Dwell in the Word: Psalm 2

Consider these questions as you Dwell on Psalm 2 today:

1. How does the contrast between meditating on God's Word and plotting against Him illustrate humanity's fundamental choice between purposeful obedience and futile rebellion?

2. In Psalm 2, why do the nations and rulers persist in their rebellion against God, even in the face of His overwhelming power and authority? What drives this audacious defiance?

3. What is the significance of the messianic language in Psalm 2, and how does it transcend national boundaries to encompass all nations and peoples? How does accepting Jesus as our Savior lead to finding blessed refuge from divine judgment?

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Transcript:

As we come to Psalm 2 today, it's important that we remember Psalm 1, this idea of the blessed one. We understood that the blessed one spoken of there is ultimately pointing us to Jesus, and he unlocks the Psalms for us. We can see that not only in Psalm one, we see that theme continuing here as we come to Psalm two. This Psalm starts out with a question, and it's a great question.

 Why do the nation's rage in the people's plot in vain? In other words, why would the people set themselves up against God, against the blessed one, against the Messiah. Why would they go against Him? Why would people go up against God? We see this that this is a conspiratorial thing, right? In verse 2, The Kings of the Earth set themselves and the rules take counsel together against the Lord and his anointed saying, Let us first their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. They want to get away from the Lord and his anointed. But notice, as we look at verse 4, the one who sits in the heavens laughs, and the Lord holds them in derision. In other words, there is nothing that they can plot that will cause God to lose, that will cause God not to be victorious. So why are these people plotting against him? Now, before we move further on into the passage, I want us to look at this word plot, because as we go back and we think about verse or chapter one of the Salter, we saw that word, meditative, meditate. Now, the word plot here is the same Hebrew word as meditate in chapter one.

 Now, I'm not suggesting that they are incorrectly translated. They are just in different context, and so they have a different way in which they are translated and they both make sense. Remember I said that to consider and meditate on God's word is something that we are to be deliberate about. It's not like secular meditation where you empty your mind, but instead it is something deliberate. We focus and fill ourselves with God's Word and His law. It is a deliberate thing. It is plotted out. And here the people aren't meditating or plotting on God's Word. They're plotting in vain. They're doing their own thing instead of focusing on what God would have them do. And it all is worthless. As we just saw. God laughs. He holds them in derision because of what they are trying to do against Him. And He says, Hey, I've set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. And here we see this messianic language. 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.

 Now, as we think about this, we see that this would have ultimately been talking about the King in that present contest. That would have been the anointed of God at that time. But this is pointing to something greater, something beyond. There is something messianic about this. This is pointing to Jesus first and foremost here in the greater scheme of things, as opposed to what the people who initially would have read it would have thought. As we look at this, we see that this is a global thing. This isn't just something for the Hebrew people, not just something for Israel. We are seeing that the nations are His heritage, not just the Israel or the nation of Israel, but all of the nations, all peoples, not just Hebrews, but Gentiles as well, and the ends of the earth are His possession. All of it is the possession of the Anointed One. This is the ultimate fulfillment that we see in the ascension of Jesus. He is seated above all the earth, and all the peoples are His people, the people of His own possession, the ones He has called to faith. And so we see then, in verse 10 here, Now therefore, or Kings, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth, hey, you need to know this, Kings, that you can plot all this, but you're held in derision.

 None of your plotting, none of your planning is going to do any good, but there is something that you can do about this. It says in verses 11 and 12, Serve the Lord with fear and rejoiceice 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. You are to take refuge in the blessed one instead of opposing him. You are to kiss the son instead of trying to overthrow him. You will not win. And so it's best for you, Kings of the Earth, to be wise and to serve him instead of oppose him because you are blessed if you take refuge in him. And that is where this lands for us, right? We are to serve the Lord with fear and rejoiceice with trembling. We are to plot to follow God's law and to meditate on His Word instead of plotting against Him. Even though we deserve the wrath for our sin and our unbelief, we know that because we have kissed the Son, that wrath has been poured out on Him, and we are blessed because we have taken refuge in our Savior.

 So may we do that today as we step out into the world. May we not plot against God, but instead plot to live in light of His word and His gospel and to meditate on His law that we might have holy lives that bring glory to Him.