Psalm 2
Date: January 14th, 2023
Speaker: Samuel Crites
Scripture: Psalm 2
Psalm 2
January 14, 2023
Mosaic Church
Exegetical Outline:
MIT: The rebellious kings of the earth are warned to serve YHWH and his anointed king or they will perish in the wrath of the Son.
1-3: The nations rage and rebel against YHWH and against his anointed.
4-9: YHWH and his anointed king respond to the rebellious kings of the earth.
4-6: YHWH laughs at the kings of the earth and speaks to the kings in wrath about his anointed king.
7-9: The anointed king, YHWH’s Son, speaks of YHWH’s decree regarding him, that he will expand his kingdom and rule over the earth.
10-11: David warns the rebellious kings of the earth to serve the Lord and turn to the Son or YHWH will be angry with you because all who take refuge in him are blessed.
Homiletical Outline:
MIS: Blessed are the righteous who take refuge in YHWH and his Son, the anointed king.
The nations foolishly rebel. (1-3)
YHWH establishes his true king. (4-9)
Blessed are all who submit to the true king. (10-12)
Introduction:
We are beginning our study of the Psalms. Last week, we discussed how Psalm 1 and Psalm 2, together, introduce the entire Psalter. These two psalms are meant to be read together. Like a stain glass window, Psalm 1 provides the wire frame for the beautiful images in Psalm 2.
Psalm 2 gave the early Church comfort in Acts 4. In the midst of the persecution and confusion that followed the ascension of Christ, this was the Psalm that they quoted to each other. It reminded them that God had already promised them that the nations would rage, that the kingdoms would plot in vain against God’s anointed Son, and it also reminded them that the nations were powerless before our God. Nothing they do will thwart his purposes or cause him to fear.
Perhaps some of you have come into the New Year, not with excitement, but worry. Perhaps you are concerned that 2024 will not bring a promotion at work but a downsizing of your company, or maybe you fear that 2024 will finally be the year that your health takes a turn for the worse, or maybe you are just tired and a New Year doesn’t feel like a new start but another mile in a marathon that you just don’t know when it will end.
As we go through Psalm 2 this week, take the same comfort from Psalm 2 that the early Church took. Our God reigns! He is not passive or uninterested in what happens in this world. He superintends every aspect of history, including your lives, and all who turn to him will find refuge in his Son.
As we did last week, let’s read Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 together, paying special attention to the themes and ideas that are repeated in both.
Psalm 1-2
1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
2 Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 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.
Psalm 2 is our sermon text this week. The blessing at the end of the Psalm in verse 12 parallels the blessing that we see at the beginning of Psalm 1. Blessed is the man that delights in the law of the Lord and blessed are all who take refuge in him. As we saw last week, this blessing of Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 is the prize of all the Psalms. Every single person that reads the Psalms and turns to the Son will be blessed. They will flourish under the protection of his rule and reign. This is one of the primary themes of the entire Psalter and the main idea of our sermon today. The main idea of our sermon is this: Blessed are all who take refuge in YHWH and his Son, the anointed king.
The psalm progresses in three phases. First, the foolish kings of the nations rebel against YHWH and his anointed king. They are foolish because their rebellion is pointless. They are like drunk sailors shaking their fists at a hurricane. They seek to set themselves against the all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present Creator of the universe. They want to seize for themselves the authority and glory that rightfully belongs to him and to his Anointed. The Lord looks down on them from his heavenly throne and mocks them for their folly. His anger is kindled against their audacious rebellion.
In response to their rebellion, the psalmist reveals that God responds to the rebellion of the nations by establishing the true king. This king is no mere man; he is the Son of the most high God. He will be given the nations as his inheritance and will execute the wrath and justice of God against their rebellion. They will be dashed to pieces by his sovereign might.
