Pastor Ed's Series of Psalms

Psalm 1 | Psalm 2 | Psalm 3 | Psalm 4 | Psalm 5 | Psalm 6 | Psalm 7 | Psalm 8
Psalm 9-10 | Psalm 11 | Psalm 12 | Psalm 13 | Psalm 14 | Psalm 15
Psalm 16 | Psalm 17 | Psalm 18 | Psalm 19 | Psalm 22 | Psalm 23
Psalm 27 | Psalms 28-30 | Psalms 31-32 | Psalm 33 | Psalm 34
Psalm 35 | Psalm 36-37 | Psalm 38 | Psalm 39 | Psalm 40 |
Psalm 41 | Psalm 42-43

Psalm 2
11/8/09

I.Last week, we learned that the original purpose of the Psalms were public worship of Jehovah god in the original temple in Jerusalem built by Solomon. Since the temple no longer exists, uses of the Psalms have changed to personal private prayer, in which God is speaking to us in our circumstances. But we also saw that many worship hymns and songs performed in public worship today also come from the Psalms. In our study of the first Psalm, the introductory Psalm, we learned that there are two choices we can make concerning Gods' word – we can either accept it, meditate on it regularly, and the promises we enjoy are that we will be compared with a tree watered and nurtured by a master gardener to yield much fruit. To prosper. The contrasting way to live is of course to reject God's laws, to choose to walk with the wicked, the sinners, the mockers to end up like chaff that the wind blows away. We will see this contrast example throughout the book of Psalms, so this chapter serves as a basic introduction.

II.Psalm 2 builds on the theme introduced by Psalm 1 - the the main ideas are very similar – the antagonism between the righteous and the wicked. Psalm 1 talks about the choices individuals make, and Psalm 2 talks about nations, or groups of people.

Psalm two also has references to Jesus, the Lord's anointed one. It has been called a Messianic Psalm, and it has elements of Prophecy in it, which are very exciting. It was prophetic for the time of Jesus and it also applies directly to the world in which we live today – we'll look at both those prophesies tonight as we proceed through the Psalm.

Let's read verses 1-2:

Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.

Another translation for verse one is: “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine such a vain thing.”

After telling us in the first Psalm to choice to meditate on God's law day and night, David, is acknowledging that many choose the other way. Not just people rejecting the word of God, but also the rulers and kings in charge of the people. The amazing thing about this passage is that we can see applications in three time periods – the present time of David, the time of Jesus, and it applies to our present day as well. David is using the terminology of the kings of his day, because the “anointed” or selected one was the king of Israel. In 1 Samuel 24: 6, when David had a chance to kill Saul, the first king, but did not, said:

The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, or lift up my hand against him, for he is the anointed of the Lord.

So, the terminology refers to the ancient earthly kings, but see how this passage of scriptures reappears, in Acts 3 and 4, which is the first application to prophesy.

III Prophesy:

This is the story of Peter and John in the temple courts after the Holy Spirit appeared at Pentecost. They healed the crippled man in the temple court, and afterwards they spoke to the onlookers who were astonished and came running over to hear them – Peter addressed them and spoke about Jesus beginning in verse 13:

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our Fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses to this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is in Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you all can see.

Peter and John were thrown into prison that night and faced questioning by the religious leaders the next morning. They asked, by what power or name did you do this? And they took the opportunity to speak boldly again about the power of Jesus name and they added that Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. The leaders could not deny the physical healing but didn't want them to speak anymore about it. But Peter and John said:

Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God – for we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard

They were released and as they were praying together acknowledged that the Lord spoke to David about the crucifixion of Jesus as they repeated the words of Psalm 2 vs 1-2. To them, the “people – the kings and rulers – were those involved in crucifying Jesus – Herod and Pontius Pilate. So clearly the reference to the “Anointed One” in verse two refers to Jesus, which is the larger meaning of the passage and we'll see later in the Psalm a direct reference to Jesus.

Continuing on with vs 3:

Let us break their chains they say, and throw off their fetters.

God's rule is considered by the rebellious to be restraints – they want to throw them off. Proverbs 29:18 refers to this condition of the wicked and says that “where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Verses 4 -6 talk about a different side of God than what we're accustomed to reading about.

