Psalm 2- God Is In Control
I. Psalm 2:1-3
1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth
set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his
anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
Peter and John are harassed after healing blind man. Released. Luke writes.
Acts 4:25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
We are here told who would appear as adversaries to Christ. As this world is the kingdom of Satan, unconverted men, of every rank, party, and character, are stirred up by him to oppose the cause of God. But the rulers of the earth generally have been most active. The truths and precepts of Christianity are against ambitious projects and worldly lusts. We are told what they aim at in this opposition. They would break asunder the bands of conscience, and the cords of God's commandments; they will not receive, but cast them away as far as they can. These enemies can show no good cause for opposing so just and holy a government, which, if received by all, would bring a heaven upon earth. They can hope for no success in so opposing so powerful a kingdom. The Lord Jesus has all power both in heaven and in earth, and is Head over all things to the church, notwithstanding the restless endeavors of his enemies. Christ's throne is set up in his church, that is, in the hearts of all believers. (Matthew Henry)
We have, in the first three verses, a description of the hatred of human nature against the
Christ of God. (Charles Spurgeon)
A. Verse 1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people [nations-pagan or idolators] imagine
a vain thing?
1. Rage—to be tumultuous, It refers to the rushing together of the mob who
gnashed their teeth at the Messiah. (Dake)
2. Rage
a. The word with which Paul renders this in Greek notes rage, pride, and
restlessness, as of horses that neigh, and rush into battle. (C.H.S.)
b. The word for “rage” is primarily applied to animal ferocity, especially
to that of untamed horses. (Ellicotts Comm.)
c. rage - violent commotion or agitation. (Barnes Notes)
3. The Psalm begins abruptly with an angry interrogation. (Spurgeon)
4. 5 Acts of the Ungodly (Dake)
a. They rage (v. 1)
b. Imagine (plot vain things) (v. 1)
c. Set themselves against God and Messiah (v. 2)
d. Counsel together against God and Messiah (v. 2)
e. Encourage themselves to get rid of God and Messiah (v. 2)
5. Where there is much rage, there is generally some folly, and in this case there
is an excess of it.
6. It was not temporary rage, but deep-seated hate, for they set themselves
resolutely to withstand the Prince of Peace.
7. Imagine
a. "to form a notion or idea in the mind; to fancy." Webster.
b. "The peoples" still to this day "imagine a vain thing" - imagine that
Christianity will succumb to the assaults made upon it - will fade, die away, and disappear. (Pulpit Comm.)
8. Vain --empty (1), nothing (1), uselessly (2), vain thing (1), what is worthless
9. However mad the resolution to revolt from God, it is one in which man has
persevered ever since his creation, and he continues in it to this very day. The glorious reign of Jesus in the latter day will not be consummated, until a terrible struggle has convulsed the nations. (Treasury of David)
B. Verse 2 The kings of the earth set themselves [take their stand; with hostile intent],
and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his
anointed, saying,
1. There is always a warfare between the world and the Church, in which kings
are apt to take a part, most often on the worldly side. (Pulpit Comm.)
2. The kings of the earth — So called by way of contempt, and to show their
madness in opposing the God of heaven. (Benson Comm.)
This will happen twice in the future. At the Battle of Armageddon and
after the one thousand year reign.
3. In Spain, two monumental pillars were raised, on which were written
Diocletian Jovian Maximian Herculeus Caesares Augusti, for having
extinguished the name of Christians. (Joseph Caryl 1647)
4. It is the idea of taking a stand, or of setting themselves in array, which is
denoted by the expression; - they combine; they resolve; they are fixed in
their purpose. The attitude here is that of firm or determined resistance.
(Barnes Notes)
5. against Yaweh - The meaning is, that they were engaged in deliberating
against Yahweh in respect to the matter here referred to - to wit, his
purpose to place the "Anointed One," his King, on the hill of Zion. (B. N.)
6. Against his anointed; against such a king whom God hath chosen and exalted,
and wonderfully accomplished and set up for his work and service, who
therefore will certainly defend him against all his enemies.
(Matthew Poole’s)
7. What would they have then? His blood? Yea, “they took counsel,” saith
Matthew, “To put him to death”. They had the devil’s mind, which is not
satisfied but with death. (Henry Smith 1578)
Psalm 31:13 For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side:
while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my
life.
