Rage & Refuge

Context

Many of you know that Pastor Josh has been preaching through the book of Hebrews, and while we will not be in that book today, my choice was inspired by the book of Hebrews. This is to say that Psalm 2 is quoted in the book of Hebrews. Briefly, I will highlight the insight we gain into Psalm 2 by understanding how the author of Hebrews uses it in his argument.

Psalm 2 in Hebrews:

Hebrews quotes Psalm 2 twice: in 1:5 and in 5:5.

Pastor Josh has walked us through Hebrew 1 already and has made the author’s point clear, so I do not need to spend much time here.

Hebrews 1:5 ESV

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?

The point, simply put, is that Jesus is superior to the angels. Yahweh has never said to an angel, you are my Son, today I have begotten you (taken from Psalm 2:7).

Also

Hebrews 5:5 ESV

5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”;

Again, simply put, the priesthood that Yahweh appointed to Jesus was superior to the priesthood of all previous priests.

Theological connection

I do want to note a theological connection between Psalm 2 and how the book of Hebrews interprets it. We will get into this more as we move through the Psalm, but it seems that the author of Hebrews understands Psalm 2 prophetically. What I mean is that in highlighting the superiority of Jesus, the author of Hebrews is noting something about a greater David who would come after the one who authored Psalm 2. As we heard from 2 Samuel 7, it was prophesied David’s line would endure and a new David would come, and His superiority would ultimately be displayed in His resurrection and exaltation. Again, this will be expanded upon as we move our way through Psalm 2.

Psalm 1 & 2

I also want to take a moment to point out the connection between Psalm 1 & Psalm 2. Many commentators have suggested, and I agree that Psalm 1 & 2 are meant to be read together. That is to say that making the connection between the two is important for our understanding of their message.

The blessed man who meditates day and night on the law of God (Psalm 1:2) can be identified as Yahweh’s Messiah in Psalm 2. Jesus refused the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners and the seat of scoffers. Jesus did what man failed to do, and while our first response to Psalm 1 should be to exalt the name of Jesus, we are right to strive to imitate His delight in the Word of God.

Reading Psalm 1 & 2 together also enables us to see that the plotting of man against God and His church will ultimately fail. The way of the wicked is like chaff that the wind drives away (1:4). The Lord knows the way of His Messiah and He therefore knows the way of those who place their faith in Him.

Transition

What we need to keep in mind as we go to Psalm 2 is that there was always going to be a greater Adam, a greater Moses, a greater David, and we are meant to be comforted by this. But to be comforted by the superiority of Jesus, we must understand how Scripture describes it unfolding in the world today and what we can expect in the future. Psalm 2 will help our understanding.

Psalm 2 ESV

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.” 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.” 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.” 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.

Pray

Introduction

The Roman emperor Diocletian began a vicious persecution of Christians in 303 AD. The persecution included the production of medal that was struck with an inscription that said, Extincto nomine Christianorum (Ex-tink-toh noh-mee-nay Kris-tee-ah-noh-room) which translates the name of Christians being extinguished. As his conquest expanded into Spain Diocletian erected two monuments which proclaimed

Diocletian, for having extended the Roman empire in the east and the west and for having extinguished the name of Christians who brought the Republic to ruin.

And the other

Diocletian for having everywhere abolished the superstition of Christ for having extended the worship of the gods.

We read declarations like this and we are grieved and angered. And to know that this was the rule of law is sobering. Trying to imagine what life would have been like for the church in Spain at the time. Trying to fathom what the day-to-day experience it would have been for Christian citizens under the Diocletian’s regime.

In our experience laws that permit the killing of unborn children, that affirm the desecration of marriage, that support attacks on personhood grieve us and make us angry. We desire to live peaceful and quite lives as we are exhorted to do in Scripture, but our context make that difficult to say the least.

Perhaps there are times we find ourselves echoing the the prophet Jeremiah as he surveyed his context, saying

Jeremiah 12:1 ESV

1 … Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

We get angry, we despair, we perhaps even become numb to the corruption that surrounds us. We cry out to God.

