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Well, today I'm going to be preaching from Psalm chapter two, Psalm chapter two. Please turn to your Bibles there. The book of Psalms is an amazing book. It gives us categories of how to think about the world in all kinds of different scenarios.
Psalm 139, many people turn to for childbirth. People who are looking for comfort, Christians often turn to Psalm 23, right? The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And there's almost a Psalm for every occasion, and each Psalm is such a great way as a guide to express to the Lord what we're experiencing in this life.
And Psalm chapter two is one of my favorite Psalms because it helps me and helps us to think about what's going on in the world today. When you turn on the news or you turn on the radio or you go on your social media, there are thousands of things going on, and sometimes it can be challenging to process these things.
But this Psalm, Psalm chapter two, gives us the categories and the ability to think in a way about world events that honors God. So I'm going to briefly go through this Psalm with four voices, almost like a conversation.
We're going to hear from four different voices, and each of these voices is going to drive us to think rightly about world history and what's happening in our lives. First, in verses one through three, we're going to hear the voice of the nations.
The voice of the nations. Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us.
Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? Can you think of a better rhetorical question to describe today's events? I mean, there are riots and looting and marches and police brutality and vice versa.
There's things going on all over the world. I was thinking of Australia, just seeing some videos of different altercations in America. All over the world, we see there's this chaos, this uproar. The nations are in a rage, the ESV says.
That's exactly what's going on in our world today. It's been the course of world history, but we see that, especially today, that the nations are in an uproar and the peoples are devising a vain thing.
That devising a vain thing, or plotting a vain thing, is the same word in Psalm 1 used for meditating on God's word. It's this idea of muttering, that there's this constant muttering under your breath, maybe not even real words, but just this angst, this unrest.
We see this everywhere today. It's not just the peoples and the nations and the common folk, but it's what, verse 2 says, it's the kings of the earth and the rulers. And yes, they're murmuring, and yes, there's conflict between different parties, but really, they're all united in at least one thing.
They're all united in one thing, and it's that they take their stand and take counsel together against God. They take their stand and they take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, the Lord Jesus.
That there might be different viewpoints, there might be arguments, there might be debates, there might be clashes, but really, all of the earth is united against the Lord and against His anointed, and they actually say something.
They actually cry out with one voice, as it were, and say something in verse 3, let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us. It's not just general angst or anger against God, it's specifically rebellion against God's law.
These fetters or cords, or I believe the ESV says bonds, it's the idea of a yoke, it's like there's this restriction on top of me, and I've got to get out from underneath it. I don't want God's rule over my life, I don't want God to tell me what to do, I got to get away from that, to the point that I'm going to take my stand against God.
This is what we see today, the world doesn't want to hear from God's word about homosexuality. They don't want to hear that there's only one sanctioned sexual activity in the world, and that's between one man and one woman in the covenant of marriage.
They don't want to hear that there's different roles for men and women, that there's this general rebellion against God. But I think it's easy when you read this passage to go, yeah, America, all those people out there, they hate God.
But this passage is not just describing the rulers and the kings, or the nations and peoples in general, it's describing all people. This includes us outside of Christ, that all of us have this general antipathy towards God's law.
Paul says in Titus, we hate God, and we hate one another. We want to get out from underneath God's law. And I won't have you turn there, but Brian, Mr. Bartlett read in Acts chapter 4, that the ultimate expression of this, the ultimate expression of our rage and rebellion against God is what?
It took place at the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. That we so are opposed to God and to his rule over our lives, that when Jesus Christ came down to this earth, our response was to crucify him. And he was not some kind of austere, demanding Lord, right?
Yes, he is the Lord, he is the master. But he was gracious. One Puritan said that he is love covered in flesh. He came down, he re-humanized the dehumanized, as one author said. He greeted the worst of the worst, the dregs of society.
He was the most understanding person that's ever walked the face of this earth. No one who came to him was ever cast out. He was open to eat and drink with sinners. The most attractive person for us to think about, and yet he was crucified.
And that same seed of rebellion that crucified Jesus is present in each one of us outside of Christ. That same anger and angst against God and against his rules that crucified Jesus is present within us.
We're born in sin. We're born depraved and we're born taking our stand against God. And if we would have been there, we would have cried out with the crowds, crucify, crucify. Now we hear from the voice of God, verses four to six.
There's a cry of all humanity, of rebellion, of shaking their fist against God, and now we hear from the voice of God. How does God respond to this? First, we see in verse four, it says that he who sits in the heavens laughs.
I love this picture because he doesn't even get up off of his throne. He's seated. There's this idea that this is anthropomorphic language about God, the father. But I, you know, this week I've had a lot of experience with sitting down and getting a phone call from doctors or nurses.