8. They cannot succeed. They cannot defeat the counsels of heaven. They
cannot injure the Lord’s Anointed. (David Pitcairn 1851)
C. Verse 3 Let us break [to pull, draw, or tear away, apart, or off]) their bands [bond]
asunder, and cast [to throw, cast, fling] away their cords [rope – used to
guide and control the oxen] from us.
1. Resolved they were to run riot as lawless, and aweless, and therefore they
slander the sweet laws of Christ’s kingdom as bonds and thick cords,
which are signs of slavery. (John Trapp)
2. Jeremiah 5:5 I will go to the great men and speak to them, For they have
known the way of the LORD, The judgment of their God.” But these have
altogether broken the yoke (Mosaic Law) And burst the bonds (The
fastenings by which the yoke was fixed upon the necks of the oxen.).
3. “Let us break” -- The whispered purpose now breaks out into loud menace,
and we hear their defiance pass along the ranks of the rebels. (Ellicott)
4. Wicked men always feel God's rule and his Law to be restraints. They chafe at
them, fret against them, and, in the last resort - so far as their will goes –
wholly throw them off. And cast away their cords from us. "Bands" and
"cords" are the fetters that restrain prisoners. The rebels determine to burst
them, and assert their absolute freedom. (Pulpit Comm.)
5. The laws of God and Christ, though easy and pleasant in themselves, and to all
good men, yet are very grievous and burdensome to corrupt nature, and
carnal, wicked men. (Benson)
6. Doctrines would be readily believed if they involved in them no precepts; and
the Church may be tolerated by the world, if she will only give up her
discipline. (Benson)
7. the unwillingness of rebellious nature to submit to the obligations of divine
laws, which cross the interests, and lay a restraint upon the desires of men.
(Benson)
8. The bands of Yahweh and of his Anointed. They who are engaged in this
combination or conspiracy regard Yahweh and his Anointed as one, and as
having one object - to set up a dominion over the world. Hence, they take
counsel against both; and, with the same purpose and design, endeavor to
cast off the authority of each. (Barnes’ Notes)
The true reason of the opposition of sinners to Christ’s truth – their hatred of the
restraints of godliness. (Treasury of David)
II. Psalm 2:4-6
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then
shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6 Yet
have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
A. Verse 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in
derision [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].
1. Hereby it is clearly intimated (1) that the Lord is far above all their malice and
power, (2) that he seeth all their plots, looking down on all; (3) that he is
of omnipotent power, and so can do with His enemies as he lists.
(Arthur Jackson 1643)
2. Sinners’ follies are the just sport of God’s infinite wisdom and power; and
those attempts of the kingdom of Satan, which in our eyes are formidable,
in His are despicable. (Matthew Henry)
3. Pharaoh imagined that by drowning the Israelite males, he had found a way to
root their name from earth; but when at the same time, his own daughter,
in his own court, gave princely education to Moses, their deliverer, did not
God laugh?
4. Is Dagon put up to his place again? God’s smile shall take off his head and his
hands, and leave him neither wit to guide nor power to subsist . . . .
5. He permitted His temple to be sacked and rifled, the holy vessels to be
profaned and caroused in; but did not God’s smile make Belshazzar to
tremble at the handwriting on the wall? (Thomas Adams)
6. “He shall laugh,” this word is designed to convey to our minds the idea, that
the greatest confederacies amongst kings and peoples, and their most
extensive and vigorous preparations, to defeat His purposed or to injure
His servants are in His sight altogether insignificant and worthless.
(David Pitcairn)
B. Verse 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore
displeasure.
1. He knows how He can crush them like a moth when He pleases, or consume
them in a moment with the breath of his mouth. (David Pitcairn)
2. It is easy for God to destroy his foes . . . Behold Pharaoh, his wise men, His
hosts, and his horses plouting and plunging, and sinking like lead in the
Red Sea. (William Plummer)
3. Revelation 19:20-21 20And the beast was taken, and with him the false
prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
4. There is a limit to the divine patience. He will not always look on in silence. If
they persist in their folly He must speak, and His word is power. (Cambridge Bible)
5. “unto them in his wrath” — That is, severely rebuke them, not only by his
prophets and other messengers in words, but by dreadful judgments, the
effects of his wrath, which he will execute upon them. He shall make them
know, to their full conviction, by the disappointment of their schemes and
the vengeance taken on them
6. “in his sore displeasure”, Lit. fiery wrath, a word used almost exclusively of
divine anger.