Finally, the psalmist, David, warns the kings of the earth to avoid their disastrous fate. If they would only turn from their rebellion and serve the Lord by submitting to his Son, they would not experience his wrath but be sheltered from it. They would find that this all-powerful king is not their enemy but their refuge. The fruitfulness and prosperity promised in Psalm 1 can be found in the person of the Son in Psalm 2.
Last week we saw that the blessed man in Psalm 1 was Christ. The blessed man that dedicated himself to loving the law of God and making a way for the wicked to become righteous. The prosperity of Psalm 1 was found in following the blessed man into righteousness. This week, the psalmist presents a different perspective on the Son. In Psalm 2, the Son is the conquering king that will destroy the wicked and shelter all who take refuge in him. Blessed are all who take refuge in YHWH and in his Son, the anointed king.
The foolish kings rebel against YHWH and his anointed king.
Psalm 2 begins where Psalm 1 ended. At the end of Psalm 1, we saw how the wicked are diametrically opposed to the righteousness of the blessed man. Everything the blessed man is: stable, fruitful, prosperous, delighting in God’s law and desiring to follow it every day of his life; everything that Psalm 1 says the blessed man is, it says the wicked are not. They are not stable and sturdy, but are unable to stand in the congregation of the righteous. They are not fruitful and prosperous, but they are blown away like inedible chaff. They are good for one thing and one thing only, destruction. Psalm 1:6 says that they all will perish.
With that concept resonating in our mind from Psalm 1, Psalm 2 opens with:
Psalm 2:1-3
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
Psalm 1 gives us the category of wickedness and Psalm 2 fills in that category with the example of the kings of the earth and their nations. In the same way that the wicked are opposite of the blessed man in every way, the rulers of the nations oppose and rebel against the YHWH, the rightful ruler of the earth.
Let’s ask ourselves the questions of the psalmist: why? Why do the nation’s rage and plot against the Lord in vain? It is just that, vanity. What is it about these men that puts such a foolish and hopeless rebellion in their hearts? That mortal, finite men would seek to make war against the immortal, almighty and infinite God is the height of folly. It is vain boasting and irrational bravado. They have no hope of winning. Why do would they embark on such a hopeless campaign?
There is no rational answer. If the nations could truly see the Lord and know their adversary, they would not pursue such a hopeless and foolish vendetta. They would not rebel against the God that created them. But they cannot see him. They are blind. Paul teaches us this in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4. He says:
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
The nations are blind because they have been blinded. The enemy and their own depravity prevent them from seeing the light of the Gospel. They cannot see the rule of YHWH as a good thing. Their nature binds them to this vain rebellion.
Consider what this means for our world today. All nations, including our own, are opposed to God. There is no such thing as a Christian nation because you cannot mandate submission to YHWH and his anointed. They will not and cannot follow him. So it should not surprise us when our nation turns against God and embraces the sexual revolution. It should be no surprise to us when other nations make war for no other reason than selfish gain. Every single nation has set themselves against God and by proxy, against his people, the Church. They will hate us because they hate him.
In many ways, this should cause us pity them. They are bound to a struggle against an adversary that is infinitely more wise and more powerful. They have only one hope of escaping the hopelessness of their rebellion.
YHWH establishes his true king.
Which brings us to our second point: in response to the rebellion of the nations, God establishes his true king. We can see the vanity of the nations in the way that God responds to them. He laughs at them with contempt and disdain and he speaks to them in anger. These are the only two reasonable responses to the vanity of the nations. God mocks them for their foolishness and his anger is kindled, because they attempt to take for themselves something that only belongs to God, himself.
Consider God’s first response. He sits in heaven on his divine throne and laughs at the kings of the earth, holding them in derision and mocking their rebellion. One of my favorite movies is Forrest Gump. All week this week I kept picturing the kings of the earth like Lieutenant Dan.
