Let me start with a confession. After doing the meditation on Psalm 1, I was inspired to keep going. I thought, “Wait, wouldn’t it be so great to do a meditation on each of the Psalms? That would be so encouraging and uplifting!” So, as usual, I jumped in with both feet, and THEN I looked at Psalm 2. I read it and immediately thought, “Oh no! How am I going to write an encouraging meditation about this?!?” I mean, we go from a peaceful scene of a beautiful, thriving tree in Psalm 1, to a picture of God mocking and laughing in contempt at the rebellious people of earth in Psalm 2. Yikes!
But this is the inspired Word of God, and we are here for it! Here is Psalm 2 in the Amplified Bible:
1
Why are the nations in an uproar [in turmoil against God],
And why do the people devise a vain and hopeless plot?
2
The kings of the earth take their stand;
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and His Anointed (the Davidic King, the Messiah, the Christ), saying,
3
“Let us break apart their [divine] bands [of restraint]
And cast away their cords [of control] from us.”
4
He who sits [enthroned] in the heavens laughs [at their rebellion];
The [Sovereign] [c]Lord scoffs at them [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].
5
Then He will speak to them in His [profound] anger
And terrify them with His displeasure, saying,
6
“Yet as for Me, I have anointed and firmly installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
7
“I will declare the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son;
This day [I proclaim] I have begotten You.
8
‘Ask of Me, and I will assuredly give [You] the nations as Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth as Your possession.
9
‘You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall shatter them [in pieces] like earthenware.’”
10
Now therefore, O kings, act wisely;
Be instructed and take warning, O leaders (judges, rulers) of the earth.
11
Worship the Lord and serve Him with reverence [with awe-inspired fear and submissive wonder];
Rejoice [yet do so] with trembling.
12
Kiss (pay respect to) the [d]Son, so that He does not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled and set aflame.
How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] are all those who take refuge in Him!
Psalm 2 paints four bold pictures for us to learn from. Its 12 verses are structured neatly in four sections of three verses each.
Picture 1:
The people of earth rage against God and His Anointed One.
In verses 1-3 we see the nations, people, kings, and rulers of the earth raging in hatred against God (vs 1). They are at war with Him, strategically scheming and plotting together to take a stand against the Lord and His Anointed One (vs 2). Why are they at war? Because God has placed His divine bands of restraint and His cords of control on them (vs 3). This is a picture of us humans, yes? We rage against a loving God who restrains us, a compassionate God who, in His great mercy, would save us from our own deceit!
Picture 2:
God is not intimidated. He laughs in scorn.
Verses 4-6. So what does God think of the nations raging against His authority? Does He smite them? Wipe them out? Retaliate? No. His first response is simply to laugh in scorn at the ridiculous presumption of the people of earth (vs 4). They think that if only they band together, they will be strong and wise enough to break free from God’s authority. Verse 5 tells us that God is profoundly angry and that He will terrify the people of earth with His displeasure. At this point, it seems logical to expect some of that smiting action now! But instead, God has a very different response. He says that what He has done is to anoint and firmly establish “my King on Zion, my holy mountain.” Zion is a name for Jerusalem and it is the place where God chose to dwell with His own people. So, instead of unleashing His wrath on the rebellious people of earth, He chose to establish His authority on earth by sending a king to reign over them!
Picture 3:
The Son declares the proclamation of the Lord.
This is really starting to get good now! In this third picture, we see the Anointed One speaking God’s decree about Himself. He says in vs 7-9, “He said to Me, ‘You are My Son; This day I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will assuredly give the nations as Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall shatter them like earthenware.’” Here, we have at last come to the crux of the psalm. The story has been told of man’s uprising, of God’s laughter and scorn, and now we see God’s final resolution to the conflict. He sends His Only Begotten Son to reign and rule over His inheritance, the people of the earth. And this Son King will be just, He will break all rebellion with His rod of iron, and He will shatter the uprising to pieces.
Picture 4:
The psalmist advises the rulers of earth to submit to God and receive His blessings .
We turn to see one final picture. The psalmist’s voice returns once more to advise the rulers of the earth to be wise, to worship the Lord and to reverently serve Him. He is, in effect, saying: “Instead of raging against God, you should submit to Him! Don’t invite his wrath with your disobedience; choose to worship and obey and you will rejoice (but do so with awe and trembling)!” In the closing verse 12, the psalmist makes one last plea to the kings and rulers of earth, “Kiss the son”– referring to a reverent, affectionate loyalty, as in the image of a knight kissing his king’s hand. The psalmist clearly wants the people of earth to know that God is a gracious and merciful God. He is so merciful that even after they have hated Him and warred against Him, if they will only choose Him as their King, He will bless them.
Wow! In spite of my struggle to understand this Psalm, I came away really encouraged. We serve a mighty and gracious God! He IS slow to anger and full of compassion. His response to humanity’s hatred and rage was to send His precious Son Jesus to reign on earth. It is interesting though, that when you look at Jesus from the perspective of this Psalm, it’s easy to understand why Jesus didn’t seem to match the description. He is every bit a conquering King, but His Kingdom looks like nothing this world has ever seen! His upside down kingdom exchanges power for meekness, exalts the lowly, and humbles the proud. Jesus’ response to our rebellion was to accept the full force of God’s wrath for our sin on Himself. How blessed and fortunate we are to take refuge in the forgiveness of such a King!
I pray over each of you today, that you might be blessed to know and love this Savior King! If you were blessed by this devotional, please let us know how God spoke to you in Psalm 2!
Love to you.
And if you would like more on Psalm 2, here are some of the helpful resources I found.
Spurgeon’s commentary on Psalm 2
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/tod/ps002.cfm
David Guzik’s commentary on Psalm 2
https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-2/
Working Preacher Lutheran Seminary Resource
https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/transfiguration-of-our-lord/commentary-on-psalm-2-3
Psalm 2 summary
https://www.2belikechrist.com/articles/psalm-2-summary-in-5-minutes
Follow along with us on social media for more interaction on this series!
Beautiful Balance 