To use the language of Psalm 2, the nations are raging. The raging may look different that it did in David’s day, in Jesus’ day, in the days of Diocletian’s reign… but they continue to rage.

FCF

The fact that the nations rage often clouds our certainty of the fact that Jesus reigns.

Main Idea

While the nations rage, Jesus reigns.

Pre-Outline Statement

Four truths that demonstrate the reign of Jesus.

The rebellion of the nations is futile (1-3)

The Lord’s response to this rebellion is furious (4-6)

Rehearsing the Lord’s promises provides fortitude (7-9)

Refuge can be found in the fact that sinners can be forgiven (10-12)

The first truth that demonstrates the reign of Jesus is that

1. The rebellion of the nations is futile. (1-3)

What Psalm 1 makes clear is that the counsel of the wicked (v. 1) informs the the conspiring referenced in Psalm 2:2 (the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together). In our day, this is the backdrop of the reign of Jesus. That the kings set themselves means that they take a defensive position against Yahweh. That the rulers take counsel together means they are plotting against Yahweh. This idea is familiar enough to us.

What must we know about this rebellion?

It disrupts but does not destroy (1)

The narrator or Psalmist (David) asks a question that points out the futility of the rebellion. Why do the nations rage is really saying, your raging and plotting will not achieve anything.

As we noted earlier, when we consider some of the accomplishments of the enemies of God, we certainly can acknowledge that their plotting and scheming has been and is disruptive. But in that consideration church, don’t loose sight of what the Psalmist says about all those efforts… they are in vain. The word vain here means the state of containing nothing. All the pain and chaos that has been perpetrated by the enemies of God may not appear to contain nothing, but remember the promises of Scripture:

Isaiah 14:27 ESV

27 For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

Proverbs 19:21 ESV

21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

The plan of redemption itself was accompanied by disruption, but nothing could stop it because nothing nor anyone can stop the Lord:

Acts 2:23 ESV

23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Lawlessness occured at the culmination of redemption but it could not stop it.

And the mission of the church today is unfolding amidst the rebellion of the world

2 Timothy 2:8–9 ESV

8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!

Paul experienced severe hardship, but he recognized that the purposes of God, that is the power and ministry of the Word was undeterred by the efforts of his enemies to stop him. Even his imprisonment did not prevail over God’s purposes for him.

Church, the plans and efforts of the world against God and His church are threatening, distressing and discouraging, but they are not prevailing. Take heart! Take courage! Their plotting is in vain.

Something else we should note about this rebellion is that

It is antagonistic but will never achieve autonomy (3)

Verse 3 tells us the goal of the nations’ rage: to burst their bonds apart and to cast away their cords from us. What does this mean?

What the enemies of God want is to be their own god. To unshackle themselves from what they consider to be inhibiting their freedom. Those who are in darkness believe that having opportunity to indulge their every sinful desire is ultimate freedom. Many believe that autonomy from God is possible and would be satisfying. Listen to what Spurgeon said:

What! Oh ye kings, do you think yourselves Samsons? That you are the bands of omnipotence but as green withs before you? Do you dream that you shall snap to pieces and destroy the mandates of God? The decrees of the Most High, as if they were but tow? And do you say, “Let us cast away their cords from us?” Yes! There are monarchs who have spoke thus, and there are still rebels upon thrones. However mad the resolution to revolt from God, it is one n which man has persevered ever since his creation, and he continues in it to this very day. - C.H. Spurgeon, “The Treasury of David”, Vol. 1, pg. 11.

The bonds and cords that that the rulers want to tear off and cast away are the promises of Yahweh. If you haven’t made the connection yet, let me say it plainly now: This part of the Psalm is not merely about the rebellion of kings and world leaders. It is about the rebellion of the human heart against God. And if this is the case, then the comfort we have amidst the rebellion of the world is that not only are the efforts to live autonomously from God impossible, God is not indifferent to these displays of rebellion.

He responded and is responding. This is the next truth that demonstrates the reign of Christ.

