Sermon Tone Analysis

Read Psalm 2

Pray

Since the beginning of time, the world has known strife.

The history of man is essentially the history of conflict, war, and devastation.

As far back as 3000 B.C. we can see artwork, etchings, carving, of soldiers fighting in close order, wearing helmets and carrying shields.

The history of mankind is one of war, destruction, upheaval and disarray.

Consider the 20th century.

There was World War I, which was supposed to be the war to end all wars.

About 20 million people were killed, more than half of which were civilian deaths.

It wasn’t very long after before the world was locked into World War II, lasting six years and one day and claimed between 50-56 million lives.

The December 25, 1967 issue of U. S. News & World Report wrote, “Since World War II [there have been] at least 12 limited wars in the world, 39 political assassinations, 48 personal revolts, 74 rebellions for independence, 162 social revolutions, either political, economical, racial, or religious.”

All that in just 25 years.

Obviously these figures would have to be revised upward significantly in the 54+ years since then.

We’ve seen war between Russia and Afghanistan, China and Vietnam, Vietnam and Cambodia, Iraq and Iran, Iraq and Kuwait, Bosnia, and the list of conflicts go on and on and on and on… until we get to the current war between Russia and Ukraine.

And that’s not to mention all the regional and ethnic conflicts that have been and still continue today.

Our own country faces rising racial, political, and special interest tensions... rising crime rate (I recently saw that the murder rate in Portland, OR has increased 800% since 2020), gang wars, random violence, and increasing moral degeneracy.

Is the world out of control?

How should we view the present world chaos?

And as we view it what should we do with it?

Should we sink into depression and despair?

Or should we ignore the world and its news, like an ostrich with our head stuck in the sand?

I want you to know, that we find the answer in the Word of God (isn’t that surprising!!!).

Psalm 2 gives us an answer.

In it, the author, King David (see Acts 4:25), views the rebellion of the nations against God.

He looks at the chaos of the world scene in his day and says in essence...

“Though the nations have rebelled against God, He is sovereign; thus, we must submit to Him while there is time.”

Even though the world scene looks as if God has little or nothing to do with it, David shows us that God’s plans have not failed and shall not fail.

Everything is under His sovereign control and He will ultimately triumph in His ordained time.

Thus David appeals to the rebellious nations to bow before the Almighty God while they still have time.

Structure and background of the Psalm:

Psalm 2 is one of the most frequently quoted psalm in the New Testament.

It fits together in an interesting way with Psalm 1 to introduce the Book of Psalms.

Psalm 1 begins with, “How blessed”; Psalm 2 ends with the same word (in Hebrew).

Psalm 1 ends with the vanity of the wicked person; Psalm 2 begins with the vanity of the wicked king/nation.

In Psalm 1, the godly man meditates on God’s law; in Psalm 2, the wicked meditates on how to cast off the rule of God.

In Psalm 1 the theme is the contrast between the righteous and the wicked person; in Psalm 2 the theme is the contrast between the rebellion of wicked rulers and nations and the rule of God’s Anointed King.

The Psalm is structured as a dramatic presentation in four acts.

Remember, this is a coronation psalm and would have been used accordingly by the people of Israel.

In Act One (2:1‑3), David raises the question about the chaos in the world, and the kings and rulers come forth in a chorus to say their lines (2:3).

In Act Two (2:4‑6), God calmly sits upon His throne in heaven and speaks His line against the rulers (2:6).

In Act Three (2:7‑9), God’s Anointed One speaks and reveals God’s decree or God’s predetermined plan for dealing with man’s rebellion.

In Act Four (2:10‑12), the psalmist speaks out again, giving a closing appeal in light of the previous three acts.

For purposes of grasping the message of the psalm,it can all be grouped together so that we can see the psalmist saying three things:

1.

The nations have rebelled against God (2:1‑3).

But, 2. God is sovereign and has a predetermined plan to judge man’s rebellion (2:4‑9).

Thus, 3. We must submit to Him while there is time (2:10‑12).

Now, I want to look closer at these three thoughts:

The Nations Have Rebelled Against God (2:1‑3).

