Psalm 2: Part I

Psalm 2

Read the psalms lazily and it’s easy to feel removed from the original context with all the talk of kings, thrones and the wrath of God. It all seems so…antiquated and harsh.

The context of Psalm 2

Psalm 1 established that there are two types of people in the world. The righteous who are firmly planted near refreshing waters and the wicked who disappear like chaff in the wind. And where Psalm 1 focuses on individuals, psalm 2 gives a wide angled panoramic shot of the nations.

At the time of psalm 2’s writing, the name of the game for near east nations was to wage war and expand territories and Israel was just one puny nation among others to be conquered.

It’s been said that king David composed this psalm after he had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites, and made it the head of the kingdom (2 Sam 7:9). When the Philistines heard this they warred against David. But David consulted the Lord (2 Sam 7:19) and took the Philistines to task.

So on the one hand the psalm may very well have been written to celebrate Israel’s military victory but more importantly, king David is typified as Jesus by the Apostles as Acts 4:25-27 states. That said, let’s break down the psalm incrementally…
 

Psalm 2 in light of the new covenant

The focus of verses 1-6 are the enemies of Christ’s kingdom and as previously stated, psalm 1 zeroes in on the individual whereas this psalm deals with the heart of a nation. Jesus is here typified within the new covenant as the Lord’s anointed. This gives the psalm new meaning. But how are the nations aiming to bust the bonds and cords of Jesus’ kingdom? And how does talk of kingdoms relate to our own time and place beyond interesting ancient history? Well, in light of the new covenant and the fact that the psalms are essentially about Jesus anyway (John 5:39-40), a lot actually.

The biblical concept of the Kingdom of God is a whole study in itself. The kingdom is a future and present reality but the point is, The Kingdom is the kingship, rule and authority of God. Jesus said we must receive the Kingdom of God (his rule) as little children (Mark 10:13-16). So in order to enter the future kingdom (The New Jerusalem, Rev 21) we have to submit to his rule in the here and now.

Every human heart has a ruler

There are myriad options for idolatry in our culture. Dig beneath the surface and you’ll find that idols are really about getting glory for the individual. Get millions of self glorifying individuals to rally around the common denominator of self and you’ve got yourself a nation. But a nation of self worshippers does not want to hear that they are meant to serve their creator God.

Either we submit to the loving and gracious rule of Jesus or we rage against his rule and fight to “burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords”. According to psalm 2:4 the Lord laughs at this subordination and establishes King Jesus.

For Christians, Christ’s kingdom is the most glorious, liberating and just citizenship anyone could ever ask to live in. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). We were traitors of his kingdom and we get exactly what we don’t deserve. Grace! (Eph 2:8)