2. The Lord’s response to the rebellion is furious. (4-6)

Note, the Lord responds to those who seek to plot against him with His wrath and fury (v. 5).

But what is His fury here?

His response to absurdity (4)

Remember Psalm 1:1 describes the enemies of God as scoffers who sit in their seats, and we know from the second Psalm, that they concoct ridiculous strategies to break away from His rule. To this, God laughs.

It is absurd to suppose that anyone can make any headway in their rebellion against the Creator who is enthroned in heaven.

It is absurd to think that the Lord is vulnerable to any attack.

The Lord will have the last laugh, the scoffers of Psalm will be scoffed at by the Lord. That people labor under this lie makes sense. This is what sin is. Sin is a repudiation of God’s rule in favor of self-rule. But while this may be understandable, it is no less of an offense.

We should not take the Lord’s derision of this foolishness as indifference to lost sinners. This is a sober warning to those who persist in their rebellion against the Lord. The Lord is not daunted by the rejection of sinners, but His response displayed His power and mercy as we will see in verse 6.

But before we get there we should also note that God’s fury is the

Revelation of His anger (5)

The imagery associated with the wrath of God is of someone who is so angry that his nostrils are flared. God is unchanging so the language is used to accommodate our limited ability to understand. God does not loose His temper, but He does respond justly to sin with holy anger.

Romans 1 tells us what provokes the wrath of God:

Romans 1:18 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

The ungodliness and unrighteousness of men deserves the wrath of God. Man’s willful suppression of the truth merits the wrath of God. And while many are unswayed in their rebellion by the proclamation of the gospel, there will be a day when the rebellious will truly despair.

Revelation 6:15–17 ESV

15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

This is a sobering description of man’s response to the wrath of God, but it is also appropriate. There is nothing casual or neutral about God’s wrath. Men may mock God, marginalize God, disregard God and try to hide behind their supposed ignorance of Him, but God’s just response to this all is His anger.

Now I hope that is sobering to us, and anyone who half paid attention to what I have been saying about the wrath of God should not have found it to be pleasant, but what must also be clear to us is that God’s fury, in addition to being His response to absurdity and the revelation of His anger, it is also His

Royal appointment (6)

That the Father has set His King on Zion, His holy hill. This is the climax of His anger.

In the face of the conspiracy of His enemies, Yahweh announces that He has established or appointed His King. The Lord refers to Zion as his holy hill. Zion is referred to this way because the temple was built on this mount.

Something to recognize here is that no temple was built on Mount Zion until Solomon (David’s Son) takes the throne. So for David to refer to Zion as the holy hill where the king is established recalls what was declared to David in 2 Sam 7, that the throne of His kingdom will be established forever. Jesus, the Anointed One, the better David would be appointed as Yahweh’s King. This is Yahweh’s response; His ultimate answer to the rage of the nations.

So Yahweh’s establishment of His king is His response to man’s rebellion. He does not negotiate with the rebellious kings referenced in verse 2.

We might think of the argument verses 5 & 6 make like this:

The wrath of God is judicial. It shows what cannot and will not stand (the rebellion of man). (5)

God’s King is redemptive and stabilizing. The reign of the King is forever and shows what will stand forever. (6)

You see again, the nations rage but Jesus reigns. Another truth that demonstrates the reign of Jesus is the

3. Rehearsing the Lord’s promises provides fortitude. (7-9)

The fact that God’s people are strengthened through their rehearsal of what the Lord has decreed demonstrates His reign today. And notice in verse 7, this is what the King does: He rehearses the decree of Yahweh - “I will tell of the decree”

As we move into this stanza of the psalm, I want to slow us down for a moment, so we can get our footing and make sure we are following the flow of the message.

Notice verse 7: I will tell of the decree. Who is speaking here? The rest of verse 7 answers this: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. To whom did Yahweh say this? The promised Davidic king from 2 Sam. 7. In other words, the Messiah is speak now.

I should point out that Luke records what the people said in response to Peter and John’s report about their experience in prison and before the Sanhedrin because of healing a lame man.