And what do I do? I stand up and I start to walk around and pace and talk on the phone. It's this physical expression of our anxiety, our worry about a situation. But what is the Lord doing? Sitting in heaven, sitting on his throne, not concerned, not wringing his hands, reigning as he always has from the beginning of the universe.
And he doesn't just sit in his throne, but what does it say that he does in verse four? He laughs. And this is not, the Lord is not laughing because this is a joke. The Lord is not laughing because this is funny.
The idea here is that there are all these people, all the people of the world united against God, and they're going to make their best, they're going to make their best effort to overthrow him and his rule.
And even that greatest effort of mankind is so small, is so puny, is so futile that the Lord has to laugh at it. It's like when, you know, sometimes I in, maybe I've done this to some families here, but I decide to self-appoint myself as the person who's going to burst a little boy's bubble, where everybody else in their life, you can tell, has played into the fact that they are the strongest, most ferocious fighter known to mankind, and you get punched and they fall over.
Sometimes I just decide I'm going to be the one to just sort of laugh at them and say, oh, your sister really punches harder than you do, and just bring a dose of reality into the situation. Maybe it's not the kindest thing to do, but it's the same idea.
It's like I'm laughing at that, like this is so futile, like you think this is going to hurt? It's like the Lord is laughing saying, this is a vain thing. The peoples are plotting something that's in vain.
This is not going to do anything. And he not only laughs, but he says that he scoffs at them. They are the object of his joke, his derision. He's looking down at them. And finally he speaks, verse 5, then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury.
It teaches us something about his tone. Yes, he's laughing, but again, this is not a joke. This is no laughing matter. He speaks in his anger, in his wrath, in his just judgment, and he's going to say something to these kings, these people who want to overthrow his authority.
Verse 6, what does he say? But as for me, I have installed by king upon Zion, my holy mountain. There are many small K kings in the world and many rulers, but there's only one king and it's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the king and he was installed by God, the father. He wasn't anointed by Samuel like David. He was installed by God himself and he was installed in historical time and place upon Zion in Jerusalem.
And although we see the anger and fury and wrath of God here, although we see the just judgment and the rebuke of God, we can't help but see that the Lord Jesus, verse 6, was installed upon Zion. And when did that happen?
What was the instrument upon which Jesus was installed? It was redemption. It was the cross and his resurrection that although, yes, this is a rebuke, yes, this is something to be afraid of and to be terrified by the Lord's fury.
Verse 5, the way that this king has been installed is upon that very cross. Acts 4, if you read the rest of that verse that says that Herod and the rulers of the Jews were the ones that crucified Jesus, it continues on, it says, according to the predetermined plan of God, that even the greatest act of rebellion that man could commit against God was the instrument of the redemption of all of mankind.
The greatest sin that man could commit is actually the way that Jesus was enthroned as king of kings. How amazing is that, that the worst thing that man could do is just set the Lord Jesus upon his throne?
And for me personally, this has been a great encouragement because if that's true with the worst thing seemingly that could happen in the world, how could that not be true of everything else in our lives?
All the other struggles and trials and tribulations from the small things to the greatest things, the Lord took the worst thing, humanly speaking, that ever happened and made it into the salvation of the ends of the earth.
And although in these moments we have a light, momentary affliction, it is producing a weight of glory for us that God is not just working this one massive thing for our salvation, but He's working everything else for our good as well.
So yes, this tone is angry and it carries with it the judgment of God, but the way that this king was installed was upon a cross. And we're going to see that confirmed in the third voice, the voice of the king.
The voice of the king. Now we hear from the Lord Jesus Himself telling us what the Father is trying to communicate. The Lord Jesus Himself telling us what the Father said. Look in verse 7. I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh.
He said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron.
You shall shatter them like earthenware. When He says this decree here, this decree means the pronouncement. The Lord Jesus now stands up. We hear this third voice and He tells us what is the pronouncement of God.
What is the decree of God? What does God the Father say to the Lord Jesus? And first of all, we see what? He says, you are my son. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Remember that at the baptism of the Lord Jesus?
What's being communicated here is that Jesus is the one true king. God throughout biblical history has used the phrase son of God to describe His representatives on earth. Adam, in the garden, he was supposed to represent God.
He was supposed to exercise dominion. He was like a king-like figure and he was called by Luke a son of God. Israel is called over and over throughout the Old Testament a son of God. Israel is supposed to be a witness nation.
They're supposed to show who God is. We're promised that one day the king of Israel is going to rule over the nations. Israel is a type, a son of God. And not only Israel, but the kings of Israel are called sons of God in 2 Samuel and in the Psalms as well.
God for some reason, or we're going to find out the reason, God loves to reveal and to describe His representatives on earth as His sons and even calls them sons of God. But the problem is this, that each one of those sons of God, what happened?
