Staff Devotion: Psalm 2:1-3

Intro

All of Scripture is about Jesus. Every passage. Charles Spurgeon tells of a Welsh minister who can be quoted that “… In every town in England … there is a road to London.” In every passage of Scripture, there is a road to Christ. Some of these roads are harder to find than others, but some are fairly simple.

See that with me in Psalm 2:1–3 “Why do the heathen rage, And the people imagine 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 bands asunder, And cast away their cords from us.”

This psalm is a royal psalm, one written for a specific time and the ascension of a specific king. We know from Acts 4:25 that David wrote this psalm, perhaps in reflection of his own ascension, perhaps for Solomon. But this psalm shows us hope, shows us beauty, shows us Christ. Trace that with me these next few weeks.

Th imagery here is detailed and blunt. The heathen, the foolish sinners, rage. They have done so since Genesis 3 and the descent of mankind into sin. This is how this psalm opens, as a warning to be careful! Be careful not only as you encounter those heathen, but be careful to not fall back into that lifestyle.

Be Careful When You Scheme v. 1

We are a people who scheme, by scheme we simply mean plot. Another word for plot is “meditate” as you might find in Psalm 1:2. Therefore, you are a people who scheme. Just like everything else that we do in life, we must be careful with our scheming, or meditation.

David paints a clear picture of a world whose leaders and people are plotting against the Lord and His goodness. They are plotting against the God of heaven. And this makes us wonder! Are people really that insane?

The simple answer is yes. Not only are we that insane, but we were successful in our plots against the Lord. (see the latter part of any of the Gospels or Acts chapter 4). We plotted to kill Jesus, and we did it! (though we know His plans were victorious over ours).

God’s people, if we are not careful, can easily find ourselves in the trap of sinful meditation although we are called to godly meditation on His Word and His Ways.

Be careful when you scheme is a warning and a command. It is a warning to us and a command to share that warning with a world who schemes, and schemes evil. Be careful.

Be Careful Where You Stand v. 2

You also must be careful where you stand!

When I think of this, my mind goes to a specific Harvest camping trip to Kinser Park over a decade ago. At this park, there was a beautiful body of water, one we all wanted to see and walk along. As we did, we discovered that the ground was far from solid! As we walked, we learned that we had to take quick steps and not stay put too long or else we would sink! One Harvest staff member forgot … and began to sink. We tugged her out and kept on our way!

All that to say, be careful where you stand! Where you stand may just consume you. This is what David was referring to in verse 2. The kings, the leaders, the people of the culture took bold stands against the Lord. The council of the wicked from Psalm 1 are conspiring together against the Lord.

Stand in the right place. Stand firm in it. Don’t waver from solid ground or else it may consume you! Take the right stand, in courage and faith, and trust that when God says His ground is solid, it’s solid.

Be Careful What You Say v. 3

Finally, be careful what you say!

Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

This is the key. The hearts of the wicked are now speaking wicked things against the God of the universe. They are saying “free us from this “sky God” and let us do what we want!

They see the authority of God as a yoke, hindering them from free will. You and I know just how untrue that is! But the world does not. We must be the speakers of good, the ambassadors of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that carefully, intentionally, schemes, stands, and speaks the goodness of God in our lives.

Be careful what you do. Not just to avoid wrath, but to spread the gracious gospel of our Savior. As you are on the road sharing what God is doing at Harvest, be sure to share the goodness of His gospel along with it. Fill your heart with the Word and overflow with its effects.

The heathens rage, the nations set themselves apart from God — Be careful not only as you encounter those heathen, but be careful to not fall back into that lifestyle. They don’t see what you do, they don’t see God as He is. Show them.