God's Opposition (1-3)
1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
Who Is His Anointed?
In the courtroom of life, many think God is the defendant on the witness stand who must defend himself against our accusations, arguments, and logic. But this song doesn't envision him that way. Humanity is the one on trial in this psalm. The questions aren't: Why does God do (or not do) this or that? Why does God allow this or that? The question instead is: Why do people struggle against God?
The answer is that we want to be free. This psalm presents humanity in resistance against its Creator, seeking to cast off the restraints he has embedded into his creation. Nations rage like agitated horses rushing with adrenaline into battle (1). Peoples are plotting against God (1). And kings and rulers of the earth devise strategies to get rid of the bonds and cords that have come from God (1-3).
Humanity in general—and political and commercial leaders in particular—are pictured as striving to break from God's leadership. Like the ocean battling against the land, humanity is presented here as raging against the boundaries God has established.
But who is the Anointed alongside God? It is a royal title. The original Israelite singers likely thought of someone like King David. He, and every other Israelite king, was anointed by God for his task. So, at first glance, one might think David sat down and wrote about how the nations of the world were at odds with Israel, resisting its position as the deliverer of God's law to God's world.
But the statements God makes to his Anointed in this psalm go far beyond anything any descendant of David would (or could) ever experience—dominion over the whole world, all the nations under his charge, and total domination of those who would not receive his leadership (8-9). The early church, who quoted this psalm often, understood it had to be about someone larger than David, and they attributed its promises to Jesus. He is the ultimate descendant of David, the real Anointed One, the true future ruler of the world.
Indeed, when Jesus arrived, he quoted Isaiah when he said,
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me..." (Luke 4:18).
King Jesus has come. The kingdom is at hand. The Anointed has arrived. The Messiah has appeared. Clearly, though, the psalm anticipates a second coming when Jesus will be fully revealed as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). The psalm shows Christ as the ideal king—and this is especially true against the backdrop of Israel's history. Books like 1 and 2 Kings describe Israelite kings who fell short of God's glory. None of them reached the ideal of this psalm—only Jesus can.
Bonds And Cords
So all the tumult the psalm describes is against God the Father and His Son. Shouldn't we think a little of our modern world with this description of people who want to cast off God's restraints? Paul said:
"The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth" (Romans 1:18).
He went on to say that this truth suppression means that plainly known things about God are not acknowledged, so God is not honored, and futile thinking rushes in like a flood (Romans 1:19-21). People end up worshipping the creature rather than the Creator, so God gives them up to dishonorable desires, including sexual passions that are out of step with the clear anatomical and biological boundaries God created (Romans 1:25). Human thinking is turned upside down, and people start approving harmful practices (Romans 1:32). I don't mean to be incendiary when I say this sounds like our time, a time when nations and peoples rage to cast off the restraints God has designed.
In a 2018 Golden Globes speech, Oprah Winfrey said the most powerful tool you have is to speak your truth.[^1] In context, she was imploring abused women to speak out about their experiences, which is good advice. But their experiences are the truth. We must be careful with our words because we live in a world where people think your truth might not be my truth. Instead, it would be good for us to come back to reality, the one with the truth.
Our age is like being a new deckhand on a boat setting sail across the Pacific Ocean during the night. You begin noticing the boat is traveling in a chaotic pattern, circling and getting nowhere. As you look at the stars, you know you are heading in the wrong direction.
So you approach the captain: "Why are we heading this way? Don't you have GPS? Don't you see the stars?"
"Never fear," the captain says, "On this vessel, we don't navigate by the stars or satellites. Instead, we hang a lantern off the bow of the boat and follow its light."
This is precisely what it's like to follow your heart, live out your truth, or be true to yourself. But this is the condition humanity is born into—we often want to cast off the restraints of God.
You will sometimes hear the accusation that Christians only believe in God and the cross because they are emotionally motivated to do so. They want assurances they will go to heaven, or they want to be comforted about meaning in life, or they need to make sense of suffering, or they don't want to feel alone, so they believe. The charge is that their emotional motives primed them for belief.
And, honestly, those charges are often true. There are great benefits to Christianity for the individual believer. But this psalm shows us there are also emotional motivations not to believe in God and his gospel. For many, the desire to live as they please is a strong motivation that primes them to look for reasons not to believe in God. But if what you believe requires little change of lifestyle, or permits you to do what you want, wouldn't that be a clue as to who designed your belief system? Either way, whether you believe in him or not, you likely have some emotional motivations for that belief.
