The Messianic Psalms - Psalm 2 — Chip Brogden

Rejoice, and be glad in it. Hello again everyone. This is Chip Brogdon streaming online at www .watchman .net, coming to you with another edition of our weekly webcast. We are discussing the Messianic Psalms.

The Psalms Reveal Christ and His Kingdom

We are talking about those Psalms that give us insight and revelation into Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. Jesus said that all the things written concerning Him in the law and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled, and so these Psalms are full and very rich, filled with the wealth of wisdom and knowledge and insight and discernment and revelation into Jesus Christ.

We are wrapping up our study next week. We've got a couple of more messages to share. One today is going to be centered on Christ sitting in His throne, and that is very evident and very clear in the book of Psalms, probably even more so than anything else we've studied up to this point.

Christ’s Suffering, Resurrection, Ascension, and Enthronement

We have seen the suffering of Jesus in the Psalms. We have seen the crucifixion of Jesus in the Psalms. We've seen His death and His descent into hell. We have seen His resurrection. We've seen His ascension, and now we want to discuss His being seated on the throne, which basically signifies and tells us something of His ruling and His reigning and His preeminence over all things.

A king sits on a throne, and that is the symbol of His power, that authority that is His by reason of the fact that He is sitting on the throne. It means He is ruling and reigning, and He is exercising authority and power and majesty, and that is the very center of the kingdom.

We are going to discuss that now. Up until this point, we've talked about the ascension. Last week, we talked about the ascension, and now after the Lord ascends into heaven, if you'll read in the several passages in the New Testament that discuss this, it is talking of Jesus ascending into heaven and sitting down at the right hand of God, and it's this sitting down, ascending and then being seated on His throne that tells us that He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and He is preeminent over all things, which is God's purpose for Jesus to have the preeminence in all things, and that's very evident in Scripture as well.

So this week, we're looking into the book of Psalms with Psalm 2. So if you turn in your Bible to Psalm 2, and why don't we go to the Lord right now and ask Him to bless this time that we have together studying the Word, okay?

Father, thank you for the time that we have, and thank you for the riches and the wealth of insight and revelation contained in these Psalms. I thank you for these Psalms that teach us something of Jesus and bring us into a more clear perception and understanding of who He is.

Holy Spirit, come and be our teacher and show us the things that pertain to Jesus. Lead us deeper into truth. Open our eyes, Lord, and open our ears to see and to hear what the Spirit would show us. Open our hearts and soften our hearts, Lord, that we would see beyond just letters in a book, but we would see Spirit and life and truth and light and Jesus Himself in these truths.

Thank you, Father, for everyone who is listening. I pray, Lord, that you would strengthen and encourage them through your Word today as we study and as we seek your face, as we seek first the kingdom of God, and as we discuss Christ sitting on His throne.

So thank you, Lord, and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Psalm chapter 2, we'll begin reading in verse 1. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying...

The Anointed One in Psalm 2

And let's stop right there because that word anointed, some of your translations, depending on what you're reading, I happen to be reading the King James Version today. I don't always read the King James Version, but in this particular passage, it says against the Lord and against His anointed.

Some translations will pick up on that word anointed and will say against the Lord and against His Christ, which is the same thing. Christ means anointed, anointed one, the Christ and Messiah. Against the Lord and against His anointed or against His Christ.

Psalm 2 Applied to the Opposition Against the Apostles

And if you'll recall in the book of Acts, this was just brought to my remembrance. I don't have the reference for you. I believe it's Acts 4. But you'll recall when Peter and John prayed and the man was healed and they brought them before the Sanhedrin and they commanded them straightly saying, speak no more in the name of Jesus.

And Peter and John were filled with the Holy Spirit and said, you judge for yourselves whether we should obey God or obey man. As for us, we can't help but speak the things that we have seen and heard.

And it says that they let them go. And when they went back to where the believers were, that they all began to pray. And when they prayed, the first thing that they did or the first scripture that they referenced was this scripture here in Psalms.

Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine the vain thing? And it says that the kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ. Actually, this is in Acts 4.

I was looking at it while I was remembering it. In Acts 4, why don't you keep your finger there in Psalm 2. And again, we want to interpret the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament because it gives us the context and the perspective.

Prophetic Interpretation and Reading Scripture Through Scripture

Now, I've gotten a couple of emails from people that don't understand how I am taking something that on the surface appears to be applied to David or applied to Solomon and would apply it to Jesus. And folks, you've got to get beyond the surface level interpretation and you've got to allow the Holy Spirit to open your eyes and see.

