Read: Psalm 2
Read: Revelation 5
I think it is safe to say that, as a result of a confluence of crises, tensions are high. Really high. There seems to be a collective concern with what is happening globally. It’s no wonder that there are riots on the streets. The surface tension has broken.
You might be feeling anxious. That’s natural. This is a confusing time. No one knows what is going to happen, but we can trust that God is still in control.
In fact, we can look to the Psalms to find some comfort during this time. There’s a reassurance in knowing that this is not a new experience. It is as old as culture itself. How does God respond when the nations rage? What comfort can that bring to us when we are facing perilous times?
Psalm 2 is about as simple as a Psalm can be. There are four movements, each are three verses.
When Tensions Rise
The first section looks at the argument of the nations against God. The leaders of the world are defiant and seek to depose Him from His royal throne over all of creation. If you look at what’s happening in the world today, you might be surprised that the world leaders could ever agree on anything, but when it comes to defying God, they band together.
There has been an obvious denial of Christian principles within culture and politics, but we need to understand what is actually happening in this text. The nations rising against God are not simply corrupt and immoral, they are hyper moral. They are railing against God because of a belief that God restricts their freedom. They are trying to “break the chains and throw off the shackles.” Look at how the argument is framed today, “How can God tell people that they can’t be happy in the life that they want for themselves?”
In this way, Psalm 2 shows us the psychology behind the people who built the Tower of Babel. Thinking they knew better than God, they tried to build a culture without Him at their center. From the very beginning of human civilization, this has been a problem.
When God Laughs
How does God respond to all of this? He is being written out of culture, history, and morality, but God is not surprised. He does not feel threatened. Sitting on His throne, He laughs. Not because He finds it funny, but because He sees the foolishness of their attempts to rise up against Him.
Throughout the Old Testament we see a God who is angry and we see how He deals with the defiance of those created in His image. From flooding the entire world, bringing down fire on entire cities, and leading His people into wars, God has not taken a passive approach in judging the wicked.
Sometimes I think it is hard for people to connect the God of the Old Testament with the God of the New Testament. More often than I like to admit, people have confided in me that they find it difficult to read the stories where God expresses His anger and wrath. But this is not a character flaw. He hasn’t changed His personality. He is the same God with the same anger towards sin and His wrath is justified. But His plans are greater than we could have imagined. He has a way to remain just while also reserving the right to justify those who are unrighteous and deserving of His wrath.
The Installation of the True King
God gives this remarkable decree to the One who is the rightful king. God tells His Son, Jesus Christ, to ask for His inheritance and it will be given to Him. All of creation belongs to the Son, but with His right also comes the responsibility to crush the rebellion. As the prophecy of a redeemer following the initial fall into sin, this seed must crush the head of the serpent.
But, again, the means for conquering evil does not take the path that we would have figured. When Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, He was riding a donkey. Everyone expected Jesus to overthrow the Roman oppressors and cleanse the temple of the corruption of the Pharisees, but Jesus did not come to take back what was rightfully His by force. Instead, He laid down His life so that His enemies could become His friends. Jesus bore God’s wrath so that God’s creation could be redeemed, not purged.
When Jesus saved us, He also imputed to us His rights. We are made joint heirs with Christ. That means that we are given dominion to rule over God’s creation, just as Adam initially had in the Garden of Eden, only our rule will be with Christ for all eternity.
But the world is still in rebellion against God. They are still trying to depose Jesus from His throne. Christians are being persecuted. When Jesus came into the world, they killed Him. And Jesus told His followers that we should expect the same. But He has also promised that He will return. Next time, Jesus will be riding a white horse. He is in the business of making all things new and our inheritance is not for an old, used up world, but a new heaven and a new earth.
Shaking in Our Boots
This Psalm concludes with a warning. The national leaders should bow down and worship the LORD with fear and trembling. This idea of kissing the Son is not simply a sign of respect, but an act of servitude, hoping that God would have mercy on their souls.
We might think that this sort of reverence is reserved for the unrighteous, but the same expression is used in the New Testament when the Apostle Paul tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). This is a continual process for the believer to hold the holiness of God with the love by which we have been saved. As we try to make sense of that, we will discover a working knowledge of our own salvation that will transform us into the image of Christ. Then, when He returns, we will be identified with Him and receive our crown of righteousness.
Throughout the Psalms, there is a similar expression to feeling oppressed. As the nations rise up against God, the world seems to be crashing in around us. There is an uneasy feeling about being in this world while knowing that we have been given a greater honor. But we must remember that God is still in control. Christ has promised to return. In the meantime, we must learn from Jesus how to humble ourselves in obedience to God, how to take up our own cross daily to follow Him, and how to hold out hope that our greatest treasure is still yet to come.
Adam Miller is the president and host of Songtime Radio and serves as the pastor of South Chatham Community Church. This article is a condensed version of one of his sermons.