The King

Introducing Psalm 2: the Basics

Psalm 2 is classified as a Royal Psalm, which means its main subject matter is the King of Israel, and it begins with three verses that give us vivid imagery of the world’s state: Nations raging, people plotting in vain, and kings and rulers of nations working together against God to separate themselves from any influence or authority of godliness and righteousness. This was the world in which the Psalmist lived when peoples and nations and kings literally schemed and plotted against the nation/king and God of Israel. Israel was God’s chosen nation to be light in a world of darkness. Israel was the nation who was to proclaim the name of God to all the world and lead the world in worship of Yahweh. But darkness is opposed to light and the things done in darkness do not like to be exposed and so there is natural conflict between the chosen people of God and the kings and peoples of the earth.

Yet the question posed by the Psalmist in verse 1, “Why do the nations rage and the people’s plot in vain?” is not a question borne from despair or anguish but rather from astonishment. He knows that the peoples plot in vain so what is his source of confidence? The Lord enthroned in heaven.

In response to the raging and rebellious nations, the Psalmist pictures the Lord as laughing at and mocking those who are against Him. “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.” This is an image of one who is unconcerned and unworried. To God, the evil plans of the world are not worrisome. But then there’s a change: The Lord goes from laughing in verse 4 to speaking to them in his wrath and terrifying them in His fury in verses 5 and 6, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

To deal with the rebellious Kings and people of the earth, God declares the establishment of His own King on Zion, the hill on which sits the city of Jerusalem. According to verses 7-9, this King is considered the begotten Son of the Lord. He is offered the nations as his heritage and the ends of the earth as his possession and this King will rule over the world and subdue all the earth with a rod of iron while dashing any resistance to pieces like a shattering clay pot. This King, anointed by the Lord God, will be the King over all the kings of the earth and the divine authority to rule and judge rests in his hand.

In light of this King on Zion who rules over all, the rebellious and plotting kings and peoples are counseled to abandon their schemes to rid themselves of God’s authority and instead submit to the Lord and serve His anointed King: “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.” If they don’t submit to the Lord, they will perish but if they do, they will be blessed as they come under the rule and loving care of the Lord.

With this brief overview of the Psalm, it’s easy to see the focus of the Psalmist on the king anointed by God over all the earth. In one sense, this anointed king could be considered the King of Israel. Israel was God’s chosen people and the King of Israel had in throne in the city of Jerusalem, the city on Zion. God even referred Solomon, the third king of Israel, as His son: “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son (2 Samuel 7:14).” Yet the desire and vision in this Psalm far surpasses anything a normal human king could ever do or become. This royal psalm envisions a future King who will do what the greatest kings of Israel never came close to accomplishing. It foretells of King Jesus.

Seeing Psalm 2 through hope of Jesus

When understanding that Jesus is the anointed King, the nations raging and kings plotting are understood to mean the entirety of sinful and unredeemed humanity. The world in its sin hates God and rejects God as Lord and creator. Although they know God, they reject him and exchange the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:21). In all that they do, the world works to remove God and any godly influence. God is pushed out of science, literature, philosophy, mathematics, and even erased from history. Public schools are fortresses of godless education and governments are run without any fear or concern of God. Scripture verses and biblical symbols are removed from public buildings in the name of separation of church and state. The world despises God and works to destroy him. But God laughs! When sin first entered the world, God introduced the plan He created before the foundation of the earth, that He would send One who would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). The long-prophesied King from eternity (Micah 5:2) was none other than Jesus the Christ.

Jesus, God the Son made man who was born of the Virgin Mary, is described often as the begotten Son of God. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit and God said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:16-17).” The Apostle John said, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16” and the author of Hebrews quotes this part of Psalm 2 when describing Jesus (Hebrews 5:5). As the Messiah (anointed one), Jesus was the long expected and prophesied King of the line of David who would institute a kingdom of peace and bring judgement to the enemies of Israel, but be began by sacrificing His life for the salvation of people’s eternal souls, thus instituting first the spiritual kingdom of God which will be made physical at Jesus’ second coming.

