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. Psalm 2:7–8

Psalm 2:1–12 – Season of Advent, 2022
Second Sunday of Advent – December 4, 2022 (am)

Introduction

The advent season is a season of hope, of longing, of anticipation and hope assumes something is lacking. We don’t hope for what we already have, we hope for what we don’t have.

Kids – I know you have things you’re hoping to get this Christmas, don’t you? – Adults – I know you have things you’re hoping to get too.  In my home, the kid’s Christmas lists are a bit longer than the adults, but there’s still something there – something that would be nice to receive.

Last weekend, I was scouring the vast landscape that is the Amazon marketplace to see if I couldn’t find a few deals – for my family – when I came across a great deal for something I’ve been hoping to get for some time now, a couple of years to tell you the truth. I know you’re wondering what is it that Nick could want so badly – you’re curious aren’t you? So I’ll tell you what it is – it’s a pair of noise cancelling headphones.

Why would Nick want that? Is he like a music junkie or one of those people who likes to walk around in public and act as if no one around him exists because he can’t hear anything?

The reason I want them is because I like to listen to podcasts while I mow my lawn – and my old pair of headphones are about 10 years old and the padding that goes around my ears is so deteriorated that it can’t keep the outside noise out – so this past summer I’ve got Alistair Begg and Al Mohler and other guys on full blast as I mow, and I’m mowing with my head pressed against my shoulder which isn’t all that safe, and I’m still only catching every third word of their sermons and it’s really throwing off my theology . . . so that’s why I’ve been hoping to get some new noise canceling headphones.

And since it was such a good deal, and since time was running out on it, and since there are a few people who still like to buy me something for Christmas, I decided to shoot a quick text with a link to the deal I found to these certain someones – to make their life easier – HOPING one of them might be generous enough to buy them for me. 

When we say Advent is a season of Hope, what we are saying is that it is a season of longing for something we don’t already have. But, you might ask, how is Advent a season of hope?  Isn’t advent the season leading up to the time when we remember Jesus’ birth and hasn’t Jesus already been born? So how do we hope for what we already have? 

Psalm 2 helps us to address that question because there is more to Advent than just hoping for the Messiah’s birth. In Psalm 2, and many other prophesies about the coming Messiah, the hope is for far more than just the Messiah’s appearance. And what they prophets hoped for is something we’re still hoping for today.

Let’s turn to Psalm 2 now to see what that could be.

 

1) The Absence of Peace (vv. 1-3)

David begins his Psalm with a question, and an observation – both of which highlight that something was missing in David’s day, something worth hoping for . . . David writes:

1          Why do the nations rage

                        and the peoples plot in vain?

2          The kings of the earth set themselves,

                        and the rulers take counsel together,

                        against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,

3          “Let us burst their bonds apart

                        and cast away their cords from us.”

In these first few verses – David describes a world at war. According to his observations rage is the emotional climate of the day; plots of rebellion are being whispered between the nations and their rulers; sedition, banding together and rising up against authority, is their aim; all in the name of “Freedom!” – which is their rallying cry. And the object of all this rage and the rebellious plots and seditious aims is none other than God himself, and his Anointed king. That is who the nations hate and whose rule they wish to be free from.

In these opening verses, David describes a world at war with God. A war where humanity sees God as enemy number one. A world where God’s rule is perceived to be bondage and where freedom is sought from him rather than in him.

In these opening verses, David describes a world in which something has gone missing and that thing is a right relationship with God. Peace between God and the people he created for the purpose of being in loving relationship with himself. In the place of peace, we find creatures who are rebelling against their Creator and image bearers who aim to be free from the one whose image they bear.

In writing all of this, David was describing his day – for sure – but he is describing ours as well. In fact, he’s describing all of human history. From the moment Adam and Eve rebelled against God’s rule in the garden until today, humanity has been lost in a death spiral of rebellion and rage against God.