The nineteenth-century English preacher Charles Spurgeon said that for some, "the yoke of Christ is intolerable", but to others "it is easy and light." He went on to say:
"We may judge ourselves by this: do we love that yoke, or do we wish to cast it from us?"[^2]
So the opening lyrics of the psalm show us a humanity at odds with the Creator. What is God's attitude in response?
God's Attitude (4-6)
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
God's Laughter
This second movement of the song takes us into God's throne room in heaven. It's like the camera has cut to a completely different scene. We've watched all the chaos and rebellion on earth, but now we are viewing God. How does he respond? When God begins scrolling through the attitudes of humanity, when he sees a rage against him the boundaries he's designed, what does he do?
He laughs. This poetic response describes God in human terms. He is sitting in the heavens, laughing at the attempt of mankind to remove him (4). He uses the crying face emoji to communicate his feelings—there is no way humanity can push him all the way out, so he laughs!
And, in his wrath and fury, he simply installs his forever King on his holy hill (5-6). This means God is moving forward with his plans regardless of the human response. He needs no hall pass, no permit, no election—he simply carries out his purpose. One day, all the kingdoms and philosophies of this world will fade, and God's kingdom and ethics will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).
And God will install his King, his Son, to rule the kingdom. The psalm tells us this is certain by telling us God made a decree about it. So what is that decree?
God's Decree (7-9)
7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
The decree God makes is that his Son will reign one day (7). On that day, Jesus will ask the Father, and all the nations all the way to the ends of the earth will become his (8). He will take this possession by first confronting the rebellion mentioned in the opening of this song, breaking it with a rod of iron and dashing it in pieces like a potter's vessel (9).
This imagery is likely connected to an ancient practice of the Egyptian Pharaoh. He would use his scepter to smash clay jars, each one representing a rebellious city or nation refusing to submit to his rule. When Christ returns, everything in rebellion against him will be crushed—everything will bow before him as he rules with that same rod of iron (Revelation 2:27, 12:5, 19:15).
What's pictured here is a build-up of human history to an abrupt point when King Jesus is revealed, conquers, and then reigns supreme. It's like putting a can of Coca-Cola in the freezer—the liquid chills and expands, and eventually, that can bursts. Our world is undergoing the same process. God is longsuffering, but a moment will come when humanity's incongruence with him can be tolerated no longer. At that point, Christ will put down everything out of step with himself and become the ruler of all. And because humanity will not invite him to lead, he has to come with force.
This message might sound like a far cry from the gospel of grace we preach today. But, especially in its Psalm 2 setting, it is abundantly good news. Though the kings of the earth stir people up, and though the corporations of the world align themselves against God, a King-Leader is coming, and his leadership will be consistently good and pure.
In his book Strange Days: Life in the Spirit in a Time of Upheaval, pastor-author Mark Sayers writes:
"The good news is that God is no cynic who delights in human misery and mayhem. Instead, He has a plan. Psalm 2 speaks of a Davidic earthly king whom God chooses and promises, 'I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession' (Ps. 2:8). This is no king of the world who rebels against God and sows discord. Instead, this King is God’s Son, ruling from God’s holy mountain."[^3]
Why He Is King
But what qualifies Jesus to be the King of all kings and Lord over all lords? God the Father said, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you" (7). If we had no understanding of this passage's background, we might think God is pointing to the Son's beginning, as if Jesus had a definitive start date for his existence. This view would be problematic for Christians since our gospel and theology depend on a Triune God, complete with a Son, as the second person of that Trinity, who came to die for us.
But the context shows us this is not a birth psalm or a beginning psalm but a coronation psalm. Kings were "begotten" into their kingly position on the day of their anointing. So when was Jesus anointed—begotten—for his role as King?
Various episodes in his life might flash in our minds—his birth, his water baptism, or his death. But the New Testament saints understood this Psalm 2 passage as pointing to Jesus' resurrection.
“We bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “ ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’” (Acts 13:32–33)
A friend of mine pastors a church that is often visited by Vin Scully, the retired hall of fame television and radio voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. One Easter, before Vin retired, he was seated early for church with his wife. Knowing the next day was the first day of the new baseball season, my friend approached him and said, "Big day tomorrow, huh?" Vin replied, "Yes, but today is an even bigger day." My friend was confused. He asked for clarification, wondering if he'd gotten baseball's opening day wrong. He kept asking, "What's today?" Finally, Vin let his pastor in on the secret, "Well, pastor, I don't know if you've heard, but today is the day our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead."
King Jesus has been anointed and begotten to rule because he is the great Savior who rose from the dead. For Christians, this is significant because we believe humanity's shame and guilt have no remedy before God without Jesus' resurrection. Death dominated us, and death was the consequence of sin. But when Jesus came, he died a brutal death in our place and then rose from the dead. Nobody else has ever done what he did. And, in defeating sin and death, Jesus started a new humanity. When we believe in him, we also escape the long-term, forever ramifications of sin and death. We enter into the kingdom of King Jesus.
