Why Do the Heathen Rage?
Psalm 2:1–12 NKJV
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
“Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”
“I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
One thing which characterizes the world today is summed up in the word “rage.” Hate and division are everywhere. One nation is taught to fear and hate another nation. People of one race rage against another. There are wars and rumors of wars everywhere. The whole world is on fire. We find ourselves distressed. The rage of the world becomes personal when the world rages against the Christians,
One thing we learn from the Bible is that “rage” is not new. We look today at the 2nd Psalm written by King David about 3000 years ago. David lived in a world filled with rage and intrigue. The Philistines raged against Israel. Wars were fought with Amalekites, Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, and other nations which surrounded Israel. If this was not enough, there was rage within the camp of Israel. Saul raged against David, David, to his credit, did not rage back at Saul. But after the death of Saul, there was still a civil war between Saul’s descendants and David.
Since there were so many incidents of rage, it would be hard to define precisely what occasion caused David to write this psalm. This psalm seems to fit the life of David in general. David was chosen by Yahweh to be king over Israel. The struggle to ascend to the throne was long and dangerous. But God’s will that David should rule over Israel came to pass, in spite of the rage of the nations. The Lord scorned and laughed at these feeble attempts to overthrow His will. He held these attempts with contempt. They had conspired against the LORD’s anointed, but their plans had come to naught. Even his son, Absalom, tried to break the familial bonds and rose up in rebellion against his father, David.
Yahweh response beyond scorning the heathen was to let the world know that He had established David to be the king. He was as a Father to David. The LORD had promised that these heathen (nations) would become part of David’s inheritance. David then advises the judges and rulers to consider these things and take instruction. The Psalm calls these heathen to come with reverence before David’s throne which had been given to him by the LORD.
When looking at this psalm from Christian eyes, we are led to someone greater than David. Whatever can be said of a father-son relation between Yahweh and David, we see that this Son is greater than David. We can read of David’s many failures as a king. He was a man of blood. He desired to build a house for Yahweh but could not. In 2 Samuel 7 we learn that the building of this house would have to be done by one of David’s descendants. At first, that son seemed to be Solomon, but after a good start, Solomon failed as a king. Even though his name means “peace”, the peace was broken by his intrigues with foreign women, his trust in his army, and becoming arrogant. A greater Prince of Peace was needed. The same could be said of Solomon’s descendants.
If this psalm is not about David in its greatest sense, then who is it about? We remember that Peter in his Pentecost sermon reminds us that David was not just a king but a prophet. Peter in this sermon was noting that the 16th Psalm that Yahweh would not let the body of His Holy One suffer decay. This was obviously not true of David. One could enter his tomb and see his remains. Peter identifies this Holy One as none other than Jesus. It is to Jesus we see the fulfillment of this psalm.
In the Book of Acts, when the church was persecuted, they responded in their prayer to cite the second psalm in which the Jewish leaders as well as Pontius Pilate had raged and conspired against Jesus to have Him put to death. Their rage had come to naught because God raised up Jesus on the third day. Not only did Jesus arise, He ascended to the Father. And not only did he ascend, He is returning to judge the living and the dead. And we read in Revelation 2:27:
Revelation 2:27 NKJV
‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—
as I also have received from My Father;
So, the leaders of the world rage against Jesus and His followers. They mock Him just like He was mocked on the cross. God’s reaction is to rage back against the heathen and their leaders. The difference is that the rage of the nations shall be brought to naught. But who can annul the wrath of the Lord in His day? This should serve as a warning. Instead of raging against God, we are admonished to kiss the Son instead. In modern terms, to kiss is to show respect to and come to friendly terms with God. The leaders are called to take instruction. The text says that just a little wrath kindled against God is enough that they would utterly perish. How much better to fear Him and to rejoice with trembling.