Because of Jesus’ perfect obedience unto death, God gave Jesus the name above every other name and all authority over heaven and earth (Philippians 2:9-11, Matthew 28:18). While He is in heaven at the right hand of God, a time will come when Jesus will return as the victorious King, and according to the book of Revelation, “From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:15-16).”

With impending judgement, all the sinful of the world are called to repentance and submission to Jesus as the eternal Lord and King. All people are called to serve the Lord with fear and rejoicing, If people turn to Jesus in faith, they will be blessed, for “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him (Psalm 2:12).” But those who don’t, according to both Psalm 1 and 2, will perish.

When we look at Psalm 2 with Jesus in mind, we essentially get the gospel right here in the Psalms! This psalm should bring the follower of Jesus confidence despite the horrible state of the world. How can we be confident? Like the Psalmist, we may fully trust and depend on God who we know is not scared or deterred in will by the worldly opposition to Him, to Jesus, and to those who follow Jesus. The Christian knows how the story of the world ends and the Christian knows he is on the winning side. Because of Jesus, all faithful believers will be given authority over the nations and will rule with a rod of iron (Revelation 2:26-27). We will have justice, and we will have peace.

But I think there is one more way we should look at this Psalm.

Psalm 2 in light of our sin

We viewed it in its literal sense, we’ve seen it through the lens of Jesus, and now we need to apply its convicting message to ourselves.

In this psalm are three distinct individuals/groups: the sinful rebels, God, and the anointed King (Jesus). So I ask, which one are you?

When faced with these three options alone, we must confess that we fit snugly into the category of sinful rebels. By nature, everyone in the world begins in this category and while the born-again Christian is no longer condemned for their sinful rebellion thanks to Jesus, we must admit that sinful rebellion still remains as part of our nature. Yes, the Christian possess the Holy Spirit of God and has been made a new creation through Christ Jesus, yet our sinful nature is not yet gone. Our redeemed spirits wrestle day and night with the enemy of sin which desires with all its heart to separate us from the love and fellowship of God. Often, we find ourselves doing the things we don’t want to do and not doing the things we know we should be doing (Romans 7:14-25). For this reason, we should recognize that this Psalm applies to each one of us in our struggle against sin.

Our sin nature fights against the Spirit of God within us and entices us to rebel against the divine authority to which we are to submit. Yet God is not phased one bit by our struggle with sin. In fact, God, in His infinite grace, has set His wrath and fury against our sin nature by the victory of Jesus who died for the forgiveness of sin and rose again to newness of life. Because of Jesus, our flesh is crucified with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24). Crucifixion is one of the most gruesome and horrible ways to die, but we can celebrate because that’s the death our sinfulness gets! However, it’s not an instantaneous death and so we must still daily die to our sinfulness and take refuge in Jesus who, being the begotten Son of God with all authority over our lives and the whole world, will take care of us no matter what.

The great application for us then is to continually submit our lives and our wills to Jesus. Confess and repent whenever we find ourselves trying to throw off the beautiful bonds of Jesus. There is no place of safety away from the wings of Jesus so sin will only bring pain. We should kiss and worship the Son of God and experience eternal blessings of a humble posture before the King of the universe!

Conclusion

As Psalm 1 said so now Psalm 2 echoes, there is only one way to blessing and eternal happiness, and that is through Jesus! All other paths will bring pain and ultimate destruction and are not worth the temporary pleasures they bring, but submission to King Jesus and walking the path of righteousness is worth everything for those who believe.

Application/Mediation Questions:

1. According to the Psalm, why is there no need to worry about the current state of the world?

2. Do you take comfort knowing that the Lord God terrifies sin and sinner with His righteous fury? Why or why not?

3. How many parallels between the “anointed King” in Psalm 2 and King Jesus can you find?

4. Do you often think of Jesus as your King? Why or why not? What benefits might there be in viewing Jesus as our King?

5. How often do you find yourself struggling your own sinfulness? What specific struggles do you seem to have over and over? Take some time throughout this week to pray for God’s grace in overcoming your struggles and then “Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling.”