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath saying I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill

Psalm 37:13 says but the Lord laughs at the wicked for he knows their day is coming

We may not find this quality of God appealing – a laughing scoffing God – but the point is reinforced that God is so much higher in authority than we human beings that he doesn't have to worry about anything we're up to. Man's rebellious efforts don't amount to much in his sight. But he makes clear that he will not let these efforts go unpunished because of his wrath and anger.

The reference to Jesus being installed on the Holy hill in Zion in verse 6 is mentioned again in Revelation 11:2-6.
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who is seated on the throne said, I am making everything new.

Now in verse 7, the speaker switches over to Jesus the anointed one:

I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me. You are my son today I have become my father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter, you will dash them to pieces like pottery.

This is an amazing verse. I t says that at a point in time, God gave all authority to Jesus to rule his kingdom. There is disagreement among scholars about the word TODAY, when did this occur?
Some say that it was when Jesus was baptized, others say that it was when he began his redemptive work, when he was resurrected.

God made this promise to David through the prophet Nathan in 2nd Samuel 7:14:

The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you – when your days are over and you rest with your fathers. I will raise up your offspring to succeed you who will come from your own body and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he will be my son.

Ruling with an iron scepter, dashing them to pieces like pottery gives us another image of a stern God, if we do not accept His word and obey Him. Paul gives us further insight into this in Romans 11: 22:

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, or believe, they will be grafted in, for god is able to graft them in again

Continuing on with verses 10-12:

Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him

David is warning us that we don't want to go against God. Our efforts at rebellion will be futile. Pay homage to Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We don't want to kindle his wrath.

Later in the books of Acts, after Peter and the other Apostles were told not to speak anymore about Jesus, and of course they did anyway, the people were ready to put them to death. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a respected teacher of the Law, told the other leaders: Let them go, leave them alone! For if there purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men, you will only find yourselves fighting against God. His speech persuaded them and they let them go.

By way of application, we not only see the rulers in Jesus day rejecting him – actually putting him to death – but look at all the movements today that oppose these commands of God. We see people who are in a rage against God – organized into different groups.

You can start with Secularism - defined by George Holyoake – A British writer who coined the term:
as “A code of duty pertaining to this life founded on considerations purely human, and intended mainly for those who find theology indefinite, or inadequate, unreliable , or unbelievable. It speaks of science as the Providence of man, and looks to only this present life. The poem Invictus, written by William Ernest Henley says in part, “I am the master of my fate, and the captain of my soul.”

Here is the definition of a humanist:

Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality.

If you google secularism, its depressing, because of the all the related groups that oppose the ideas from Psalm 2:

Agnosticism – which denies belief in God and says that intellect is everything
Atheism – we all know what that is
Deism – believe that a God created the Universe, but that He is not involved with the Creation
Freethought – any opinion should be gained through reason, science and logic only
Naturalism – “nature is all there is, and all basic truths are truths of nature
Relativism – I define my own morals, etc
Inclusivism – everyone is saved

We have the Arab League, which are Muslim nations which oppose Israel

I read a quote from a 32-yr old Christian living in Europe who said,

The region is marked by a spiritual deadness that you can't believe. To me...its the hardest mission field on the planet right now – the battle lines are drawn in Western Europe.

These organizations are organized – they gather together to take a stand against the Lord and His Anointed One. It's disturbing to witness all of these organizations. It's overwhelming for us to think about. But witnessing all of these organizations who oppose the idea that we need a Savior should give us more resolve to share the truth and be light to them Especially since the words of this Psalm issue a stern warning that the result of all this opposition to Lord is like chaff that the wind blows away. The least we can do is to pray for them.

But even more disturbing than these organizations are when the “church”lets elements of the world into them. The most recent example is the branch of the Lutheran Church who voted to allow gay ministers. Their explanation is that Paul could not possibly have know all there is to know about the gay condition and therefore his letters need to be updated – to be brought into present day. When there is no revelation from the Lord, there is no restraint.

Next week we'll look at a series of lament psalms by David as he cries out to the Lord to deliver him.