Good afternoon everyone, as Paul said, I'm Ian and I'm delighted to join in the welcome you've already had at our Oly's service this morning.
I want to start with a short quiz, test your memories a bit maybe, and our quiz is about national anthems.
Now most of us who are certainly interested in sport would recognise the tunes of quite a few national anthems.
But alongside tunes, most and not all of them also have words, words that are designed to stir us up, to fill us with patriotic pride, and perhaps to strike fear into the hands of our opponents.
But in practice, certainly if you're a Brit, you probably don't know much more than the words of the first verse of your own national anthems.
So we're going to have a quiz about national anthems, and you have to identify which country's national anthem it is.
No prizes, just shout out the answers.
As a clue, all of them are associated with people in this church.
People in this church who come from all the countries that we're going to put up on the screen.
So here's the first one.
Blessed with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land praise the power that hath made and preserved us and nation.
Any idea of what country that is national anthem of?
If we don't get this one, we're going to be really striking later.
Any thoughts?
Okay.
It's the Star Spangled Banner.
It's the anthem of the United States.
Second one.
God bless us, your children.
God, we ask you to protect our nation, intervene, and end all conflicts.
I'm not sure the people from that country are here.
Anyone?
Okay.
South Africa.
It's the Rainbow Nation part of the national anthem of South Africa.
Translated to English.
South African anthem is in about four different languages, I think.
This is one of the parts of the verse translated to English.
Okay.
Number three.
We swear to set free the land of our birth.
United for God.
Who can overcome us?
I don't think anyone knows their national anthem.
That's an Italian one.
A rising tune, but it's several verses in.
Right.
Hope we get this one.
O Lord, our God, arise.
Scatter her enemies and make them fall.
UK, yes.
At least someone knows the second verse of the UK anthem.
Right.
That was just a bit of fun.
But I want to think about what could be thought of as a Jewish national anthem.
Say, Psalm 2.
If you are living in the few hundred years before Jesus was born, then Psalm 2 has many
of the same kind of features as the anthems we've been thinking about.
If you are noticing the words, rather than just think what country they were, all of the
words that we put up were countries saying, God is on our side and we will be victorious
in one way or another.
And that very much is what Psalm 2 is about.
It's saying God is on the side of his people and his king, king of Israel, and we will be
victorious through him.
It's a psalm of victory.
It's also, like Psalm 1, an introduction to the book of Psalms.
Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 may originally have been just one psalm.
You notice Psalm 1 starts with, blesses the man who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked.
And Psalm 2 ends with, blessed are all those who take refuge in him.
And these two verses bracket the two psalms.
They may have been one to begin with.
But there are significant differences between Psalm 1 and Psalm 2.
Psalm 1 is very much about me and my relationship with God.
It's about the individual, the man who walks in God's ways.
Psalm 2 is very much more about the nation.
Nations as represented by kings and by rulers.
But it's more of a corporate psalm about the people of God and about the enemies of God.
Psalm 1 is very much my relationship with God.
It is walking in God's way.
It is recognizing God.
Psalm 2 is about my relationship with the king.
The king of Israel, we'll think about in a few minutes what it originally meant.
For us, looking forward, Jesus, our king.
And then Psalm 1, as we look forward, as we think of a New Testament context,
Psalm 1, as Graham presented to us last week,
Jesus is the perfect example of someone who lives like Psalm 1,
what Graham called Mr. Psalm 1.
If we want to know what it's like to live the way that the psalmist tells us to,
we look at Jesus and he shows that perfectly.
Psalm 2 much more directly points forward to Jesus himself.
And tells us that Jesus is the one whom we have to worship and we have to serve.
It's the first of what are quite often called the Messianic Psalms.
There are quite a number of them scattered through the book of Psalms.
There are songs that look forward, when we look back at them as Christians,
we can see these are about Jesus.
And that's not just us thinking that or putting two and two together.
Psalm 2 is quoted many times in the New Testament as referring to Jesus.
So although there was an original context, which we'll cover briefly,
when we look at Psalm 2 as Christians, as those who know the Lord Jesus,
we look back and see we can see a lot about Jesus in this psalm.
He's pointing forward to him as the ultimate king,
as the ultimate one who is the Son of God.
And let's bear that in mind as we go through it.
Now Psalm divides up very easily.
There are four paragraphs of three verses each, or perhaps four verses because it's a song,
four sections of three verses each that we can look at.
And to make things easy to remember, I've got a heading for each that begins with R.
So the first three verses are about rebellion.
There's a picture here of nations rising up against God's king
and of trying to overthrow him and to win their freedom.
Now some people think Psalm 2 originally was a coronation psalm.
That it was one that would have been sung when a new king, perhaps Solomon,
or perhaps one of the later kings, when a new king was crowned.
And as there's always lots of pomp and ceremony to coronation,
this might have been one of the songs that was sung.
And that might be quite relevant as we think about these verses.
One thing that sometimes happens when there's a new king in one of the powers of the world
is that those who are under that power and perhaps resent it think,
here might be an opportunity for us to win our freedom.
The old king has been very powerful and has trodden us down,
but this new king might not be as strong.
We can take our chance and see if we can defeat him and win our freedom.
In a slightly more everyday context,
sometimes when children at school get a new teacher,
they think, let's just test them out and see how far they'll go.
Let's be a little bit naughty and see if they clamp down on it
or see if they're a bit more lax than our previous teacher
and we can take advantage of that.
That's possibly the kind of thought that's here.
New king, new opportunities for those who oppose him
to rebel and to take their stand against him.
But the psalmist says,
why do they do that?
Because it's pointless.
They're never going to be victorious against the great king who God has appointed.
There's a big difference between this anthem,
we teach us that,
and most national anthems.
Most national anthems,
we hope God is on our side
and we sing in some assurance that God's on our side.
When it came to the Jewish nation,
they knew that they were God's special people
and that if they were obedient,
they would be triumphant.
When we come to the Lord Jesus,
we know that he is God's son
and that God will put everything under his feet.
So standing against him ultimately is futile.
In the New Testament,
right at the beginning of the book of Acts,
there was a time of persecution.
And Peter and John were thrown into prison
and were eventually released.
And the disciples got together
and they had a big prayer meeting.
It was a wonderful prayer meeting.
At the end of it,
the whole building shook.
But as part of that prayer meeting,
they quoted these words from Psalm 2.
Why do the nations conspire
and the people plot in vain?
And they said this,
Herod and Pontius Pilate
met together with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel in this city
to conspire against your holy servant,
Jesus, whom you anointed.
So they looked at Psalm 2
and they said,
Ultimately, it's about people
who are conspiring against Jesus.
And they knew that ultimately
they wouldn't be successful.
So how can we translate that to our day?
Well, there are many places in the world today
where if you're a Christian,
you're in great danger.
And our brothers and sisters
in many foreign lands
could probably take these verses
and they would be very real to them
because they see their rulers
conspiring against the Christian faith
and against the Lord Jesus.
Countries like North Korea,
China still to some extent,
countries in the Middle East,
a lot of places where Christians,
if they take a stand for Jesus,
feel that they're in real danger.
Now, we probably don't feel that.
I don't think any of us worries too much
about physical violence against us
if we take a stand for the Lord Jesus.
But yet in our country,
there is still an undercurrent
against Christian things.
I was really encouraged
by what Scott said earlier
about that atheism hasn't got the same hold
that it used to among many students.
But there's no doubt
that there is still,
among particular people,
what they call the new atheists,
there is a real hostility to Christianity
and a tendency to mock it
and to say it's irrelevant
and we should do away with it
and have nothing to do with it.
It's not persecution in the sense
that our brothers and sisters
in other countries experience,
but nevertheless,
it is people conspiring against Jesus
and against the gospel
and seeking to bring it down.
It's really good to know
in these circumstances
that we have a God
who is all-powerful
and that ultimately
he will prevail
and that Jesus is the only one
who can bring real peace
and real satisfaction in life.
So there's a rebellion
to begin with.
I've got verses 3 to 4 to 6,
reaction.
So God sees this rebellion
and he reacts against it
perhaps in a surprising way.
He laughs.
I don't often think,
I suspect,
of God laughing,
but it is, I think,
the thought here
that the suggestion
these people are making
is laughable.
That would be quite a good expression
we would use in our land today.
It is laughable
that they should think
that they could stand against God
and against his chosen people
and that they could emerge victorious.
There's a good Scots expression
that might slightly describe
what God's reaction would be.
You and whose army?
Someone tries to come against you.
You and whose army
is going to beat me?
Or this evening
we'll be looking at the story
of David and Goliath.
Nilo will be taking us through that.
You remember when David
came up against Goliath?
Goliath's reaction was,
am I a dog
that you come to be with sticks?
He thought there was no chance
that David could beat him.
Now Goliath was wrong.
But God is absolutely right.
As he sees the people coming
and opposing him,
he knows that ultimately
he will be triumphant.
But it goes beyond laughter
and scoffing.
And God then rebukes them.
He terrifies them,
says the psalmist.
And then he installs his king
on Zion.
So God says to these people,
my reaction,
there's no way you're going
to end up victorious.
And you're going to have
to consider the consequences
of what you're doing.
I have installed my king
and he is going to be the one
who is my judge.
Now for these three headings,
I've got a verse
from the book of Acts
that we're going to look at.
And the next verse
is something that Paul said.
Paul, when he went to Athens
and he saw everything
was happening there,
preached a great sermon
up on Mars Hill
talking about the greatness of God.
but his nearness to us.
And then he talks about
the Lord Jesus.
And he says of God,
he has set a day
when he will judge the world
with justice
by the man he has appointed.
That if we're looking forward
is not explicitly there,
but that is what this means
when it says,
I've installed my king
on Zion,
my holy hill.
God has set a day
when we will all have to give
account of ourselves
before Jesus.
And he is the one
who will be
the ultimate judge.
And how we will be judged
will be on our response
to him
and whether our trust
is in him
as we'll see
as we go down
through the psalm.
So there is reaction.
Our third R
is recognition.
Now,
important to note
at this point
in the psalm,
the speaker changes.
So there's been a bit
of God speaking
in verse 6,
but mostly it's been
the narrator up to now.
In verse 7,
it changes to the king speaking.
So we might like to think
of it as Jesus speaking,
but only speaking
very briefly
and then quoting
the words of God
to him.
So these verses,
verses 7 to 9,
are about the recognition
that God gives
to the king.
To the king
in Old Testament times
to the king,
Jesus.
In the book of
2 Samuel,
David is the king
and he wants to build
a temple for God
and God says,
no, it's not your job
because you've been
a man of war.
It's your son
who will become the king.
But he also says,
I will be his father
and he will be
my son.
And that's very much
the thought that's here
if we look in
the Old Testament context
that God has
used the king
almost as an adopted son
as his representative
here on earth.
But of course,
as we look forward,
as we think about
the New Testament,
the Christian context,
we think of Jesus
as the son of God.
Many times
through the Gospels,
Jesus is referred to
as the son of God
or God indeed
speaks from heaven
and says,
this is my son
with whom I am pleased.
And so these verses
very much point forward
to Jesus.
These three verses
are quoted,
I think,
six times
in the New Testament.
One of them
we read earlier,
what Kat read to us,
and here's a few
couple of verses
from that passage,
following when
it says that God
has called Jesus' son,
or before that,
rather,
we tell you the good news
what God has promised
our ancestors
he has fulfilled
for us,
their children,
by raising up
Jesus.
And then he quotes
from Psalm 2.
In the book of Hebrews
there are two quotations
of the reference
to Psalm 2
of God's son,
and one is presenting
him as being
so much more powerful
than the angels,
that none of the angels
were ever called
God's son,
and the other is
in connection with him
being the great high priest,
the one appointed
by God
for the priestly function,
and the writer quotes
from Psalm 2
there as well.
So we come today
and we have a God
who has very clearly
identified for us
and recognized
the Lord Jesus
as his son,
as the one
who is his representative
and who always does
what he wills,
and the one
to whom,
as it says here,
he has made
the nations
his inheritance,
the end of his earth,
your possession.
Or as Jesus put it,
all authority
has been given to me
in heaven
and on earth.
And then at the end
in verse 9,
there's the bit
about the rule,
the authority,
the judgment
of Jesus.
You will rule them
with an iron scepter,
you will dash them
to pieces like pottery.
This picture
of ruling
with an iron scepter
is referred to
three times
in the book of Revelation,
all of them
arguably about Jesus,
one or two of them
may not be,
but certainly
it is relevant here.
Now it's quite interesting
if you look
at the root meaning
of the words here,
the word that is
translated rule
can also mean
shepherd.
And the word
that's translated
iron scepter,
some people think
has the picture
not of a kind of
big iron rod,
but actually
of a shepherd's crook.
So although there's
an element of judgment
here,
and of God
standing against
his enemies
and condemning them,
there's also
an element
of Jesus
as the shepherd,
as the one
who lovingly
looks after
and disciplines
his sheep.
And for those
of us
who know Jesus,
that discipline
is an important
part of our lives
and the way
that he shepherds us.
But for those
who don't know him,
again,
it's something
that should,
the psalmist says,
strike fear into them
because he is
the ruler,
he is the one
who will judge.
And then finally,
let's look briefly
at verses 10 to 12.
And in these verses,
the psalmist
urges reflection.
Think about
everything that's
been said up
till now,
reflect on it,
and you're not
going to want
to rebel
if you really
think about it
seriously.
The only wise
thing to do
is to recognize
the Son
and to pay
allegiance
to him.
Therefore,
you kings,
be wise,
be warned,
you rulers of the earth,
serve the Lord
with fear,
rejoice with trembling,
kiss the Son.
The idea of kissing
the Son
is really of submission,
of submitting
to the will
of the Son.
Let's look at
another verse
from the book
of Acts.
Sorry,
that's come a bit
off the screen
at the bottom there,
but hopefully
you can see it.
Paul is in Philippi,
he's been in prison
with Silas,
his companion,
the prison doors
have burst open,
the prisoners
are all in theory
free,
although all of them
stay,
the jailer comes in
and he's about
to kill himself,
Paul says,
don't do that,
we're all here,
and he says,
what must I do
to be saved?
And Paul says,
believe in the Lord
Jesus
and you
will
be saved.
And that is
the New Testament
equivalent,
I think,
of verse 12,
blessed are all
who take refuge
in him.
So the psalmist
says,
there's a judgment
to come,
but if we take
refuge in the Son,
in the King,
as we think of it,
in Jesus,
then there will be
salvation,
there will be
forgiveness,
we won't face
the wrath
of God.
And that's the
ultimate message,
I think,
of Psalm 2.
It's a psalm
that presents
the power of God,
how futile it is
to rebel against
God ultimately.
It presents to us
the judgment of God,
that God has to
punish those
who rebel against
him,
and will
ultimately
crush them.
But it's a psalm
about the love of God,
and the way in which
God has prepared
a way for us
to have peace
with him,
and to be forgiven.
And that is
through the Lord Jesus,
particularly through
his death for us
on the cross,
as he went there,
and as he took
the punishment
for our sins.
As we read again,
it was in Acts chapter 13,
was it the one
who has died,
and the one
who has risen again,
and the one
whom the God
has pronounced
as his son.
So let's finish
by returning
to anthems.
Not national anthems
this time,
but let's think about
heaven's anthem.
Now I'm sure
there are many
psalms,
songs in the Bible
that we could think of
as suitable anthems
for us as Christians,
are many of the songs
we sing
that have been written
by godly people
that present
the truths
of the gospel
and of the Lord Jesus
in wonderful
and stirring ways.
Let me just talk
about three things
that perhaps
we should have
if we have
heaven's anthem.
And the first thing
is allegiance
to the sun.
That is what
the psalm is about,
and that is what
we are about
as a church.
It is about
Jesus.
It is about
knowing Jesus.
It is about
loving him.
It is about
trusting in him.
It is about
following him.
And we,
I'm sure all of us,
if we know Jesus,
would wish to express
that allegiance
to him
and to demonstrate
it to others.
And there's a challenge
if you don't know
Jesus,
if you don't feel
your allegiances
to him this morning,
to recognize
that you need
to put your trust
in him
and to come
to him
for forgiveness
and to know
that his death
on the cross
is enough
to cover over
all your failure.
So allegiance
to the sun
is a key part
of heaven's anthem.
Second thing
which is a key part,
key part of Psalm 2
and of many
other passages of Scripture
is the warning
of judgment.
We need,
if we're believers
in the Lord Jesus,
to be aware
that there is a judgment.
It's something
that will happen
and we need
to be telling people
about it
but telling them
about it
in the context
that we have
a loving God
who sent his son
to die on the cross
and we can have
forgiveness
through him.
We can have
the knowledge
that we have
eternal life,
that we're going
to be with Jesus,
that ultimately
we have been saved
from the punishment
for all the wrong
we've done.
The warning of judgment
is a very important part
of what we want
in an anthem
about our faith.
And then the final thing
is the confidence
in victory.
We should look
at a Psalm like this
and we should give thanks
that we have a God
who is all-powerful,
who is in control
of the universe,
who is holy
but who is loving as well
and who will give us
the victory
through the Lord Jesus.
And let's go away
rejoicing in that
this morning.
That as we face
difficulties in life,
perhaps as we face
in some measure
opposition to our position
as Christians,
that we are on the side
of victory.
We know the Son,
we love him
and we know that
ultimately
he will triumph.
And let's go away
rejoicing in him
and confident
that through him
we will emerge
victorious.
Let's pray together.
Father, we thank you
for this wonderful Psalm.
We thank you
for the way
in which it presents
to us
your greatness,
that you are
the Almighty One,
that you are the one
who is all-powerful.
We thank you too
as it presents to us
our failure
and the failure
of many, many people
down the years,
that we,
in a real sense,
are or have been
the rebels
that the Psalmist
talks about.
But we thank you
that it tells us too
that through the Son
there is peace,
there is forgiveness,
there is a relationship
with the great God
of heaven.
Help us all
to put our trust
in Jesus,
to come to know
him for ourselves
and then to go on
victorious,
to serve him,
to tell others
about him
and to live for him
in every aspect
of our lives.
We thank you
for your word
to us this morning.
We thank you
for what we thought
about earlier on too.
We pray again
for the students
at the universities
around our city
that you will help them
to be good witnesses
and to know
the power of the Lord Jesus
and the victory
that comes through him.
We give you our thanks
and commit ourselves
to you now
in Jesus' name.
Amen.