Psalm 2
Psalm 2
After over a month camped out in the Psalms, there are probably a few things going on in your heart and your head. You may be like me and have absolutely adored the time that we got to spend in the Psalms--they might be a place of extreme comfort for you. Or, you could be like my wife, who is stretched by the emotionalism in the Psalms. Regardless of which side of the spectrum you find yourself on, after a month in the Psalms you might be asking the question “each of these individual psalms are great but what do the Psalms as a whole actually have to say to me?”. I would posit that they have two messages for any and every person who reads them, the first is expressed in Psalm 1, which my wife did a wonderful job writing on two days ago, and says simply that God’s word is to be treasured and meditated on, and that it is good for us. The second is expressed in Psalm 2, which teaches us about ourselves, the true king who God has appointed, and how we should respond to him.
When you read Psalm 2 it can be hard to apply language about nations raging and rulers plotting in vain to your own life; but when you get past the fact that you don’t have a country to govern, what Psalm 2 is describing is a universal human experience. While we may not be kings and rulers, we can surely all identify with looking at God and his reign and rule and responding with a desire to burst the “bonds” he has put on us. That was the state of all of us in our flesh. We walked as enemies of God, and hated what was good--we bowed our backs against what we saw as restrictions put on us by an unloving dictator. That is the plotting and scheming that Psalm 2 is describing; it is speaking to people look at the rule of the Lord and his chosen King and think that they could do better if they were just left to rule themselves, and we have all been there.
God’s response to this scheming is to laugh at them, and to point them to the one who he has established to govern the peoples of the Earth. God points to the ruler who he has chosen, who he has fathered, and says that all the nations and the ends of the earth will fall under his rule. Sounds familiar right? While the psalmist is pointing Israel towards their earthly king who subjects other rulers to himself, we can see clearly the way that those kings were a precursor to the King of kings and Lord of lords, the one who has all authority on heaven and on Earth, who upholds everything with the breath of his power, the one who all things were created through and for: Jesus.
The psalm ends with a simple warning and encouragement. It makes it clear, whatever you think, you have to respond to the reign of the Lord and his anointed King. You can be wise and serve him and rejoice, being blessed in taking refuge in him, or you can continue in your rebellion.
I think that we honestly need these reminders. First of all we need to be reminded that we serve a King. We are not just buddies or pals with Jesus and he isn’t just a mentor who gives us good advice. Christ rules and reigns as King over all things, and whatever we do in our lives is either in alignment and obedience to his commands or is in rebellion against them. That brings a different tone to our sin doesn’t it? When we think of it as rebellion against our God, Savior, and King rather than just an “oopsies”, sin starts to take on the serious look it was always supposed to have, but that we have robbed it of. As we wrap up the Psalms, don’t neglect this message written so clearly across them: there is a King, Holy and anointed by God, who has dominion and power over every square inch of the Earth, and every day we either walk in alignment with his commands or plot and scheme our rebellion.
Where are you currently plotting and scheming in rebellion against the Lord and against his anointed?
Where in your life are you taking sin too lightly?
Where do you need to respond in obedience to our King?
