5-31-2020 My Son, Today Psalm 2
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Freedom is not always freedom
Freedom is not always freedom
Roger Rosenblatt wrote an article in Time (“What Really Mattered?” in 1983) that characterizes the twentieth century as a time when American culture decided there should be no moral restraints at all, and any such limits were intrinsically evil (sadly, the twenty-first century is its spiritual offspring). Rosenblatt draws the conclusion about “our age of self-confident autonomy” that “when people are unfettered they are freed, but not yet free.”
The Book of Psalms has a freeing effect when we are trapped and weighed down by the surrounding ungodly people and politics
Psalm Chapter 2 represents the raw rebellion of the “kings of the earth” against God and His anointed. It is both history and parable. What happened in David’s time is history, and as parable it presents the stark opposition to God that characterizes all humanity.
Transition:
Psalm 2 is generally identified as a royal psalm, composed for and used on the occasion of some Israelite king’s elevation to the throne. We do not know which king, but given the David collection that it prefaces, it could have been composed as a literary introduction to Book 1 (Pss. 3–41).
Psalms 2 and 89, both psalms of the earthly king, or royal psalms, stood as bookends to this early edition of the Psalter, much like stamping a royal seal on the collection. Psalm 2 puts kingship, one of the central offices of ancient Israel, in the context of divine sovereignty and casts it in the light of the world of nations, which also falls under the aegis of God’s sovereign rule over the world, or the kingdom of God.
Scripture Reading:
Psalm 2
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.” 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.
In Israel’s world, it was anticipated that when a new king came to the throne, the land would take advantage of his political vulnerability and plot rebellion to free themselves of this new overlord. In view of this, many scholars consider this psalm to be a coronation psalm, and they see it as a celebration of the crowning of an Israelite king. While that is a possibility, another possibility is to view the psalm as a celebration of God’s sovereignty over the nations in the most general sense of the word (as Ps. 18), with the “nations,” “peoples,” and “kings” (2:1–2) being general references to David’s enemies, or Israel’s, for that matter, who are frequently the subject of Book 1.
Transition:
By far, one of the most important themes of the Old Testament is the sovereignty of YHWH. Psalm 2 teaches this theme in the context of the international scene. While the nations of Ancient Israel’s world, and ours today also, may view their sovereign rights apart from the universal rule of the God of Scripture, it is a false premise, one at which our sovereign Lord laughs. Let’s now look at this common situation and how our LORD works:
I. Rebellion Against the Lord (vv.1-3)
I. Rebellion Against the Lord (vv.1-3)
As we’ll see this morning as we progress through this Psalm, there are at least 3 voices that speak to us. The message that is expressed by these people of the world is unmistakable:
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
“nations rage/conspire and the peoples plot”
This is the voice of mankind! The idea behind the verb “rage/conspire” is “roar,” or “be restless.” The revolutionaries form a conspiracy described by four verbs: “conspire,” “plot,” “rise up,” and “band together.” This same Hebrew word for “plot” also appears in Chapter 1:2, where the sense is “meditate” rather than “plot.” But the activity of this verb is vocal, not silent, and we ought to hear the threatening talk going back and forth in the distance as the nations make their evil plans. The first two verbs have a different tense. The first question (Hebrew perfect) asks the reason for their attempt (already past), and the second (Hebrew imperfect) asks why they imagine that they will succeed (in the future).
The kings of the earth establish themselves, and the rulers conspire together against Yahweh and his anointed:
“His anointed.”
In ancient Israel the king was anointed with oil (2 Sam. 5:3). The term “anointed” came to refer to the messianic king in Judaism and thus in the view of the Gospel writers. In the Hebrew Bible, “Messiah” “anointed” does not always refer to a divine figure. It stems from the idea of the “anointed” king and eventually comes to designate a future king who will accomplish the ideals of kingship that was missing by the Israelite monarchy. In this connection, YHWH will intervene and miraculously, through his future “anointed one,” bring those ideals to pass.
