Psalm Ch2v1-12

I'm going to turn in your Bibles to Psalm chapter 2 or Psalm 2. That's where we'll be this morning.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

And I bring you greetings from Middleton Baptist Church. So they say hello.

Please turn with me to Psalm 2 and follow along with me as I read.

Psalm 2.

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 with you and you perish in the way.

For his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Let's pray for a moment.

The words of the psalmist.

Deal bountifully with your servant that I may live and keep your word.

Father, we pray that by your spirit you would deal bountifully with us from your word this morning.

That we may live according to your word.

And that we would keep it, Lord, with our whole hearts.

We pray that you would glorify yourself and help us.

In the name of Jesus.

Amen.

What do you think is wrong with the world today?

What's wrong with the world?

Maybe you think there's nothing wrong with the world.

Maybe you think that things are more or less as they ought to be.

But I think if that's how you view the world, you'd probably be in the minority.

I think most of us would agree that the world is not how it ought to be.

The world ought to be different.

It ought to be fair.

It ought to be safe and good for everyone.

But that's clearly not how it is.

Instead, we live in a world with war and injustice and oppression.

Now, it's one thing to notice it, but it's worth asking, why is the world like this?

Why is it not as it ought to be?

The way that we all instinctively hope that it should be?

The answer to this question, I believe, is in this psalm that we are reading and looking at this morning.

Because Psalm 2 presents us with a picture of our world and the fundamental problem of it.

It gives us a God's eye perspective on human history, stretching back in time and around the world.

And I want to start by telling you right up front what this psalm is about.

Psalm 2 is about the Lord and his anointed king and the rebellion of the world against them both.

So there's the Lord, God himself, and his anointed king on earth,

and the nations, the world, who are in rebellion against them both.

This psalm is not just about King David, who is the king that is immediately implied here.

It also points forward to Christ himself, who is the anointed king,

and who is the king of kings, who came to this world that was so opposed to him.

Never forget that when Jesus came to this world that he created, we killed him.

You'll notice that David is not mentioned in this psalm.

However, if you turn to Acts 4, you don't have to do that now,

but if you look in Acts 4, when the disciples are quoting this psalm,

they say, they refer to it as a psalm of David.

And so we know from that that this is a psalm that David penned,

and it's in relation to him.

Now, in terms of its structure, it falls into four even sections.

Verses 1 to 3, the futile rebellion of the nations.

Verses 4 to 6, the confident response of the Lord.

Verses 7 to 9, the sure success of the Son.

And finally, verses 10 to 12, the right response of the nations.

So we'll just look at those sections as they progress one to another.

The futile rebellion of the nations to begin with in verses 1 to 3.

The psalm begins by describing a global conflict.

On the one side, you have the nations and the peoples of the earth

as represented by their kings and their rulers.

And on the other side, you have the Lord himself, Yahweh,

the God of the Bible and his anointed one, his anointed king.

And we are told that these earthly rulers are plotting and raging against the Lord

and against his king.

Actively and angrily setting themselves against him.

Literally taking their stand against him.

And they're even united in this.

It says that they take counsel together against the Lord.

You know, you've heard that phrase, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

And so these kings and rulers who might otherwise be warring with themselves

are united in their opposition of the Lord and against his king.

And this raises the question, why are the nations so set against the Lord and his anointed one?

Verse 3, they say it in their own words.

Look at what it says.

Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.

And this language of bonds and cords is the language of authority.

That is God's authority over them.

So the reason the nations are in rebellion against the Lord and his king

is because they want to be free from him.

From his authority and from his control.

In other words, the picture laid out before us here is of the world, our world, in rebellion against God.

They want to be free from him.

The clear teaching of the Bible, as uncomfortable as it is for us to face,

is that apart from the transforming power of Jesus,

each of us live in rebellion against God.

So what we see here in Psalm 2 on a global scale,

we find to be true on an individual scale.

This is our default setting, to be free from God.

Now you might say, hang on a minute, there's lots of religion in the world.

Lots of people want God in their lives.

And that's true.

There's a lot of religion in the world, isn't there?

But that's not what this psalm is speaking about.

The psalm is not speaking about God in a general dictionary definition, vague sense.