Acts 4:24–26 ESV

24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

What I want us to note here is that Psalm 2 is attributed to David. We have been assuming this much up to this point, but here is confirmation.

We also noted that there was no temple in David’s day, and yet Zion is described as Yahweh’s holy hill in verse 6. These realities work together to show that while David is the author of Psalm 2, he presents the speaker in verse 7 as the king from his line, his seed, the throne of whose kingdom Yahweh promised to establish forever in 2 Sam 7:13.

So what we see in this psalm is the presentation of the promised king from David’s line, whose throne Yahweh swore to establish forever, and that Yahweh became the promised king’s Father and the king became Yahweh’s Son.

What promises are referenced here that we would be helped by as we rehearse them?

Jesus is resurrected and reigning (7)

The Lord’s Anointed, who the kings and rulers of the earth seek to rebel against (v. 2) declares that Yahweh decreed that He is His Son. In other words, God is Father to the King. The king embodied the sonship of Israel.

Sonship is a theme throughout Scripture. We see this theme connected to Israel.

Exodus 4:22 ESV

22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,

We know that Israel failed to be the son God called them to be, but it was always God’s plan for the Messiah to come and be the true Son of God.

But notice the time signature in verse 7: Today I have begotten you. Jesus has always been God the Son. He did not become the Son of God at either His incarnation or at the beginning of His public ministry (His baptism). People have wrestled with the meaning of this, but this is a case in which the New Testament’s usage of this Psalm will help us.

Acts 13:32–33 ESV

32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 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.’

This is part of a sermon that the Apostle Paul preached in a synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia. Paul declared that God had given him the mission to preach the message of salvation. He references the fact that the Savior came from the line of David as was promised (v. 23), and recounted that after Jesus began His earthly ministry, many did not recognize Him as the promised Messiah, rejected Him and killed Him through crucifixion. But Paul also proclaimed that the Father fulfilled His promise and brought Jesus back to life from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus was a fulfilled promise. What promise? Psalm 2. You are my Son, today I have begotten you.

Paul declared that God’s resurrection of Jesus fulfills Psalm 2:7.

In light of this connection between Psalm 2 and Paul’s sermon in Acts 13, Christopher Ash suggests this paraphrase of verse 7:

Today, in your bodily resurrection and ascension to my right hand, I declare and constitute you, who have been Son of God by nature from all eternity, now to be Son of God in power.

This is the decree that the King declares in verse 7. He, Yahweh’s Anointed, the true Davidic King, the true Son of God will rise from the dead and will reign.

This is our answer to the ongoing efforts of the world to work against God today.

Oh church, we fervently prayed that God would intervene to prevent an abortion last Sunday. Many of us continued to pray this past Monday all the way until the young lady entered the abortion clinic. We are heart-broken that the abortion was done. God have mercy! Where is the hope? Where is the comfort to be found? Yes we mourn, but we cling to the fact for dear life that Jesus is resurrected from the dead. While our war against sin continues today, remember Jesus has defeated sin… He has defeated death. And He is ruling from His eternal throne now. This is our hope. Rehearse this promise.

Another promise to rehearse

Jesus is seeking and saving (8)

The King is recounting Yahweh’s decree, in which the Lord told His King to ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession.

What is the Son’s heritage? Remember what Jesus prayed in John 17?

John 17:20 ESV

20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

And we know that the Father answered this prayer:

John 6:44 ESV

44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

But I suggest that the Son, in asking to receive the nations as His heritage includes in His request the same rebels described in 2:1. In other words, Jesus Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and as offensive as it is to witness the enemies of God promote and perpetrate evil in the world, the Son’s response is to call them to repentance. To be sure, Christ rules over all, but we should note that part of His rule unfolds in the redemption of His people today.

And how is this accomplished? Through the worldwide preaching of the gospel. We preach Christ crucified, and though the message of the cross is rejected by man, our mission is not dependent upon man. Jesus is still saving people, and His people are heirs of the new creation.

We still preach Christ crucified to women who are bent on dealing with an unwanted pregnancy with abortion because the gospel is the good news they need to hear.

