Rejoice With Trembling

[0:00] The book of Psalms, do you remember how many psalms there are? 150 psalms written over a span of how many years? That's right, at least a thousand years span.

[0:14] So really covering the entire history of God's revelation. Psalm chapter 2 today.

[0:24] I want to share a couple of things for you to keep in mind as we read through the entire psalm. My dear friend, Matthew Henry, a Puritan commentator, said the first psalm is law, showing us our duty.

[0:44] This psalm, Psalm 2, is evangelical, showing us our Savior. So look for the Savior in Psalm 2. The Savior is called the Lord's anointed in verse 2.

[0:55] He's the Lord's established king in verse 6, and he's the begotten son of Jehovah in verses 7 and 12. We saw last week how Psalm 1 taught us that it is spiritually fatal to be directed by the world.

[1:11] Instead, we should be directed by the law of God. Now, Psalm 2 teaches us that it's also spiritually fatal to go through life on this earth being intimidated of the world, a world that rejects God's law.

[1:26] That's also spiritually fatal. So listen, as we read Psalm 2, the contrast is set. The blessed way and the way that perishes. Now in Psalm 2, we will see that though it's hard to walk the blessed way, we have reason to rejoice with trembling.

[1:44] As I read Psalm 2, you follow along. Remember, this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, insufficient word. This is God's very own word for you, His people.

[1:55] When I'm done reading, I'll say, this is the word of the Lord. We'll respond by saying, thanks be to God. All right, Psalm 2. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

[2:06] The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, verse 3, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.

[2:21] Verse 4, He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.

[2:35] Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. Verse 7, The Lord has said unto me, Thou art my son.

[2:47] This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

[2:59] Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them into pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings.

[3:12] Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way.

[3:27] When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. This is the word of the Lord.

[3:39] Thanks be to God. You may be seated. We're told in Isaiah 40 that the grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

[3:57] Would you pray with me? O anointed King, declare to us the divine decree once again today.

[4:16] Cause us by the power of your Holy Spirit in us and with us as a body. Cause us to rejoice with trembling at the sight of you when we behold you seated on your throne, we ask.

[4:31] For Christ's sake, amen. Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, how do you have hope and happiness in a world that rages against God?

[4:49] Do I need to make the case that this world rages against God, or are you there? You're with me. The world rages against God, and yet how do we, as pilgrims, as sojourners, how do we have hope and happiness as we walk this earth?

[5:11] I want to give you my one point. The one point of the sermon is this. Psalm 2 teaches us to rejoice with trembling at the Holy King. Rejoice with trembling at the Holy King and take refuge in Him.

[5:30] Look at verse 11. How should you live in this world? How can you have hope and happiness? Rejoice with trembling at the Holy King and take refuge in Him.

[5:46] That's your source of hope and happiness in this world. We're going to walk through verse by verse this glorious, majestic psalm. And that's been my prayer all week long, simply that this psalm will elevate our thoughts of God and cause us to behold Him on His holy hill and to rejoice with trembling.

[6:11] History runs red, wrote Pastor Dale Ralph Davis, with the blood of Messiah's members. And he quotes from a pastor, a Christian in China named Brother Yun.

[6:25] Brother Yun wrote his book based on what he witnessed in his town of Nanyang, in 1949 when the Communist Party took over and made Christianity illegal.

[6:39] I think this is okay for children to hear. This is what our brothers and sisters around the world have suffered for the faith. He saw Christians, like you and like me, crucified on the walls of their churches for refusing to deny Jesus.

[6:55] He saw other Christians bound up in chains and that chains attached to the saddle of horses and they were drug publicly in the streets at a fast pace until they were drug to death. One pastor was hoisted up on a makeshift crane and dropped to the ground.

[7:09] It didn't kill him. They hoisted him up again publicly, dropped him again to his death. Pastor Davis writes, This is sadly par for the course and our current century is already awash in such brutality.

[7:27] Hatred for the Messiah spills over on Messiah's people. Didn't you see that in Acts 4? We read Acts 4. Hatred for God's people. It's hatred for the Messiah.