C. Verse 6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
1. “Yet have I set my King.” Notice the royal office and character of our
glorious Redeemer: He is a King. “This name he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh.”
2. Rev. 19:16 “And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written,
KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
3. Whatever be the plots of hell and earth to the contrary, he reigns by His
Father’s ordination (Stephen Charnock)
4. Jesus Christ is His saints’ King. He is King of the bad, and of the good; but as
for the wicked, He rules over them by His power and might; but the saints,
He rules in them by His Spirit and graces. (William Dyer)
5. Zion was one of the hills on which Jerusalem was built. The name came to be
appropriated to the temple and its courts. It is also applied to the
worshippers in the temple if not to the whole inhabitants of Jerusalem
[Zionist]. It is used to signify the Church of God. Sometimes it is applied
to the visible Church, sometimes to the invisible, as Hebrews 12:22
“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.”
In the text the whole Church is to be understood. The visible Church is as
much Christ's Church as the invisible. It owes its existence to Him. Christ
is King of Zion, and as King of Zion He is head over all — exalted above
all principality, and power, and might, and dominion. (James Ewing)
6. Isaiah 2: 2 “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be
established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the
hills, and all nations will stream to it.” [During the Thousand Year Reign]
7. Zechariah 14:8 “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from
Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the
hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.” [During Millennium]
III. Psalms 2: 7-9
7 “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, This day
I have begotten You.’ 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
A. Verse 7 “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, This
day [I Declare] I have begotten You.’”
*There are some who believe this verse refers to David as a type of Christ, or of
David speaking of Solomon his son. Others see it as Messianic—belongs
to Christ.
1. This Psalm belongs to the class called Messianic. It is full of that great national
hope of the Jews concerning Him who was to come. (Philip Brooks)
2. “I will declare”,
a. or publish, that all people concerned may take notice of it, and submit
to it upon their peril. Publication or promulgation is essential to all
laws or statutes.
b. The anointed king now speaks himself, recalling the covenant made
with him by Jehovah at his coronation. (Ellicott)
3. “decree” –
a. something prescribed or owed, a statute
b. Statute, ordinance, law, civil enactments prescribed by God!
(1) The root meaning is to engrave, and so it stands for a formal
agreement
(2) The Father wants the Son to declare an eternal ordinance, an
eternal law that will last forever!
c. Settle it that the decree is good, merciful, redemptive, and then judge
everything in the light of that fact. (Joseph Parker)
d. Psalm 119:89 “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”
4. Hebrews 1:5 “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my
Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father,
and he shall be to me a Son?”
5. Psalm 89:27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the
earth. I have, by the anointing accomplished this day, installed thee as the
theocratic prince.
6. begotten -- to bear, bring forth, beget
7. You are, not will be my Son
8. You are/have been the Eternal Son! [Trinity] (Thomas Fortini)
a. This is an eternal decree from eternity past!
b. You are my Son, one in essence with Me!
c. You are one with God.
d. You are God!
9. Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
This verse teacheth us faithfully to declare, and humbly claim, the gifts and call
that God hath bestowed upon us. (Thomas Wilcocks)
B. Verse 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
1. Ask of me -- There are two opinions regarding who is speaking, either God the
Father is introduced again as the speaker, or God the Son is simply
continuing His account of what his Father said to Him. The latter is
probably the case, and it doesn’t suggest any superiority of one, or
inferiority of the other. It only expresses the Father's great respect and
affection for His Son; and it shows the remarkable relationship the Son
had with his Father, He could ask Him for anything, and He would give it
to Him; (John Lowe)
a. Inheritance is the natural right of sonship. Yet even the son must plead
the promise and claim its fulfilment. (Cambridge Bible)
b. The Father promises the Son that He shall inherit the nations. Satan
attempted to circumvent the will of the Father when he tempted the
Master. You may recall how, “The devil took him to a very high
mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their
glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall
down and worship me’” [MATTHEW 4:8-9]. Satan was not
making an idle offer. Though Christ shall reign, He does not now
reign over earth; it is Satan who reigns over the earth at this time.
