Psalm 2
“The Reigning World Champion”
February 3, 2008
Associate Pastor Doug Forsberg
A true story. During 8th grade our principal declared that students were forbidden to wear sweatpants to school. On that very day a number of us rallied after school and swore oaths of allegiance to one another. We would not go down without a fight, for our freedom was being attacked, so we decided to fight the law and come back to school the next day wearing sweatpants.
After a restless night spent figuring out how to get out of the house with sweatpants on, 30 freedom fighters arrived at school (never mind the fact that most of us had never worn sweats to school anyway). We were protecting our rights. We were making a statement. The inevitable happened. During first period, the aptly named vice-principal came to our various rooms and called out all of the students wearing sweatpants. All that is but one: me. For some reason my sweatpants were invisible to teachers and administrators. I longed to be sent home too, but I wasn’t.
At the final bell I went to my locker to get my books. Dr. Peterjohn, the principal, was there. He had a funny habit of twisting my ear and calling me Forsey-baby when he talked to me. I got to my locker hoping that he wouldn’t see me. I started trying to dial the combination on my lock, and Dr. Peterjohn started twisting my ear. “Forsey-baby,” he said, “nice pants. I don’t ever want to see those pants in school again. Don’t fight battles you can’t win.” Clearly, we had fought the law and the law had won. We had stepped out against the authorities and found out quickly that doing so resulted in punishment. I’m still not sure whose punishment was worse: mine or my friends!
There is something in all of us that questions authority and desires independence rather than submission. This is true in our interactions with other people and it is especially true in our interactions with God. Psalm 2 steps into the midst of our rebellion, proclaiming Jesus’ reign over all creation and inviting us to take refuge in him.
Looking at the structure of Psalm 2, we discover that the psalm is evenly divided into four sections of three verses each. Each section is dominated by one speaker, and in the psalm’s movement from beginning to end our rebellion is addressed and Jesus’ Lordship over all creation is lifted up, and we are challenged to listen to the voice of God.
The first speaker in the psalm is actually a multitude speaking in one voice. The nations, peoples, kings and rulers all cry out together in verses 3 and proclaim: “Let us break their chains and throw off their fetters.” So we see then that all of humanity is complicit in this cry of rebellion, and the psalm makes clear that each person knows that their rebellion is directed against Yahweh, the LORD, and his Anointed One. The word translated here as Anointed One is the Hebrew word that means Messiah. So it is that all of humanity seeks to live independently of God the Father and his anointed one, our Messiah, Jesus.
It’s so easy to notice all of the ways in which other nations and people rebel against the LORD. One need only look at the sad history of the twentieth century to recognize human rebellion against our Creator. The list of tyrants who sought to form empires in their own names is too long to recount and the blood of hundreds of millions of individuals who died at their hands cries out against these idolaters. But what of our own nation? Have we ever lived in submission to the Lord of all the earth? Tony Campolo once said that “America is the best Babylon there ever was.”
What he meant was that of all the nations that have ever been ours comes closest to offering the freedom and justice that are required of the nations by their creator, but we fall short of totally fulfilling that call, so our country is not the New Jerusalem or the Kingdom of God. Instead, it offers hints of what the saints will enjoy for eternity even as with Babylon it rebels against the LORD.
Of course, it’s one thing to talk about the nations and a whole different thing to talk about our individual lives and the ways in which we rebel against God’s good rule over us. If we doubt our rebellious nature we need only look at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 to remind us of how far we fall short. The truth of the matter is that until Jesus returns and redeems our lives, we face a daily battle against our rebellious nature; and this is a battle we cannot win on our own.
The LORD’s response to this rebellion should cause us to pause and reexamine our lives. Do you know what God the Father does in response to humanity’s cry of rebellion? He laughs. This is one of three times in scripture that God laughs (Psalm 37:13 & 59:8). In none of these instances is God’s laugh the kind of laugh one gives when they hear a good joke; this is a laugh of ridicule and disdain and it is followed by a rebuke and the LORD’s terrifying wrath. Our Father in Heaven speaks in verse 6 against the rebellion of humanity by installing his King on Zion, his answer is the Messiah, Jesus.