In one of the more memorable scenes, Lieutenant Dan and Forrest have started a shrimp boating company. Lieutenant Dan is suffering from PTSD and coping with the fact that he lost his legs in the Vietnam War. So one day when they are out shrimping, Forrest and Lieutenant Dan get caught in a storm at sea. Lieutenant Dan straps himself to the front of the ship and rides out the storm screaming and yelling into the wind of the storm. In some ways, the scene is comical and in others it is very serious. Its comical because of how ludicrous it is for a crippled man to battle God strapped to the front of a shrimp boat in the middle of a hurricane, but it is sad because it gives you a window into the pain and heart ache that Lieutenant Dan is going through. Dan wants to fix the problems in his life but he cannot, so he rails against God.
These kings are the same way. They want to be the kings of their own universe. They want to sit on God’s throne and take God’s place. It is so absurd that God laughs at them and mocks them from heaven.
But it not only makes God laugh; it makes God angry. God alone is the king. There can be no king of the earth but God himself. Listen to what the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 44:6-8. He says:
Isaiah 44:6-8
6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
7 Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
8 Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any.”
God’s response to the kings of the earth in verse 4-6 is right! It is absurd for them to shake their fist at God and think that they might overthrow him. It is so absurd as to be infuriating. So God speaks to them out of his anger and establishes his own king over the kings of the earth. Look at verses 5 and 6 with me:
Psalm 2:5-6
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
The fruit of God’s wrath is to establish his king on Zion’s holy hill to rule over the kings of the earth. God already rules and reigns over the earth. We saw that in Isaiah 44. This decree in verse 6 is an act of judgment against these rebellious kings to put over them another king.
What we should ask is who is this new king and how is it that anyone but YHWH could be the king of kings? Verses 7-9 interpret verse 6. They are the explanation of the decree of YHWH in verse 6. Let’s reread them together.
Psalm 2:7-9
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Who is this new king? He is the only-begotten Son of God. He is no mere mortal. If he was merely a mortal man, then Isaiah 44 would make no sense. God could not make another mere man the king over all the kings of the earth. That is an honor reserved for God and God alone. No this king must be something more than a man, even David himself. The Psalm reveals to us that he is the only-begotten Son of God.
Only-begotten is not a common word in contemporary, American English. When someone asks me how many kids I have, I do not say, “I have begotten five children.” So, to understand the depth of what Psalm 2 is saying, we need to spend some time thinking about what it means to be begotten.
Psalm 2 introduces the concept of being begotten, but it does not unpack for us what that means, it merely tells us that it is true. During the first three centuries of the Churches existence, practically every controversy the Church faced sought to answer this exact question: who is Jesus Christ? What does it mean that he is the only-begotten Son of the Father? The Nicene Creed, finalized at the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381, says this about Jesus Christ.
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, A.D. 381
And we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten from the Father before all time; Light, from Light, true God from true God; begotten, not made; of the same essence as the Father, through Whom all things were made;
If you read it carefully, what the Nicene Creed confesses is that Jesus Christ is begotten from the Father before all time. That the begetting of Christ happens outside of time is important, because time is a part of creation. God made time and space when he spoke the world into existence. Meaning, that the Trinity cannot be bound by time. It is inappropriate to say God is ancient or young because he cannot be related to or bound by time.
Augustine helps us understand what this means in his Exposition of Psalm 2. He says:
Augustine, Exposition of the Psalms 2.6
In eternity there is nothing that is past, as though it had ceased to be, nor future, as though not yet in existence; there is present only, because whatever is eternal always is. By this phrase, “today have I begotten you,” the most true and catholic faith proclaims the eternal generation of the Power and Wisdom of God, who is the only-begotten Son.
Augustine and the Creed help us understand what is being taught in Psalm 2. For the Son to be begotten by the Father is not the same as an earthly father begetting a mortal son. The Son, the second person of the Trinity, is eternal, so his begetting must be eternal. There was never a time when he was not begotten and there never will be a time when he ceases to be begotten. Unlike a mortal son, the begetting of the Son does not describe his creation, it describes his eternal relation to the Father.