[7:37] Make him stop talking about him. The world rages against God and it spills over onto his people. That's why the psalmist starts in verse 1 by asking the question, Why? How can the Christian, how can the believer, how can the psalmist have hope and happiness in a world that rages against God?

[7:57] Now look at what the Holy Spirit teaches the psalmist, opening his eyes to behold the heavenly realm. The effect it has on the psalmist is rejoice with trembling at the Holy King and take refuge in him.

[8:10] Now Psalm 2 is very symmetrical. 12 verses. Each pairing of three verses is one scene. So 12 verses, four scenes, three verses each scene.

[8:25] Let's look first at scene number one. To set the stage here, if this were a stage and you're in ancient Israel and you're getting to now imagine what these words describe, the orchestra would swell up.

[8:39] It would be noisy, clangy, concophony. The psalmist desires to walk the blessed way like you saw in Psalm 1, but is overwhelmed by the wickedness of this way that perishes, that's overwhelming and pushing in on the narrow way of the blessed.

[8:54] So scene one is this. It's the sin-loving world, loud, clamoring together, conspiring, hating God and hating the law of his kingdom.

[9:06] That's verses one, two, and three. So the psalmist prays. And as he prays, God answers his question, why? By telling him it's vain. Look at verse one.

[9:18] The psalmist is in dismay. Why do the nations rage? And the heathen peoples, these godless peoples of the nations, why do they plot a vain thing? Verse two, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.

[9:46] You'll see in verse two, this is the kings of the earth, the rulers from all the world. It feels to him like a great conspiracy. They're all against this king whose kingdom of heaven is intruding on earth.

[10:00] They take counsel together against the Lord. See, these are all enemies and vying for power, but they have one common enemy, and that's the king of heaven. They're vying together in their power against him now.

[10:14] Now we get this Trinitarian insight. It's against the Lord. The word is Jehovah. That's the name of God in covenant to sinners, the covenant-keeping Lord and his anointed.

[10:27] So as the New Testament believers would have read Psalm 2 in the Greek translation, the Septuagint, it would have said against the Lord and Christ. You know what? Christ means anointed.

[10:39] They're vying against Jehovah, the covenant-keeping God of the old covenant, and his Christ, and his anointed. And what is it that they hate about God and his anointed?

[10:53] The nations of the world view themselves as being bound with cords, and these bands are tying them up, and they're saying, we are all bound by these cords. Let's burst them. And not only burst them and get free and run away, let's throw the cords asunder.

[11:08] Let's throw them away. Let's be done with this God who binds us once and for all. It's a mutiny. It's the pirates wanting to topple over the kingdom of heaven.

[11:19] What are the bonds that tie and restrain the kings of the earth? God declares, I alone am the Lord.

[11:30] You shall worship me alone. And the nations and the rulers of this world want to say, no, we will make our own little lowercase g's in our own image and worship whoever we want and have our identity bound up in those idols that we have created.

[11:44] God says, I claim this day as mine. I set all of creation in order. And they rebel. They say, we will do whatever we want on any day that we want.

[11:58] God says, in my kingdom, there is no murder. Murder is punished. There are no lies. There's no envy, no coveting. And they say, we will do whatever we want and we'll celebrate those who do it.

[12:12] And this is the same world that very quickly, if left unrestrained, will self-destroy, will bring so much wickedness and violence that a holy God can't sit there any longer.

[12:24] He washed away the world once with a flood. So why is it that this world still has good hospitals, good schools, you know, the arts, beautiful creative expressions? It's only by God's preserving kindness.

[12:38] That's the only reason. And yet that moral law, that moral law of God which restrains the evil powers, is what they view as the cause that they want to rebel against. If God said it, their evil hearts are distorted and they want to rebel against it.

[12:55] So would a king, would a loving king bring this starving lion, this predator, into his living room where his children are, where his family lives, and turn the chains loose and just release the bonds off of this lion around his own family?

[13:10] A good king would never do that. But that's how the wicked rulers view God. He's keeping us back. Let us go wherever we want and devour. We hate your rule, God, they say.

[13:21] We love our sin. They would kill God if they could. But the psalmist recognizes this is in vain. These men are so darkened in their thinking.

[13:33] Isaiah 57, verse 20 says, The wicked are like the tossing sea that cannot be quiet. It's tossed up. The mire and the dirt swirling all around in it. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.

