Untitled Sermon

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Christ in the Old Testament– Part 4

Christ in Psalm 2

Reference: Psalm 2

Tony Keating

Today’s sermon is on Psalm 2:1–6:

Let us listen to God’s Word

“1 Why do the nations rage,

And the people plot a vain thing?

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 break Their bonds in pieces

And cast away Their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;

The Lord shall hold them in derision.

5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,

And distress them in His deep displeasure:

6 “Yet I have set My King

On My holy hill of Zion.”

This sermon is designed to be the capstone to my series Christ in the Old Testament.

Throughout this series, I talked about my friend Kyle in Virginia. He believes that Christ is found in every verse in the Bible. Kyle opened my eyes to see Christ in many places where one might not expect.

Since then, I have been paying attention, reading the Old Testament, and looking for Christ.

In this series, it was demonstrated that Jesus Christ’s salvation was promised as early as the Garden of Eden where Christ was to defeat the evil talking snake.

The salvation of Jesus Christ is likewise pictured in Noah’s Ark, the Exodus from Egypt, and many other places in the Old Testament. We will see that Christ is also found in Psalm 2.

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If you recall, Jesus Himself, on the Emmaus Road, after His resurrection explains to some disciples who did not even recognize Him—at least not until their eyes were opened that the Old Testament is all about Him.

Let’s review Luke 24:27.

Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He [Jesus] expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Do you see Luke's comparison when he retells the events on the Emmaus Road? They didn’t recognize Jesus on the Emmaus Road just like they didn’t recognize Jesus in the Old Testament. However, in both places, the Emmaus Road, and the Old Testament, Jesus had been there, unrecognized all along.

It is difficult to say when the Book of Psalms was completed. Certainly, it was not finished prior to the times of David and Solomon, however, some individual psalms date back to even earlier times.

In the past, some have said that the arrangement of the Psalms was random. However, today virtually all Old Testament scholars believe that Psalms 1 and 2 consist of an intentional introduction to the Book of Psalms. I would contend that all the Psalms are purposefully arranged. So, if you study one Psalm, be sure to read the prior Psalm for context.

Let’s turn to Psalm 1 for the context of Psalm 2.

Psalm 1:1

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

I just love Hebrew poetry.

Note the climactic parallelism above—each line builds upon the previous one—walks, stands, sits. You too are blessed if you keep yourself out of these precarious positions.

Let’s read that again

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

Notice the sinners here too because that category is going to show up again in verse 5.

Beautiful—ok, but the next verse is different.

Psalm 1:2

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

This is the Mosaic Law that the Psalmist is speaking of.

Does it surprise anyone else besides myself that meditating upon God’s Law is a blessing?

Right now in adult Sunday School, we are studying the Book of Hebrews. Before that, we studied the Book of Galatians. The Book of Galatians is all about Law versus Grace.

In our study of Galatians, we looked at

Galatians 2:16

“knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

But if nobody is justified by the works of the Law, then why would someone want to meditate on the Law day and night?

Furthermore, in the first three sermons in this series (which are available on the Church’s website), I explained that salvation is essentially the same in the Old Testament as the New Testament.

I repeatedly stated that Old Testament saints were saved the same way that New Testament Saints are saved.

They were saved by grace through faith in the coming Messiah.

The only difference is they were looking ahead, and we are looking back to the cross.

We are saved by grace through faith in the Messiah who already came.

So, the answer is not, “Well that is just Old Testament.”

Sometimes Christians do that, right? We get to a hard passage in the Old Testament and just throw up our hands—oh well, Old Testament.

I am telling you that there is a purpose and an explanation for each and every difficult passage.

I hope that as this series concludes, you go away knowing that the Old Testament and the New Testament are perfectly harmonious.

Even today it remains a blessing to meditate upon God’s Law.

Wait, Tony, are you saying that it is a blessing to meditate upon Leviticus?

Absolutely, I am saying just that!

Now, Judaism breaks the Mosaic Law down into 613 laws.

Now we could take months and examine dietary laws and sacrificial laws, cleanliness laws and festival laws, and go on and on and on.

For the sake of time, let’s just look at the 10 commandments today (We will get back to the Psalms soon I promise).

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Friends, I can’t make the 613 Laws of the Old Testament any simpler than this.

“But Tony, this is a picture designed for Children”—yes, absolutely it is!

These are the core 10 laws. These 10 commandments epitomize the Mosaic Law.

These 10 commandments were written down by the finger of God before Moses wrote Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, or Deuteronomy.

(OK, yes, not in this form—but if you want the complete version, you know where to look)

Let’s focus on commandment number nine, “Always tell the truth.”

Now when was the last time you told a lie?

When is the next time you are going to tell a lie?

Revelation 21:27a states,

But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie.

That is, Revelation is saying that no liars can enter heaven.

OK, can I see a show of hands? Raise your hand if you have never told a lie.

So, what is the answer?

The answer is God’s grace.

Yes, I’ve told plenty of lies, but when God looks at me, He sees the coving blood of Jesus Christ. God no longer sees a liar because I have been forgiven.

Now look at Psalm 1:2 again.

Psalm 1:2

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

The only explanation for this verse is that the Psalmist also understood grace. There is no other reason why you would want to meditate on God’s Law, which condemns us—unless you understand God’s grace. This Psalmist was forgiven based on God’s grace and the coming death of God’s anointed one, Jesus Christ.

This is in perfect harmony with the Apostle Paul

Look at Romans 7:12

Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Let us delight in God’s Law!

So, taking Psalm 1 from the top:

Psalm 1

1 Blessed is the man [or woman]

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so,

But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

When the Psalmist says that sinners will not stand in the congregation of the righteous, this is the same idea that liars are not allowed in heaven. If you have not found God’s grace, then you are still on the path that leads to hell—no sugarcoating this here.

Are you a sinner? If so then you need to find God’s grace. You need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then God will see you not as a sinner, but as one forgiven of sin.

Before we turn to Psalm 2, remember the two categories in Psalm 1. The blessed and the sinner. Certainly, Psalms 1 and 2 are linked as both ancient and modern commentators agree. Therefore, we should expect to see these two categories, once again the blessed and the sinner hold in Psalm 2.

Look at Psalm 2:1–3

Why do the nations rage,

And the people plot a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

And the rulers take counsel together,

Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,

“Let us break Their bonds in pieces

And cast away Their cords from us.”

The nations rage…

If we had to choose a category blessed or sinner, which category would the nations fall under?

That’s right, sinners.

Yes, following the either-or choice that Psalm 1 sets up, you are either with the Lord and His Anointed or you are in the sinner category. There is no third option. The nations are in the sinner category. The nations are depicted as being in open rebellion against the Lord and His Anointed. Nobody gets to be Switzerland, ok?

This reminds me of another either-or choice in the Bible.

In Matthew 7:13–14,

Jesus says,

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Certainly, there are many believers interspersed within the world’s various nations. By and large, however, the world’s population consists of sinners. Therefore, the nations are seen as sinners.

The narrow gate is exclusivist—only those who repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ enter the narrow gate. The nations stress the virtue of tolerance. And let me tell you, the wide gate is tolerant and inclusive—you can have any religion or no religion and still be included in the wide gate—not that it would do you any good.

By the way, those of us entering by the narrow gate are sinners saved by grace—thus we are no longer in the sinner category. When God sees us, he sees people who are forgiven of their sins.

The world is in the sinner category, but Christians are not of this world.

Going back to Psalm 2

Psalm 2:4–6states,

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;

The Lord shall hold them in derision.

Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,

And distress them in His deep displeasure:

“Yet I have set My King

On My holy hill of Zion.”

A long time ago a Davidic King named Hezekiah ruled from God’s holy hill—Jerusalem A.K.A. Mount Zion.

The Bible calls Hezekiah a righteous king, but like us, Hezekiah was far from perfect.

Are you aware that there was a rule that the king had to write out his own copy of the Law?

Deuteronomy 17:18–19states,

“Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes.”

So Hezekiah would have known the Law well. Let’s see those 10 commandments again.

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See that second commandment? Well, Hezekiah struggled there. He trusted his own efforts and military alliances before trusting in God. When the Assyrians showed up in the land, they first subdued the Phoenicians and the Philistines before laying siege to all the cities of Judah. The Egyptians even came up to help Judah, but the Assyrian army sent them back across the Nile.

We read in 2 Kings 18:13–16

“13 And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. 14 Then Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, ‘I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you impose on me I will pay.’ And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s house. 16 At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.”

In a non-biblical inscription, Sennacherib the evil king of Assyria adds that Hezekiah “also sent his (own) daughters, women of his palace, (and) male and female musicians after me to Nineveh, my lordly city, and in order to deliver the tribute and to do obeisance as a slave.”

Even though Hezekiah wavered in his faith and sent this huge tribute to Sennacherib king of Assyria, the Assyrians still laid siege to Jerusalem.

The Assyrians also explain that when they got to Jerusalem they first negotiated with Hezekiah’s foreign mercenaries and let them go.

Of course, the Assyrian records could be made up. But we know the tribute which is almost identical to the Assyrian records wasn’t made up.

Furthermore, Sennacherib’s messengers mock God.

Look at 2 Kings 19:10–12

10 “Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11 Look! You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them; and shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?

So why did Hezekiah need foreign alliances and mercenaries? Why did Hezekiah pay a tribute to the Assyrians from the Temple treasury? It seems Hezekiah had the attitude that he wouldn’t bother God with things he might be able to fix on his own.

Now things had gotten to the worst point ever. So now Hezekiah decided to pray—why do we do that? Why do we try to fix situations and not involve God until it gets so bad we are desperate?

Hezekiah should have been talking to the Lord in prayer about this situation from the very beginning. (We should be talking to the Lord in prayer about our situations from the very beginning).

Anyway, picking up the story, we read,

2 Kings 19:14–20

“14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said: “O Lord God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone.” 20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.’”

Isn’t that amazing? Let’s see what happens:

2 Kings 19:34–37

The Lord Responds

“34 ‘For I will defend this city, to save it For My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’ ” 35 And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 37 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.”

Wow!

But hold on, let’s see that verse about David again.

2 Kings 19:34

“For I will defend this city, to save it

For My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”

Friends, this reminds me of Psalm 2:1–6:

“1 Why do the nations rage,

And the people plot a vain thing?

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 break Their bonds in pieces

And cast away Their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;

The Lord shall hold them in derision.

5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,

And distress them in His deep displeasure:

6 “Yet I have set My King

On My holy hill of Zion.”

Looking at this, one might notice a theme. I have found this theme in the Gospels as well.

It is often noted that Jesus, the Son of David, is a king. Other kings and rulers were alarmed.

Matthew 2:1–3states:

“2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”

At Jesus’ trial in Jerusalem, there was another Herod present.

Luke 23:11–12states,

“Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.”

John also depicts this enmity between rulers of nations and the one true King.

We will look at John 19:3–19:

“3 Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands. 4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” 5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” 6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” 8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, 9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” 11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.” 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” 16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. 17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. 19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

Let that sink in for a second…

But if we’ve correctly identified that Jesus is the ultimate Davidic King sitting upon God’s holy hill—upon Mount Zion, then where is the salvation? Where is the angel of the Lord wiping out the foreign army and the death of the false king like in the days of Hezekiah? If Jesus died, then where is the victory?

Oh, but the death of the King upon the cross in Jerusalem and confirmed by the resurrection is the victory! Here we have the greatest plot twist of all time!

The ultimate Davidic King is the only one who kept all ten of those commandments.

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Since Jesus perfectly kept the law, He was the perfect lamb of God for the perfect sacrifice.

On Calvary’s hill, there was no need to send 10,000 angels because Jesus Himself was providing the salvation!

God defeated Goliath by the sling of David. He defeated the Assyrians with the prayer of Hezekiah. Those kings that God set upon Mount Zion, God’s holy hill were just foreshadowing Jesus Christ—the ultimate Davidic King.

God defeated the talking snake, sin, and death through the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and King, Jesus the Son of David!

This reminds me again of Psalm 2:1–6:

(Let’s read Psalm 2 with our new knowledge)

“1 Why do the nations rage (like the Assyrians and like the Romans),

And the people plot a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves,

And the rulers take counsel together (like Herod and Pilate becoming friends over Christ’s trial),

Against the Lord and against His Anointed (Anointed means Christ), saying,

3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces

And cast away Their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;

The Lord shall hold them in derision.

5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,

And distress them in His deep displeasure:

6 “Yet I have set My King

On My holy hill of Zion.”

This time though, let’s read the very next verse:

Psalm 2:7

“I will declare the decree:

The LORD has said to Me,

‘You are My Son,

Today I have begotten You.”

Remember, these were the charges at Jesus’ trial. He was charged with calling Himself a King and making Himself out to be the Son of God.

Yes, our King, the Lord’s Anointed is more than just the Son of David.

He is God’s only begotten Son!

Would you believe it, I also found this theme in the Book of Revelation.

You see there is this scroll and nobody worthy enough to open the scroll is present. It gets to the point where John starts to weep—but then…

Revelation 5:5–6:

But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”

Hold on a second… We were expecting a lion but we got a lamb? Here it is again—plot twist!

The Lion is actually a Lamb!

Jesus, by obedient submission to God to the point of death, claimed the victory!

So we too are to follow this example. Let us stop trying to do things the world’s way and do things God’s way. Yes, it might mean suffering, but Jesus already suffered more than we ever will.

Now I’ve heard that sermons have been a little shorter lately. Far be it from me to deviate from this new trend.

There is still a little bit more material to cover. Let’s look at Revelation Chapter 20.

Satan is cast into the bottomless pit and Jesus literally rules from God’s holy hill, Jerusalem for a thousand years. After the thousand years there will still be one last rebellion.

Look at Revelation 20:7–10:

“7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

You know, this reminds me of Psalm 2:1–6:

“1 Why do the nations rage,

And the people plot a vain thing?

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 break Their bonds in pieces

And cast away Their cords from us.”

4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;

The Lord shall hold them in derision.

5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,

And distress them in His deep displeasure:

6 “Yet I have set My King

On My holy hill of Zion.”