(Michael Stark)
c. That is, of God. This is a part of the "decree" or purpose, as mentioned in Psalm 2:7. That decree embraced not only the design to constitute him as his Son, in the sense that he was to be king in Zion, but also the purpose to give him a dominion embracing "the heathen" and "the uttermost parts of the earth." (Barnes’ Notes)
2. Claim or demand it of me as thy right by my promise, and thy birth and
purchase; the heathen for thine inheritance — To be possessed and
enjoyed by thee in the manner of an inheritance, namely, surely and
perpetually. Thus “Christ was to enter upon the exercise of the
intercessorial branch of his priestly office, with a request to the Father that
the heathen world, &c., might be given for his inheritance, in return for the
labours he had undergone, and the pains he had endured; as also to supply
the place of the Jews, who were his original inheritance and possession,
but were cast off because of unbelief.” — Horne.
3. Christians are the possession of the Lord Jesus; they are to him for a name and
a praise. God the Father gives them to him, when, by his Spirit and grace,
he works upon them to submit to the Lord Jesus. (Matthew Henry)
4. And I shall give thee - I will give thee. That is, he would ultimately give him
this possession. No time is specified when it would be done, and the
prophecy will be fulfilled if it shall be accomplished in any period of the
history of the world. (Barnes’ Notes)
5. The heathen - The nations (notes, Psalm 2:1); that is, the world. In the time of
the writer of the psalm, the world would be spoken of as divided into
Hebrews and other nations; the people of God and foreigners. The same
division is often referred to in the New Testament under the terms Jew and
Gentile, as the Greeks divided all the world into Greeks and barbarians.
The word would now embrace all the nations which are not under the
influence of the true religion. (Barnes’ Notes)
6. For thine inheritance - Thy heritage; thy portion as my Son. There is an
allusion here to the fact that he had constituted him as his Son, and hence,
it was proper to speak of him as the heir of all things. (Barnes’ Notes)
a. Hebrews 1:4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
b. Being made so much better - Being exalted so much above the angels.
The word "better" here does not refer to moral character, but to
exaltation of rank. As Mediator; as the Son of God in our nature,
he is exalted far above the angels. (Barnes’ Notes)
7. And the uttermost parts of the earth –
a. The farthest regions of the world. This promise would properly
embrace all the world as then known, as it is now known, as it shall
be hereafter known.
b. For thy possession - That is, as king. This, on the earth, was be to his
possession as the Son of Yahweh, constituted as king. It may be
remarked here,
8. The promise is to be understood as still in full force. It has never been
cancelled or recalled, and though its fulfillment has seemed to be long
delayed, yet as no time was specified, its spirit and meaning have not been
disregarded. Events have shown that it was not intended that it should be
speedily accomplished; and events, when no time is specified, should be
allowed to be interpreters of the original meaning of the prophecy.
C. Verse 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like
a potter's vessel.
1. Rod of iron. Is a symbol of breaking stubborn resistance by a stern and
irresistible rule!
a. Isaiah 11:4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove
with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth
with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he
slay the wicked.
b. Revelation 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with
it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of
iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of
Almighty God.
c. Remember Egypt and Pharoah?
2. Potters vessel? (Thomas Fortini)
a. Emblematic of an easy, complete, irresistible, irreparable destruction!
b. The confederacy against God and His Messiah will be shattered as
easily as someone would smash a clay jar with a sledge hammer!
c. Clay in scripture always represents something weak and breakable
d. That is how easily I will subdue my enemies
3. The ruin of the wicked is certain, irresistible, terrible, complete, irreversible,
“like a potter's vessel.”
4. The destruction of systems of error and oppression is to be expected, like
Jeremiah showed would happen to Judah if they persisted in idol-worship.
5. It is easy for God to destroy his foes:
6. Remember Pharaoh, his wise men, his hosts, and his horses sinking like lead in
the Red Sea. Here is the end of one of the greatest plots ever formed
against God's chosen.
7. Thirty Roman emperors, governors of provinces, and others high in office,
who distinguished themselves by their zeal and bitterness in persecuting
the early Christians -
a. one became speedily deranged after some atrocious cruelty,
b. one was slain by his own son,
c. one became blind,
d. the eyes of one started out of his head,
e. one was drowned,
f. one was strangled,
g. one died in a miserable captivity,
h. one fell dead in a manner that we had best not talk about
i. one died of so loathsome a disease that several of his physicians were
put to death because they could not abide the stench that filled his room,
j. two committed suicide,
k. a third attempted it, but had to call for help to finish the work,
l. five were assassinated by their own people or servants,
m. five others died the most miserable and excruciating deaths, several of
them having an untold complication of diseases,
n. eight were killed in battle, or after being taken prisoners - among them
was Julian the apostate. In the days of his prosperity he is said to
have pointed his dagger to heaven defying the Son of God, whom
he commonly called the Galilean. But when he was wounded in
battle, he saw that all was over with him, and he gathered up his
clotted blood, and threw it into the air, exclaiming, “Thou hast
conquered, O thou Galilean.”
