Psalm 2: Kiss the Son or Perish

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Intro

1) cf. 2:1-2 / Acts 4:25 – Davidic authorship

2) cf.

A)   1 – Focus on the individual person / 2 – Focus on the world and politics

B) 1 – Focus on the present faithful life / 2 – Focus on the hope of a future Messiah

3) Structure: 4 sections of 3 verses each:

A)   vv. 1-3 – The enemies’ plans

B) vv. 4-6 – God’s response to those plans

C) vv. 7-9 – David’s confidence in God’s ultimate victory

D)   vv. 10-12 – Plea to the nations

vv. 1-3 – The enemies’ plans

1) v. 1 – rage / plot

A)   “Rage”

1) DBL – “formally, be restless, i.e., conspire to be in open defiance of a king at a coronation, implying tumult and disorderly conduct in the act of attempting the overthrow of government”[2]

2) NIrV – “Why do the nations plan evil together?”

B) “the peoples plot in vain”

1) “plot” is the same word as “meditate” in 1:2

(a)   The blessed man in Ps. 1 is meditating on God’s word

(b)   The enemy in Ps. 2 is meditating about ways to overthrow God’s rule

2) “Vain”

(a)   NCV – “Why are the people making useless plans?”

2) v. 2

A)   “These are not just kings but ‘earth’s kings’—kings from all over the world. This is not an ordinary, small-scale rebellion but the whole world asserting itself. And the kings are working ‘together’ (yaḥad). It is a serious threat—or they think it is.”[3]

B) “Anointed” = (Heb. Messiah) (Gk. Christ)

1) Before Jesus, we’re thinking about a special ruler, whether the anointed priest, or the Davidic King

2) We’re Christians, and we have the benefit of hindsight, so it’s no problem to see Jesus here (below)

3) v. 3

A)   The kings of the earth feel like they are confined by God. They compare their situation to being in jail / custody

B) e.g.

1) Matt. 19:10 – “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

2) Jn. 6:60 – Following eat flesh, drink blood – “When man of his disciples heart it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’”

4) Application to Jesus

A)   2:1-2 / Acts 4:25-26 (4:5-7, 18, 23-27)

vv. 4-6 – God’s response to those plans

1) v. 4 – connection w Ps. 1

A)   God laughs and holds them in derision

B) 1:1 – wicked, sinners, scoffers (not the same word, but…)

C) God’s enemies scoffs at him, but he scoffs at their scoffing

D)   This has been the story of the Bible

1) Pharaoh had an international-level military chasing after the Exodus generation. I’m sure he laughed and thought it was just going to be a massacre. God laughed and said, “Watch this.”

2) David and Goliath

2) vv. 5-6 – God spoke…and that’s it. This is my king, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

vv. 7-9 – Confidence in God’s ultimate victory

1) v. 7 – This is what is going to happen whether the nations like it or not

A)   cf. God’s promise to David and his lineage

1) 2 Sam. 7:8-14a – father / son relationship

2) David and Solomon were powerful and victorious over their enemies, but Israel NEVER experienced anything like the victory described in Ps. 2:8-9.

3) When we read this Psalm before Jesus, we’re constantly looking for something more when God will do what he says and overcome the sinful nations who are plotting against him

B) Ultimately, this is a reference to Jesus (different aspects of Jesus as Son)

1) Lk. 1:30-35 – Virgin birth, God his his father

2) Jesus’ baptism – “This is my beloved Son” (Matt. 3:17 / Mk. 1:11 / Lk. 3:22)

3) Jesus’ transfiguration – “This is my beloved Son” (Matt. 17:5 / Mk. 9:7 / Lk. 9:35)

4) Resurrection

(a)   Acts 13:30-33

(b)   Heb. 1:1-2, 4-5

(c)   Rom. 1:4

2) v. 8– World-wide domination

A)   cf.

