1 Psalm 2 The Exalted King Jesus Today, we come to the beginning of the Book of Psalms. Psalms 1 and 2, though different, really go together. Not only are there many similarities in language and style and content, there is no superscript for either Psalm. The superscript is the title you see before each of your Psalms. For example: Psalm 3: A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. Psalm 4: To the choirmaster with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Etc. I believe these two Psalms really go together. And, they serve as an introduction to the entire book of Psalms. This is very important! Here is the message: YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF THESE TWO PSALMS IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT FOLLOWS! In other words, we read the Psalms in the wrong way if we misunderstand the meaning of Psalm 1 and 2. Let me read both of these Psalms together. Today, as we take the Lord s supper together, I would like to focus on Psalm 2. This Psalm, probably written by David, was read in Israel whenever a new king came into power. Though sinful nations rebel against God s king, nevertheless, his rule was ordained by God with his full authority to rule. Look at vv. 6-9: As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill. Then in v. 7 I will tell of the decree: (In other words, this is my will. This is my covenant with King David and those who follow. ) The LORD said to me, You are my Son; today I have begotten you. (Often, the King was called a son of God.) Then in v. 8 we see God s relationship to this king and what He will do for him. He says, 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. Now, let me ask, If you think about the throne of David and all the kings that followed David, Does anyone see a problem with this prophecy? If you only think in the context of ancient Israel, you should. In 722 the Solomon s Temple was destroyed. Israel was defeated by the Babylonians and then carried off into exile. Even though the temple was rebuilt and again destroyed, to this day, there has been no king to sit on the throne of David. Or has there? You see, though this Pslam did speak of earthly kings, its ultimate fulfillment is in the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the exalted King Jesus, the same one who said, This is my body, broken for you, the ONE we remember. The message of Psalm 2 (and Psalm 1) is clear. Jesus is Lord! He is the exalted King of Heaven! And to understand this is to unlock the meaning of life! Jesus is Lord! Let s quickly go through this Psalm as we remember our King this morning. I would like to break it down into 4 parts, like 4 acts in a play. And each act has different speakers. 1. Act 1: The Nations Rebel. Look at vv. 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. This act takes place in a foreign court. The kings of the earth and the peoples of this earth are the ones speaking in this act. In their hearts, they are in an fit of rage. They are plotting how to rebel against Israel s king. They are gathering together against God and his anointed. In their hearts they feel they are shackled by God s rule, tied up like a prisoner to the law of God. And together, as with one voice they work to cast off the rule of God through his anointed king.
2 I haven t seen Duck Dynasty in a long time. But, I remember one episode where one of the brothers gets handcuffed to his Uncle Siah. Though the other brother and their friends think it is hilarious, the one handcuffed to Siah DOES NOT. They have to spend all day together before they finally get free. In this Psalm these people are handcuffed to the Holy Law of God. His commands are burdensome. They restrain. They limit freedom. Though they are good for them, they don t realize it, but instead feel trapped by God s rules and regulations, all his authority. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Wives, respect your husbands. Submit one to another. Children, obey your parents. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. Read the Word of God. Gather with God s people. Do family worship. Love your enemies. Trust Christ. These are the commands of God the world hates and wants to break free. It is the Tower of Babel all over again, the rulers of this world exalting themselves and casting away the rule and authority of God. This is the world we live in. Rom. 1:19-32: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Let s move on to act 2. 2. Act 2: God Installs His King on Mount Zion. Look at vv. 4-6: 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. In this act God is the One speaking. He is sitting on his throne in heaven laughing to think that they could ever win in their rebellion and their own ability to cast off their chains. In the movie Forest Gump I remember a scene where one of the main characters who lost both his legs in
