Psalm 2

1 Why do the nations rage [noisily assemble] 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,

The opposition to God comes in two levels. The first verse describes the actions of the groups of people on the earth. The various ethnic groups riot and groups of people get together to meditate on how to overthrow God. It’s a vain thing that they do, but they do it nonetheless. The second verse describes the institutional opposition to God in the form of the kings and rulers -- those who were selected (by birth or by their will to power) to lead the people. And by “lead” of course, more often than not, in reality it was oppression. The leaders who oppress the people are working to relieve their citizens of God’s oppression. There’s irony for you. They set themselves, they steel themselves to move forward in dethroning God. They conspire together, sharing their ideas and plans to remove all the restraints of deity as they are expressed through law and enforced by the king. We’ve always lived in such times, but it seems that the push to topple God has only become stronger with the advent of tools of mass communication. In what sense are you part of that effort? Have your views on God’s authority and truth shifted in your fifty-five years of life? Are there things you accept and do today that you wouldn’t have done 20 years ago? Are you part of the grumbling mob in any way? It’s easy to get caught up in the cultural wave that veers off the path of God stated in the first psalm and into the jungle. 

3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

Their mission is simply to “burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us”. The plural here refers to YHWH and his Anointed (Messiah), the earthly king through whom YHWH exercises his authority. The specific objects of their rebellion are the shackles around their wrists, limiting what their hands can do, and the cords that bind those shackles to one another and to an immovable object. No one wants limitations. It seems to be human nature to yearn for freedom and independence. We strive for it from the time we take our first steps, so you can't blame us. How do you view the law of God? Are the limitations it imposes like shackles and cords, constraining your actions for the sake of a tyrant God? You have pulled against those shackles on many occasions and cursed their presence. You have acted as if they didn’t exist, as if the rules didn’t apply to you, as if there would be no consequence to the constant pulling against them, leaving your skin raw and bleeding. You’ve most certainly joined in humanity’s rebellion against YHWH and his messiah (let’s go ahead and call him by his name, Jesus, since that’s ultimately the person to whom the text is pointing). You’ve found yourself in a crowd, but separated from your creator. Whom will you choose?

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.

The Lord looks down on his rebellious creation and laughs. He sits enthroned above it all and holds us the powerful in derision. He scoffs at them, who in their great and unmatched wisdom believe that they can overturn the laws of God. Our culture has already done this on numerous occasions. The Genesis account of humanity: male and female, created in the image of God, designed to be fruitful and fill the earth, causing it to flourish -- all of these are under attack in our culture today. Just like that, what was once unthinkable is now unquestionable. But it is utter futility. If we throw ourselves against the laws of nature and nature’s God we will only bruise ourselves. If we pull against the chains of morality we will find our own wrists ankles will be bloodied. God is mocking not out of contempt because it’s clear that God also deeply loves humanity. It is an action that says, “Silly child, what in your infantile mind are you doing?” “Isn’t that cute?” “Look at the little humans pretending to be me” “They have no idea what they are doing.” It was this vision that inspired the early church to fearlessly proclaim the gospel. They knew that resistance to the will and purpose of God was futile. Victory was assured. Heaven’s laughter was demonstration of that. 

5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,

God laughs and then he speaks to those who would resist his authority. This is experienced as wrath, God’s anger, and the effect is to terrify them completely. His message is this, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.” This is how God answers human rebellion, “I have a king on Zion, my holy hill.” Zion, the most holy spot on the planet, the place where God chooses to settle and operate through his king, ground zero in God’s redemptive plan. A thousand years later another king will enter Zion and ascend the hill, a triumphal entry with proclamations of his divine sonship. Then six days later that king will ascend another hill, Calvary (Moriah?), and demonstrate his perfect obedience to the Father. He was the embodiment of the will of the Father. So how does God ultimately express his authority? By laying down his life for humanity, and taking upon himself his own wrath, the just punishment for the sins of the human race. It was the will of God that the messiah suffer. “I have installed my king on Zion” -- the cross is not the inauguration you expected, nor the one that we deserved. The cross is the surprising answer to the rebellion of verses 1-3. God’s terrible wrath and fury poured out not on humanity, but on his son. Surprise. 

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 [rule] them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

The newly installed king declares that God told him, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. If you ask, I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like pottery.” YHWH will exercise his authority and reign through his son, the king. This is clearly hyperbolic as it relates to Solomon and the kings of Judah, but it is predictive of the reign of Jesus the Messiah. In the first century, the messianic hope was pinned on this type of messiah, miraculously expelling the Romans and turning the tables on the enemies of the Jewish state. No king of Judah had ever fulfilled this promise -- inheriting the nations and possessing the ends of the earth -- but the lion of Judah, a king born in David’s hometown fulfilled it in a way that on one ever would have imagined. Followers of Jesus (a.k.a. The church) have taken the king and his kingdom to the ends of the earth. The relentless missionary activity of the church has spread the gospel far and wide, translating the scriptures into native tongues and bringing the blessings of the kingdom to unreached peoples. Are you on board with this or is it just a side interest? It seems to be central to the function of the king, spreading his benevolent rule to the hearts of every human being. That’s what today was made for.

10  Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.

11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

God has served notice to the kings of the earth. They have been warned and if they want to prosper, they need to be wise and heed the warning. There are three commands: serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling, and kiss the Son. Serving with fear means to respect and reverence as you obey his commands. Leaders serve at the bidding of the King. Jesus is sovereign and ultimately his will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Some leaders follow Jesus willingly, others resist but in the end (and this may be after they die) they find that they were still serving His purposes. How much better to serve the king from a willing heart. The parallel command to “serve” is “rejoice”. This suggests celebration that is accompanied by trembling, an awesome awareness of who God is and our humble relationship to him. Celebrate with humility and respect. This seems to apply to our corporate worship and our personal lives in relation to the king. Our worship needs to be framed in reverence - the songs that we sing, the actions that we perform -- they’re not to be done haphazardly or without awareness of the awesomeness of our God. Is our corporate celebration marked by fear and trembling? I can’t judge human hearts, but I can judge my own, and I have to admit that my corporate worship has been so tainted by the focus on musical excellence, that it’s difficult to focus on the God about whom I am singing. Living in a kingdom of grace, it’s easy to take advantage of that grace and live sloppily. That probably describes a lot of American Christianity -- very sloppy. Worship begins with setting Jesus in his rightful place -- on the throne of the universe and on the throne on my heart. 

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.

“Kiss the son” refers to the act of showing reference through the form of a kiss toward the king, presumably while kneeling. Failure to acknowledge the king with respect will result in your own demise. Just like the wicked in Psalm 1:6, you will perish in the way, while living your way. The king’s wrath is quickly kindled. Wrath is when we experience the consequences of our disobedient behavior. It’s not as if God is just on the verge of getting ticked off all the time and we do something that sets him off and then we get what’s coming to us. The context of scripture doesn’t suggest that God is one to fly off the handle. Instead the consistent message is that God is slow to anger (Psalm 103 et. al). Our experience of disobeying God tells us that there will be consequences, and sometimes those are quite swift. This is not because of God’s impatience with us, but rather the nature of the world that we live in. Actions have consequences, and no amount of rationalization will change that. Moral laws are cooked into the cake. The final line stands in contrast to what precedes and connects this psalm to the previous one. All who take refuge in the Son are blessed. This will also connect the very next psalm -- one in which the psalmist takes refuge in God.