talking about there.

And the first stanza, the psalm introduced it in the most wonderful way.

He says to us, um, there is a question that is the right question to ask.

Um, and it is actually a counter to a question that often arises.

I don't know if any of you have been in um situations where people have asked the tough questions about God.

Uh if you're if you've ever been part of Alpha, or you have been part of um exploring Christ, Christianity, or you've just had conversations like on the plane.

I often have these conversations with the plane.

If people find out that I'm a minister or a bishop, it does one of two things, the conversation stops immediately.

There's a damper, or I'm in for a very interesting conversation for the next couple hours.

And um, but you know, one of the most common questions is why are the nations fighting each other?

Why is there evil in the world?

Why do people do such awful things to each other?

Uh, and because that's true, the logic goes, then God must not really be king.

He must not be ruling this world.

But the psalmist says, actually, the the the right question isn't that.

He says, what you're doing there is you're putting God in the dock, is the expression.

It's like you're putting God on trial.

He said the right question is in um verse one there.

Why do the nations rage?

The question is, why do uh people um fight against God?

So the question isn't really why do people fight against one another and cause sin and evil.

It's why are they raging against God?

Because that is the source of all that is wrong in the world.

That leaders and people rebel against God and his goodness and his ways and create such pain and such destruction and death as well.

The right question is why do people rebel against God?

When I heard that verse, by the way, I think of New Song Church because you think of Handel's Messiah.

In fact, uh when I when I was uh uh procrastinating in my sermon, I put a YouTube on of that um of that aria, the, and uh there was there it goes over and over again, doesn't it?

Uh why do the nations so furiously rage together?

Why do the people imagine a vain thing?

And the vain thing is that they conspire, you can see in uh in verse two, um they they get together.

It's like they're they're connecting the king of the kings of the earth, set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed king.

That's the question.

Why would they do that?

Why would they get together and do that?

How could they have the impertinence to do that?

Well, the answer is the reason why they do that is because they are saying in verse 3, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.

They want to be free of God.

They want to be free of God.

And that's the basic human kind of original sin.

That Jesus says to us, and we're going to sing about this at the end of the sermon, but Jesus says, to take my yoke upon you, for my burden is easy, it is light, and you will find rest for your souls.

But the rebellious heart says, I don't want to be yoked with anything.

I want to be free of those things.

And so the main thrust of that first stanza is about humanity's blindness towards God and rebellion against God.

Um and that's who Jesus is making his uh, that's what he's making his invitation to, to all people, to come to him, take his yoke upon me.

Um but the we realize the world isn't interested here.

The world rejects God who rules all things and the anointed one who rules all things.

Um there is something amazing about this.

Um that God rules even over that rebellion.

If you have your Bibles handy, you can turn to Acts 4, and I think this is the only one that I'll have you turn to that's outside.

But Acts 4, 25 through 27, is a wonderful little piece that quotes this psalm.

It quotes this psalm for us.

And in it, um uh the the disciples uh are experiencing the rejection of Jesus and and their own rejection as well.

Uh and here's what happens uh Peter, the the disciples are released and they reported to the this is in verse uh 20, my eyes aren't very good here, 23.

Um, and then in 24, when they had heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that's in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, Why did the Gentiles rage and the people plot in vain?

And then verse 26, the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers are gathered together against the Lord and against the anointed.

For truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, with both Herod and Pontius Pilate.

These guys were sworn enemies of each other, and they get together, they conspire together, just like in in uh Psalm 2, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do what?

To accomplish the evil of the world?

No, it says in verse 28, to do whatever your hand or your plan had predestined to take place.

You see, God in his power overturns that conspiracy, the things against God, the most awful thing that could be done, which is to kill God, to kill Jesus.

And through that, he actually did what God planned to do all along, to save the world by the death of the Lord Jesus for us.

And in that evil, to completely overturn it and to bring about your salvation, your well-being, your security forever.

And so in the second stanza, God in his great power rebukes those great powers, and he says in verse 7, 4, He who sits in the heavens laughs.

The Lord holds them in derision.

Now it's not a laughing matter, it's very serious.

But what he is doing is God is actually laughing at their arrogance.

How could you conspire against the God who rules over all things?

And you see the seriousness of it because God speaks to them in his wrath and he terrifies them in their fury.

They are actually, this is the reality, and they don't realize it right now, they are actually under the wrath and judgment of God.

And that is the truth of what is happening for all rulers that are opposed and reject the Lord Jesus, who reject the living God.

And he says, and he says, Here's what I've done about that.

Here's what I've done about your arrogance and your rebelling against God.

Um He says in verse 6, which is just a critical verse, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill, today I have begotten you.

You see, he's saying, You rebel, but I install a king.

Now, who is that king?

This is the, you know, when you're when you're doing the children's talk, it is the answer for every question of a children's talk.

It is the Lord Jesus.

And the thing that we, the reason why we know that is because the New Testament uh quotes this psalm more than any other, except for Psalm 110 in the New Testament.

This is this is quoted as talking about the Lord Jesus.

So it's a prophet, it's a prophetic psalm.

Very important.

It's prophecy.

And prophecy always sees what's happening in front, and there is a further meaning as well.

So not only talking about a king who's being uh there's a coronation, and it's going to be an imperfect king, and boy, did they have a terrible record of kings in Israel.