Let’s read these three verses:

To understand this psalm, we must realize that on one level it applies to King David.

The schemes of these rulers against the Lord and His anointed are rooted in a time in David’s reign when some of his vassal nations sought to rebel (we can see an example in 2 Samuel 10, when the Ammonites and Syrians rebelled).

David, the Lord’s anointed king over His people, Israel, writes this song to show the folly of rebellion against God’s anointed king because of the promises God had made to that king.

Thus, on one level, 2:1‑3 refers to those rebel kings and their attempts to shake off David’s rule over them.

But it is also obvious that the psalm goes far beyond David’s experience.

It is ultimately fulfilled only in God’s Anointed (Hebrew, “Messiah”), God’s Son who is also David’s son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David wrote this psalm not only about himself, but in a deeper and much more complete way, about Jesus, the Anointed One… the Messiah.

Just as these kings rebelled against King David, so all men have rebelled against King Jesus.

The Bible teaches that:

SATAN IS THE AUTHOR OF THIS REBELLION.

Isaiah 14:12‑14 describes the rebellion of Satan in heaven against God.

When he fell, he led a portion of the angels with him.

Under his authority, these demons now wage war against God and the righteous angels.

The world was created as the theater for this great conflict to take place.

Man was created in the image of God and placed on earth to reflect God’s image and rule as His representatives over His creation.

But the Scriptures also teach that ...

ALL PEOPLE HAVE FOLLOWED SATAN IN HIS REBELLION AGAINST GOD.

When Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan’s temptation and disobeyed God, the human race fell into sin and as a result, came under God’s judgment.

This rebellion took on an organized form at the tower of Babel, when proud men came together and proposed to build a tower into heaven to make a name for themselves (Gen.

11:4).

If you are familiar with the account… The Lord confused their languages and scattered them, which was the beginning of the nations.

The pride of those at Babel, who sought to make a name for themselves, was diluted by being divided among the various nations of the earth.

But, as we can see in this Psalm… as well as a casual view of the history of the world, Satan works through the pride of world rulers to weaken the nations through conflict and keep them from submitting to God (Isa.

14:12).

As biblical prophecy shows, in the end times, the nations will come together under a single world ruler in defiance of the Lord and His Anointed.

Satan is the main force behind this world ruler, the antichrist.

But even in His curse on the serpent, God pointed to the way of redemption that He had planned for fallen man:

Jesus, the Messiah, the offspring of a woman, would be bruised on the heel by Satan in death as the sin‑ bearer for the fallen human race, but He would bruise Satan upon the head in His triumphant victory over sin and death in His resurrection from the grave.

By bringing people from every nation under the lordship of God’s Anointed, King Jesus, the rebellion of Satan is thwarted.

Thus in His eternal decree, the Father invites the Son,

Either through their willing submission to the message of the gospel now or through their forced subjection under the rod of the Messiah when He comes to judge the nations, their rebellion will be quelled.

This is our understanding of the passage in Philippians 2

But while all this is developing over history, and as we await that day where every knee will bow, what is going on?

Where is God in all this rebellion?

Did He go to sleep?

Has He lost control?

No, the psalmist goes on to show that even though the nations have rebelled against God ...

God is Sovereign (2:4‑9)

God doesn’t even get up from His throne to deal with the vain schemes of rebellious kings.

Look at verse Psalm 2:4

Now, I can tell you what this doesn’t mean… it doesn’t mean that God gets a kick out of man’s rebellion or its devastating results.

Ezekiel records God’s true heart for the wicked...

So, God’s heart for the wicked is that they would turn away from their rebellion against Him.

But their rebellion doesn’t cause God consternation.

His plans are not thwarted because of their rebellion.

No instead, God’s laughter shows the folly of rebelling against Him.

It shows us that ...

GOD HAS A CALM ASSURANCE IN THE FACE OF MAN’S REBELLION (2:4‑6).

Can’t you almost hear God laughing as mighty men rise up and proudly think that they’re so great and powerful.

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

Who is puny man to try to stand against Sovereign God?

We are told by Daniel:

and He does so according to His will.