Psalm 2 - draft
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So the psalm can be broken down into three parts, and we’ll take up each one. First, we hear that the nations of the earth rebel against God’s rule. Second, God responds to that rebellion by installing a King over the world. And finally, God offers the King as a refuge to those who are in rebellion against him.
So, look with me at Psalm 2 verses 1-3. Here we see the situation that this psalm is responding to.
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
The situation that we’re dealing with here is the problem from which all the world’s problems flow out of. This is the most pressing issue facing humanity. And truly this is a global problem that cut across every culture every community of people on this earth. That’s the scope of the problem. It’s the nations, the peoples, and the kings of the earth.
So what is the fundamental problem that we all share? We want to break free from God’s rule of the world. We want to blaze our own trail, rather than live under his authority.
And man does this show up early in our lives. Melanie and I are still shellshocked at the change we’ve seen in Peter. Right at the one year mark, he started expressing his desire to be independent from us. Even though he is completely dependent on us for everything: food, shelter, stairs, he wanted to do his own thing, and he let us know it.
That’s what’s going on here. The nations are saying, we’re done living under God’s rule. Notice how they describe living under God’s rule: it’s like being in bondage. Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. They view submitting to God’s authority as being enslaved. And truthfully, that’s how a lot of people in our neighborhoods see it, too. God’s rule is a form of bondage, and so the appropriate response is to escape it. To break free and live life on your terms.
Now, notice that in describing the situation, the psalmist’s tone isn’t flat. He’s caught off guard. He’s astonished. Not only is he astonished that they’d want to rebel against God’s authority (this is the God who created them and sustains them by the word of his power), but he’s astonished that they think they could actually win that fight. He’s taken aback at the brazen pride on display that the creatures think they can overthrow the Creator as king.
When I was in college, I spent a summer as a camp counselor for first and second graders. And so I spent a summer playing games with first and second graders: basketball, soccer, frisbee. You name it. All games that require hand-eye-cordination. Do you know what first and second graders really lack at that age? Hand-eye-cordination. So as an eighteen year old playing ball with these kids, I felt pretty confident about my athletic abilities. But can you imagine the vanity I’d have to have to say, given my exceptional prowess among first and second graders, that I could take on Lebron James in a game of 21? If I were to make that claim, you’d be taken aback, wouldn’t you? That’s the height of foolish egotism, isn’t it? Well, that’s exactly what’s going on here. The pslamist is astonished that people would think their rebellion against God could actually succeed.
So how does God respond? The nations have said their piece, so how will God respond to their rebellion? We pick it up in verse 4.
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
How does God respond to the world’s rebellion? Well, the first thing we see is that his response is pretty severe.