Now, this is deep water. This is a seminary level topic. But stay with me because it is a first-tier doctrine of the Christian faith. Meaning, if you do not get this, you are missing a cornerstone of the teachings of Christ and if you understand it and deny it, you have left the faith.
When Scripture says that Jesus Christ is the only-begotten Son of the Father, it means that we can identify him as a unique Person in the Trinity. He is the Son because he has a Father. Said differently, his eternal relationship to the Father is one of Sonship and he is the only Person in the Trinity that has a Father. Neither the Spirit nor the Father have a Father, so we can identify the Second Person of the Trinity because he has a Father.
Conversely, we know the Father because he has a Son. Unique to his person is the relationship to the Son of paternity. He is the only Person of the Trinity that has a Son. The Father is unbegotten, he proceeds from no one, and the Son is begotten and eternally proceeds from the Father. These are the relationships that make them unique in the Godhead and distinguishable from each other.
Now, I don’t want to leave out the Holy Spirit, but he is not the focus of this sermon text. Just as a side note, the Spirit also is unique as a Person because he has his own unique relation of origin. The Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and from the Son. He is the only Person in the Trinity that has two points of origin. Instead of referring to the Spirit as a begotten Son, Scripture says that he is breathed out or the fancy term is spirated, from both the Father and the Son. But that is just for free, it does not affect our interpretation of Psalm 2.
So let’s come back to the text. If the Father eternally begets the Son and there never was a time when the Son was not begotten then there never was a time that the Son did not exist. What does that say about this Son that is being set apart by the Father in Psalm 2? Is he just another descendant of David like Solomon or Rehoboam or is he something more?
The Scriptures clearly teaches that he is something more. As the Second Person of the Trinity, he is God himself. That is why it makes sense that the Father makes the Son the king of kings and sets him on the throne that belongs to YHWH alone. If he put a mortal man on his throne, it would be like elevating one of these rebellious kings that he mocks from his throne in heaven. To set his only-begotten Son on the throne is to put his equal on the throne.
This is one of the great reasons to study the Psalms. They are not merely songs. They give the Church the words to sing and pray back to God some of the most fundamental truths about reality. They reveal some of the most profound and hidden truths about the nature of the God we serve.
Blessed are all who submit to the true king.
Which brings us to our third and final point. When God establishes his king over the earth in verses 7-9, something profound is taking place. The authority of the Son is derived from the Father and intrinsic to his own being. This gives weight to the warning and power to promise in verses 10-12. The third thing we are going to see in this Psalm is that blessed are all who submit to the true king. Let’s reread verses 10-12:
Psalm 2:10-12
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 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.
Verses 10-12 put forward the essential question that every individual human being must answer for themselves: who is Jesus Christ?
To the kings of the earth, David warns them. He pleads with them to serve the Lord and joyfully submit to the Son. If they do not, they will perish quickly before the anger of the Son. Verse 9 says he will dash them to pieces with a rod of iron if they do not submit to him.
Now, one way to read this is to see this as overly aggressive and harsh for God to treat the kings of the earth this way. As we study the Psalms, we are going to come across many passages of Scripture that use language that give us pause. Is it harsh for God to send his Son to exact such a strict judgment on the kings of the earth? I do not think so.
In fact, I read verses 10-12 as an act of God’s merciful kindness. The nations initiated the rebellion in verses 1-3. They are the one’s antagonizing God. Instead of passing judgment on them immediately, he warns the nations of the danger of their precarious situation.
Imagine for a moment that you were on a hike. You and whoever was with you decided to get started early so that you could maximize your time at your destination and enjoy the view or the waterfall that was at the end of your trek. As you are walking along the path in the dark you stumble across a part of the trail that had been washed out in the night. Since no one warned you of your peril, members of your team fell headfirst into the hazard, twisting ankles and breaking bones. This would be a great tragedy that prevented you from accomplishing your goal and robbing you and your friends of all the enjoyment of the hike. What was supposed to be a relaxing day of recreation has turned into an adventure of another kind as you must rescue your companions and get off the mountain.
