Psalm 2

Psalm 2 (NKJV)
¹ Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
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 break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”

⁴ He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
⁵ Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
⁶ “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”

⁷ “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
⁸ Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”

¹⁰ Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges 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,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

I’m not one to say one thing or another about current politics, so I don’t know how much I want to compare the first three verses to our, or any other, government. Maybe you want to, and that’s okay. The point here is that there are people in positions of power that do not follow God, and what’s more, they want to destroy the works of God’s Anointed. Who are these “anointed”? We hear that kings are anointed in the Old Testament and sometimes church leaders or Christians in general are anointed. I’m not going to pretend to know Hebrew, but the very unhelpful note in my Bible along with a few internet articles affirms that the word here for “anointed” is Messiah. While the other options would have been powerful enough (and I think can still be understood here), you just can’t get much higher than counseling against Christ. These leaders are set in direct opposition not just to a godly king or the church, but to Christ.

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh

Wow. I was stopped in my tracks when I read this. It reminded me of some Latin I translated under the guidance of the incredibly brilliant Cynthia Damon at Penn. In his Gallic Wars, Caesar writes, Caesar oblates gravisus illos retineri iussit, which for all you non-Latin readers means, “Caesar, rejoicing that these men [his enemies] had been delivered to him, ordered that they be held back.” Now, it seemed innocent enough, Caesar here is glad to have finally caught his enemies. That’s pretty normal, right? Dr. Damon, after someone had translated this in class, said in a very creepy voice, “Caesar laughed.” I immediately imagined the sky turning red and lightning flashing and probably a horse or two rearing in the background. The contrast is supposed to be striking. His enemies are handed to him, and he laughs at the thought of dealing out vengeance to these people who have fought with him, tried to deceive him, and in general, resisted the rule of Rome.

Here is the same striking contrast. Powerful people are “raging,” scheming to break down God’s foundations, and in general refusing His supremacy, and God’s first response it to laugh. Part of it must surely be that he’s laughing at the feeble attempt of mortals to destroy the immortal, but in verse 5, he speaks to them in “wrath” and “displeasure.” God is angry with them and he laughs. Scary thought. Note to self: DO NOT CROSS GOD.

Then we see that their plotting means nothing. God has established his own King, better than them. If we follow that “anointed” track, we get again that this king could be a godly human king (since this was probably written for the enthronement of a new king) or Christ. Either way, God sets His own in power against the ungodly, who verse 9 assures will be destroyed.

Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance

So, yesterday, I noted that “shall” used in the future of the second and third person is very emphatic. Well, in the first person, “will” is the emphatic version (It’s okay, I know. English is stupid).  If you ask, God most definitely will give.

The final paragraph (stanza?) Is a warning directed to all leaders. To be “wise” and “instructed,” they are required to serve the Lord, rejoice in Him, and “kiss the Son” (they not only bow to His power, but they show humility in themselves), “lest He be angry and you perish in the way when His wrath is kindled but a little”—literally, so that God will not be angry at you with that terrifying vengeance of His, which you don’t want even a little bit of, or else you’ll be destroyed. 

Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Not only will we not be destroyed, but we will be blessed if we follow God’s instruction. I think it’s important that this psalm doesn’t end with wrath and destruction but with a blessing for those of us following God. It’s a testament that although God is just, vengeful, and wrathful against those who work against Him, he is kind and generous to believers.