We continue to preach Christ crucified amidst a world that schemes, plots against the Lord, but who are ruled by the King of kings and Lord of lords whether they acknowledge it or not, because the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

So rehearse this simple promise to yourself , especially when you are discouraged and perhaps oppressed by the fallenness of the world: Jesus is seeking and saving.

Jesus will prevail (9)

Verse 9 portrays the outcome of the conspiracy against Yahweh and His Anointed described in the first three verses.

Yahweh’s king will shatter His enemies with a rod of iron. The rod can also mean scepter which fits well with the king theme throughout this psalm.

Psalm 1 tells us that those who reject the law of God are like chaff that the wind blows away. They stand the same chance against Yahweh that a clay pot stands against a rod of iron. The rod or scepter in the hand of the mighty King will shatter the clay pot.

Again, as we noted in verse 8, the King will inherit the nations and possess the ends of the earth. He will prevail. This is our ultimate comfort and hope.

While the nations rage, Jesus reigns. Truths that demonstrate the reign of Jesus:

The rebellion of the nations is futile

The Lord’s response to the rebellion is furious

Rehearsal of the Lord’s promises provides fortitude

And finally

4. Refuge can be found in the fact that sinners can be forgiven. (10-12)

If we’re being honest, our hope that the enemies of God would repent and be reconciled to God can sometimes be extinguished by our hatred of their sin and our desire that they be stopped. We should hate sin and we should desire and even take appropriate action in some cases to work against the perpetrators of evil. We should certainly pray to this end. But, do we desire that such people be born again? Do we love our enemies. Does such talk seem weak to you? The last line of verse 12 promises blessing to all who take refuge in the Lord.

How do we take refuge in the Lord?

Believe that God grants repentance to His enemies (10)

Now, David begins to speak again in verse 10.

The fact that God laughs at and holds His enemies in derision may seem out of character, at least according to the image some may have of God in their minds. Verse 10 clears all this up.

The exhortation to the rebellious kings in verse 10 is to be wise. Literally to cause themselves to be wise. Psalm 1 declares that as the righteous delight in and meditate on the law of God, he prospers. In other places in Scripture, the concepts of prosperity and wisdom appear together to speak of the fruit from meditating on the Law of God. For example, David, near his death, gives this counsel to his son Solomon.

1 Kings 2:1–4 ESV

… Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper (be wise) in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

The counsel David, on his death bed, provides his son Solomon is the same counsel, really admonishment, that David issues to the rebellious kings: Make yourself wise through the meditation on and submission to what Yahweh has commanded.

Only God can bring about such transformation in a person, but what we must know is that He does. And because He does, we should pray to that end.

We also take refuge in the Lord by

Beseech the Lord to transform His enemies into His servants. (11-12)

The admonishment continues in verse 11. The rebellious are exhorted to repent and make themselves wise by meditating on the Word of God and instead of plotting against Yahweh and His Messiah, to serve the Lord with fear.

And when God grants people the gift of repentance and they are able to see the offense of their sin and the forgiveness made available to them in the Messiah, they rejoice. They delight to serve the Lord. It is humbling, and it makes sense that this joy be accompanied by a certain fear.

Reflecting on who we once were brings joy and sobriety at the same time:

Ephesians 5:8 ESV

8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

As we pray that God would transform His enemies, do not forget that we were once darkness but now by His grace we are now light in the Lord.

Those so transformed are reconciled to the Son. The rebel kings are urged to kiss the Son, and this Son Yahweh declared to be His Son in verse 7.

Conclusion

Church, do not allow the raging of the nations cloud your vision of the truth that Jesus reigns. For whatever disappointments, trials, persecution and advances the wicked may make, none of that changes the fact that God’s answer was and is the King. Jesus, our Savior and our God. He came to save His people from their sins, He is ascended to the father’s right hand, the gospel is being preached, people are being saved, and Jesus will return. Jesus reigns. This is our hope.

Benediction

Isaiah 9:6–7 ESV

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.