Psalm 2
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Meditation
Psalm 2 consists of four stanzas. Each stanza has three verses. The stanzas can be summed up as follows:
Stanza 1 - the nations rage (1-3)
Stanza 2 - the Lord responds (4-6)
Stanza 3 - the Son reigns (7-9)
Stanza 4 - the blessed take refuge (10-12)
The first stanza describes the nations raging. What are they raging against? The Lord and his Anointed (2). Note the actions ascribed to the nations, including kings and rulers: they rage, plot in vain, take counsel together, and set themselves against God. It is a theological perspective on humanity. The nations of the earth are not religiously neutral; they are God-defying and Messiah-rejecting. Individually and collectively, the life of such people communicates a message: “Be gone God; leave us alone. We don’t want you to rule over us. We don’t want your commands. We know better for ourselves how we ought to live.” In the words of Psalm 2, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us” (3). Psalm 2 describes man’s natural disposition toward God in a fallen world. We want him out of our lives.
What is God’s response to this clamor? His response is a gut check. God is in heaven laughing at the vanity of our rebellion. He isn’t disturbed by it. It doesn’t threaten his plan or purposes. Let’s be clear, this isn’t cruel or sadistic laughter. It is Almighty God amused by how high and mighty people think they are. It’s akin to a toddler throwing a tantrum because he doesn’t want to take a nap. He thinks he can avoid the nap by throwing a fit. But all the parent has to do is pick up the child and take him to his room. The tantrum, from one point of view, is laughable.
That illustration breaks down. When a child kicks and screams on the floor there’s something laughably silly about it. The child is over-reacting. But when it comes to rebellion against God, there’s nothing silly about it. As the Just Judge of all the earth, he holds rebellious humanity in derision. God confronts mankind’s “insolence with quiet contempt” (Calvin) while he laughs in the heavens reigning over it all.
But then the Lord speaks in 2:6: “As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.” This is the literal and thematic center of the Psalm: God’s King is established in the midst of the nations.
Who is this Anointed King? On one level it’s David, but David figuring the Anointed One, God’s eternal Son.
Another voice speaks in 2:7: “I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’ These words, Augustine says, are “put into the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ himself.” The bishop of Hippo goes on to explain, “It might seem that the day on which Jesus Christ was born in human form is here spoken of prophetically; but the statement is more probably to be referred to his eternal [generation]. The word ‘today’ signifies the present, and in eternity there is nothing which is past, as though it had ceased to be, nor future, as though not yet in existence; there is present only, because whatever is eternal always is. By this phrase, ‘today have I begotten you,’ the most true and catholic faith proclaims the eternal generation of the Power and Wisdom of God, who is the only-begotten Son.”
So it is Christ speaking who tells of the decree. Thus, in Psalm 2, you have the Lord and his Christ speaking in Psalm 2 — the Father and his Anointed, the eternally begotten Son. This is the Son who is without beginning, eternal with the Father and the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14). And the Father decreed to give his Son the nations as an inheritance. The peoples are his possession by divine decree.
Notice how this all gets picked up in the life and ministry of Jesus. The Father confirmed the identity of Jesus in Psalm 2 terms at his baptism when he said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). From the beginning of his messianic ministry, Jesus is identified as the eternally begotten Son now enfleshed. And at the end of his earthly ministry, after his conquering death and victorious resurrection, Jesus declared, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus commissions his churchly people to make disciples of the nations because the nations rightfully belong to King Jesus.
Some have suggested that Psalm 2 is a kind of Christian worldview. It certainly is not exhaustive, but in the first stanza, we have anthropology — the peoples of this earth are rebellious enemies of God (1-3). Then in the second stanza, we have the doctrine of God, he is holy and sovereign over mankind and holds them in derision (4-6). Then in the third stanza, we have the doctrine of Christ as God’s eternal Son (7-9); he is God’s King before whom the nations must bow. Then finally, in the fourth stanza, we have the way of salvation (10-12). Mark the directives. Be wise because rebellion against the Lord and his Anointed is vain. Be warned because God “has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). Serve the Lord and rejoice because a lifetime of living life your way is not the pathway to joy. So kiss the Son because “blessed [happy] are those who take refuge in him” (2:12). Indeed, eternally happy are those who kiss the Son who lives and reigns forevermore. He is pleased to pardon the rebellious and receive the humble into his kingdom of life, joy and peace.