[13:46] That's how the raging world is. The world that loves its sin hates God and hates the law of God's kingdom. Do you get that first scene in your mind, verses 1, 2, and 3?

[13:58] All right. Well, if you desire to walk in the way that is blessed, you're like the psalmist. You're like me. You're feeling overwhelmed in such a world.

[14:10] But learn the example from the psalmist is ask God the question, Lord, why? It's so hard. Why? Why is it overwhelming to be in this world? You cry out to God.

[14:22] You don't tremble at the wicked kings and the rulers of the world. You don't fear man. Because instead, you see God exalted above all. You see that no matter what they come up with, it's in vain.

[14:35] You tremble at God and then you rejoice by taking refuge in Him, the unshakable rock. Now, scene 2, verses 4, 5, and 6.

[14:49] Scene 1, the psalmist is in this physical realm overwhelmed by the foolishness of the perishing way. Now, scene 2, I believe the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the psalmist to behold the spiritual realm, which we only see through the eyes of faith.

[15:06] So scene 2 is the sin-hating Lord enthroned over His kingdom. Scene 1 was the sin-loving world hating God and the law of His kingdom.

[15:17] But scene 2 now is the sin-hating Lord enthroned on His hill, His holy kingdom, over this fallen earth. Verse 4, He that sits in the heaven shall laugh.

[15:33] The Lord shall have these wicked rulers in derision. It's like, it's like these wicked rulers are bungee jumpers with spiky rocks at the bottom that they're jumping to and they're saying, cut these cords off.

[15:48] Let us, let us be free once for all. And the Lord holds them in derision. Romans 2, 14 says, when the Gentiles who do not have the law, referring to the Mosaic law, but by nature they do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

[16:08] Do you know those who mock the Lord? Stand-up comedians or men like Friedrich Nietzsche or Stephen Hawking? They say, cut off these bungee cords.

[16:20] Let us plunge to our death. And the Lord in His long-suffering kindness and forbearance, He's binding them, holding them from what will be their soon destruction.

[16:31] And those who don't say, Lord, Your will be done, He will say, have it Your way. He mocks them to scorn. It's like God says, do you think I, the Creator of all, won't rule over my own creation?

[16:47] And His mocking or just seeing the pettiness, the vanity of it, it turns to wrath. You think God doesn't care about sin? You think God lets the world go as however it wants to and doesn't care?

[17:02] The Lord cares. He hates sin. He sees sin and it turns to wrath. Look at verse 5. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure.

[17:15] Don't think for a moment that the Lord is pleased by sin. The Lord hates sin. He is the sin-hating Lord who is enthroned over His holy kingdom.

[17:29] Now look at verse 6. He says, I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. That's how God responds to the sinful world.

[17:42] He hates the sin so much, what does He do? He sets His Son to rule over the world. He makes His hatred of sin so clear, not only in the conscience of every created being, not only by the law that was given through Moses contained in His Word, but now with Jesus Christ Himself taking the throne, the throne over all the nations.

[18:09] See, the Holy Spirit throughout all the Old Covenant was whispering and hinting and allowing glimpses of Christ enthroned. Isaiah got this glimpse. He said in Isaiah 66, 1, Of God, heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool.

[18:28] The psalmist here in Psalm 2 gets a glimpse of heaven. There sits the Lord and His anointed. On the throne of heaven, the spiritual realm puts His feet. It's like the king stomping down on the earth.

[18:39] It's His footstool. He does whatever He pleases. So how do you have hope? How do you have hope in a world that rages against God? You behold God on His throne, the throne of heaven, and you behold His anointed one, His Son, set by God on that holy hill.

[19:02] By elevating your thoughts off of man and the brokenness of this world, you behold God, you rejoice with trembling, and you take refuge in Him. All right, scene three, verses seven, eight, and nine.

[19:19] The Holy Spirit shows the psalmist what the Creator God decrees. The Father, Son, promise here. And this is the chief end of the whole world.

[19:32] This is so glorious. So scene three is, the world-loving Son promised to inherit the uttermost parts of the earth.

