Psalm 2 - Kiss the Son

 1. The world we see a. see the world with God’s eyes i. Last year marked the 20th anniversary of the moon landing, but it was only 8 months before that, probably the most adventurous of all the Apollo missions went around the moon for the first time. (1) and it was on this mission that for the first time human beings got a glimpse of the reality of the world in our vast universe. (a) Listen to Jim Lovell, about the moment they first saw the earth rising over the moon. (i) APOLLO 8 ii. the change in perspective is overwhelming (1) Just for a moment imagine seeing our world from God’s perspective, not just Jim Lovell’s. iii. how absurd would the world look, when in the midst of this vast universe, there are still microscopic individuals who insist that they know the best for them (1) who do we think we are? b. Opposing the Lord i. and yet humans are committed to the view that we know best for ourselves and we go on opposing God (1) our world is full of people who shake their fists at God, or ignore him altogether. ii. Some claim that any God of the whole universe could not possibly be interested in us human beings, and especially not us as individuals, (1) yet the message of the Bible - and of this Psalm is that he does care, and it does matter how we treat him (a) what a mistake to make! iii. how deeply rejecting and presumptuous we are as humans (1) and what we can imagine is only the merest glimpse of what it must be like for the God of the universe to see us: (a) these deeply rebellious, amazingly small creations of his iv. Ps 2 puts us into the mind of God, and into our hearts at the same time - the brilliance of the Bible is to do both at once in under 200 words (1) turn to Psalm 2 2. The Prophecy i. there are four speakers nations, Lord, Anointed, Psalmist b. The Nations i. Are set against the Lord and against his Messiah - King ii. the nations are uniting against God (1) Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the LORD and against his anointed, 2:1–2 iii. and through the history of the OT we see that many times - many nations rising against the people of God (1) they are living ignoring the reality of the God who is there and has made them all that they are, and all that they have! iv. they wish to rebel against him and break the power that he shares with his king (1) “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” v3 v. How futile is that? Can you imagine that the God who made everything could be truly overthrown by any human power? (1) I don’t want to destroy any dreams, but kids, you know when you wrestle Dad and you win, he let you win? He could have won! Quite easily too. vi. But when it’s nations - even great nations - against the Lord of the Universe, there’s no contest. No doubt about the victor. c. The Lord i. And God’s reaction is to both laugh at their foolishness and rebuke them for their arrogance (1) The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, v4–5 ii. God had appointed these rulers, (1) he had breathed life into them, he had kept and protected and provided for them every day of their lives, (2) he had made them rulers and kings, he had revealed himself to them in the world and yet still they plotted against him iii. And against their rebellion, God proclaims His king, (1) “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” v6 iv. his specially chosen one, God sets him there to rule, and we human beings oppose him too. d. The Anointed i. he is proclaimed the Messiah by the decree of God - the declaration is loud and clear. (1) I will proclaim the LORD’S decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. v7 ii. this is a declaration of relationship, not of genetics. (1) the son is the heir - and it’s usually biological, but the heir can be adopted. (2) he is one who will rule in the master’s absence, the one who owns it all on the master’s behalf - that’s the relationship that is being declared. iii. they have common property, common titles, and common enemies. (1) You oppose God, you oppose his anointed one, his chosen one, his Son, his King! (so v2b) (a) The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the LORD and against his anointed, v2 (b) and the rule of the chosen one will be in judgement iv. Humanity’s rejection of him is a rejection of the goodness and wisdom and love of God - we just don't trust him to know what is best or right for us - do we! (1) Who is God in our life - culture teaches us, us - we make decisions, we are in control of our own life - so we are God! v. How offensive is that - how deserving of the judgement that is promised (1) surely if we have learnt anything from Coronavirus it is just how knife edge vulnerable we are. And how little control we really do have. (2) No matter how smart, or strong, or rich we are. It has shown us again how far we are from being God. e. The Psalmist i. So the Psalmist warns them! (v10-12) (1) Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth Serve the LORD with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. vv10–12 (2) Understand who God is and who his anointed one is and treat them the way they should be treated! Do the right thing! (3) Serve the Lord with fear ii. Rejoice - yes, but with trembling - we are not dealing with Santa Claus, but the righteous judge of all the earth! (1) Get your relationship with God right - or there will be awful consequences! iii. so what happens with this song, who is it really about? How is it fulfilled? 