Our world today is moving faster and faster away from faith in God. In fact, the very existence of God is regularly called into question. In every part of our culture you are marked as narrow-minded, ignorant, uncool, hateful, bigoted, and foolish for trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior. It’s nothing new, of course. Ever since the rebellion in the Garden of Eden, mankind has been in rebellion against God and His rule.
Psalm 2 is a royal Psalm that Peter and John ascribe to David (Acts 4:25). It looks forward to a day when God’s rule once again fully and visibly extends to planet Earth with the coronation of Jesus Christ.
It is also a Messianic Psalm as it talks about God’s Anointed One, the Messiah. It also shows us individually the folly of going our own way and realizing that this is the default behavior of the human heart, something we’ve got to fight constantly.
1
The question is rhetorical. In light of God’s sovereignty it is surprising that anyone would rebel against His authority, yet they do—why? Because the spirit of rebellion was planted in the human heart by Lucifer who wanted to be greater than God.
Isaiah 14:12-15 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart:
'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.' 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.” NKJV
People plan on how they can do their own thing without God in the picture, but it is in vain because God is in ultimate control and will return to assert that control in a very real way.
2 - 3
Verse 2 is a parallel to verse one but provides a little more detail—the rebellion of verse 1 is “taking their stand.” It’s like that old saying “drawing a line in the sand.” This age, with more and more pride, declares that “we don’t need God.” The “plotting” of verse 1 becomes “conspiring together against the Lord.” As we see this age grow closer to the end times we will see this type of conspiring not only of individuals and individual nations, but of nations collaborating together against God. See Revelation 17, and 11:7-10 (the two witnesses).
But notice that it isn’t now just a rebellion against Yahweh but against “His Anointed One.” This is the Hebrew word mashiyach from which we get the word Messiah. Here, the Messiah is God’s chosen King. In the end, all rebellion against God is going to be rebellion against Jesus Christ (Christ is from the Greek christos which also means “anointed one”).
People who are in rebellion against Jesus see a relationship with Him as restraining and “chains.” The reason is that this rebellion we hold onto makes us think that we are “free” but in reality we simply become slaves to Lucifer.
Romans 6:16-17 Do you not know that if you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of that one you obey—either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness?
That’s one of the biggest follies of our age, thinking that belonging to God is somehow restraining – what it is really is getting rid of the stuff that is like Satan—who fools us into thinking that acting outside of God’s character is good and that acting like God is bad. He has the wool pulled over our eyes (as a wolf in sheep’s clothing).
4 – 6
Here’s how God reacts to the puny efforts of man—He laughs! It’s a laugh of derision and contempt. That laughter turns to ridicule and finally anger. Why anger? Because mankind has always been in rebellion against God’s rule—from the Garden of Eden to the Tower of Babel and on to today. It’s anger that the rebellion of man leads ultimately to death and destruction. But God has other plans for Planet Earth, and that is for Jesus to rule the universe.
So He says “I have consecrated” or set-aside “My King” which is Jesus. So now the voice shifts to the King Himself.
7 – 9
This is the Father declaring to the Son what He will do. The idea of “today I have become Your Father” points to the incarnation of Jesus as a human and to His resurrection.
Jesus’ rule is far reaching, and His authority unending. When Jesus rules on earth there will be absolutely no question of who is in charge and there will be no way for man to take over again. So in light of this, what should we learn?
10 – 12
“Wise up” David says—don’t clog your ears with your own rhetoric. We are to “serve the Lord with reverential awe.” I like that. I think other translations use the word “fear.” Someone that powerful should be feared, but not in the way you might think, for not only is God all powerful, but He is also all good and kind and just. David goes on to tell us to “rejoice with trembling.” What an interesting combination of words. Usually trembling means you are frightened. But we can rejoice even though we serve the Almighty, because He loves us and we can have a relationship with Him despite His incredible power.
“Pay homage” can also be rendered “kiss”. It is a picture of humble submission. In the end we have two choices: rebel against Him and provoke His anger and perish, or submit humbly—take refuge in Him, and be happy!
So this psalm begs a question: when it comes to making important decisions that affect your life and the lives of those around you, who do you put on the throne? Is it your own self-interest, or do you submit fearfully, joyfully, humbly, to the will of your King—even if that means doing something or going through something that is unpleasant? Like it says in Psalm 1, the way to happiness is submitting to your relationship with Him.