Such was the end of many of the emperors and high officials of the Roman
government. (Sam Mccormick)
The ruin of the wicked. Certain, irrestible, terrible, complete,
irretrievable, “like a potter’s vessel.”
IV. Psalms 2:10-12
10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the
Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is
kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
A. Verse 10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of
the earth.
1. 4 commands to kings, rulers
a. Be wise (v. 10)
b. Be instructed (v. 10)
c. Serve the Lord (v. 11)
d. Kiss the Son (v. 12)
2. True wisdom, fit for kings and judges, lies in obeying Christ. The gospel, a
school for those who would learn how to rule and judge well. They might
consider its principles, its exemplar, its spirit, etc.
3. It is an exhortation addressed to the rulers and princes whom the psalmist saw
engaged in opposition to the purpose of Yahweh Psalm 2:1-3
(Barnes’ Notes)
4. to act the part of wisdom, by not attempting to resist the plans of God, but to
submit to him, and secure his friendship. The psalmist cautions them to
take warning, in view of what must certainly come upon the enemies of
the Messiah; to cease their vain attempts to oppose his reign, and, by a
timely submission to him, to ensure his friendship, and to escape the doom
that must come upon his foes. (B. N.)
5. Be instructed - In your duty to Yahweh and his Anointed One; that is, in the
duty of submitting to this arrangement, and lending your influence to
promote it. The word used here, and rendered "be instructed," means
properly to chastise, chasten, correct; and it here means, be admonished,
exhorted, or warned. (B. N.)
6. Ye judges of the earth - Ye who administer justice; that is, ye rulers. This was
formerly done by kings themselves, as it is now supposed to be in
monarchical governments, where the judges act in the name of the king. In
Republics, justice is supposed to be administered by the people through
those whom they have appointed to execute it. The word here is equivalent
to rulers, and the call is on those who occupy posts of office and honor not
to oppose the purposes of Yahweh, but to bring their influence to the
promotion of his designs. At the same time, it cannot be doubted that it is
implied that they should seek to be interested personally in his reign.
(B. N.)
7. The proper order: (Benson Comm.)
a. Be wise now therefore — Understand your true interest while you have
time and space for repentance and submission;
b. O ye kings — You and your people.
c. Be instructed, ye judges — Or rulers, you and those that are ruled by
you. But he speaks of and to kings and rulers only:
(1) Because they most need the admonition, as presuming upon
their own power and greatness; and thinking it below them
to submit to him:
(2) Because their authority and example would have great
influence on their people and inferiors; and,
(3) To intimate the greatness of this monarch, that he was King of
kings, and Lord of lords.
8. Whatever we rejoice in, in this world, it must always be with trembling,
because of the uncertainty of all things in it. To welcome Jesus Christ, and
to submit to him, is our wisdom and interest. Let him be very dear and
precious; love him above all, love him in sincerity, love him much, as she
did, to whom much was forgiven, and, in token of it, kissed his feet,
B. Verse 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling [lest you displease
Him].
1. Serve the Lord with fear — That is, with reverence and an awful sense of his
great and glorious majesty, rendering you careful and diligent to please
him, and afraid to offend him. (Benson Comm.)
a. Whatever we rejoice in, in this world, it must always be with
trembling, because of the uncertainty of all things in it.
b. To welcome Jesus Christ, and to submit to him, is our wisdom and
interest. Let him be very dear and precious; love him above all,
love him in sincerity, love him much
c. Serve the Lord with fear - With reverence, and with deep
apprehensions of the consequences of not serving and obeying
him. That is, serve him in not opposing, but in promoting his
purpose of establishing a kingdom under the Messiah, with the
deep apprehension that if you do not do it, he will arise and crush
you in his wrath. (B. N.)