It's speaking about the Lord.

That is Yahweh, the Lord of the Bible, the God of Israel,

the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

That's what's going on here.

It's this Lord, this God that people are in rebellion against.

They'd rather be free from him, to get out from under his authority.

And his rule.

The prophet Isaiah put it up this way.

Or sorry, put it this way, or summed it up this way.

All we like sheep have gone astray.

And each of us has turned to his own way.

We'd rather do our own thing.

We're not naturally inclined towards the Lord.

In fact, if you look back at Psalm 1,

and the first verse of Psalm 1,

or Psalm 1 in general,

it speaks about the blessed man who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night.

That word meditate just means to think continually upon.

And the word meditate, or to think upon, in Psalm 1,

is the same word for plot in Psalm 2.

So instead of thinking about what God says,

and thinking it over and meditating upon that,

the people are in fact meditating and thinking over how they can be free from God.

And that's no coincidence that those words contrast in that way.

Maybe you're here this morning, you're not a Christian,

and you're looking around and thinking,

these people are very religious.

This must just do something for them.

It's kind of like a religious hobby.

They must be wired this way naturally.

Well, I can tell you, none of us are wired this way laterally.

Because look at what this is telling us.

That we don't naturally seek God.

In fact, we naturally want to be free from Him.

Because of sin.

We're not wired towards God,

but rather against Him and against His anointed.

What about you this morning?

Where do you stand in relation to the Lord?

Do you meditate on His word,

or would you rather cast it aside and be free from it?

You see, this psalm draws a big, thick line right down the middle.

And says there's the Lord on the one side,

and His anointed King.

And on the other, there is those who are in rebellion against them.

And did you notice that this is a doomed rebellion, ultimately?

Because it starts off, this psalm, with a rhetorical question.

Look at verse 1 again.

Why do the nations rage?

It doesn't just say, the nations rage.

It acts. Why?

Why do the nations rage?

This rebellion is a lost cause.

It's a dead end.

It's a doomed enterprise.

And verses 4 to 6 tell us,

when we look at the Lord's confident response to them.

Look again at what He says, verse 4.

He who sits in the heavens laughs.

He 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.

God's response to the rebellion of the world

is laughter.

And this is not a warm-hearted chuckling.

This is mocking laughter.

It's not something you'd expect to read about God, is it?

But when God looks at those who are in rebellion against Him,

He is not afraid.

He's not in a state of panic.

His response is to laugh with confidence.

Why can the Lord laugh like this?

Well, look at where He is.

Verse 4, look at where He is.

He sits in the heavens on His throne,

the position of ultimate authority.

Psalm 109, 103, verse 19,

says the Lord has established His throne in the heavens,

and His kingdom rules over all.

Psalm 29, 10,

the Lord sits enthroned as King forever.

The Lord God is the King of the universe.

And look at what He says in verse 5.

He says,

Then I will speak to them,

He will speak to them in His wrath,

and terrify them in His fury.

As for me,

I have set my King on Zion,

my holy hill.

So not only is God the King of the universe,

but He has seated in this heavenly throne,

but He has set His King,

His earthly King,

in Zion,

that is,

in Jerusalem,

which is a city on a hill.

This is how God terrifies the nations,

is by appointing a King,

who will not be conquered.

And this King,

as we noted earlier,

is King David,

but it's also the Kings that came after David,

and from David's line.

You see,

God didn't just make David the King,

He also made a covenant with him,

a promise,

a binding agreement,

to establish His kingdom forever.

And we find that,

and read about that,

in 2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

I'd actually like you to turn back,

to 2 Samuel chapter 7,

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

and read that with me.

So 2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

I will begin in verses 12 to 16.

This is God's covenant with David.

The Lord said to David,

2 Samuel 7 verses 12 onwards,

2 Samuel 7:12

3 Samuel 8,

When your days are fulfilled,

and you lie down with your fathers,

I will raise up your offspring after you,

who shall come from your body,

and I will establish His kingdom.

He shall build a house for my name,

and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever.

I will be to Him a father,

and He shall be to me a son.

When He commits iniquity,

I will discipline Him with the rod of men,

with the stripes of the sons of men,

but my steadfast love will not depart from Him.