“Let us tear off their bonds, and cast their cords from us!”
Bonds/Chains … Cords/shackles.
The metaphor is that of stubborn cattle that break and throw off their restraints.
Transition:
The next voices that we hear now will work together to reveal YHWH’s response and plan for giving us all hope in the midst of a world that continuously rebels against Him.
II. The Lord’s Response (vv.4-5)
II. The Lord’s Response (vv.4-5)
This response in the next two verses is hope for a Rebellious World. The second voice we hear is that of God Himself as He sits on His throne in heaven.
God is sovereign!
He who sits enthroned in the heavens laughs. The Lord derides them.
“laughs/scoffs”
This is an in-your-face attitude.
The Laughter of God
The Laughter of God
Three times in the Psalms (2:4; 37:13; 59:8) and once in Proverbs (Pro 1:26),
I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when panic comes upon you.
YHWH laughs, and all the instances have to do with evil nations or evil people who think they have a chance against God. In each case YHWH’s laughter is somewhat taunting. It is a mocking kind of laughter, the kind that says, “You thought you could beat me, but I will show you who’s in charge.” I don’t think it out of place to say that God literally has the last laugh.
Illustration:
Music:
Bach wrote a cantata titled Heaven Laughs, and Earth Rejoices. The laughter of heaven concentrated its countless decibels in the empty tomb, echoed up and down the valleys of the cosmos, and resounded through the billions of galaxies. If we could have heard the “laughter” of heaven as Jesus slipped out of the brawny arms of death, it would have deafened us forever. Christ had conquered! Death was vanquished! Christ was alive! The tomb was empty!
Then he speaks to them in his wrath, and in his fury he terrifies them:
He is not caught off guard at all by the attempts of man to bypass His plans for them. Because He is completely sovereign and in full control, there is nothing that man can do to thwart His ultimate will. In a later Psalm, we see this same idea expressed in slightly different terms:
{[Psalm 33:10-11}]
Yahweh brings to nothing the plan of nations; he frustrates the intents of peoples. The plan of Yahweh stands firm forever, the intents of his heart from one generation to the next.
Mans’ rebellion kindles God’s wrath and his fury. We see the ultimate extent of that wrath in the Book of Revelation, when God’s wrath is quickly poured out on those who rebel against Him.
Transition:
And the next voice we hear reveals who that king is and what He is going to do
III. The Lord’s Royal Decree (vv.6–9)
III. The Lord’s Royal Decree (vv.6–9)
The third voice we hear is that of Jesus.
“But as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
We know that it is Jesus because the speaker is clearly identified elsewhere in Scripture:
[{Acts 13:32-33}]
Paul is teaching in a synagogue saying:
And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 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.’
That is from our passage quoting verse 7:
I will tell the decree; Yahweh said to me: “You are my son; today I have begotten you.
This is the LORD’s decree!
The Davidic covenant (2 Sm 7:5–16) declared that the king would be God’s “son.” When a king ascended the throne, he declared that God called him His son. This was a way of saying that God has installed him as king, heir to the kingdom. Many kings fell short of this high calling, and the writers of Scripture realized that the coming Messiah would be a “Son” as no other king had been or could be (Is 9:6).
For a child has been born for us; a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
When the Apostle John described Jesus as the “the One and Only Son,” he was speaking of Jesus’ divine nature (Jn 1:14). But Ps 2:7 is used specifically in the Acts passage (and in Hebrews) for Jesus’ resurrection and exaltation to the right hand of the Father—His coronation, in harmony with the meaning of the psalm.
this promise God has fulfilled to our children by raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have fathered you.’
Christ’s resurrection is proof of God’s sovereign reign.
While the historical sense of Psalm 2:7 seems to reference the founding of the Davidic dynasty, Paul understands it to extend ultimately to the resurrection of Christ, proof positive of God’s sovereignty.