It's also looking forward to the perfect king, to the Lord Jesus.

And that is the one that God, who is over all things, has appointed.

And that's why in the Gospel of Mark, for instance, you see the first thing Jesus says when he does his ministry is the kingdom of God has come.

It has come in me.

And the whole first part of Mark, it's all about how Jesus has the authority over everything, whether it's spiritual powers like demons or terrible sickness or the nature in a terrible storm, that all of these things, and it goes on and on, Jesus has authority over because he is the king.

He is sovereign.

God the Father appoints the Messiah, and he speaks.

And he says, This is what his mandate is.

I will tell you of the decree.

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

By the way, what is that?

Do you remember where God says, This is my beloved son, here's my son, with whom I'm well pleased?

Yeah, in his baptism.

And that came right from this psalm.

That came from this psalm.

And it's saying that Jesus is the one who is appointed not only to be this powerful king, but also to be the king who suffers.

When he says, when he says, I am pleased with him, that's what the term for the suffering servant is all about.

And the second part of Mark is about him being rejected, Jesus being rejected, this king, all his authority being rejected and actually killed on a cross.

And we, by God's grace, know that that death was for our forgiveness, was for our peace with God, of coming into the place of knowing his gracious rule in our lives.

What a gift of God and his power, overturning the evil of humanity.

And Jesus' mandate is is uh is listed here.

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

Now, these are this is where it's kind of hard because we're seeing that Jesus, there is a judgment on all those who reject God.

There is a judgment.

And that's why the work of the Lord Jesus is to constantly call people into that relationship of embracing Him, of receiving Him as your king.

Because that's where the true danger is in life.

It is not whether a country might threaten us or whether we might experience suffering or death.

It is that we would be separated from God, that we would be under God's wrath.

And that's why this psalm speaks a lot about wrath.

That's the reason the Lord Jesus came, in order to take that on himself for us and for our salvation.

And so we close this sermon with the fourth stanza, and the psalmist is the last speaker again here.

And I think this psalmist is an evangelist, because in this last part, he calls to all the nations.

And he says this he says to the kings, first of all, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth.

Here's what you need to do if you're going to be wise.

Serve the Lord with fear.

And that means with reverence, understanding his great power over us, and he being the source of all true goodness, in fact, the source of all life, everything that sustains us.

And so he says, Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.

There is joy in coming under the rule of God.

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

It actually comes against the rulers that are rejecting God.

And so you see here how it ends, the Psalm ends, you started out with the rage of the nations, and you're ending with the wrath of God, which is far more powerful.

You know, don't be afraid, Jesus says, of somebody who might kill your body.

Be afraid of the one who not only can kill your body, but your soul afterwards as well.

God's the one to fear.

God is the one to go to.

And the thing that's so marvelous about this is if it keeps going here, it says the way that you flee the wrath of God, the way that we become safe from God's anger is to run to God.

We flee from God's wrath by running to him, by running to him, kiss the sun, for his wrath is quickly kindled.

And this is the gift that we have.

When the confirmants will stand up, one of the things I will ask them is, will you renounce all of the forces of wickedness that corrupt and destroy the people of God?

Will you renounce that?

And they say, they say, I will.

I am going to do that.

This is something that we are each called to.

And it it's this is what God's wrath is against, everything that corrupts and destroys the people of God.

God's judgment is about making all things right for our salvation, for the goodness in our own life.

And so I close by saying that one of the things that I think comes up, certainly for me, when I think of all the things that are wrong in the world, the pain that I experience, the difficulty, is there is a great desire for us to want to take things into our own hands.

There may be a desire for revenge.

I want to see somebody be destroyed who is hurting another person, or me especially.

It's just part of who we are.

And what we see in this passage is that it is God whose wrath is against all that is wrong and evil in your life and in the world as well.

I can turn over that job of dealing with that evil and that wrong.

I don't have to take that into my own hands.

God is the wrathful God.

He is the one who is against all those things that corrupt and destroy the people of God.

And our job is what He said at the very end.

He says, I love the way it ends.

He says, Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

And that is our work as Christians.

That is what is sometimes difficult, but it is the great gift of grace in our lives.

Happy are those who take refuge.

Happy are they who knows that you are safe in God, that He is your bedrock, that He is your security, that nothing in all the earth, whether it is death or pain or wars, famine, whatever it is, nothing can destroy, nothing can take you away from the love of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we give God thanks for that.

We are in the place of the greatest security of all, safe from all things, from God's anger, from evil, the things that God is against when we are in the Lord Jesus.

So we're going to hear a hymn now called Come Weary One.

I love the words.

Look at the words in your bulletin.

It's right after the sermon here.

And it says, Come, weary one, leave thy labors, come lift thy head, see thy savior and friend.

His arms are open wide.

Come to him for refuge, in other words.

O soul, be satisfied.

Come find his rest.

Take his yoke upon you.

Why?

Because he is gentle and lowly in heart.

So learn from Christ the Lord thy portion and reward.

Come find his rest.

It's as Jesus the King destroys those things which are evil and wrong, his wrath, that he frees us to come to the Lord Jesus as our portion and our reward.

And let's think of that as we hear this hymn and as we give thanks for his great salvation and his powerful lordship over all in this world.

Amen.

We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today.

If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m.

If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you.

Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us.

Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us.

If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.