[19:45] Yes, God hates the world, but the Son shows the love of God for sinners to the uttermost parts of this sinful world.

[19:56] And He receives them as part of His kingdom. Look at verse seven. I will declare the decree. So what does the Son do? He preaches. He declares.

[20:07] What does He declare? He declares the decree. What's a decree? A decree is what the sovereign, eternal King has determined, sovereignly willed, that will come to pass.

[20:19] That's what a King makes a decree. This will come to pass in my kingdom. So verse seven, I will declare the decree. What is the decree? The Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son.

[20:33] This day have I begotten Thee. So, there are only two categories. It's creation or the Creator.

[20:47] The Son is not created. The Son is Creator. So, the same essence of God, the very God, of very God, the begotten Son, the eternally generated Son.

[21:00] Now, it's a mystery to us, but this is so important. The Son was not created. The Son, eternally, is revealing now to the created world the decree of the loving Father.

[21:12] So, Father, Son, now where's the Holy Spirit? Well, remember, He's called the Anointed. This is the Anointed Son that the Father has set on His hill. John Calvin, during the Reformation, pointed out there are three offices in the Old Testament that are anointed.

[21:27] It's prophet, priest, and king. You've heard those terms. Where do we get prophet, priest, and king from? It's because in the Old Testament, those are the offices that were anointed. They're anointed either by oil, by the Holy Spirit, or both.

[21:39] So, the Son of God, the eternally generated, begotten Son of God, is the anointed one, anointed by the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, we see this at the baptism. You see the same words.

[21:51] The Father says, this is my son with whom I am well pleased. And the Spirit descends upon him. So you can picture with Aaron, Moses pouring oil over Aaron's head and beard.

[22:03] That was anointing Aaron for the office of priest. You can picture David, that sunburnt shepherd boy, coming to Samuel, Samuel anointing him with oil.

[22:14] There's the king and the priest. And then the prophets were anointed by the Holy Spirit, and they declared the counsel of God. So here you see, it's God himself, anointed by God for creation.

[22:27] Three times anointed, prophet, priest, and king. Revealing to the world who this God is. And notice the promise between the Father and the Son in verse 8.

[22:39] Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen, the pagan nations, for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts parts of the earth for thy possession.

[22:52] They will be yours. So are you telling me that the Father promised to the Son this eternal decree that would come to pass, that the Son would inherit and have as his possession souls from the ends of the earth?

[23:08] Is that only just found in Psalm 2? And where do we get such a rich teaching? Isaiah 49.6 is one other glorious place of many more. Isaiah 49.6 says, It is a light thing that thou should be my servant and raise up to the tribes of Jacob and to restore and preserve Israel.

[23:30] See, the Father says to the Son, Yes, you will be my servant, my suffering servant, and I'll give you restored Israel. But that's too light of a thing. That's too small. The Father promises the Son in Isaiah 49, I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that you may be my salvation unto the ends of the earth.

[23:53] That's what the Father promises the Son. Isn't this glorious? This is one of my favorite doctrines in all the Bible. So this is what has been called or tried to be understood as the covenant of redemption or the counsel of peace, the eternal decree of God outside of time.

[24:09] that the world would have souls belonging to Jesus from every nation, tribe, and tongue. The covenant of redemption. Okay, well, what's a covenant?

[24:21] My favorite definition of a covenant is by Nehemiah Cox, one of the signers of the Second London Confession. Nehemiah Cox says, It's God's oath-bound promise declaring the benefits that God will bestow upon people, the communion they will have with Him, the way, the method, or the means of grace by which these blessings will be enjoyed by the people according to God's sovereign pleasure.

[24:46] Covenant of redemption. It's God establishing, here's how I will bless sinners. Here's how I will create a way for those who are banished in darkness to come and fellowship with me.

[24:57] And it will be through Israel because from Israel I'll raise up my anointed. But it will be for the ends of the earth. Now verse 9, when a king is established, he also has to deal with his enemies.

[25:12] He has to deal with his borders. Look at verse 9. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron and thou shalt dash them into pieces like a potter's vessel. The image here is of power and complete dominion.

[25:27] So you picture a king, especially a king like David who's a man of war, a man, you know, covered in blood. And he holds now from the throne a rod. And this rod he will use to lift up like a scepter.