2. And rejoice — Do not esteem his yoke your dishonor and grievance, but know
that it is a greater glory and happiness to be the subjects of this King than
to be the emperors of the greatest empire; and accordingly rejoice in it,
and bless God for this inestimable grace and benefit;
a. Prof. Alexander renders this "shout," and supposes that it refers to the
customary recognition of a present sovereign. The word used - ???
gi^yl - means properly to move in a circle, to revolve; and then to
dance in a circle, to exult, to rejoice. Then, according to Gesenius,
it means to tremble, to fear, from the leaping or palpitation of the
heart. (B. N.)
b. Rejoice; do not esteem his yoke your dishonor and grievance; but
know that it is a greater glory and happiness to be the subjects of
this King, than to be emperors of the greatest empire; and
accordingly rejoice in it, and bless God for this inestimable grace
and benefit.
3. with trembling — This is added to signify the quality of the joy to which he
calls them and to distinguish it from that carnal and worldly rejoicing
which is usually attended with security and presumption; and to warn
them to take heed that they did not turn this grace of God into wantonness;
but, on the contrary, work out their salvation with fear and trembling.
a. With reverence and awe, feeling that he has almighty power, and that
the consequences of being found opposed to him must be
overwhelming and awful.
b. With trembling: this is added to express the quality of this joy to which
he calls them, and to distinguish it from that carnal and worldly
rejoicing which is usually attended with security, and presumption,
and licentiousness, and to warn them to take heed that they do
not turn this grace of God into wantonness, nor slacken their
dread of God’s tremendous majesty, and of his terrible judgments,
if they should hereafter revolt from him, or rebel against him; but,
on the contrary, (Matthew Poole)
C. Verse 12 Kiss the Son [pay homage to], lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way,
when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored
by God] are all they that put their trust in him.
1. Kiss the Son
a. This familiar translation must be surrendered. It has against it the
weight of all the ancient versions except the Syriac. Thus the
Chaldaic has, “receive instruction “; LXX., followed by Vulg.,
“lay hold of discipline.” Symmachus and Jerome render “pay pure
adoration.”Aquila has “kiss with discernment.” Bar, in the sense
of “son,” is common in Chaldee, and is familiar to us from the
Aramaic patronymics of the New Testament.
Examples: Pay homage, Submit to God’s royal Son, Accept Correction,
Show respect
b. A kiss is a token of affection or deepest devotion humans are capable
of – or for royalty, a token of fealty. Often in olden times, kissing
the hand - or the ring on the hand - indicated submission to the
authority signified by the ring. It was a formal demonstration of
submission and loyalty to one who has authority.
(Sam Mccormick)
c. And with a kiss of loyalty take this yoke upon you, and give up
yourselves to be governed by his laws, disposed of by his
providence, and entirely devoted to his cause. (M. H.)
2. lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way
a. lest he be angry -- The subject of the verb is Jehovah Himself. The
verb is applied to God in all the thirteen passages where it occurs.
b. The word from in this place is supplied by the translators. It is literally,
"And ye perish the way." See the notes at Psalm 1:6. The meaning
here seems to be either "lest ye are lost in respect to the way," that
is, the way to happiness and salvation; or "lest ye fail to find the
way" to life; or "lest ye perish by the way," to wit, before you
reach your destination, and accomplish the object you have in
view. The design seems to be to represent them as pursuing a
certain journey or path - as life is often represented
(compare Psalm 1:1) - and as being cut down before they reached
the end of their journey. (B. N.)
3. when his wrath is kindled but a little
a. When his wrath is kindled - When his wrath burns. Applying to anger
or wrath a term which is common now, as when we speak of one
whose anger is heated, or who is hot with wrath.
b. But a little, i.e. the least degree, of his anger is very terrible, much
more the heat and height of it, caused by such a desperate
provocation as this is. Or, for his wrath will be kindled shortly,
or suddenly, or within a very little time, as this word is used,
4. blessed are all they that put their trust in him; not in horses and chariots, in
riches and honours, in their own wisdom, strength, and righteousness; but
in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and who is truly and properly
God; or otherwise faith and trust would not be required to be put in him:
and happy are those who betake themselves to him as to their strong hold
and place of defence; who look to him and believe in him for pardon,
peace, righteousness, every supply of grace and eternal life; these are safe
and secure in him, nor shall they want any good thing needful for them;
and they have much peace, joy, and comfort here, and shall have more
grace as they want it, and hereafter eternal glory and happiness.
(Gill’s Exposition)