And if you don't use scripture to interpret scripture, you won't understand it. But there is such a thing as a prophetic interpretation of scripture. And scripture can be interpreted more than one way.

There is the surface level and then there is the types and the shadows. For instance, Solomon is a type of Christ. Solomon, the way that he came to the throne and the peaceable kingdom of Solomon, that tells us something about the peaceable kingdom of Christ.

Now, if you just read the Bible as a history book, all you're going to get out of it is, well, okay, Solomon was a king of Israel and he was very rich and he had a peaceful kingdom and he had a lot of wives.

That part didn't necessarily relate to Jesus. But the point being that God has several layers of interpretation for those who are mature and for those who will pray and will seek and will dig, the Bible says you'll find.

If you just look on the surface level of the ground, you'll find some nuggets of truth, but it requires going deeper. And so when you get into the New Testament, and this is why people in that age and in that time, it says that they were more or less seeing through a glass darkly.

They saw these things happen, but they didn't really understand them. And now as we have the illumination of the Holy Spirit, we can look back on these things and we can see that David is a type of Christ.

Solomon is a type of Christ. Joseph certainly is a type of Christ. Isaac is a type of Christ. Even Adam is a type of Christ. Well, how do you get all that? Well, you've got to read the New Testament and you've got to take the New Testament, use it to help you interpret and understand and decipher the Old Testament.

And in addition, since you, I trust, are born again and you have asked the Lord Jesus into your life, you've made him Lord. If he is living in you and his spirit dwells in you, then his Holy Spirit will give you revelation and wisdom and insight into these things.

So and I don't know why I got off on that, except just to to encourage you not simply to treat the Bible as a textbook, not just as a theological thing that we pick up and we study. And there's some history here, there's some poetry there, and it's real nice.

But we look at it as kind of a for literary value only. Jesus says my words are spirit and life. They were spirit and truth. And there's just so much here that we we need something more than just an understanding with our mind or it's important that we understand with our mind.

But there is wisdom that comes from above that will assist us if we'll open our mind and open our heart. And that's why I always pray that God would open our heart, open our mind, open our eyes and our ears so that we can see and hear what he's he's trying to speak to us here.

So if you don't get it, if you don't see the connection, don't worry about it. Just pray through it. And one day the Lord will just open your eyes and you'll see it. And wow, there it is the whole time.

Acts 4 Interprets Psalm 2 as Fulfilled in Christ

But Acts chapter four is what I was referring to where Peter and John went back. They told the believers that were gathered together and they began to pray. And it says in Acts four twenty three and being let go, they went to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.

And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is who by the mouth of your servant David has said, why did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things?

Now, see, they're quoting from Psalm two, the psalm that we just read those first few verses there. The kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.

And then they apply this. See, this is what I'm talking about. They don't just say, well, Psalm two. How about that? Isn't that a nice Psalm way back in the past? They take Psalm two and they apply it to their situation today.

And that's where that's what makes it prophetic. That's what gives it prophetic impact and importance and value. So they saw something in Psalm two. They saw Jesus in Psalm two and they saw the very thing that was being discussed in Psalm two as applicable to their life today.

And you can do that with with most any Psalm. It is it's a fascinating array of experiences that the Psalms discuss. And there's there's there's love, there's hate, there's joy, there's sorrow, there's depression, there's rejoicing.

There's the whole range of human experience you can find in the Psalms. And certainly you can find something in there that's applicable to you today. So they were able to do that. They realized and recognized that there was an application in Psalm two to the situation they were going through.

Boldness, Healing, and the Holy Spirit in Acts 4

Verse seven, four or twenty seven of Acts four, Acts four, twenty seven for of a truth against your holy child, Jesus, whom you have anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatever your hand and your counsel determined before to be done.

And now, Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching forth your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child, Jesus.

And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Praise the Lord. Well, I just wanted to show you that from Acts chapter four to again, establish the fact that Psalm two is not just some point that David wrote, but it is interpreted by the New Testament as applying to Jesus Christ.

The Enthroned King Laughs at Human Rebellion

So now let's go back to Psalm two and pick up again in verse three this time. It says Psalm two, verse three, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.

The Lord shall have them in derision. Now we're talking about the Lord on his throne. See, we discussed last time how Jesus ascended. And once he was ascended, it says that he sat down on the right hand of God.

And so now the rhetorical question is, why are all these people trying to come against Jesus? Why are they still trying to rage and imagine a vain thing? Why are they still rebelling against the one that the Lord has appointed as king of kings and Lord of lords?

And you see, Jesus is really not concerned with it. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. See, he allows it for the time being. But at some point, verse five, then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.