[25:41] And this rod he can strike, you know, like a shepherd would strike away the wolves coming to get his lambs. And he says, when he strikes you with this rod, it's a rod of iron. It will crush whatever is in its way.

[25:53] It's stronger than all the other metals of the Middle East. In this time period, it's of iron. Nothing breaks the rod of this king. And you picture taking some, you know, handmade pottery and just smashing it down on a rock.

[26:08] That's the image of the enemies of this anointed king. And that's the decree of the father promising to the son. So do you see now on this holy hill the world loving son being promised the uttermost parts of the earth as his possession, his inheritance.

[26:30] Let that be your comfort. Let that be your comfort that his church will prevail. It's the church militant marching forward. And yes, the world rages against God and the world is full of injustice.

[26:44] But we continue trusting in this God who is powerful and he's caring and he hates sin and one day he will make all things right. Hear over and over this decree, this promise and trust that God spoke it and it will happen.

[27:03] So that's why we can rejoice with trembling if we take refuge in him. Be sure to be found inside his kingdom. All right, well what about the fourth scene now?

[27:14] Verses 10, 11, and 12. I believe what happens in this fourth scene is, if I get this right, otherwise tell me later, it's called breaking the fourth wall.

[27:28] So you picture like on the stage, you don't want to have four walls up, right? Because then the audience can't peek into the room. So that fourth wall is when someone on the stage turns directly to the audience and addresses them.

[27:39] I think that's what happens in verses 10, 11, and 12. The psalmist declares as God's prophet to all nations, rulers, and individuals the only wise way to respond to the reality of God's kingdom.

[27:53] See what the Holy Spirit has shown the psalmist, now he takes what he is seeing and he declares it to the world, to all the rulers of all the nations directly. So in scene four, there is no refuge from heaven's king but blessed are those who take refuge in him.

[28:11] There is no refuge from him. Take refuge in him. Verse 10, Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth. He says, this is God's creation.

[28:24] God rules all nations. They're all under his law. Verse 11, Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Serve the Lord.

[28:36] Lord, learn from his law. Learn from his people how to worship him. Learn from other safe sinners what it means to bend your knee, to submit to his terms and to find peace.

[28:50] Verse 12, Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Kiss the Son.

[29:02] Until even recent times, an ambassador to another country would have to come and ceremonially bow down and kiss the foot of the king.

[29:14] Then they could go with that king's authority. First, that submission to the great king. Then on behalf of that king, go out to declare and to rule on his behalf. Kiss the king, lest he be angry and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little.

[29:36] See, there is a time where his wrath will be kindled fully. There is a time of coming judgment. His kingdom is advancing and his kingdom advances spiritually now.

[29:50] One day it will advance and be here consummately, fully and forever. And we long for that day, don't we? But his kingdom is advancing. He hates sin.

[30:02] No more let sins and sorrows grow nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found. He will restore all nations to the ends of the earth.

[30:16] Don't fear the wicked, the psalmist says. Their pride, it's in vain. It's empty. Their plans are foolish. But instead, hear God's holy decree.

[30:27] The psalmist looks you in the eye. He says, kiss the sun. Rejoice with trembling. Serve the Lord. Rejoice with trembling at the holy king and take refuge in him for there is no refuge from him.

[30:44] And that's how this psalm ends. Now, we've looked at the four scenes of this psalm. I wrestled just as much with the significance of this psalm as I did with getting the scenes correct.

[31:00] I believe there are many layers of significance here. I just want to walk you through a few conclusions I've come to. The first is the significance of Psalm 2 in its immediate context for life in the land, life in the kingdom of God.

[31:15] He says, I have set my king upon the holy hill of Zion. So the immediate audience would have pictured David and the Davidic dynasty sitting on the throne in Jerusalem.

[31:28] The first reference in the Bible to Zion is in 2 Samuel 5-7. We're told that the stronghold of Zion was taken over by David. It belonged previously to the Jebusites.

[31:41] Dale Ralph Davis pointed out that Zion was a puny 11 acres of real estate on the southeastern ridge of Jerusalem and God's visible kingdom in this world was to begin on this tiny banana-shaped hill in a provincial backwater that David took from the Jebusites.