Ask from me and I will make the nations your heritage, and your possession the ends of the earth.
In other words, Jesus will eventually enjoy absolute dominion, and those who resist will be crushed by his power.
The Lord reigns!
You will break them with an iron rod. Like a potter’s vessel you will shatter them.”
“you will break/rule them with a rod of iron”
The verb “break” assumes one Hebrew root, while the alternate reading “rule” assumes another (“to shepherd”). In light of the parallel metaphor in the second half of the verse,
“shatter”
the translation “break” is preferable, although “to rule” is not out of metaphorical range, since the shepherd “ruled” with his staff by sorting out the sheep (Lev. 27:32; Ezek. 20:37) and fighting off intruders of the flock (Ps. 23:4). Shattering a clay vessel (“pottery”) to pieces was a common symbol of destruction [(Isa. 30:14)]
And he breaks it like a vessel of a potter breaks, that is crushed; he has no compassion, and no potsherd is found among its fragments to take fire from the hearth, or to skim water from the cistern.”
As we saw in our study in Revelation, there is little doubt that verses 8 and 9 are dealing with His second coming as there are three separate places in the Book of Revelation that refer to Jesus ruling with a rod of iron in connection with His future second coming.
In the Old Testament, we find two different uses of a rod. The first is the instrument that is used by a shepherd. That short knobbed stick had two main purposes. It was used by the shepherd as a weapon to protect the sheep from predators. But it was also used to discipline sheep who had wandered off and were putting themselves in danger.
The second type of rod was the king’s scepter. So the picture here is that Jesus is both a shepherd who protects and disciplines us and a king who rules over us.
So What? (vv.10–12)
So What? (vv.10–12)
The only way to deal with our rebellion is to embrace Jesus
So then, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth.
The good news is that it is not too late for the people and their leaders to change their ways and abandon their evil plans and follow YHWH’s.
Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
The word “rejoice” comes from a word which literally means to “spin around” under the influence of overwhelming emotion. Together these two commands to serve and rejoice picture taking delight in being subject to and serving Jesus.
Those two commands are qualified by two adverbial phrases that describe the manner in which we are to delight in serving Jesus – with “fear” and with “trembling”. Both words describe the reverent awe with which we must approach Jesus. Sadly, it seems that we often lose that sense of healthy fear when it comes to entering into the presence of a holy God. While it is true that we can approach Him confidently because of the righteousness we have in Jesus, we still need to fear God.
Kiss the Son lest he be angry and you perish on the way, for his anger burns quickly. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Kiss his son. This command is problematic in that it uses the Aramaic word for “son” (bar). However, it obviously is a call to submission, illustrated by Samuel’s kissing Saul on the occasion of his anointing him king (1 Sam. 10:1),
Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it over his head and kissed him and said, “Has not Yahweh anointed you as leader over his inheritance?
thus paying him homage.
That points out the need for every single person to deal with their rebellion against God by embracing Jesus.
So What?
So What?
The key theme of Psalm 2 is God’s sovereignty, or we might phrase the theme more colloquially as an answer to the question, “Who is in charge here?” Humanity has asked this question all through the centuries, and God in Scripture, and God in the events of our world, answers the question.
Who is in charge here?
Who is in charge here?
Literature:
God Is My Co-Pilot, by Robert Lee Scott Jr. Colonel Scott’s autobiography (1943) covers his role as commander of the Flying Tigers, a collection of some of the best fighter pilots of World War II.9 The story is compelling, but in light of Psalm 2, the book’s title is misleading at best. The idea that God is our “copilot” conveys the thought that we are at least in partial control of the plane (the circumstances of our lives), while God simply sits in the seat next to us and serves as our assistant. In Psalm 2 we are reminded that God is in control of all things, and our role is to submit and obey. As we read in verse 11 (“Serve the LORD with fear”), we are to fully surrender to him and allow him to lead and guide our lives as we follow his direction.