We should notice here that despite facing this rebellion the LORD remains in control of the situation, providing the remedy for the problem and doing so as one who is intimately involved in the situation. It can be tempting to think that God is far off and unable to deal with the difficulties of the world, but Psalm 2 proclaims the LORD’s direct involvement in crushing this rebellion. The LORD never sits on the fence.
The coming of Jesus reminds us of the LORD’s involvement in the world, for as God’s own Son, Jesus is fully God and fully human. In verse 7 we hear the voice of Jesus as he tells of hearing the decree of the LORD: "You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” Verse 7 has always been important to Christians as they have proclaimed Jesus’ Lordship. This verse is referenced 10 times in the New Testament and this psalm is referenced a total of 18 times. Of all the psalms that point to the Messiah, this one is clearest for it relates to us something of the relationship shared between God the Father and God the Son.
In Acts 13:33 Paul looks back on the resurrection and these words in Psalm 2 and understands God the Father to be celebrating the resurrection when he spoke these words to Jesus: "You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” The resurrection demonstrates God’s power and the defeat of death. The risen Christ is celebrated as King over all creation, he who was present at the creation of all things now reigns over the nations, which are his inheritance, over the earth which is his possession; he is the reigning world champion.
Given the sorry state of our world, we might wonder why Jesus’ reign as King hasn’t brought about an end to our rebellion. The answer to our question is that in God’s eternal wisdom he has allowed this in between time – in between Jesus’ resurrection and his second coming – to demonstrate his patience with humanity even as we continue our rebellion. As we heard from the reading from Revelation this morning, when Jesus does return again, there will be no more divine patience, for that will have been exhausted. The second coming will bring judgment; it will bring the King, the Lord of all creation reigning in power and might; it will bring an end to our rebellion. When the second coming arrives no one will stand by their own merits or works. Instead, the redeemed will stand as those who have been washed by the blood of the lamb who is “Faithful and True,” who is “THE KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS.” So it is that this in between time offers all people an opportunity to submit to the King.
Verses 10-12 provide us with the final voice found in the psalm. Most commentators assign this voice to the psalmist himself, but other commentators make an argument that this is actually the voice of the Holy Spirit in these final verses of the psalm.[1] This line of thought makes sense to me. Note how these final verses are full of wisdom and counsel for they direct those who listen to live faithfullly under the reign of the King who is Faithful and True. The verbs of instruction in this section, serve, rejoice, and kiss, are all commands. The Spirit is using these words to give shape to a right relationship to the King. Importantly, there is no sense that this King is safe. After all, he can destroy those with whom he is angry and his wrath can flare up at any moment, but even though he isn’t safe, he is good, and those who take refuge in him are blessed, for they know true happiness.
The King’s table is set before us this morning. As we gather at his table we remember what he did for us on the cross, his body and his blood paying the price of our rebellion. Every time we come to this table we proclaim our Lord’s death until he comes again. So it is that this meal that we share is for this in between time in which we find ourselves.
There is no doubt that this in between time is exhausting for those who travel it as subjects of the King. The difficulties of this life, and our failed dreams, unrealized expectations, broken relationships, fragile bodies and frail hopes take their toll on us. So too does our enemy who waits and lingers, seeking to steal away the freedom we’ve found under the true King. This meal is a gift meant to refresh and renew the people of God, meant to reenergize and revitalize the people for their continued journey through this in between time as they wait in hope, having submitted themselves to the King and having taken refuge in him.
Whose voice calls you to attention today? The voices of rebellion do call out to you. But friends, take heart, for so too does the voice of our Triune God.
May it be that we have ears to hear the voice of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit as they call out to us. May it be.
[1] James Montgomery Boice, The Psalms Vol 1: An Expositional Commentary, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994, 26. Boice notes that this idea comes from H.A. Ironside, Studies on Book One of the Psalms, Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux, 1952, 21.