And as I took it from Saul,

whom I put away before you,

and your house and your kingdom

shall be made sure forever before me,

your throne shall be established forever.

So the Lord promised David

that His son,

that is, not just the first son He had,

but all those who came after Him,

there would always be a line of David

that would sit upon the throne,

that His house, His kingdom,

would be established forever.

So when we flip back to Psalm 2 now,

with this in mind,

we see that this psalm goes beyond just David himself

into the future.

We see in verses 7 to 9

the sure success of this son,

this son that was mentioned

in that covenant with David.

Again, this is David speaking directly now.

He says,

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.

David's confidence, excuse me,

is rooted in what the Lord told him.

You are my son.

Today I have begotten you.

This is a reference, I think,

back to that covenant

that the Lord made with David.

I will be to him a father.

He shall be to me a son.

That's what David has in mind here in verse 7.

He knows that even though the nations of the world

are set against him,

that the Lord will be faithful to his covenant.

This is David's confidence,

what the Lord said.

Now, our circumstances this morning

are not at all like David's.

You're not the king of Israel.

You don't have nations coming to try and destroy you.

But the cause for our confidence

is still fundamentally the same.

That the Lord is true to his word.

He is faithful to his covenant with us in Jesus

and he will never leave us

nor forsake us.

Maybe you came to church this morning

feeling very weak

and at a very low ebb.

Let me encourage you from this psalm this morning

to let your confidence be in what the Lord has said.

As Christians, our confidence, our strength

is not found in ourselves, is it?

It's found in who God is

and what he has said.

The idea that the word or the phrase

a strong Christian

is in one sense almost like a paradox.

We become strong through the strength

of who God is.

It's not that we find in ourselves

some sort of like extra set of batteries for life

but rather that we depend

on who God is and what he says

and bank

on his promises coming to fulfillment.

In verse 8,

ask of me, the Lord says,

and I will make the nations your heritage,

the end of the earth,

the ends of the earth your possession.

the total expansion of this kingdom

that he has given to David.

So in the end,

the kingdom that God promised to David

will not just be in Jerusalem,

in Zion, in the Holy Hill,

but it will spread from there

to the ends of the earth.

Finally, in verses 10 to 12,

the focus turns back

to the right response of the nations.

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 with you

and you perish in the way,

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

This is David's advice

to his enemies,

to the nations who rebel.

They ought to serve the Lord with fear

and rejoice with trembling.

In other words,

they ought to turn from their rebellion

and submit to God

and to his king.

Otherwise, they will perish.

But the psalm ends with a promise

to the nations.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him,

that is, in the Son.

The Lord is merciful towards his enemies.

He holds out this promise to them,

a promise to bless.

You notice that Psalm 1,

I think Psalm 1 and Psalm 2

come together sort of as a pair

to introduce the whole of the Psalms.

The very beginning of Psalm 1 says what?

Blessed is the man

who does not live in the way of sinners,

essentially,

but who meditates on the law of the Lord.

And then Psalm 2 ends

with that same phrase.

Blessed is the one

who takes refuge in the Son.

So from reading Psalm 2 and Psalm 1,

we see we are blessed

to take refuge in the Son

and to abide in God's Word.

See, Psalm 2 is ultimately about Jesus.

It finds its fullest expression

in the life, death,

and resurrection of Jesus.

Just think of everything

the Lord promised to David.

I will raise up a son after you.

You will always have someone on the throne,

someone who will rule.

I will be to him a father.

He shall be to me a son.

And he will reign forever,

a kingdom that will never end

to the ends of the earth.

And that sounds amazing.

What happened after David died?

Solomon.

And that started off very well

and then went downhill very fast.

Because Solomon,

after all the blessings

the Lord had given him,

wandered away from the Lord

into worshipping false gods.

And then after Solomon,

his son,

Rehoboam,

who provoked the people

and was harsh towards them

and was such a bad leader

that he actually instigated

a civil rebellion

that most of the people just said,

if that's who you are,

we want nothing to do with you.

And there was a split

in the kingdom.

So far it doesn't look very good,

does it.

It's supposed to be

a kingdom forever,

a king in the line of David,

and things are just falling apart

with each consecutive generation.