1) Pss. 22:27-28; 47:8; 72:8-11; 86:9

2) Is. 2:2-4 (Mic. 4:1-3); 9:6-7; 45:22-23; Dan. 2:44; 7:13-14; Zech. 14:9

3) Lk. 1:32-33; Phil. 2:9-11; Rev. 11:5; 19:15-16; 21:24-26

B) This is what it means to be the Son of God. God is the ultimate ruler of all Creation, and if you are his firstborn son, then you are heir to everything that is the Father’s. This IS the Gospel: Jesus is King.

3) v. 9 – “You shall BREAK them with a rod of iron”

A)   In context, maybe a reference to power and authority. Imagine what an iron rod will do to a little piece of clay pottery.

B) LXX, Syr, Jerome all translate this as “shepherd” (poimainō) with a rod of iron

1) Rev. 12:5

2) Rev. 19:15

C) Maybe both – this is the point of Ps. 2: you get to choose. Jesus will either lead you with his shepherding rod, or he will destroy you with it.

vv. 10-12 – So what? Action items.

1) v. 10 – POINT: Everything up to this point has been information. Vv. 10-12 is the action item.

A)   You can rage and plot and complain about how you’re in prison and the Lord’s yoke is heavy all you want, but it won’t do any good

B) Here’s a better option

2) vv. 11-12 – 3 things:

A)   Serve the Lord with fear

1) Matt. 11:30 – “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

2) “It does not come naturally to leaders to serve—indeed, it is a contradiction. How can a leader be a servant? But leaders have to see themselves as standing in a chain of command in which they are not at the top.[4]”

B) Rejoice with trembling

1) Paradox

2) Rejoice and reverent fear are a combination that go together

C)   Kiss the Son

1) Bow down and submit to God’s Son, Jesus

3) v. 12 – if not, you will “perish in the way”

A)   Connection with Ps. 1 – vv. 4-5a, 6b

B) These are your options: perish, or bow down and serve God and his Son

4) Final connection with Ps. 1

A)   1:1 – “Blessed is the man who…”

B) 2:12 – “Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

Conclusion / Applications

1) This is an opportunity to repent, and an invitation to fix your attitude and serve Jesus

A)   “Like Jesus’s warnings about the prospects of rotting in hell, these warnings to the nations are designed to shake people to their senses…”[5]

B) This is not just about the nations, or the government, or the school, or your job who refuses to bow to God, and who strives to constantly shake him off

C) It’s about ME

1) We can try to make our own way

2) Or we can bow our knee and submit to Jesus’ rule

3) “So whenever we read this psalm, we must be careful not to reduce it to a mere messianic prediction of the ultimate submission of the unbelieving nations to the authority of God’s rule and kingdom. It is that, but it remains much more than that. It is also not just a threat of judgment to scare our unbelieving friends into the kingdom of God. Although it should encourage us to witness to them of the boundless love poured out in Christ for them, it should remain for us who name the name of Jesus a powerful caution to lay down daily our own banners of personal freedom and self-satisfaction in order to ‘kiss the Son.’” (Wilson, 2501)

2) Take comfort in God being in control

A)   “Since the Lord is not dismayed, neither do his people need to be. In fact, God laughs at the rebels…”[6]

B) “When the psalm likewise addresses the nations, the audience overhears the psalmist indirectly encouraging it not to panic when nations threaten, and instead to join Yhwh in laughing.”[7]

3) Hope in the future

A)   “It also thereby offers hope to peoples who are themselves under pressure. The Israelites who used this psalm were never a superpower; for most of their history they were a vassal state or a province under some imperial power. The psalm promises that this will not always be how things are.”[8]

B) Rev. 2:27 – disciples

[1] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[2] Swanson, James. 1997. In Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament), electronic ed. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[3] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[4] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[5] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[6] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 943.

[7] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

[8] Goldingay, John. 2006. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms 1–41. Edited by Tremper Longman III. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.