We live in a world that is at war with God and the first three verses of Psalm 2 are playing out before our eyes every single day. We see it in organized oppression of Christians in countries like China and Iran and North Korea. We see it in the rage of the masses here in America against God’s definition of gender or marriage or love or life and when it begins. We live in a world where people not only disregard God’s reign, they plot against him to overthrow it. We live in a day when the enemies of God fund movements and create campaigns aimed at overthrowing any hint of his reign or influence on our society.

We live in a world where rulers and authorities live like God doesn’t exist. Where corruption runs rampant, where bribery and dishonesty are the name of the game, where injustice rules the day. And for all the disunity and discord and unrest that is in the world today, Psalm 2 notes that there is unity in this one thing – opposition to God and to His King. 

But this isn’t just an “out there” problem – is it? It’s also an “in here” problem too. If we’re honest, I believe we will find that our hearts are guilty of this same rebellion. It’s found in our reluctance to step off the throne of our own lives and to let God be the one to guide the direction of our lives. It’s found in our visceral reactions to Jesus’ command to love our enemies or to forgive those who have wronged us in the past. This seditious heart is present in our quiet rebellion against Jesus invitation to “abide in me” – always finding another reason for why we don’t have time to do what he asks of us. It’s displayed in the social media posts and impassioned conversations which reveal that our true political allegiance is to the parties of today rather than to the kingdom of heaven.

In all of this – we must realize that something is missing and what is missing is a right relationship between the Creator and the creature. What is missing is an acknowledgement of God as God. What is missing is the truth that submitting to God’s reign is not slavery, but freedom. What is missing is peace between a loving God and those he created to live in His love.

This is the lack, this is what has gone missing, this is what our world is without, and in large measure. And Psalm 2, having pointed out what we’re lacking, goes on to give us three reasons for why we can hope that the sad state of affairs described in these first few verses and experienced all around us will not continue indefinitely.

And the first place David points us for hope, is the hope found in God’s laughter.

 

2) Hope in God’s Laughter

4          He who sits in the heavens laughs;

                        the Lord holds them in derision.

5          Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

                        and terrify them in his fury, saying,

6          “As for me, I have set my King

                        on Zion, my holy hill.”

Before we look at these verses I want you to remember how David began this Psalm back in vs. 1: He began it with a question, not so much because he is wondering why humanity would rebel against God – for that story is as old as the Garden of Eden – but because he is incredulous at humanity’s audacity. The reason he is incredulous is because of his understanding of the one against whom humanity has rebelled.

How could they think for a second that they could set themselves up against the Creator of the universe and win? And to underline the audacity of such actions, he describes for us in this second stanza God’s response to the rebellion of mankind.

Verse 4 begins: “He who sits in heaven.” He doesn’t stand, or pace back and forth, or wring his hands – He sits on his throne in heaven – unmoved, unfazed.[1] And what is he doing as he sits in heaven? He’s laughing.

There is a scene in the Star Wars movie The Return of the Jedi where a disguised princess Leah comes into the home of Jabba the Hut demanding to be paid a bounty on the great Chewbacca. But Jabba doesn’t agree to her requested amount – and when he asks her why he must pay so much – she says, “Because I’m holding a thermal detonator.” Which, given the reaction to everyone in the room, suggests it is a bomb of some sort. Do you remember Jabba’s reaction this act of rebellion against this reign?  He laughs one of cinema’s most iconic laughs. - Ha ha ha ha, ho ho ho – then says something in Jabba speak.

That is how God responds to those who rebel against Him, and in God’s laughter - there is much hope for us.

For behind that laughter of God, is a Heavenly Father who is not threatened by the plots or schemes of marketing campaigns or the rage of the masses, or the rebellion of mighty rulers and kings. Behind this laughter is a Heavenly Father who remains unthreatened by the plots of Kim Jong Un or Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping. He remains unfazed by Planned Parenthood or the new sex education standards in our public schools or the advertising campaigns aimed at destroying a biblical understanding of marriage and gender and life. Neither is He dethroned by the rebellious thoughts and impulses of our own sinful hearts.

In the face of each of these threats, he simply laughs – and that bring us much hope. For it speaks of His sovereign power over every opposition, every person, nation, or king who might dare to set themselves up against him. He is unmoved and unmovable. He is our sovereign God.