3 the Vietnam war, climbs to the top of the mast of his boat during a violent thunderstorm, cursing God for his life, and with all his heart battling against Him, as if he could win. This is the way the world thinks. They think they can fight and war and try in their own efforts to cast off their nature of sin, the clothing given to them by natural birth from their sinful father, Adam. This is the world! And God looks down in his wrath and anger. And he says, As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill. In that context, it was David. It was Solomon. It was the Kings of Israel. But, the problem only seeing this Pslam for Israel is this: It is a holy hill! Zion was the special place God met with his people, the eventual place of the Temple. But, in that time, it was filled with evil kings. There were no good kings in the northern kingdom. And the majority of those in the South were evil. And though David and Solomon were considered good kings because their hearts loved God, still they (in and of themselves) were not good. Paul says, There is none good, no not one (Rom. 3). They were sinners, born after their earthly father, Adam. You see, God s holy hill is reserved for only ONE king. For there is only one King who is holy. Jesus is his name. Listen to the words of Psalm 24: He earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, 2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah 7 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! 9 Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! Today, Jesus is the King of Glory. He is the One of Psalm 1 who does not sit in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, not sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night... Let s move on to act 3. 3. Act 3: The King Tells of God s Decree Giving Him Power to Rule. Look at vv. 7-9: 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. In this act the speaker is God s king. In that day, in that context it would have been Israel s king, proclaiming to Israel and to the world his right to rule because of God s decree. The king was considered to be God s special son, the one on whom God have given authority to rule Israel and the nations. In this part of the king s coronation ceremony he was reminding everyone of God s covenant with David and his offspring. Let me try and give an example. Kids, have you ever walked into a room and you find your brother or sister playing with your toy? And though you should share, you still know its your toy and you want to play with it. But, they won t give it to you. Well, you may leave them for a
4 minute and go to Daddy and tell him what is happening. And he tells you to share. But, since its your toy, go ahead and tell brother, Daddy said, give me the toy. Why do you think brother will give it to you then? Well, number one, its yours in the first place. Number 2, Daddy said for him to give it to you. Well, in Ps. 2:7, this is kind of what Israel s king does. He reminds everyone that God was in charge, that God gave him the throne, and that God would bless his authority. You see God made a covenant, a heavenly agreement with King David. In 2 Sam. 7 God promised to bless his throne and to establish his kingdom FOREVER. So what is the problem if this prophecy simply includes David, or Solomon, or Hezekiah, or Uzziah, or Josiah, or any king that sits on the throne of David? It is this word forever. God s covenant with David is FOREVER. But, as we have already seen, there is no physical king sitting on the throne of David. And there hasn t been one for more than two and a half centuries. Now move forward to Luke cp. 1. God sent the angel Gabriel to tell Mary of a child who will be born to her. In v. 30 the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Today, tomorrow and forever, Jesus is the exalted King of David. And look at v. 8: Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. Today, Jesus does not simply rule over Israel. He rules the world; the nations belong to him. In that context the king had the right as God s special son, God s special heir to ask for his inheritance. And this inheritance was the nations. And in that day, this came through physically conquering those nations and ruling them. Today, Jesus rule is spiritual. And it includes ALL nations. And he has been given this right to rule because of his death and resurrection. Rev. 5: 9-10 says, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. Phil. 2:8-11: And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Today, as we remember Jesus words, This cup is the new covenant in my blood we remember Jesus right to rule the nations, of which we are part. Today, WE (Christians) are his inheritance. And Jesus laid down his life for his inheritance. John 10:27-28: Jesus said, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. And John 6:37-38: 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
5 Today we worship in North America in China Grove as Jesus inheritance. I am here today because God gave me to Jesus. I AM HIS INHERITANCE! And so is Kristen from Australia. And Aaron from California. And Radik and Rustem from Tatarstan. And those persecuted believers from the nations in Turkey. Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). This is my body broken for you. 4. Act 4: The Rulers of the World Are Warned to Submit to God s King. Very quickly let s look read vv. 10-12: 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. In this act the speaker is the Psalmist (probably David). And he says to the nations, Be wise. Serve this king in humility with fear and trembling. Kiss the Son. Trust in him. Believe in him. Find your safety under his authority. I always tell my kids, An obedient child is a happy child. Today, it is the same. Trust in Jesus. Believe in him. Follow his authority. Do what he says for you to do. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Jesus is Lord! Jesus came to unshackle your heart from the chains of the law. He who delights in the law gives grace to those who follow him. (share my own story, consider Ps. 119 and Ps. 1:2-3).