[32:02] But that term, Zion, this hill of Zion, it takes on rich biblical theological meaning throughout the revelation of Scripture. So the immediate audience would have found hope that even though these other nations are coming against us, God will raise up a nobody like David and put him on the throne and give us peace.

[32:22] That would have been their immediate way of reading Psalm 2. Did this happen? Because if God can't even deliver a yes to that original promise on that small scale, why should we have hope in anything further?

[32:34] Yes, God fulfilled His promise. 1 Chronicles 18.11 says, The Lord gave David victory everywhere he went. And David conquered the gold and silver from all these other nations, brought them back to Zion and presented them as an offering to the Lord, set aside for the construction of the Lord's temple.

[32:56] What were the nations that he conquered? It was Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and the Amalek. Any one of those in previous times would have dominated Israel. Now the Lord, through David, brought peace on all edges of the border.

[33:11] This continues on. I believe that David was a level one fulfillment of this promise and David is also a shadow of Christ in his suffering, coming to be the bloody warrior shepherd.

[33:23] Now Solomon is paired with David. Scripture comes in pairs. You got Elijah, Elisha. And so David came as the bloody one. And now Solomon comes as like the ascended Lord coming to dominate in the time of peace, his second coming, and also his spiritual kingdom.

[33:40] 1 Kings 4.21 says, During his reign, Solomon, the son of David, controlled the trade routes coming out of Edom, Arabia, India, Africa, and Judea.

[33:52] So yes, did the Lord fulfill this to their immediate context? He did. With David, with Solomon, all of their borders were fortified. God raised them up, brought them peace. He ruled and crushed their neighbors to demonstrate his power.

[34:03] God kept his word. However, all of the promises that are put on this anointed one that will sit on Zion's hill, they're not fully met and fully fulfilled by David and Solomon yet either, are they?

[34:17] We know that from world history, Solomon, though he constructed a temple and he built this web of alliances through a lot of marriages to different princesses and concubines.

[34:29] He also introduced into the promised land, into this kingdom of God on earth, insurrections, dissent, division. He allowed idols from all these pagan nations to come in to corrupt the integrity of God's people.

[34:44] They turned away from the Lord and from his law and it was all downhill after Solomon. David's divinic dynasty, it ended with the conquering of Jerusalem by Babylon in the year 586 B.C.

[34:58] So that fulfillment leaves the rest of redemptive history asking, where is this promise going to happen? Think of those living in Jerusalem like Daniel and his friends. They would have been asking, how will Psalm 2 be fulfilled?

[35:11] They would have been able to turn to Isaiah 28, 16 and read, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, a rock of offense. Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

[35:24] And they would have held to hold on to that. God will put a king back in Zion and whoever puts their hope in my promise through that Davidic king will not be put to shame. So the next significance of Psalm 2 would be for those carried away from Jerusalem and Israel into exile.

[35:41] It would have been sung for them as a song of hope while in exile, while they were sojourners and pilgrims without a land. God's wrath is still against those wicked rulers who mock their God, who view their God as weak and defeated.

[35:58] They would have had to sing Psalm 2 with that promise that no, our God does rule over these rulers, even Nebuchadnezzar, even great Assyria. They would have said, we need to continue serving the Lord.

[36:10] You hear that from Daniel when he preaches to Nebuchadnezzar, he says, serve the Lord. He sets his king on his holy hill. He will one day do this again. We will see him in power.

[36:21] Listen to how Daniel wrote in Daniel 2.35. Daniel described how the kingdoms of the earth that were together built up into this great statue were then altogether broken in pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them could be found, but the stone that struck the image, this great statue became a mountain, a great mountain filled the whole earth.

[36:54] Do you hear Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 and David's prophecy while they're still in exile? He says, lift up your eyes, people of God. Continue in hope. He will set his king on his holy hill once again.

[37:08] Rejoice with trembling, not at Nebuchadnezzar or Assyria. Rejoice in trembling that God's decree will come to pass. They could have sung that Christmas song that we sing now, O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.

[37:30] Then we can rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. Rejoice with trembling and have hope while you're still in exile.