The psalm does reveal the terror of the Lord and the utter ruin of those who continue to mock Him and His followers. But there is another side to this psalm as well. It ends with the promise “Blessed are those who put their trust in Him. We can think of this same Jesus while being mocked on the cross cried out “Forgive them, for they know not what they do,” One of the men who was crucified with Jesus found forgiveness. The Roman centurion who supervised the crucifixion of Jesus confessed it was Jesus and not Caesar who was the Son of God. Even though Peter in his preaching told the leaders of the Jews that they had murdered their Messiah. On Pentecost, when they realized the enormity of their crime, they were pricked in their heard and cried out in despair “What shall we do?” Peter told them to repent, believe, and be baptized. Not only would they be forgiven, but they would also receive the promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:37-39). What they had done, they had done in ignorance. But now that they knew the truth, there would be no further excuse for them if they did not receive Christ. They must repent, or else. This is supported by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:8:
1 Corinthians 2:8 NKJV
which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But this call to repentance is not just for the world’s leaders. It is a call for all people, everywhere, to repent. “
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Everyone who hears the gospel is confronted with the reality that they either embrace the Son or utterly perish in everlasting punishment. And it is for the church to confront the world with this message. The apostolic preaching was bold and confrontational. Paul reminds us that there was a time that God “winked” at the ignorance of the nations, but no longer. This is what Paul told the Athenians in Acts 17:30-31:
Acts 17:30–31 NKJV
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
Some might say that if the preaching of the Gospel makes one culpable and demands a decision, would it not be better to keep the world in ignorance. The thinking is that it is batter that God give a wink and a sigh at the rebelliousness and sin of mankind. The answer to this is that the Church is culpable if it hides the Gospel message from he world. It in a sense would be to rage and mock against God. The Church does not have a choice but to proclaim the full Gospel which calls men to repentance, or else it will be judged. But ignorance will not save the heathen. Jesus Himself say that the ignorant will be beaten with stripes, even if this means fewer stripes (Luke 12:48). The first chapter of Romans tells us that they are without excuse because God has already revealed enough of Himself in nature and conscience. I might add that their very rage against God and His Anointed is proof of their guilt and proves that they know they stand guilty and in danger of eternal judgment. So we do no favor to the heathen by remaining silent. We also do no favor to ourselves. We are called to receive a blessing and not a curse. So we must be obedient to the call.
These words might sound harsh at first, but they are actually the first steps in receiving grace and the forgiveness of Christ. In is not the will of condemn the world, but instead that through Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice that we might receive the blessing of eternal life (John 3:17). But the following verses in the Gospel of John also acknowledges that there will be those who shall be condemned because they did not receive Him, who is the Only-Begotten of the Father.
The bold proclamation of the Gospel has consequences for those who proclaim the Gospel to this world. We already noted the persecution and beating of the Apostles. We can read from books like Fox’s Book of Martyrs of the sufferings of many faithful witnesses. when we proclaim the Gospel in its fullness, we shall be mocked and raged against, just as they mocked Jesus. But our lives are in His hands. Remember these words from Romans 14:8:
Romans 14:8 NKJV
For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
The rage of the world cannot ultimately prevail against us. This is our hope in these difficult times. The world will continue raging. They will rage against each other. Even if we were not here to provoke rage, they will still rage. In the times of “ignorance” they raged against each other. They were really raging against God even back then, even if they did not know it. And whether they rage against us or each other, they are raging even today against God. They try in vain to cancel God in today’s world. The rulers think they can achieve their own utopia without God. They do not feel that God is not necessary to explain anything. They have become gods unto themselves. Tr as they will, their efforts will be brought to naught. If they would pause for a minute, they would see the insane folly that this world has become. Unless God had restrained them, they would already have destroyed life on this earth. But God does restrain them because He is not willing anyone perish but instead to embrace the Son. But these times of patience will soon run out and the judgment will come. As bad as the rage of man is, how much worse will the rage of God be against His mockers and those who hurt His little ones. The punishment will be far worse than having a millstone put around your neck and to be thrown into the sea.
If you are still in the world, please understand that I do not wish to rage back at you. Instead, I am doing the loving thing in telling you the truth. The only hope you have is to embrace the Son. The only hope for this world is to embrace the Son. To not tell you would be an act of contempt and hate. God invited you today to put down the weapons of your rage and to embrace Him instead. Then you shall find blessing and peace.
