Psalm 2

Psalm 2

Introduction:

• Psalm 2 can be broken into 4 parts with 4 speakers:
• The Psalmist - vs.1-3
• God the Father - vs.4-6
• God the Son - vs. 7-9
• God the Holy Spirit - vs.10-12
• Psalm 2 is one of very few specifically Messianic Psalms.  They include Psalms 22, 45, 72, 110, and 118.
• Among even this relatively small number Psalm 2 stands out dramatically

vs.1-3

• vs.1
• The Psalmist doesn't expect an answer to his opening question.  Instead it seems like he is saying to the reader, "What's the point of resisting the One anointed by God."
• The word that is translated "plot" here is the same word that is translated "meditates" (vs.2) in the previous Psalm.
• This shows the nature of human rebellion against God.  It is something that must be thought out and planned.
• Notice the difference between the "Blessed man" and the "ungodly man" in Psalm 1 and 2.  It comes down to the place a person looks to receive their delight (meaning their joy, peace, and hope).
• vs.1-2
• These two verses were cited by the earliest Christians in a thanksgiving prayer following the release of Peter and John from the Sanhedrin - Acts 4: 25-26.
• vs.2-3
• Slaves to God?
• The people described in these verses are clearly not cooperative to God's plan. 
• They consider service to their king the equivalent of slavery.
• vs.2
• The world is formally and firmly united in its desire to get rid of God.
• This makes sense considering that the current climate of the world demands acceptance of all things and a total rejection of anyone's stance on possessing absolute truth.
• The Hebrew word for "Anointed" is mashiach and is the place where we get the English word Messiah.

2. vs. 4-6

• vs.4
• Notice God's reaction to human revolt.
• He does not tremble, hide, begin counting the enemy and calculating whether or not He has sufficient force to counter this new challenge... He does not even rise from where he sits.
• Instead, He laughs.  This is the only place in the Bible where God is said to laugh, and it is not a pleasant laugh.  It is a laugh of derision.
• God does not need the cooperation or the approval of human kind.
• God will carry out His plan regardless of human opinion or popular thought.
• Despite our best efforts, we cannot impede God's plans.
• vs. 6
• Zion = to Jerusalem (although at the time Zion was originally only one section of Jerusalem - a southern hill on which a Jebusite fortification was established until David conquered it; 2 Samuel 5:6-7)

3. vs.7-9

• vs.8
• Notice the direct connection to Satan's temptation of Jesus - Matthew 4:8-9
• Jesus refuses to ask these things of Satan but will ask them of God the Father, and He will receive them when the time is perfect.
• The fact that it is God's will that His Son should have a great heritage out of the heathen world should strengthen and encourage us as we witness to the lost.

4. vs.10-12

• The final voice that speaks is a gentle voice.  It would stand to reason that this is the voice of the Holy Spirit in that He is the one who will draw the lost to Jesus, which is what the narrator is calling us to do here.
• 5 things the rebellious are called to do
• Be wise - vs.10
• Be instructed, warned - vs.10
• Serve the LORD with fear - vs.11
• Rejoice and Tremble - vs.11
• Kiss the Son - vs.12
• A kiss was the sign of love among equals, of subjection, and of religious adoration in worshipers.
• It is striking to consider that a kiss is the way in which the disciple Judas betrayed the Son of God.