Monday - Psalm 2
When I read Psalm 2 I cannot help but think of Handel's Messiah and these words being sung with great power. This is a powerful Psalm which warns against wrong thinking and planning.
Verses 1-3 The world-wide rebellion of mankind is in view. Here we have the commotion of many people and the outward tumult and inward cause of all this mayhem. The kings and rulers of this world plot together, but is a vain thing for them to do, literally futile. It is quite clear that the object of their enmity or hatred is God. They have a vain plan to throw off God's control of their lives and of this world. It is a vain plan because God is sovereign and nothing in this world happens outside his sovereign will. These three verses written almost three millennia ago are still an apt description of the world in which we live today. Are these words not describing the scenes on our news screens each evening? Do we not live in a society which is seeking to throw off every moral restraint of the Word of God?
Verses 4-6 display the indignation of God towards this behaviour. Look at verse 4 - God laughs at such thinking and behaviour. In fact we are told he laughs it to scorn or derision - it is such a vain, pathetic thing it evokes divine laughter. God is not in the slightest worried by the actions of men in verses 1-3. Then in verse 5 we are told that his displeasure is uttered and the result is that when He speaks it will terrify them.
Jonathon Edwards, who was instrumental in the Great Awakening in New England, once said it was a dreadful, fearful, thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. The Psalmist says that God's wrath is provoked against this rebellion and when he speaks men will fear. Yet in verse 6 there is a disclosure of God's actions in response to all this - he has set a king in Zion. God will appoint an anointed king over the rebellious earth.
Verses 7-9 here is the great declaration or decree. It is about God's Messianic King. He is divinely appointed and decreed (verse 7) and this verse is spoken again by God in Matthew 3.17, Mark 1.11 and Luke 3.22 - when God the Father declares Jesus Christ to be His only begotten Son. His dominion is universal - verse 8. God's sovereignty extends to the ends of the earth and he gives the earth and the nations as an inheritance to his Son. In verse 9 we read that his rule is one of authority and power. The nations that sought to conspire against God will be subject to God through his anointed messianic king. In this verse we read of the victorious messianic rule of Christ at which every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord of lords and King of kings.
Verses 10-12 we read the Solemn Exhortation. The rule of Christ is expressed in his patience, calling for kings and rulers to assess their situation. If they are wise, they will respond favourably. The wise response is to willing receive God's revelation of the messianic kingdom in Christ and to joyously submit to his rule - verses11-12. Submission is the only wise response - verses 11-12. Submission is expressed in service for and before the Lord who is King. The alternative in these verses does not bear thinking about - and yet that is the eternal destiny of those who do not submit to the Lordship of Christ. The psalm ends with words with which Psalm 1 began - Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
As one commentator wrote: It is better to bend than to be broken. This Psalm contains the challenge of the gospel for us all. It tells us of our poor estate before God - our rebellion. It tells of the coming judgment of God and offers us the gracious gift of salvation if we would take refuge in the Messiah king.
Amen.
Verses 1-3 The world-wide rebellion of mankind is in view. Here we have the commotion of many people and the outward tumult and inward cause of all this mayhem. The kings and rulers of this world plot together, but is a vain thing for them to do, literally futile. It is quite clear that the object of their enmity or hatred is God. They have a vain plan to throw off God's control of their lives and of this world. It is a vain plan because God is sovereign and nothing in this world happens outside his sovereign will. These three verses written almost three millennia ago are still an apt description of the world in which we live today. Are these words not describing the scenes on our news screens each evening? Do we not live in a society which is seeking to throw off every moral restraint of the Word of God?
Verses 4-6 display the indignation of God towards this behaviour. Look at verse 4 - God laughs at such thinking and behaviour. In fact we are told he laughs it to scorn or derision - it is such a vain, pathetic thing it evokes divine laughter. God is not in the slightest worried by the actions of men in verses 1-3. Then in verse 5 we are told that his displeasure is uttered and the result is that when He speaks it will terrify them.
Jonathon Edwards, who was instrumental in the Great Awakening in New England, once said it was a dreadful, fearful, thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. The Psalmist says that God's wrath is provoked against this rebellion and when he speaks men will fear. Yet in verse 6 there is a disclosure of God's actions in response to all this - he has set a king in Zion. God will appoint an anointed king over the rebellious earth.
Verses 7-9 here is the great declaration or decree. It is about God's Messianic King. He is divinely appointed and decreed (verse 7) and this verse is spoken again by God in Matthew 3.17, Mark 1.11 and Luke 3.22 - when God the Father declares Jesus Christ to be His only begotten Son. His dominion is universal - verse 8. God's sovereignty extends to the ends of the earth and he gives the earth and the nations as an inheritance to his Son. In verse 9 we read that his rule is one of authority and power. The nations that sought to conspire against God will be subject to God through his anointed messianic king. In this verse we read of the victorious messianic rule of Christ at which every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord of lords and King of kings.
Verses 10-12 we read the Solemn Exhortation. The rule of Christ is expressed in his patience, calling for kings and rulers to assess their situation. If they are wise, they will respond favourably. The wise response is to willing receive God's revelation of the messianic kingdom in Christ and to joyously submit to his rule - verses11-12. Submission is the only wise response - verses 11-12. Submission is expressed in service for and before the Lord who is King. The alternative in these verses does not bear thinking about - and yet that is the eternal destiny of those who do not submit to the Lordship of Christ. The psalm ends with words with which Psalm 1 began - Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
As one commentator wrote: It is better to bend than to be broken. This Psalm contains the challenge of the gospel for us all. It tells us of our poor estate before God - our rebellion. It tells of the coming judgment of God and offers us the gracious gift of salvation if we would take refuge in the Messiah king.
Amen.