They failed. Adam, he's the son of God. He's supposed to obey God's commands. He's supposed to, he's supposed to protect the garden. He's supposed to protect his wife. He's not supposed to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And what does he do? He eats. He says, with all of us, let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us. Israel, the same thing. They're supposed to obey many of God's laws. They're supposed to represent God.
They're supposed to worship the one true God and serve Him only. And what do they do? They constantly, they pursue other gods. They pursue other laws. They disobey. They run from God. They don't trust in Him for their deliverance.
And they're called the son of God, but they, like Adam, fail. And the kings of Israel, Adam, think of David. David, this wonderful king who does all of these amazing things and seems to be fulfilling many of the promises about the Messiah.
What happens to David? He commits adultery. What happens to his descendants? They sin and sin and sin. And so although God has promised a son of God and has caused many people to be sons of God in a sense, there's only one person who can really be the son of God.
And it's the son of the living God, like Pastor Steve talked about this morning. It's the one who actually is God's son, who has always been in a relationship of sonship to the Father. And the Father has always been the Father of the Lord Jesus.
He's always related to Him as His Father and delighted in that relationship. And the Son has always delighted to be the Son of the Father, eternally begotten. With the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, there's this eternal relationship.
And so God really, He reveals in all of human history that His representatives are called sons, but He allows each one of them to have flaws to set up the one true son of God. So when God says to Jesus here, you are my son, He's saying, you are the King.
You are my one representative. You are the King of kings. You are my capital S son. But it's interesting, look in verse 7 with me. He puts a time period on this. What does He say? Today. Today, I have begotten you.
And we know from Christian history and from the biblical text itself that Jesus is eternally begotten. He didn't become the Son when He became a man on earth. He was never created by God. And so why does this passage say that today God, in a sense, has begotten Jesus?
Well, I'm going to read to you in Acts chapter 13. It tells us why Acts chapter 13 verses 32 through 33. I'll just read it to you. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers so that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm.
You are my son. Today, I have begotten you. This passage we're told in the book of Acts is fulfilled by the resurrection. That day, today, is referring to the resurrection. That yes, Jesus is the eternally begotten one.
But He's also the firstborn from the dead, Paul says. That Jesus is enthroned as King. He is crowned as King at His resurrection. You are my son. Today, I have begotten you. That God the Father raised Him from the dead.
And when He did that, it was like He was taking the crown and putting it on the head of Jesus. Yes, He'd always been the ruler of the world. But in His humanity now, as a descendant of David, Jesus is crowned the King.
God the Father was saying when He raised Jesus from the dead, you're my King and everything that you've done is acceptable to me. I gave you a people. I gave you sinners that needed to be redeemed. You had to obey the law perfectly.
You had to love God and love others. And then you had to go and die on the cross for their sins. And you did it, son. You've done it. You've completed it. It is finished. And when Jesus said, it is finished, God said, Amen, when He raised Him from the dead.
That's the reality that everything that Jesus said was true. We see that in the resurrection. And because of that, Jesus is the King. Today, I have begotten you. That's the day of the resurrection. And because of that, because Jesus is this King now, He says, the Father says to Him, ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance.
And the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthenware. It reminds you of what John said in Revelation, right? That every tribe, tongue, and nation will come before the Lord Jesus and sing to the Lamb.
It reminds you of the great commission that were to go into all the nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That the Lord Jesus has earned the right to a people, a people that comes from every background, every earthly community.
The Lord Jesus has a people and His reign is over all the earth. And yes, He is going to judge the unrepentant. He will break them with a rod of iron. He will shatter them like earthenware. But He also receives an inheritance from the ends of the earth as His elect people.
He does judge them and He has the ability and power and right to judge them now as the King. But He also has the right to save some from every nation. And in light of this, finally, we hear the fourth voice.
The voice of the psalmist or the voice of the narrator. And He speaks, in a sense, to us. He speaks to the reader. Verse 10. Now therefore, O kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth.
Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son that He not become angry and you perish in the way. For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
The narrator is now addressing not only the kings and the rulers, but everyone included in the first two verses of the psalm, which is all people of the earth. And he says, here's how you need to respond.
Here's how you need to respond to this news. That although the whole earth is united, standing against God, shaking their fist, in a sense, at God and wanting to overthrow His rule. And although God does, yes, laugh at them and installs His King upon Zion, He's installed His King as a Savior.
And even these kings, even these judges of the earth, look, they are invited. They are invited to come to the Lord. They are invited to be willing subjects. Even those who crucify Jesus are invited to come and to take refuge in Him.
Verse 11 says, worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. There's an invitation here to worship the Lord in awe. Yes, there is a fear that this King is mighty. That He's coming to judge the earth.
