Psalms 2

Psalms 2:1

Psalm 2: The Unchanging DecreeTo place this Psalm in its proper setting, we must look ahead to the close of the Great Tribulation, immediately prior to the glorious Return and reign of our Lord Jesus Christ. At this time a vast federation of rulers and nations will unite in a passionate determination to prevent Christ from taking the reigns of world government. 2:1-3 But such a federation will prove to be an exercise in futility. “Why,” asks the psalmist, “do the Gentile nations and the Jewish people enter such a hopeless conspiracy? How do the Gentile kings and Jewish rulers think they can ever succeed in rebelling against the authority of the LORD and of His Anointed?” 2:4-6 God in the heavens shall laugh at their stupid insolence. He will mock their clenched fists and fiery slogans. Their boasts and threats are the squeaks of a mouse against a lion! Eventually God will break His silence. When He speaks it will be in such wrath and fury that His enemies will be terrified. They will hear His irrevocable decision: “I have installed My King on My holy hill of Zion.” Once God pronounces this decision, its fulfillment will be as certain as if it had already taken place. 2:7 Then Christ Himself will add His testimony. He will reveal that in private conversation, the Father had said first of all to Him, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.” This decree may be understood in at least four ways. First, there is a real sense in which Christ was the Son of God from all eternity. In Act_13:33, however, the verse is quoted in reference to Christ’s Incarnation. In a third sense, Christ was begotten in Resurrection “the firstborn from the dead” (Col_1:18). Finally, some suggest that “this day” refers to the future day when Christ will be crowned as King. 2:8 But the Father also added, “Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.” In other words, God the Father has promised universal dominion to His Son. All the earth will submit to His authority, and His rule will extend from shore to shore. 2:9 Finally, God has given Christ the authority to deal with all insubordination and rebellion. He shall break . . . with a rod of iron those who rise up against Him, shattering them like a potter’s vessel. From other Scriptures we learn that Christ will exercise this authority both when He returns to earth and throughout His thousand-year reign. Prior to His inauguration as King, He will destroy those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel. Then, in the Millennium, Christ will rule with a rod of iron, punishing rebellion wherever it raises its ugly head. 2:10, 11 The voice of the Holy Spirit is heard next. In a moving evangelistic appeal, He urges kings and rulers to love and serve the LORD. To refuse Him means destruction, whereas to trust Him brings safety and true happiness. 2:12 For man to trust his Creator is the most sane, logical, reasonable thing he can do. On the other hand, to disbelieve and defy the Almighty is about as irrational a thing as a person can do.