[37:42] Well, the third significance then from Psalm 2 is for life in Christ's inaugurated kingdom. What do I mean by that? We're told in the Gospels that all power and all authority have been given to Jesus Christ.

[37:58] He already has all power and all authority. But then we read in a lot of places like Hebrews chapter 4, there still remains a rest that is yet to come. It's not fully here yet.

[38:09] So the term we use is His kingdom. It's already but not yet. It's already inaugurated but not yet consummated. So we are in that stage now, the same stage as the church in the book of Acts that we read just a moment ago.

[38:25] Jesus said in John chapter 12 verse 15, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming sitting on a donkey's colt.

[38:37] He promised them be ready, be ready, daughters of Zion. Be ready, people of God's holy hill. Your king is coming. And when Jesus entered Jerusalem, He was fulfilling this inaugurated kingdom.

[38:51] But He entered Jerusalem to lay down His life. He went to Zion to lay down the blood of the Savior to ransom captive not only Israel but all the ends of the earth.

[39:07] And this brings us then to the early church. God pours out the Holy Spirit on His church in Acts 2. And we read in Acts 4 like we saw today that Peter and John had a display of God's power in the early church and for that disruption they were arrested.

[39:26] Here's the rulers of the earth mounting in power against the church, against the anointed and His people. And while they were arrested and they come back and they tell of this great deliverance, notice what happens.

[39:39] It's the church gathers all together and they pray. They pray what we read earlier and they pray through Psalm chapter 2. See how we're to pray the Psalms? Did you catch that when we read that?

[39:51] This is from Acts chapter 4. They read, Acts 4 goes on to say, For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed.

[40:13] Acts 4 interprets Psalm 2 for us. For Jesus now while they're being persecuted and as they pray, in church, we need to pray more. When we come back together in August, that needs to be the heartbeat of what we do.

[40:25] They prayed together in one accord through Psalm 2 and we're told there was an earthquake. That's how much it rattled the kingdom of heaven right here. This little church, they're praying.

[40:37] The earth shook. God comforted them. He says, I am with you. Both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, they may do whatever.

[40:51] All they do, it's only whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. That's what the church prays in Acts 4. So now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with boldness.

[41:09] Do you see the application of Psalm 2 for the church? While we are in His spiritually inaugurated kingdom, longing for His consummate kingdom, Israel had the promise.

[41:23] We now, the church with the Holy Spirit, we have the fulfillment. Israel had David and Solomon. We church, we have Jesus Christ, God Himself.

[41:36] Israel had earthly Zion. We have heavenly Zion. Christ is ascended. He is enthroned. He is raised from the dead in His glorified body and He rules over the earth.

[41:52] We sing, Mine are days here as a stranger, pilgrim on the narrow way. One with Christ, I will encounter harm and hatred for His name.

[42:02] But, Mine is armor for this battle, strong enough to last the war. And He has said, He will deliver safely to the golden shore.

[42:16] Jesus Christ reigns. We are His militant, persecuted church on earth, but our King reigns from heaven.

[42:26] 1 Corinthians 15, 25 says, Christ must rule until He puts all enemies under His control.

[42:39] Do you see that? Christ must rule until He puts all His enemies under His control. He is ruling, but yet He is putting His enemies under His control.

[42:50] That's how you can have hope and happiness in a world that rages against God. You look again and again to His Holy Son on the hill of Zion in heaven, His anointed King, and you heed His warning.

[43:04] Rejoice with trembling. The Holy King reigns. Take refuge in Him. Well, the fourth significance here from Psalm 2 is the coming of Christ's consummate kingdom.

[43:22] Jesus tells the parable in Luke 19, 12, that can be hard to understand, but listen to this in light of Psalm 2. This is Luke 19, verse 12. A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.

[43:40] This is Jesus' parable. But His citizens hated Him and sent a delegation after Him saying, we do not want this man to reign over us. There's scene one.

[43:52] When He returned, having received the kingdom, He ordered these servants to give account and to pay their dues. Verse 10 of Psalm 2.

[44:03] Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings, be instructed, ye judges of the earth. There is a day of reckoning that's coming. Psalm 2, verse 9.

[44:17] He will break them with a rod of iron. He will dash them into pieces like a potter's vessel. There is no refuge from Him. Be wise.

[44:30] Serve the Lord. In his final sermon of his life, the medical doctor turned preacher, Martin Lloyd-Jones in London, this was the sermon text he preached up in Scotland.

[44:43] Many still remember and were moved to tears. This is this old man calling all to serve the Lord, rejoice with trembling, kiss the sun.

[44:57] And that's how he made sense of the Great Depression, the two world wars, the misery of billions of people. This is but the wrath of God kindled but a little.

[45:08] The world hangs like on that bungee, the spiky rocks down below. The Lord is preserving this world but for how much longer? Take refuge in Him now. His consummate kingdom is coming.

[45:21] Romans 2, 5 says, Because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

[45:33] You'll either get eternal life or you'll get the wrath and fury of a holy God who will set all things right. There will be tribulation and distress for every person who does evil, says Romans 2.

[45:49] So how does Christ do this? How does His kingdom come on earth? One of our catechisms answers it this way. How does Christ execute the office of king? Christ executes the office of king in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all of our enemies?

[46:12] What type of king is Jesus as He reigns now from heaven? What is promised to us about this king? Psalm 110, verse 3 says, Your people, Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of Your power in holy garments.

[46:30] His people stand washed by His blood in holy garments before Him as free, grateful offerings. It's their reasonable service to Him. That's the significance of Psalm 2 for us today, church.

[46:44] The psalmist urges you, Rejoice with trembling. Be wise. Be warned. Serve the Lord with fear. Serve the Lord, captain of the sports team.

[46:55] Serve the Lord, teachers. Serve the Lord, mom and dads. Serve the Lord, managers. Be wise. Fear the Lord. A day of reckoning is coming. Serve the Lord, older siblings.

[47:08] Serve the Lord, grandparents. You will give account one day. Serve the Lord, deacons and pastors. Rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish by the way.

[47:26] Revelation 4, 2 gives us one other apostle's view of the heavenly realm. Here's how the apostle John describes Christ seated on His throne. He says, Behold, a throne stood in heaven with one seated on the throne.

[47:42] From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder. And there's the heavenly court and a countless host before the King of Kings declaring, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.

[48:02] And that's our cry. Christ exalted is our song. And we do this together. This journey ours together into that great forever. We're almost home.

[48:13] What song anew we'll sing round that happy throne. Come, faint of heart, we are almost home. There was a very wealthy man who collected classical paintings worth millions, every painting, and his mansion was filled with them.

[48:33] His son had gotten caught off to war and one of the men in the trenches drew a sketch of his son, his friend there aboard and he respected him. He had mailed that little sketch, that little portrait back to the father, this wealthy man with the mansion.

[48:46] When the man and his wife died, he had a very simple will. Everyone came, the wealthiest people, you know, from all the corners of the earth to try to bid on each one of these pieces, these paintings.

[49:00] The first one was this simple little hand-drawn portrait of the wealthy man's son. No one wanted to take a bid. $50, we'll drop it down, $25. $1, anyone?

[49:13] Finally, someone took it. Get things going. And then the auctioneer, let them know, it's over, auction's over. The will simply says, whoever takes the son takes it all.

[49:28] Blessed are all who put their trust in him. Rejoice with trembling. The Lion of Heaven mounted the hill of Zion as the bloody Lamb of God.

[49:45] While we were yet his enemies, Christ died for us. Rejoice with trembling. It was the will of God to crush him like pottery.

[49:58] He took the wrath of God, the iron judgment of the holy God in your place.

[50:14] Rejoice with trembling. His mission was to bless you, to give you peace with God.

[50:25] Rejoice with trembling. Blessed is anyone, anyone, anyone, from any nation, from the ends of the earth who takes refuge in God's anointed, the King who sits on God's holy throne, His only begotten Son.

[50:42] Rejoice with trembling. Take refuge in him. Let's pray. This is from An Orthodox Catechism, question 143.

[51:08] Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Rule us by your word and spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you.

[51:24] Keep your church strong and add to it. Destroy the devil's work. Destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your word.

[51:38] Do this until your kingdom is so complete and perfect that in it you are all and all.

[51:50] Amen.