And when he reigns, he will do so among all nations and to the ends of the earth (8). This means that Christian hope encompasses the whole world. We believe Jesus will reign over every nook and cranny of this world one day. And since he will, we work and serve in all those nooks and crannies today because we want to see his kingdom in as many pockets of humanity as possible right now. We are trying to live out his forever reign in our present day.
But his leadership will jump to the next level when he comes. When an orchestra plays, all the musicians head to the stage to tune their instruments and prepare themselves. The discordant sounds are awkward and clunky. But when the conductor emerges with his baton, the individual musicians coalesce to perform a transcendent symphony. This is what will happen when Christ returns. All the divergent philosophies and peoples of the world will respond to the Great Conductor, and the world will operate in symphonic splendor.
If this is God's plan and decree, how should we respond? Let's close by observing God's plea with you and me.
God's Plea (10-12)
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 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.
Psalm 1 opens by describing the life of the blessed man (Psalm 1:1). Psalm 2 closes by describing that same blessed man: "Blessed are all who take refuge in him" (12). This is why I've titled this message, The Blessed Man, part 2.
And this encouragement to take refuge in Christ is fascinating because the final stanza of the song also tells us to serve the Lord with fear, trembling because of his majesty (11). We are told to kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and we perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled (12).
These aren't the phrases Christians typically gravitate to when talking about God, but his holiness, wrath, and judgment are no less biblical than his love, justice, and grace. And this closing paragraph points us to the gospel because though God is holy and just, we are told to take refuge in him (12). How can we be saved from God's judgment? By rushing to the arms of God, which is what happens when you run to the cross. As English theologian and pastor Dick Lucas said, "Unless we're saved from God's anger, we're not really saved from anything."[^4]
The only place to flee from God is to God. We must run to the cross, throw ourselves upon God's mercy, and trust the sufficiency of Jesus to cleanse us from all our sins. Because Jesus was the only one of us to perfectly live the Psalm 1 life, and because he died for us, we must run to him. We must kiss the Son— because “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Acts 2:21).
Kiss The Son
So the psalm tells us that today and every day, we must decide to live wisely and knowledgeably by honoring Christ—to kiss the Son (12). It is only by running to him that we will find rescue from him. It is only by receiving the benefits of his first coming that we can avoid the judgment of his second.
He came as a lamb, and he will come again as a lion. But if we honor him—believe in him, trust in his work, submit our lives to him—he will rescue us with his lamb-like sacrifice and, one day, rescue us with his lion-like power.
As Jonathan Edwards once preached in a sermon called The Excellency Of Christ:
"It is true that Christ has awful majesty; he is the great God, and infinitely high above you. But there is this to encourage and embolden the poor sinner, that Christ is man as well as God; he is a creature, as well as the Creator. You may run to him and cast yourself upon him. You will certainly be graciously and meekly received by him. Though he is a lion, he will only be a lion to your enemies, but he will be a lamb to you." [^5]
When World War II ended, beautiful scenes of celebration erupted all over Europe. In nations that were now free of Nazi tyranny, there was joy because the enemy had been dealt a fatal blow. The war was over. And as Allied troops arrived in various towns, many iconic photos of citizens kissing those soldiers were taken. These men were well received because they had won the victory for others.
One day, Christ will come and win the war of all wars. In that victory, he will banish all the brokenness, hurt, and injustice that plagues us today. There will be no hunger, no prejudice, no sin, and no death. All will prosper and flourish under his glorious reign in his forever kingdom.
But to sing and dance and celebrate his victory over the tyrannous powers that dominate us today, we must honor Jesus right now. We must believe that all the straining of the nations to extricate themselves from his rule will be for naught. Christ is coming. He is the decreed King of all. To kiss him on that day, we must kiss him today.
[^1]: Defebaugh, W. (2021, April 8). L’Officiel USA; L’Officiel. https://www.lofficielusa.com/film-tv/oprah-truth-speech-transcript-golden-globes-2018
[^2]: C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26, vol. 1 (London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers, n.d.), 11.
[^3]: Sayers, M. (2017). Strange Days: Life In The Spirit In A Time Of Upheaval. Moody.
[^4]: Lucas, D. (2000, January 1). Psalm 2. The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/sermon/psalm-2-en/
[^5]: Jonathan Edwards: Select Sermons - Christian Classics Ethereal Library. (n.d.). Ccel.Org. Retrieved June 22, 2022, from https://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons.excellency.html