Now, imagine that just before you came to the washed-out part of the trail that you saw a park ranger coming down the mountain. He waved as he passed you but did not warn you of the impending danger on the trail. Imagine that after hearing of your plans to spend the day at the water fall that he didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news. He didn’t want to hurt your feelings by telling you that making it to the waterfall was impossible. So he let you keep going along the trail.
What would you think of such a park ranger? What was the greater kindness? Preserving the perception that you still had a beautiful day at the waterfall ahead of you or warning you of the very real danger that lurked on the path? Of course we would say that the park ranger that did not warn the hikers was cruel and unmerciful. He knew he could not prevent the hikers from continuing on the path, but he could have given them every opportunity to avoid their fate.
This is the mercy that God demonstrates to the rebellious kings. He shows them greater kindness than they can appreciate by warning them of the real peril ahead of them and by commanding them to submit and serve his Son. Their danger is so very real. They live every day getting one step closer to certain doom.
This is true of every single lost person in your life. Brothers and sisters, do me a favor and picture in your mind one person that you are certain does not follow Jesus. You know because you have had conversations with them or you have seen the way that they live their lives and it is not consistent with the Gospel. Now consider this, their doom is certain. If they continue down the path that they are traveling, they will most certainly perish. It is not an if, it is an absolute fact. They will be counted among the wicked and certainly condemned for their sin.
How many times have you past them on the path? How many times have you remained quiet about the danger that surely awaits them? I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty. There are so many people that I have passed by and failed to minister to in my life, and when I read passages of Scripture like this I have to think to myself: do I really believe what the Bible teaches? Do I truly believe that hell will be an eternal torment with no hope of reprieve? Would I want to consign my worst enemy to such a fate?
Sometimes I think that there is a lack of motivation in the Church to share the Gospel, not for fear of rejection, but for an ignorance or a lack of faith as to what Hell will actually be like. The more real hell is in our minds the more freely and consistently we will share the Gospel. Charles Spurgeon once said:
Charles Spurgeon
If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.
This needs to be the heartbeat of our church, because a church that is so sold out for sharing the Gospel and seeing sinners escape eternal punishment is a church that understands the point of this Psalm. Everything in this Psalm and really everything that is in Psalm 1 as well is meant to give contrast too and highlight the last line in verse 12:
Psalm 2:12b
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
If you thought, “man, Sam, you were laying it on thick with all that Hell stuff,” well consider now how sweet this truth is: blessed are all who take refuge in the Son. The Son not only has the authority and power to execute God’s righteous wrath against the rebellious nations, he also has the authority and power to shelter anyone from it.
How sweet is that truth in comparison to the bitterness of hell? We were all rebellious. We were all following the prince of the power of the air and the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience. Not one of us sought God or wanted God, and yet, Christ is a refuge for any that will avail themselves of the opportunity. The blessings that are lavished on the Son are available to all that will follow him.
Conclusion
As we conclude our sermon, we have seen that Psalm 2 teaches us that blessing comes to all who take refuge in the Son. My favorite line in the Psalm comes from the beginning of verse 12: kiss the Son.
In our Scriptural Assurance of Pardon today, we read Philippians 2. That passage ends and it says that every knee will bow, in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Psalm 2 agrees that this is inevitable. But there are two ways to bow. You can either bow willingly and gladly, you can kiss the Son in delight and gladly seek refuge in his protection, or you will be conquered like the nations. You will be made to bow by the sovereign might of God’s anointed king.
The choice belongs to each individual person. You can either kiss the Son or be made to bow beneath his rod of iron. Our church pleads with all of our guests, please listen to the warning of Psalm 2 and seek refuge in the Son.
Let’s pray.