We can also take great comfort from this Psalm because as we look around us and see our country move away from God and get angry and frustrated, we have got to realize that God is ultimately the King and will come back to rule. There is great hope in that!
Psalm 3
Psalm 3 describes one of those times when it seems like everything is conspiring against you and everyone around you seems to be upset with you. In David’s life it came at one of the lowest points imaginable when his own son conspired to overthrow and kill him.
The account comes from 2 Samuel 15:7. David and his son Absalom had never gotten along very well. Amnon, another of David’s sons had raped Absalom’s sister Tamar. Absalom murdered Amnon and as a result fled from David. Absalom wormed his back to Jerusalem but he and David never spoke much at all.
Absalom then rebelled and went to Hebron with the express purpose of overthrowing David as king. He’d spent time working the crowds so they would side with him and then in Chapter 15 the revolt comes into the open and David flees from Jerusalem. The plan was for Absalom to chase and overtake David, but David sent back one of his advisors, Hushai, to make Absalom pause for just a bit, giving David time to escape.
So you can imagine the emotional turmoil that David is going through as he leaves the city and is cursed by Shimei in Chapter 16.
1 – 2
So here he is, in Mahanaim (2 Samuel 17:27), not knowing if he is going to survive this ordeal. You go from king and the Lord’s anointed to a fugitive, chased by your own son. As he realized the depth of the revolt it must have seemed like his foes increased without limit. Shimei’s curse in 2 Samuel 16:8 was “the Lord has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul in whose place you rule … Look, you are in trouble because you’re a murderer!” So basically that would be saying “God is not going to come to your rescue because you are cursed!”
David’s heart-cry is followed by a statement of what he already knows about God and his relationship with Him.
3 – 4
This is so beautiful, and there’s a great worship chorus that’s based on this verse. Notice David is not relying on his own efforts to get out of this jam—the Lord is a shield. He is not relying on his own goodness, God is his glory, and he is not looking to his own position to defend him, it is Yahweh that lifts up his head. When everything is against you and you begin to believe the lies and taunts of the enemy, that is the time to realize that it is God’s righteousness through Jesus Christ that matters, not your own goodness, efforts, or position.
Instead of crying out in anger at his enemies, he cries out in anguish to the Lord. Notice that the answer comes from “His holy mountain” which would have meant Jerusalem. David knows that God has promised him an everlasting kingdom (2 Samuel 7) and trusts that his deliverance will come from God’s Mount Zion, not David’s capitol city.
What effect does this crying out aloud to God for deliverance have on David?
5 – 6
How would you feel if you faced an enemy who might kill you in the night? That was the plan of Absalom. But David trusts in God so much that he will go to sleep and wake up, not because of his own innate strength but because God sustains him. How often do we fret in anguish over awful situations that we find ourselves in. I’m not saying we will never be upset, but if we truly cry aloud to God He will sustain us and there will be another day.
Further, David’s fear has abated. Notice the emotional growth that has happened as he writes this song to the Lord. He starts out in turmoil over all those foes, but by verse 6 he says he is no longer afraid.
Philippians 4:6-7 Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Then comes the cry from David, knowing that he will be delivered:
7 – 8
At the point of writing this song David did not know how that deliverance would take place, but he knew it would, and that the enemies of the Lord would be crushed. “Salvation belongs to the Lord” not to us. So no matter what happened, David would be delivered and was in the care of His God.
I want to point out four things that happen in this Psalm and how they can help us in times of trouble.
1.We want to hide our true feelings from God to appear more “holy”. David was open, honest, and transparent with God. We want to always speak with the voice of faith, but often faith starts with a cry of “Oh no!” to God.
We want to panic and run—do anything to get out of the situation. David sits tight, trusts, waits, and is at peace in the Lord for His salvation, not David’s.
3.We want to strike back at those who accuse us, falsely or not. David didn’t strike out himself, but trusted in God’s ultimate justice. It isn’t your job to punish those who do you wrong. “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
4.Finally, David’s trouble came about because of his sin with Bathsheba. 2 Samuel 12:11 says “I am going to bring disaster on you and your family: I will take your wives and give them to another before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them publicly.” This is exactly what happened with Absalom. But David had repented of this sin and God had forgiven him, though he would still bear the consequences. The point is that David didn’t rely on his righteousness but the grace of God to save him. We can’t rely on our own goodness either but in the taunts of the enemy, even if they are true, we must remember grace!