3. Fulfilled in David i. in part it is fulfilled by King David of Israel b. Relationship - i. He was God's king in God's land, chosen by God, blessed by God, and beloved of God (1) given the land -as his inheritance that came about under his kingship and that of his son Solomon. (2) He was God's King - his anointed one - his Son (a) he was constantly opposed by the nations around him (3) and he set up a great kingdom that was extended under David’s Son Solomon to become a great kingdom BUT c. The End point i. was failure - David died and Solomon though he was wise had a very foolish son. Rehoboam - and in 3 days he had split the kingdom in civil war (1) the kingdom divided into Israel in the North and Judah in the South, and over the next 400 years they were conquered, and finally destroyed and taken into exile in Babylon. (2) the nations did dominate Israel and do so to this day ii. so the fulfillment was partially complete, but there was better to come 4. Fulfilled in Jesus i. Psalm 2 is the most quoted of all the OT psalms because the apostles saw that it spoke not primarily of David or Solomon, but of Jesus b. Relationship - Mark i. so, we saw the reading in Mark 1 where the voice from heaven spoke Psalm 2v7 (1) “Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Mk 1:10–11 ii. Jesus is the true Son of God - the one who will rule all and be the judge and king of all (1) He is the anointed one - the one chosen by God to be God's man in God's place doing God's will as God's king b. End Point - Revelation iii. and he is the ruler of all, and willing or unwilling his judgement will be terrible and final - reading from Rev 19.11 (1) I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron sceptre.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. Revelation 19:11–16 iv. the anointed one - God's holy judge is coming - he will judge and his anger may flare up in a moment. 5. Opposition to God!? -so... c. Who do you think you are? i. Why do we keep living our lives in order to overthrow God - to live without him or in denial of him (1) why do we keep thinking that the other side of the fence is greener? ii. Why does the world hold such an attraction to the Christian (1) because we have not understood truly who is God is and who his Son Jesus is (a) how great, how far above and beyond us he is (i) we usually think of him as just you or me blown up bigger - a few faults removed of course - but that is sheer stupidity iii. we have not understood the magnitude and power and majesty of God (1) or that God can be trusted - not just feared (though he should be) but truly trusted iv. in the death of his anointed one hw showed himself to be so committed to our good that he sent his one and only Son to die for our forgiveness. For all our arrogance and rebellion. (1) have we truly understood who God is - the God who laughs at the conspiracies of nations and breaks like pottery the opposition of worlds? v. So let me ask you... d. Who do you think God is? i. that is the question isn’t it? (1) are we ready to kiss the son, to become humble, to open our ears and hearts and listen and submit to Him, the God of all the world - or are we just too proud (a) too sure of our own goodness, or perhaps too scared to trust anyone else. (2) which are you? How does it affect who you think God is? ii. but the question is wrong - in some ways. (1) What we think of God and Jesus is very important, but the most important question is e. Who does God think you are? i. how would God judge our attitude to him? (1) perhaps you don’t yet know and follow God and his anointed king, Jesus, (a) maybe you haven’t yet accepted his offer of forgiveness and so have a right relationship with God? (b) there is nothing more important in all of life (i) and now as we go through the difficulties of the isolation we are all under (c) that our zoom meetings and recorded materials emphasise (i) then it’s an opportunity to ask the big questions about life. (d) What really matters. Who is God? (2) What does he say about himself? If you want to find out more, please reach out and ask 1) staff@summerhillchurch.org.au 2) we’d love to help. ii. but if we are people who trust in Christ (1) are we regularly turning to him in his word, and reading it for ourself, because that’s the beginning of how we truly show our trust in him. (a) we’re currently doing a reading plan of a Psalm a day, with a reflection. Maybe that would help you - you can sign up through e-news. or the link on the screen now 1) bit.ly/shcpsalms (ii) it’s great that we have over 30 people joining us on the journey. (b) God knows us intimately, more intimately than we know ourselves. And he knows perfectly what we need most. (i) So drink deep at the well of his Word, let him feed you and lead you with all his wisdom. iii. the second part is - are we living out that relationship in a life of repentance and faith - turning from our sin, and living for God. and lving others, (1) Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. (i) but the real comfort is here (2) Blessed are all who take refuge in him. iv. Take refuge in him, He is our sovereign powerful king. And he loves us. To death on a cross. Let’s pray