Christ’s Universal Kingship and Preeminence

So why is this? Well, the scripture says that he is able, in Philippians, I think it's Philippians 2, it may be in Ephesians, I don't know, read both books. They'll both do you good and they'll both be profitable and encouraging to you.

But somewhere in there, it says that he is able to subdue all things unto him. He is able to do it. Now, how is he going to do it? I believe he's going to do it by revealing himself as a God of mercy, a God of love.

Certainly, if you are on the wrong side of him, he is going to appear in wrath and in displeasure and in judgment. So, verse five, it says to those who are rebelling against the Lord and against his Christ, whom he has set in his throne, it says in verse five, then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.

And why? Verse six, yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the Lord has set unto me. You are my son. This day have I begotten you. Ask of me and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

See, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, it says in another Psalm. The world and they that dwell therein. This earth does not belong to the devil. This earth does not belong to man. But man is messing up the earth.

The devil is trying to mess up the earth by messing up man. But see, the Lord is in his heavens and he rules over all. Now, he is king of kings, even though in Hebrews it says we do not yet see all things submitted to him.

Nevertheless, he is able, scripture says, to subdue all things unto himself. Because the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And God has set him on his throne to rule and to reign that in all things, it says in Colossians 1, that in all things he would have the preeminence.

And again, preeminence, as I understand it, is the first, the full and the final place above all things. It's a supremacy and a majesty. It's a ruling and reigning and triumphing over everything else.

Believers Seated with Christ in the Heavenly Places

And that when Jesus ascended, folks, it says that we ascended with him. We were seated together with him in the heavenly places. Praise the Lord. So we're seated right there with him. That ought to excite you.

That ought to humble you, number one. And number two, it ought to excite you and get you to understand that we're not wrestling against flesh and blood. We're not wrestling against things here on the earth.

Some people are so concerned with the things on the earth, if you knew half as much about what's going on in the heavens with Christ, seated with him, as you know about what's going on here on the earth, you'd be so encouraged.

Scripture says that in Revelation, that he who overcomes will sit with me in my throne. Hallelujah. See, that's in Revelation chapter three. I don't have any notes this morning. Sorry that I don't have all these references, but you need to get your concordance and look them up and study it yourself.

Don't depend on me to give you all this chapter and verses. Do your own scripture study. You're going to get a whole lot more out of the word if you'll start looking these things up. I encourage you, don't take my word for it.

Go to your concordance or go to blueletterbible .com. And there's a concordance right there online. It's free. You can look up scriptures. You can look up words. But in Revelation three, where Jesus is speaking to the seven churches and he says to him who overcomes, to him who overcomes, he gives all these promises.

One of the promises to those who overcome is they'll sit with Jesus in his throne. And that's entirely consistent with Ephesians two, where it says that God has raised us up together with Christ and has made us sit together with him in the heavenly places.

I just can't get out of my mouth the significance of that word together, together, together, together. Now, folks, I am nothing outside of Christ. Apart from him, I can do nothing. Apart from him, I am nothing.

Grace, Spiritual Warfare, and Victory in Christ

But together with him, I'm seated in the heavenly places. Hallelujah. See, that's the grace of God. And this warfare that we fight, spiritual warfare, we don't overcome because we've got all the techniques and we've got all the methods.

We have all the scriptures memorized and we've been to all the conferences. It is by grace that we're saved. It's by grace that we are raised together with him. It's by grace that we are ascended. It's by grace that we are seated together with him in the heavenly places.

And he is ruling and reigning, folks. Jesus is Lord. Do you believe that? If you believe that, it will change the way you see things. It will change the way you live. It will change the way you think.

It will change the way you speak. I'm sorry, but most Christians today live in such a way that they do not demonstrate the preeminence of Jesus over anything. To look at them, you wouldn't know that Jesus is alive and well.

And that's a shame. But, folks, that can be changed if you'll simply get into the Word of God, find out who Jesus is, ask the Holy Spirit to give you that revelation of who he is in you and who you are in him, because if you will abide in him and live in him and he lives in you, together, together, together, that is where your victory is.

Psalm 2’s Judgment and the Universal Lordship of Christ

It is together seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Psalm 2, verse 9, he says, You shall break them, who? The nations, those that are unsubmitted to him. You shall break them with a rod of iron.

You will bash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now, here is the what shall we do? OK, you've got Jesus sitting here on the throne. The whole earth is his inheritance. But you've got these heathens who are imagining a vain thing, who are trying to come against the Lord and against his anointed and cast away and says, you know, we don't want to be ruled by Jesus.

