Accepting God’s Kingship And Control Series

Accepting God's Kingship and Control

Psalm 2:1-12

You can listen to a full recording of this message at http://www.nec.org.au/listen-to-a-sermon-series/responding-to-god-psalms/

Introduction to Reading

Altogether there are 150 Psalms. In the past weeks we have been looking at different Psalms and realizing that each of the 150 Psalms can be categorised into one of seven different genres. The seven different genres are:-

Hymns

Confidence

Remembrance

Kingship

Lament

Thanksgiving

Wisdom

Today we are going to look at Kingship Psalms

Kingship Psalms remind us that we have a King who is to be listed to and obeyed because He protects us and provides for us.

Basically all Kingship Psalms answer the same question … “How do I respond to the rule of God in my life?” Examples of Kingship Psalms include:-

Psalm 2 Psalm 72

Psalm 20 Psalm 89

Psalm 21 Psalm 110

Psalm 47 Psalm 144

This morning we are going to have a closer look at Psalm 2.

Series: Responding to God

Remembering God’s Faithful Acts

A sermon on Psalm 78:1-8

Read straight away.

Imagine what would happen if we employed an advertising agency to market Christianity. What would they focus on?

• Forgiveness is a free gift from God.

• The debt of sin has been paid for.

• All it takes is to confess your sin.

That would be the focus wouldn’t it. And it would be true advertising for Christianity. But it isn’t the whole truth is it. Here are a few other Scriptures.

Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 10:37-38

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

1 Corinthians 9:23-25

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Romans 12:1

Putting God first. Making the sacrifice. Denying ourselves. Carrying the cross. Running the race. Counting the costs. That is another side to Christianity isn’t it. The side that is not as easy to market.

Everyone wants Jesus who is the Saviour – the One who pays the price.

Not as many people want Jesus who is Lord or King – the One who calls us to follow His rule.

How am I … how are you … going to respond to the rule of Jesus. How are we going to act knowing that Jesus is Saviour … and King? That is what this Psalm is all about. In this Psalm there are four voices.

The voice of DEFIANCE (verses 1-3)

By nature we can be a very defiant lot.

President Bush – the first president Bush – once said, "I do not like broccoli and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. Now I’m president of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli ..."

I guess it doesn’t matter too much if you are rebelling against eating broccoli … the problem comes when we start rebelling against the One who created broccoli.

The DEFIANT ones do not acknowledge the King of Israel because they do not acknowledge the God of Israel.

If we are going to properly understand Kingship Psalms we need to remember an important principal. In the days of the Psalms the king of the nation represented the God of the nation.

The Egyptian king ruled in the name of Egyptian gods.

The Babylonian king ruled in the name of Babylonian gods.

The Israelite king ruled in the name of YaHWeH.

And when nations went to war, and armies were captured, the victory was seen as a victory for the nation with the most powerful God.

King and God went together.

When you stood against the king … you stood against the God of the king.

The kings in Psalm 2 were doing that … standing against the Lord and His anointed.

They wanted to be their own boss.

They did not want the God of Israel to reign.

Not much has changed in 2500 years has it?

DEFIANT people still do not want the rule of Jesus in their lives.

For so many God is seen as nothing more than a long-armed policeman who is just waiting for you to step out of line so that He can give you a ticket to hell.