That He's going to shatter the unrepentant like pottery. But there's this invitation here to worship the Lord. To recognize that there's no real King except God Himself. And this worship isn't just, it's not a worship with a downward countenance.
It's not a worship in sadness. It's not a worship in fear. It's a rejoicing with trembling. There's a joy in submitting to the real King. There's a joy in recognizing that this King is the one who's enthroned.
And I mean, that's true for us. There's a joy in recognizing this King is the one who's on the throne. This is the one who we take refuge in. We don't have to put our hope in the kings of this world or the politics of this land.
We can put our hope in this one King. But it's not just this general worship or service or rejoicing. That's not the main response. The main response is directed to one thing specifically. One thing specifically.
Yes, we're called to worship the Lord. And yes, to rejoice with trembling. But we can only do that because of one thing. Verse 12. Kiss the son that he not become angry and you perish in the way. For his wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in him. Our God will not accept just a general, general repentance, a general service, a general trying to make up for the things that we've done in life. God won't accept.
Oh, OK, I'll put the cords back on and the fetters back on. No, he has a specific offer, a specific requirement for salvation. And what is it? It is to kiss the son. One commentator said the whole world has been yelling out with one voice of rebellion against God.
And now the psalmist is calling them to use their mouth that they curse God with for a better purpose. To kiss the feet of the son. To come and to honor the Lord Jesus. To say that, yes, this king of kings, what he did, it really is good.
It is. It is redemptive. It is honorable. He is on the throne. He was installed upon Zion. It's to say, I know this is the kissing the son is to say, I know that I have tried to overthrow God's rule in my life.
I've tried to escape God's reign over me. I've tried to get rid of God's yoke. I deserve justice. I deserve to be shattered like earthenware and broken with a rod of iron. But I'm trusting in the son.
I'm kissing the son. Or I'm taking refuge in him. I'm putting all my hope in what he's done, that he was installed as a king by his death and his resurrection. And when he was dying, he was dying for my sins.
And when he was being raised from the dead, he was being raised from the dead for my life. That's what it means to kiss the son is to trust in him, to take refuge in him. That's one of the most common ways that the Old Testament describes saving faith.
It's to go. It's like there's a storm and there's hail falling from the sky and there's a cave and you're going to go take refuge in this, in this cave. You're going to escape the elements. It's to run to Christ, to run to Christ, to put your trust in him and his work.
Another author said there's, there's no refuge from the son, but there's refuge in the son. How blessed are all who take refuge in him for, for if we do not, it says his wrath may soon be kindled. We don't know the day that he's coming.
We don't know the hour, but we know that he is coming and he's not going to come as a humble servant on a donkey. He's going to be coming as the judge on a white horse. But everyone, everyone, even the kings of this earth, even the kings who we dislike the most on this earth is invited to come to take refuge in the son.
It's offered to all come unto me, all who are weary and I will give you rest and how blessed, how happy are we who take refuge in him? Isn't that true? Isn't there so much joy when we could take refuge in the Lord Jesus that we don't have to trust in the things that are going on in our lives.
We don't have to put our hope in politicians or in medicines or in anything except for the Lord Jesus. It brings us joy and it's the only thing that can bring us joy is to take refuge in the Lord Jesus.
I do think it's interesting that the kings of the earth, what do they want to do? They want to get out from under the yoke of God. They want to get rid of the rules of God. But what does the Lord Jesus say?
Once you've, once you've kissed the son, once you've taken refuge in him, he says, what? Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. He says he's gentle and lowly in heart. His commandments are not burdensome to us that now we willingly after we trust in Jesus, we willingly embrace the rules and reign of God because that's where we find our joy that we receive the same law that we hated.
Now we receive it from the hands of the Lord Jesus and it's like he gives it to us and says, I've, I've been crucified and risen for you. Now here's how you get to live a life that honors me. And that brings happiness and joy to us.
So if we're discouraged about what's happening in this world, if you need, if you need to, if you're turning on the news and you're concerned and worried about is God on the throne, what's happening and you're anxious.
Psalm two is the way that we look at the world that honors God. It's the way that we look at the world in reality and we see that there is a king. He's on the throne. He laughs at all the things happening, all the attempts to overthrow him.
And he's a king who's been installed. And the way he was installed is in paying for our sins and rising from the dead. And so we can trust him. How blessed and happy are all we who take refuge in him.
Let's close in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I just thank you for this text that we've heard from you that your son is on the throne. Your son is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We don't have to worry.
We don't have to be anxious because we know that your son wins, that he is working all things together for good. That if you worked the greatest sin of mankind for our salvation, we know that we can trust you and everything else that you're doing in our lives.
So I pray that we would be happy as we take refuge in your son, that we would trust in him and that we would not put our hope in chariots or in horses, but we would put our hope in you, the Lord, our God, who's rescued and redeemed us.
I pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen.