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.
So really covering the entire history of God's revelation.
Psalm chapter 2 today.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Would you pray with me?
O anointed King,
declare to us the divine decree once again today.
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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
So scene one is this.
It's the sin-loving world,
loud,
clamoring together,
conspiring,
hating God
and hating the law of his kingdom.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
What are the bonds
that tie and restrain
the kings of the earth?
God declares,
I alone am the Lord.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
You tremble at God
and then you rejoice
by taking refuge in Him,
the unshakable rock.
Now, scene 2,
verses 4, 5, and 6.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This is so glorious.
So scene three is,
the world-loving Son
promised
to inherit
the uttermost parts
of the earth.
Yes,
God hates the world,
but the Son
shows the love
of God
for sinners
to the uttermost parts
of this sinful world.
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.
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.
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.
This day
have I begotten Thee.
So,
there are only two categories.
It's creation
or the Creator.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
God rules
all nations.
They're all
under his law.
Verse 11,
Serve the Lord
with fear
and rejoice
with trembling.
Serve the Lord.
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.
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.
Until even recent times,
an ambassador
to another country
would have to come
and ceremonially
bow down
and kiss the foot
of the king.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Then we can rejoice,
rejoice,
Emmanuel shall come
to thee,
O Israel.
Rejoice with trembling
and have hope
while you're still
in exile.
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.
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.
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.
Jesus said
in John
chapter 12
verse 15,
Fear not,
daughter of Zion.
Behold,
your king is coming
sitting on a donkey's colt.
He promised them
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jesus Christ reigns.
We are His militant,
persecuted church on earth,
but our King reigns from heaven.
1 Corinthians 15, 25 says,
Christ must rule
until He puts all enemies
under His control.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When He returned,
having received the kingdom,
He ordered these servants
to give account
and to pay their dues.
Verse 10 of Psalm 2.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
The psalmist urges you,
Rejoice with trembling.
Be wise.
Be warned.
Serve the Lord with fear.
Serve the Lord,
captain of the sports team.
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.
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.
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.
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
to come.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
While we were yet
his enemies,
Christ died for us.
Rejoice with trembling.
It was the will of God
to crush him
like pottery.
He took the wrath of God,
the iron judgment
of the holy God
in your place.
Rejoice with trembling.
His mission
was to bless you,
to give you peace
with God.
Rejoice with trembling.
Blessed is 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.
Rejoice with trembling.
Take refuge in him.
Let's pray.
This is from
An Orthodox Catechism,
question 143.
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.
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.
Do this until your kingdom
is so complete
and perfect
that in it
you are all
and all.
Amen.