Historically, Psalm 2 puts kingship in the light of God’s sovereignty and issues the verdict that God is above kings—and, we will add, presidents and prime ministers. While Psalm 1 gives the perspective of God’s sovereign rule in the individual’s life through the power of his Word, the law, Psalm 2 gives the perspective of God’s sovereign rule over rulers and nations.
So What?
So What?
It is of importance that the psalm begins with the word “why.” Why do rulers of the world think they can overpower God? And the answer is essentially that God exercises his sovereignty through his “anointed one” (Messiah), whom the kings of the earth rebel against. But who is this “anointed one”? In the ancient setting of the psalm, it was the king of Israel, perhaps David or Solomon.
But the New Testament writers look at this psalm and interpret this rebellion in terms of the rebellion of humanity against Jesus Christ. The early church remembered this psalm and equated the nations and peoples with the gentiles, who put Christ to death (Acts 4:25–28). That was the archetypal rebellion of humanity, which simply means we all are involved in that rebellion against the Lord and his Anointed One. Paul applied Psalm 2:7 to God’s raising Jesus from the dead, the ultimate proclamation that God is sovereign (Acts 13:33). It was proof positive that God would prevail in history. Who is in charge here? God is! And he has proved that by the resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ!
Human beings may feel their power not merely on the level of kings and presidents but even on the personal level, but God “laughs” at them. In terms of God’s saving acts in history, that’s what God did in Jesus Christ when he defied the demons of hatred and the idolatry of the human spirit by raising his Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead.
In Acts 4:23–31,
And when they were released, they went to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices with one mind to God and said, “Master, you are the one who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things in them, the one who said by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David, your servant, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples conspire in vain? The kings of the earth stood opposed, and the rulers assembled together at the same place, against the Lord and against his Christ.’ For in truth both Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, to do all that your hand and plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, concern yourself with their threats and grant your slaves to speak your message with all boldness, as you extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
the first stanza of Psalm 2 is used to interpret the opposition of rulers and peoples to God’s anointed, Jesus, and as a basis for courage in the face of threats against the infant church by the authorities. The psalm showed the apostles that the hostility of the powers was no cause for despair. Instead, the hostility was the right and proper setting for their preaching, because the declaration of the Son of God is God’s answer to the opposition of the world’s powers. So they “spoke the word of God with boldness.” Preaching the Son of God is a mission designed for the situation of conflict.
One other aspect of Psalm 2 is important, the closing four words of admonition for its ancient audience and for us who live in the twenty-first century. This is the spiritual antidote to the rebellion of the human spirit:
So then, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth.
“be wise”—take note of the spirit and history of spiritual rebellion (2:10a);
“be warned”—God’s judgment is certain (2:10b);
Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
“serve the LORD”/“celebrate … with trembling”—the fear of the Lord is the proper spiritual posture (2:11);
Kiss the Son lest he be angry and you perish on the way, for his anger burns quickly. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
“kiss his son”—fall down in humble submission to the sovereign God (2:12; cf. James 4:10).
This is the gospel in miniature.
In Conclusion:
So the question all of us must answer this morning is this: To which kingdom do you belong?
The one who believes in him is not judged, but the one who does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
Are you still living your life in rebellion to God, trying to burst free from what you view as His bonds? Have you failed to embrace Jesus and take refuge in Him, instead choosing to try and approach God based on your own goodness or by some other means? I pray not, because if that describes your life, then you will face God’s wrath if you don’t do something to change your life. Please don’t leave here today until you’ve talked to someone about how to embrace Jesus and take refuge in Him.
Or have you submitted your life to Jesus and taken refuge in Him alone as means by which you attempt to approach God? Are you seeking to live your life according to His commands – the ones He has established for your own protection and joy? If so, then you’re in for a real treat in the coming months as we study the Psalms and learn together how to walk more closely with Jesus each day. And as we do that, we will receive the blessing that God promises to all who take refuge in Jesus.