But as much hope as his laughter may bring us, it is not his only response. If all God did was laugh, we might wonder if he takes such opposition lightly or if lacks the power or perhaps the goodness to do anything about it. Neither of these could be farther from the truth. God takes these matters very seriously, and he is very capable of handling them – as the following verses explain.

That He takes these matters seriously in verses 4 and 5 when David says, “he will hold these rebels in derision, Then he will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury.” Behind God’s indignant laughter is a fury terrible to behold.

We don’t like to talk about God’s wrath that much, do we? I went to an apologetics conference recently with our students – and it was a great conference – but there was one breakout session on the topic of hell I attended and I was shocked to sit through a presentation where the speaker talked about hell for 45 minutes but not once did he mention God’s wrath or his fury against those who challenge his reign. But our passage is one of many that makes it clear how much God hates the rebellion of his creatures. Psalm 2 makes it clear that such actions will not be ignored by God. They will not go unpunished. There will be wrath to pay.

The million dollar question is – who is going to pay it?

Perhaps it is no coincidence that the very next verse introduces God’s chosen King, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” Where verses 4 and 5 show how seriously God takes the rebellion of humanity, verse 6 introduces the action God will take to address it and that action is bound up in the establishment of His King.

Who is this King? In David’s day, the king was David himself, but even David knew that such lofty language pointed to someone beyond him. Someone he refers to as the “Lord’s Anointed” in verse 2. A term that would become a title in the days to follow – someone who would be known as the “Messiah” or “The Anointed One”. Someone prophesied to David by the prophet Nathan[2] who would come from his lineage and would reign forever.

It was this king that the people of Israel hoped for in each successive king who came in David’s lineage until the day when there were no more kings and the people were taken into exile. It was this king that Israel hoped would arise and would rescue them from the nations that had taken them captive and who warred against their God.

It is to this King that God refers in verse six. And we know now, because God has clearly revealed it, that this King is not someone coming in the future, but someone who has come in the past. Someone who was born to a virgin named Mary in the town of Bethlehem two thousand years ago. Jesus Christ is God’s chosen King. He is the King God established once and for all as his chosen method of addressing the rebellion of mankind.

And it is to this king that the third stanza of this Psalm now turns.

 

3) Hope in God’s King

7          I will tell of the decree:

             The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;

                        today I have begotten you.

8          Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

                        and the ends of the earth your possession.

9          You shall break them with a rod of iron

                        and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

In this third stanza we add to the hope found in a God who laughs at his enemies, the hope of God’s Anointed King. To the hope of an all-powerful God we add the hope of his perfect plan to counter the enemy’s rebellion. That hope is bound up in God’s Anointed King and in the decree (v.7) he has made to this King, a decree by which he affirms three things about this Anointed King

First, in verse 7 he affirms that this King is has been appointed by God Himself – “You are my Son, today I have begotten you.” Behind this decree, in the time when David wrote it, was the understanding that the king of Israel was like a son of God in the sense that he was a representative of the people of Israel before God, and the People of Israel were, as Exodus 4:22 makes clear – God’s firstborn Son. It was a declaration that was to be made of each successive king on the day when they were enthroned. But David, helped along by the Holy Spirit, said more here than he probably realized at the time – for the King who would fulfill these words would be the Son of God not just in name but in nature. We see that Jesus is the ultimate fulfilment of this verse time and again in Scripture – in fact, most commentators see Psalm 2 as being behind every affirmation of Jesus’ divine sonship. Most notably at his birth (Immanuel), baptism (This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”), transfiguration (same, listen to him), and resurrection (was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead Romans 1:4).

Second, Verse 8 confirms that this King will have God’s full support – the Father’s decree to His Son being that he need only to ask and he will deliver the nations into his Son’s hands. He even speaks of the nations as his heritage, which is to say, they are his inheritance – they are already his, to be delivered to him on the day of his asking for them.

Third, Verse 9 shows how God’s King will be endowed with God’s unrivaled power. Just as the nations posed no threat to God himself, so they will pose no threat to His Anointed. They will be like pottery before a rod of iron. They stand no chance against the Lord’s King. The ultimate fate of all who continue to make war with God is to crumble before His Son. 

What are we hoping for this Advent?

Earlier we asked the question – If hope is based on something we lack, and if the Advent season anticipates Christ’s birth, how do we hope for something we already have? How do we enter into the hope of Advent if thing hoped for has already come? Psalm 2 helps us to address that question because it makes clear the fact that what David and his contemporaries were hoping for and what we’re still hoping for today, was not just the Messiah’s appearance – but his REIGN!

They weren’t just hoping he’d come and visit them – they were hoping he’d come and establish his kingdom! They weren’t just looking for a heavenly visit to the people of God – they were looking forward to the day when the whole earth would join the people of God in worshipping His king. A day when those who refused and who fought against the king and his kingdom would be once and for all crushed and subdued. A day when all creation would enter into an eternal age of worshipping and following the their Creator. That is what David is writing about in Psalm 2, that is what was missing, that is what he longed for, and that is what we still hope to see today.

That is why we can enter into the hope of Advent – because the very thing we hope for by the saints Christ is the thing hoped for by us today.

Now in saying that we hope for it today, we are saying that something is missing in Christ’s reign, but we want to be careful that we not suggest we’re in the exact same place David was when he wrote Psalm 2. The plan of salvation has been gloriously moved along between now and then. God has sent His king. God has established His kingdom. But what remains unrealized is the full acceptance of Christ’s reign by every individual on earth. We are in what theologians call the “Already and Not Yet”

Why? Why, in Christ’s coming, was not the whole earth made to submit before him? Why weren’t all his enemies crushed? To answer that, we go now to the final stanza of Psalm 2.

 

4) Hope in God’s Offer

10        Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

                        be warned, O rulers of the earth.

11        Serve the LORD with fear,

                        and rejoice with trembling.

12        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.

If in reading Psalm 2, you stopped at verse 9 – you might wonder if God is really good. It could seem like God, in the face of tyrants and dictators who rebel against him, has established his own tyrant and dictator to put them in their place. It could seem that God’s plan is simply to meet force with even more force. But this last stanza dispels any hint of this possibility and reveals the reason why God did not crush all his enemies when he sent Jesus to earth.

In this last stanza, the final word to rebellious humanity is not a threat of their doom, but an offer of peace.  Though his power is unmatched and his King’s future reign unquestionable, we see that God’s character is one of mercy and grace. To the raging masses comes an invitation – and the invitation is this: serve the Lord and submit to His Son and you will be spared from God’s wrath.

And though submission is their only hope, the way they are encouraged to receive this offer speaks volumes about the God who offers it. They are invited in verse 11 to rejoice, even as they tremble before God. In verse 12, they are invited to Kiss the Son, such an intimate action, communicating not just their acceptance of his reign – but their love for it - even as they seek to avoid his wrath.

If this passage were just an ancient near eastern text between kings in David’s day, we might say these are empty words meant to further humiliate the ones being called to submit to an enemy king. But when they describe our Heavenly Father and His Anointed one Jesus Christ, we know they are anything but empty. They are the gospel, the good news, written hundreds of years before Christ. They are filled with grace, inviting rebels like us to submit to Christ not only in word but also in heart. To joyfully receive and follow and obey Christ for who He is – God’s King – chosen to lead his creatures back to their Creator.  

And the final line of the Psalm only confirms that this is the case as the rebellious masses are promised not only peace – but blessing. “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.” How sweet is that? To the offer of peace is added the offer of blessing – and that is so indicative of who our God is. He does not seek our submission to satisfy his own pride – he does it because he seeks our blessing. He wants what is best for us and what is best for us is to submit ourselves to the reign of Jesus – our gentle, and good, King.  Psalm 2 can be summarized by the saying: “While there is no refuge from God’s King, there is refuge in Him.”[3] There is great hope for us in that summary this Advent season.

 

Conclusion 

We began this morning by noting that Advent is a season of hope and that hope assumes something is lacking. Psalm 2 helps us to see that while the hoped for Messiah, God’s Anointed King, has already appeared in the person of Jesus Christ – what we still hope for today is the establishment of His kingdom. In a world where the nations still rage and where rulers still plot and where rebellious intentions still reign within our hearts – we hope for the day when Christ comes into His kingdom and his benevolent rule is experienced by all.

But there is really good news for us today, because this reality – the reality of Christ’s kingdom and the opportunity to submit ourselves to His reign – is available to us today.

Remember how I told you there was something I really hoped to get for Christmas? Well someone did get them, and since they don’t live nearby, they had them sent to directly to me. They came in the mail earlier this week. Let me ask you something – when something I’ve wanted and longed for and hoped to receive for many years shows up on my doorstep but isn’t quite Christmas yet – what do you think I should do? Should I set it aside and wait to open it at a later date, or should I enjoy it now? Pull out headphones – here is what I decided to do!

When something you desperately need and hope to receive is given to you – you don’t leave a gift like that on the shelf for a later date – you accept it and enjoy it as soon as possible.

The hope of finding peace with God is available to us today and Psalm 2 is encouraging each of us to enter into it. The hope of living in God’s kingdom and submitting to His Anointed King and of giving up our rage and exchanging it for joy is available to us today – don’t wait to enter into it.

And how do we enter into this hope?  How do we participate in it?

We participate in the hope of Advent when we submit to God’s King and when we seek to extend His kingdom while confidently trusting in God to establish Christ’s kingdom in his good timing.

 

1) We submit to God’s King

·      Through repentance and faith

·      By recognizing the corners of our hearts and our lives that still resist his rule and submitting them to Him

·      Don’t leave this gift for another day!

 

2) We seek extend His Kingdom

·      Don’t keep this hope to yourself – share it, spread it

·      In Psalm 2 God decrees to his son that the nations are his heritage, that he needs only to ask and they will be given to Him

·      Jesus takes up this language in Matthew 28 when he says to His disciples: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

·      We bring others into the hope of Psalm 2 when we invite them into his kingdom and Psalm 2 is being fulfilled as we do.

·      We pray as Jesus taught us to pray – “May your kingdom come!”

·      Bring others into this hope today!

 

3) And Trust in the God who promises to bring it about

·      We participate in the hope of Psalm 2 when we trust that the God who laughs at his enemies will eventually bring about Christ’s Kingdom in a way that is unrivaled.

·      This is Christ’s inheritance.

·      So trust that when the nations rage all around us against our God and His King, they will not ultimately prevail.

·      This is confirmed to us in the book of revelation where Psalm 2 is alluded to

o   Rev. 12:5 The woman “gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne . . .”

o   Rev 19:15 The one on the white horse described thus, “From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron.”

Submit, seek, and trust – and enter into the hope of Psalm 2 and of Advent this season.

 ______________

Works Consulted

Brug, John F. Psalms I. Concordia Publishing House: St. Louis, 1989.

Feuer, Rabbi Avrohom Chaim. Tehillim. Mesorah Publications, Ltd: Brooklyn, 1995.

Kidner, Derek. Psalms 1 – 72. InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, 1973. Tyndale OT Commentaries.

Motyer, Alec. Psalms By the Day. Christian Focus: Geanies House, 2016.

Selderhuis, Herman J., Timothy George, and Scott M. Manetsch (Editors). Reformation

Commentary on Scripture (Old Testament VII – Psalms 1-72). IVP Academic: Downers

Grove, 2015. (Cited as RCS)

Wilson, Gerald H. The NIV Application Commentary: Psalms Volume 1. Zondervan: Grand

Rapids, 2002.

Wilson, T. Ernest. The Messianic Psalms. Gospel Folio Press: Grand Rapids, 1978.

[1] “Whenever God is described as ‘sitting’ it means that he is settled permanently, enduring forever (Radak).” (Tehilim, 67)

[2] 2 Samuel 7:16

[3] Kidner, 53

NEXT WEEK’S SERMON: All Is Prepared: It Only Remains That You Should Be Willing, Malachi 3:1–2 and 4:2–6, Todd Walker