Psalm 2

Broken or Blessed

Although there seems to be no author attributed to Psalm 2, we know from Acts 4:23-26 that it was written by David. Peter and John have just been let go by the Sanhedrin and they return to the congregation in Jerusalem. “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.” Psalm 2 is a psalm that proclaims the power of God and speaks of the Messiah. The Psalm shows us that, no matter the force, nothing is going to thwart God’s will. I have to admit, sometimes I wonder about that – especially with everything that is going on right now. It seems that everything around us is saying otherwise. Evil is abundant and everything seems broken – yet I can rest in the fact that God was, God is, and God will be the King of kings, Lord of lords and Almighty, Eternal God. Nothing that has happened or will happen is going to undermine His purpose. In the brokenness that is this world, I can still rest knowing that His blessings are abundant and His grace is active.

Vs. 1-3 Why do the nations rebel and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and His Anointed One: “Let us tear off their chains and free ourselves from their restraints.”

Here’s the truth in case we thought otherwise: the nations will rebel and people are going to plot against the truth. There will always be people who will rail against God, or they will deny His very existence. This should come as no surprise to us. We have seen it throughout history, we see it now and we will see it in the future – until Christ comes again. Here’s a fact: Satan will always come against God and he will not cease until his time is done. We can look at history and see the many rulers who have stood against God, and it continues today. They believe that God is the one who restrains them – they believe Satan’s lies and see God as a bondage-bringer instead of the truth that He is a bondage-breaker. He breaks every chain that brings us down and keeps us from having the abundant life He promises. John 10:9-10 reminds: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Again in Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus reminds us that God does not seek to lay undo burdens on us: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Those who seek to tear off the “chains” they believe God has put on them have been blinded by Satan who feeds them the lie.

Vs. 4-6 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them. Then He speaks to them in His anger and terrifies them in His wrath: “I have consecrated My King on Zion, My holy mountain.”

God’s response to those who try to undo his plan is laughter. That’s right, God laughs at the futility of those who want to frustrate His plan. He is enthroned in heaven. The Hebrew word for enthroned is yashab and it means to sit, to remain, and to dwell. Heaven is not just a temporary place – it is where God dwells and sits on His throne. He is the King of kings and they will not be able to undermine His ultimate authority. Man’s plots against God does not confound Him or confuse Him. He doesn’t run around wringing His hands wondering what He’s going to do about it. God sits upon His throne in perfect peace. His laughter can give those of us who seek after righteousness great comfort. We know we follow and serve a God who is unafraid of the evil that comes against Him. His perfect peace assures us that His will is going to be accomplished.

Over the centuries there have been many kings and rulers who have come up against God. If history has taught us anything it shows us this: God is in control and evil will not win the day in the end. Evil will be thwarted. We see this throughout the Bible and in our recent history – Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Hamen in Esther, the Roman Empire, Hitler, and Stalin, just to name a few. Their reign has come to an end one by one. We can take comfort in what has gone before us as it shows us that God will win. In fact, He will not only win, we find that God has established and consecrated His King on Zion. He is the Messiah – Jesus Christ and His reign will have no end.

Vs. 7-9 I will declare the Lord’s decree: He said to Me, “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father. Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; You will shatter them like pottery.”

And now the Messiah – God’s Anointed One – speaks. The Messiah will declare the Lord’s decree, The Hebrew word for decree is choq and it is a word meaning an allotment or something that is owed. God has allotted Jesus the following: You are My Son and I am Your Father. If you just ask of Me, I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession. God is the Creator of all things. When man decided to disobey and sin, he turned away from God and allowed Satan on the throne of his life. But Satan, in all his power, cannot hold on to the throne. God has established Jesus as King and in that, Jesus’ inheritance is the nations of the earth. In fact, in John 5:19-23, Jesus reminds us: “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works than these so that you will be amazed. And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to anyone He wants to. The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” Revelation 11:15 shows us the fulfillment of this Psalm – The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He will reign forever and ever! For those who follow Christ – he sits on the throne and our brokenness has turned into blessings.

Vs. 10-12 So now, kings, be wise; receive instruction, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling. Pay homage to the Son or He will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion, for His anger may ignite at any moment. All those who take refuge in Him are happy.

So now we have a choice. Do we want to be broken or blessed? Do we defy God or do we submit to Him? David admonishes us to be wise and to receive instruction. He encourages us to serve the Lord with reverential awe and to rejoice with trembling. Let’s explore the idea of rejoicing with trembling for a second. At first glance, It sounds like a contradiction. How can you rejoice if you are also fearful? The phrase before gives us a sense of what David is talking about. We are to serve the Lord in reverential awe – we are to have a holy fear of God. This holy fear is born, not out of threats or danger, but out of reverence. We understand that God is grace but He is also holy. One of my favorite authors is C. S. Lewis. Among the many amazing books he wrote are the very popular and wonderful books about Narnia. In the first book we travel through a wardrobe to the land of Narnia where evil has taken hold. Everyone lives in fear and the white witch is in power. Along the way we are introduced to Aslan, the Lion. When Susan asks about Aslan in the book The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, here is what Mr. Beaver says: “Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…”Safe?” said Mr Beaver …”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” We find that the witch held the power for a time, but her power was no match for Aslan who ended her reign, broke the curse of death and brokenness and brought about blessings to all who would follow.

Our God is good. He is full of mercy, grace and love, but He is also absolutely holy and cannot abide sin. We need to remember this as we serve and follow Him. We rejoice in His goodness and His grace, but tremble at His power, might and holiness. We often focus on God’s grace – as we should – but we tend to leave out His holiness. We like to think of God as that nice guy who loves us, but we don’t want to think of God as holy, Who cannot abide our sin. He is, after all, the Lion of Judah. The warning is clear – pay homage to the Son – he is angered by our rebellion and we will perish. He is full of grace, but He is also holy. And now, finally the promise – if we take refuge in Him we will rejoice and be blessed. Do we want to be broken or blessed? It is our choice to make. We can follow Him and find blessing after blessing or we can rebel and follow the world and find only brokenness. In the words of David – be wise.