Bible Study - Psalm 2

This week, we will look at Psalm 2, one of the most often quoted or referred to portions of the Old Testament. I picked this Psalm also because a portion of it, Psalm 2:6-12, is the Psalm reading for this coming Sunday in many churches. (You can read how this portion fits together with the other Scriptures assigned for this week, the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus, in the Preparing for Worship section of the podcast for this Sunday, February 19, 2023.)

This psalm also speaks to an issue that many Christians are troubled about in our world today - the attacks on Christianity by many people and groups and even government leaders and governments, these days. This is not a new problem. Psalm 2 starts with the reality of “nations raging,” “peoples plotting,” “kings of the earth setting themselves and rulers taking counsel together against the Lord and His anointed” (Psalm 2:1-2). This was referring to opposition to the people of Israel from peoples and leaders all around them, wanting to overthrow them and get rid of them. This was also opposition to leaders like David, who had been “anointed” with oil and made King of Israel and was an effective warrior king for his people against their enemies. In addition, this was opposition to the God of Israel, the Lord Himself, and the unique teachings and beliefs He brought to His people, that set them apart from others, through the writings of Moses and the other Old Testament Scriptures.

The people opposed to Israel and its God were saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us” (Psalm 2:3). Read what a psalmist wrote in Psalm 71:10-12. “My enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together and say, 'God has forsaken; pursue and seize him for there is none to deliver him.'” Much of the Old Testament is about the struggles of God’s people against their enemies, whether smaller area people like the Philistines and Midianites, or great peoples like the Egyptians and Assyrians and Babylonians, and on and on. Sadly, God’s own people too often also wanted freedom from the “bonds” and “cords” of the Lord and His will and His love and plans for them, and they brought great trouble upon themselves.

Yet God still kept His promises and protected His people who had faith in Him, even though they were not perfect and knew they needed His forgiveness and His continual help. Think of David’s struggles that we read about in Psalm 38, last week. Hear his words in Psalm 31:13-16: “I hear the whispering of many - terror on every side! - as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life. But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God. My times are in Your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Make Your face shine on Your servant; save me in your steadfast love.’”

Think of how the Philistine giant, Goliath, “came forward and took his stand, morning and evening, for forty days” mocking God’s people, and in fear, no one would stand up against him (1 Samuel 16:16). And what do we hear God doing in Psalm 2:4? “He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds His enemies in derision.” See also Psalm 37:12-16, where the Lord is again described as “laughing” at the wicked, and Psalm 59:5-10. God was still in charge. God knew that he would raise up the young boy David to defeat Goliath (1 Samuel 17:41-53). And God would “set” David as His “king on Zion, His holy hill, in Jerusalem” (Psalm 2:6).

Much more important, Psalm 2 is prophecy of the ultimate “Anointed One,” His own Son, whom God would send into the world to defeat the greatest enemies - sin and Satan and death - and be the Savior of the world. That Anointed One, the Son of God, spoke from heaven in Psalm 2:7-8: “I will tell of the decree: 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.’” This passage is quoted by the early Christians in Acts 4:24-31 as fulfilled in Jesus, in spite of the opposition of ”Herod and Pontius Pilate and Gentiles and the people of Israel.”

Jesus was and is “the Son of God,” as predicted in Psalm 2. He was identified as such by God the Father at His baptism (Matthew 3:17) and transfiguration (Matthew 17:5) and so many other times by others, from John the Baptist (John 1:34) to Nathaniel (John 1:49) and on and on. See Hebrews 1:1-5 and 5:5, where Psalm 2:7 is quoted with regard to Jesus, twice more. Jesus was “begotten of the Father” from all eternity, as part of the mystery of the Triune God. Yet a special evidence of this reality is also the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. See Psalm 2:7 quoted again in Acts 13:30-35 and Paul’s words in Romans 1:1-4

Jesus was and is “the Anointed One of God” as well. The word for the “Anointed One” (Psalm 2:2) is “the Messiah” in Hebrew and “the Christ” in Greek. Over and over these words are used to describe Jesus in the New Testament. See John 1:40-41, where both terms are used of Jesus. See Matthew 16:13-17, where Peter identified Jesus as “the Christ” and “the Son of the living God,” and Jesus affirms that. (In contrast, see how the high priest, Caiaphas, asks Jesus in Matthew 26:63-65, if He is “the Christ, the Son of God,” which was true, as we have seen, and then quickly rejects that and condemns Him to die.)

See another Old Testament prophecy in Psalm 89:24-29, where Jesus would be “the Firstborn” from the dead, with an everlasting kingdom (Revelation 1:5). See also, at the end of the New Testament that “the kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). See also Revelation 1:5, 17:14, and 19:16 and passages like 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, and Mark 16:15-16 and Acts 1:8, where the Gospel of Jesus as Savior would go to all the world, to the end of the earth, in fulfillment of Psalm 2:8. In spite of all the enemies and opposition, the victory will finally be God’s and that of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 2 ends with encouragement to the kings of the earth to be “wise” and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, with “fear and trembling and rejoicing” and to “kiss the Son,” giving Jesus the homage and honor and respect due to Him as our Lord and God and Savior. (Samuel, for example, kissed Saul as he anointed him to be “prince over Israel” in 1 Samuel 10:1, in honor and respect for him.)

Don’t overlook, either, the “warning” also at the end of Psalm 2 - v. 4, 9, 10, 12. The return of Christ on the last day will be one of great joy for all believers in Christ (Luke 21:27-28). But for those who are enemies of Christ and reject Him and His Word and will and saving gifts, there will be judgment and sorrow.

Jesus spoke often of a day of judgment at the end of this age. The image of judgment and “a rod of iron" (Psalm 2:9) is shown in numbers of other places in the New Testament, too. See Rev. 2:26-27, 12:5, 19:14-15, and even the Old Testament predictions in Psalm 110:1,2,5. This not what God really wants. “He desires all people to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). That is still possible for anyone. That’s why the last line of Psalm 2 is “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him” - in faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and what He already has done for us to rescue us.

Psalm 2 also gives us hope in Christ even when we see opposition to Jesus from many around us. People may ridicule Christians for advertising about Jesus at the Super Bowl. Whole countries may be strongly anti-Christian and even persecuting Christians. People in this country may even make it hard for us to speak openly and honestly about what we believe. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you… If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:18-21).

But right before these words, Jesus also said, “These things I command you, so that you will love one other.” We still try to reflect God’s love and care for others, while speaking the truth in that love. Ultimately, the Lord is Lord and Jesus is King of Kings in this world, even though it may not look or feel like it. He will win the final victory for us and take all believers to eternal life. “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him” (Psalm 2:12).