And things after Rehoboam

go downwards

year after year,

generation after generation.

And things are so bad

that in the end

the Lord sends

the enemies of God's people,

these nations

that are spoken of in Psalm 2,

to invade the people

and take them off into exile.

And so you think,

this is the exact opposite

of Psalm 2 happening.

It's all devolving.

The nations are conquering us.

Can you imagine being

a Jew in exile

and reading Psalm 2?

You'd be thinking like,

where is this going to happen?

We're supposed to have

a conquering king,

a kingdom that will never end.

The nations are warned.

And here we are,

in the middle of nowhere,

ripped out of our land

with no king

and no kingdom to speak of.

Eventually,

they were allowed

to go back

to the promised land.

And when they went back,

they rebuilt the temple

and the people

who remembered

the original temple

cried because it was

such a poor shadow

of what it was before.

In other words,

they were back home,

but they weren't back

to the glory days.

Until you turn

to the first page

of the New Testament

and Matthew writes

in his first sentence

of his Gospel,

the book of the genealogy

of Jesus Christ,

the son of David.

In other words,

this is him.

This is the one

spoken of

in the Davidic covenant.

And then Matthew

spells out

his genealogy

to show that Jesus

literally descended

from David.

When Jesus began

his public ministry,

Matthew chapter 4,

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

he said,

Repent,

for the kingdom

of heaven

is at hand.

Unmistakable

kingship language.

And where is he

when he started?

He was in the land

of David.

When people saw

Jesus healed,

they were amazed

and said,

Can this be

the son of David?

And when Jesus

entered into Jerusalem

and ascended

to Mount Zion,

when he entered

into the gates,

the crowds

that went before him

and followed him

were shouting,

Hosanna

to the son of David.

Blessed is the one

who comes

in the name

of the Lord.

You see,

they were expecting

a conquering king

on their terms.

One who would

destroy the Romans

and just bring them

back to the glory days.

But their expectations

were skewed.

When Jesus

conquered by suffering,

above him

they hung

this inscription,

This is the king

of the Jews.

Jesus,

God's

anointed king,

died on the cross

at the hands

of the nations

for the nations.

And when he rose

from the grave,

he commanded

his disciples

to go out

into the nations

so that the message

of forgiveness

would go

and spread

from Jerusalem

to the ends

of the earth.

We see that

Psalm 2

is ultimately

about Jesus.

And that just

as sure

as God

kept his promise

to keep that

line of David

going until Christ,

the king of kings,

arrived,

so too will he

keep his promise

that the kingdom

of God

will spread

to the ends

of the earth.

So when we send,

when you as a church

and we also

send out Amy

to Sheffield

and support missionaries

and send money

and pray,

we are participating

in God's fulfilling

of his own word

that he will give

to his anointed king

the ends of the earth.

You know,

I was thinking,

if you're David

and you have the whole

of the world

stacked against you,

numerically,

you are outgunned.

And at times

as Christians

we look out

and go,

there's just so much

rebellion,

so few people

who follow the Lord

and you feel

outgunned.

You ever feel like that?

Outgunned as a Christian?

Outnumbered?

But look at the confidence

in this psalm

that David has

in God's word

that he will bring

his word to pass.

He is the son of David

who will inherit

the nations

as his rightful possession.

Where do you stand

with the Lord

and his anointed king

this morning?

Are you in rebellion

against him?

Are we to receive him

warmly

and take refuge in him?

Remember these words

of promise

as we end.

Blessed are all those

who take refuge

in him.

Let's pray.

Father,

we thank you

for Christ the King

and Lord

that you will fulfill

all your promises

that you made

to your servant David.

that you will extend

the kingdom

to the ends

of the earth, Lord

and that you will

put an end

to the rebellion

of this world

against you.

Lord,

we thank you

that instead of

only holding out

judgment

to a rebellious world,

Lord,

that you hold out

this offer of rebellion

or this offer of peace

and of forgiveness

and blessedness

through your son Jesus.

We thank you

for Jesus our Savior

and as we sing now

of his kingship,

we pray

that you would receive

worship from our hearts

and we praise you

in his name.

Amen.

We're going to close

by standing

or we're going to stand now

and sing

King of Kings.