Well, guess what? It's beside the point whether you want Jesus to be Lord or not. He is Lord. Now, I know what people mean when they say accept the Lord as your personal Savior. I understand what that means.

But, folks, I want you to understand whether you are a saint or whether you are a sinner, Jesus is Lord whether you accept him or not. He is Lord. He is King of Kings. He is Lord of Lords. And he's sitting there on the throne.

And you can either submit yourself to that or you can resist that. But either way, in the end, he is going to get the glory. He is going to have the honor. So the one who sits in the heavens just laughs because he sees the futility of resisting God's purpose and God's plan.

Christ’s Exaltation and Every Knee Bowing

You see, Jesus says, I don't seek this honor for myself. It's my father who glorifies me. It's my father who honors me because I do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And because in Philippians 2 it says that Jesus humbled himself, became obedient unto death, it says, Therefore God has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Hallelujah. Now, here's the wisdom of Psalm 2, verse 10. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Here's what you need to do. Serve the Lord with fear. Rejoice with trembling.

Christ the Rock of Stumbling and the Foundation of the Church

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled by little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Hallelujah. See, he is the stone that the builders rejected.

He is the rock of stumbling and a rock of offense. And in Daniel it talks about this rock made without hands that smites and destroys that statue. And then this rock, it says, fills the whole earth. And Jesus says, Upon this rock I will build my church.

Who is the rock? The rock is Christ. How many times in Psalms do you see it said, The Lord is my rock and my salvation? So praise the Lord. Jesus says you've got a choice. You can either fall upon the rock and be broken, or you can allow the rock to fall on you and be crushed.

Now, folks, it's better just to go ahead and throw yourself on the rock and be broken in the right place and not wait and resist and have to go through the experience of crushing as the rock falls upon you.

Demonstrating the Lordship and Preeminence of Jesus

Now, if Christ is Lord, if Jesus is your Lord, and in the context now, you know what I mean by accepting him as Lord. He is Lord regardless. The question is, have you accepted him as Lord? Has he, have you allowed him to be Lord in your life?

And in other words, does Jesus have the preeminent place in your life? Can people look at you and get a glimpse? Here's the whole point, folks. Can people look at you and get a glimpse and a taste of what life will be like when Jesus does, in fact, have all things submitted to him?

See, if I'm a heathen, if I'm a pagan, or even if I'm just a religious Pharisee, if I am someone who is not submitted to the Lordship of Jesus, I should be able to look at a disciple of Jesus and get some kind of a clue, get some kind of an inkling as to what it means for Jesus to be Lord of something.

Do you understand what I'm saying? You should be able to look at a disciple of Jesus and see the Lordship of Jesus in that disciple. I mean, it's so simple, but how many of us are really demonstrating the preeminence of Jesus?

How many of us are really showing forth the praises of him who has called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light? A lot of people who say that they're Christians are still stumbling around in the darkness.

They're not demonstrating preeminence over sin, over self and over Satan. Why? Because they are simply not submitted and acquiesced and humbled beneath the preeminence of Christ. It's got to become real to you.

The Word Made Flesh in the Believer’s Life

It's got to become. The word has to become flesh. It cannot be theory. It cannot be theology. It must be flesh. In other words, there has to be substance to this walk. There has to be something manifest, something real, something tangible that demonstrates that we belong to Jesus, who is Lord over all.

And if we're not demonstrating that, then we're not submitted to him and we run the risk of being crushed. It's far better, folks, to go ahead and be broken in the right place and allow the Lord to tear you down so that he can build you up.

That's the whole point. He's not trying to tear you down because he hates you. That's what the devil does. No, the Lord is touching things in your life and he's allowing things to be broken. He's allowing you to be broken because the Lord wants to build and establish a testimony in you and bring you to the place that you're able to say, apart from him, I can do nothing.

He wants you to be able to live before him and live before man as a yielded vessel. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. You're only afraid of Psalm 2 if you don't trust Jesus. If you're afraid to submit to him, if you rebel against that Lordship, if you're afraid of that deeper walk, it's only because you haven't really put your trust in Jesus.

Trusting God’s Ways Above Our Own

I would rather be in bondage to Jesus than be free to do my own thing, because, folks, there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is only death. My way, my thoughts are repulsive. His thoughts, his ways are higher than our ways, higher than my ways.

And, Lord Jesus, I surrender myself to you, spirit, soul, and body, that you may have the manifest preeminence in my life. Lord, I thank you that you are seated on your throne in the heavenly places, ruling and reigning, with a name that is above every name.

And I pray, Lord, that I would be submitted and yielded to you, that you may show forth your light and your glory through me and through my brothers and sisters. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah.