"Blessed Are All Who Take Refuge in Him" Psalm 2 Oct 26 2025

Intro

Good morning, friends

We are continuing our series The Heart of Psalms

We are in the 2nd chapter - which is the 2nd psalm

Every chapter number conveniently corresponds to the number of psalms

There are 150 chapters - and there are 150 psalms

So it doesn’t make a difference - I could say “Book of Psalms, chapter 49,” or “The 49th psalm”

For I am undone!

Before we get into this - I want to clarify what I was saying last week

I mentioned that as I was studying Psalm 1, and as I was reading about the way of the righteous, and the way of the wicked -

I said that sometimes I feel wicked

I want to explain that many scholars agree that the psalms lead to self-examination

But before I even read this from a scholar, the Holy Spirit put it on my heart to examine my own heart

I neglected to mention any of this last week

If you allow him, the Lord will cause you to examine your heart, motives

It’s not intended to make you feel bad, or make you feel guilty

It’s a reminder of who I really am as I stand before a holy God

Some Bible passages illustrate this

We see this in Isaiah when he said, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips.” [Is 6:5]

Or when Job said, “Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” [Job 42:6]

You see the similar thing with Daniel, Ezekiel, and even Peter when they encounter the Lord

Well, I experienced something similar when I read Ps 1

Ps 1 & 2 is didactic instruction. They prepare our hearts through self-examination before we worship the Lord

It prepares our hearts for the other 148 Psalms - not in a legalistic way, not in a technical sense,

but in a way that helps us to walk with the Lord and become more like him

But as we self-examine, we don’t do it alone - we self-examine in the presence of the Lord.

We don’t examine ourselves for God, we examine ourselves with God

This isn’t a solo exercise. We don’t shut ourselves alone in a dark room - and then come out and report back to God our findings

It means to open our hearts to the Lord - it says, “Examine me, Lord”

It’s not so much “self examination,” as it is opening yourself to the Lord -

and as you open your heart to the Lord, the Holy Spirit will reveal things in your life

There are several Bible verses - several from the Psalms that tell us to open our hearts to the Lord

Example, from Psalm 26:

Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind. [V. 2]

We can’t begin to understand the Bible -

Until we first acknowledge the truth about man and the truth about God

This is my admonition for you - that as we study through the Psalms - we open our hearts to the Lord

That we accept his truth for us

Through confession, in our relationship with the Lord, that we honestly tell the Lord

I am not hiding from you

Know me, Lord

I do not harbor skeletons in my closet - there are no closets in my heart

Forgive me

Remember in Mt 7 - when Jesus is talking about in the end - and people approach him and say, “Lord, Lord”

And Jesus says, “Depart from me”

He doesn’t say, “Depart from me - you don’t know all about God - you don’t know everything about systematic theology - you didn’t memorize enough scripture...”

Jesus gives the reason why he tells them to depart: “I never knew you”

Interesting

God knows everything about every human being

But God desires an intimacy with us - that can’t be achieved until we bend our hearts to him

Scripture Reading and Prayer

Chapter 2 is twice as long as the first chapter - it has 12 verses

I always like to do a scripture reading, then pray - then continue with the message.

I don’t often read the entire chapter, but I would like to do that again this week

Psalm 2, starting at verse 1 -

Psalm 2:1–6 ESV

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.”

Verse 7 -

Psalm 2:7–12 ESV

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, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

(Pray…help us turn our hearts and minds to you...)

Understanding Psalm 2

In my mind, Psalm 2 is not as direct as Psalm 1

It takes a bit more study to grasp it

I want us to understand this psalm and grasp its meaning

Btw, the first two psalms are anonymous - we do not know who the psalter is

They are not like Psalm 3 which has a heading: “A Psalm of David...”

We are not given any heading for these first two psalms - they are anonymous

Notice that the first verse of Psalm 1 begins: “Blessed is the man...”

And the last verse of Psalm 2, ends with this: “Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

This is a literary device known as an iclusio - “Blessed is the man,” and “Blessed are all” are bookends

We are told in these bookends, who is blessed:

The righteous

And - those who seek refuge in him

You say:

“Aren’t we talking about the same person? Aren’t righteous people, by definition, those who take their refuge in the Lord?”

And I would answer:

“Yes, that’s a great definition - that’s a great distinction.”

That’s a great description of a Christian - or, a disciple of Christ - or, a follower of Jesus

A Christian is one who seeks their refuge in Christ

Wicked people don’t seek their refuge in Jesus

Chapter 2 begins with a the first question of Psalms

It is a rhetorical question

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?”

We’re told in verse 2 that they set themselves against the LORD - YHWH - and his Anointed

(Your Bibles - LORD = YHWH)

The wicked back then were against God and his Anointed One - does this sound familiar today?

The wicked were against God

Then we’re told that the Lord just laughs - and he terrifies them with his wrath and fury

Verse 6:

“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.”

Doesn’t this sound like Jesus?

That’s because this is about Jesus - directly about Jesus

Psalm 2 is one of the most messianic psalms in this book

It is Davidic - which means, it is about King David

But the NT shines a huge spotlight on it which reveals this is about the true Messiah

Especially since the Jews long awaited their true Messiah - who is Jesus

Here is Jesus, very clearly in the OT

It starts off asking, “Why do the nations rage?”

Instead of just keeping to themselves - why are they so upset about the Lord

And it’s very interesting that verse 2 says they are against “the LORD and against his Anointed”

Some translations: “Anointed One”

Many Bibles have “Anointed” capitalized because the scholars recognize this is a clear reference to the Lord, Jesus

It references King David - but it also points to Jesus

Now, how is it possible, way back then, that the wicked nations were not only against YHWH, but against Jesus?

Because Jesus is God - he and the Father are one

This is what the world does today

It rages against the Lord and it plots itself against God

KJV: “Why do the heathen rage?”

NASB: “Why are the nations in an uproar?”

Let me ask, why are the heathen of this world angry against the Lord?

Today, you can speak of the Hindu god Vishnu - or the god of Islam - Allah - or other spirits, or deities, or goddesses

And no problem

But as soon as you mention the true and living God, the Lord - YHWH of the Bible

As soon as you mention Jesus - the people rage

If atheists don’t believe that Jesus is Lord, how is it possible that atheists get mad when you mention him?

They don’t believe in God, but they’re angry at God - how does that work?

But this psalm clearly mentions Jesus

Look at verse 7:

I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

The psalter - the author of this psalm, is acting as prophet

A prophet speaks to the people on behalf of God

And here he is, speaking on behalf of the Lord

He is quoting him directly

The psalm ends with imperatives - it ends with commands for the world

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

The last verse - verse 12 begins with an interesting phrase

We don’t find this phrase anywhere else in the Bible: “Kiss the Son” - S.O.N.

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

Most translations have this phrase - others say, “Pay homage to the Son” or, “Do homage to the Son”

Whatever is the case, these are commands come with a warning

Verse 5 is where we first see God’s wrath mentioned in the Psalms

And “wrath” is repeated in this last verse: “...for his wrath is quickly kindled”

And notice it is quickly kindled towards the wicked nations

And then we see this in V. 9

“You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

It is a promise of God’s wrath against evil

It alludes to God’s final judgment against evil

There is a tension between God’s proclamations of doing away with the evil people - and the delay of his final judgment.

There is a pattern:

God promises to vanquish evil (elicits praise)

Evil surrounds God’s people (brings laments, complaints)

God protects his people from the evil surrounding them (draws praise and worship)

Btw, I can’t find a single instance where God becomes angry or frustrated with the laments and complaints from his people. Never

Moses got angry and frustrated with the people - but not God

God only gets frustrated or angry for his people’s lack of faith

But never because they are fearful and don’t understand their situation

God says, “Bring your lament to me - just don’t lose your trust in me.”

Even in the darkest times of your life - as long as the Lord is your refuge, he is not angry with you - and he will deliver you

Comfort From the Psalms

We tend to think of the Psalms as these sweet, comfy-cozy blankets for the soul - with nothing too harsh

“Can’t I come to just one book of the Bible that will make me feel good??”

...

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.

That’s beautiful - that’s arguably the best poetry in the world

The best literature that’s ever been written down

It’s holy Scripture

It is comfort food for our souls

But we first need to acknowledge the truth about ourselves

The truth that as we stand before a holy God - wickedness is our inclination

We need to know the truth about ourselves - and the truth about God

Once we understand these truths - that will drive us to understand we are nothing without him

And if we don’t get this down first, then “thy rod and thy staff” will never comfort us - they’ll only become the business-end of his wrath

That’s why Psalm 1 and 2 are so important

Again, we need to know the truth about who man is - and who God is

Before we can find any comfort in his Word, we need to need him

Because mankind has always needed to be in need of him

Even when the Bible sounds harsh to our ears, it can still comfort us

Just look at some samples from the first two chapters:

The wicked are like chaff that the wind drives away

The wicked will not stand in the judgment - (in other words, they won’t be able to withstand God’s judgment)

The way of the wicked will perish

The nations rage

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

He will speak to them in his wrath - and terrify them in his furry

Does this sound comforting to you?

A couple more

You shall break them with a rod of iron - and dash them in pieces

For his wrath is quickly kindled

This is just the introduction to the Psalms

“I thought the Psalms were encouraging”

They are!

As long as God sees you as righteous -

The big word for it is called justification - it just means that God now sees you as righteous

As long as you have trusted in Jesus

The ancient Hebrew metaphor in Psalm 1:3 says you will literally be like wisdom itself

It says you will be like a tree - planted by streams of water - and you will yield beautiful fruit at the right time

Are you getting the picture of how God sees you?

The Bible says you will prosper in all you do - verse 6 says, “For the LORD knows the way of the righteous”

This is God’s grace and mercy -

just imagine that, grace and mercy...in the OT

We will not incur God’s wrath

We will not wither in his judgment - because God will see his Son in us at the judgment -

more literally, God will see his us as his Son at the judgment

Luther said, "When I look at myself, I don't see how I can be saved. But when I look at Christ, I don't see how I can be lost."

Look to Christ - and stop looking at yourself

Then this amazing Psalm introduction ends with this grace gem:

Blessed are all who take refuge in him

God is looking for those who will simply take their refuge in him - not themselves - in him

When we know the truth about who God is - and we know the truth about who we are

We have no choice but to take refuge in him

The enemy has us surrounded

But the Lord knows the way of the righteous

I know I’m jumping ahead, but I want to close by reading from the 23 Psalm -

I figure I’ll just read it since I’ve been quoting it

If you know it, feel free to recite it with me

Psalm 23 KJV 1900

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

(Pray...)

Communion

(Pick one…)

Matthew 26:26–29 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he com