In a war, one side wins and the other side loses.
And no one knows for sure until the final decisive
battle is fought who will win. But it is not
so in the battle between good and evil, between
God and rebellious humankind. Psalm 2, our text
for study today, establishes the final victory
of God over his enemies in the world. The victory
will come through his anointed one, the Messiah,
Jesus Christ. As you look in your Bible at Psalm
2, you will notice that there are four stanzas
to Psalm 2, each divided into three verses. And
each stanza deals with a different, yet related
aspect of this assuring truth that the final
victory is God's. In stanza one, we see the rebellion
of humanity, verses one through three. The problem
of humanity is sin. Man wants his own way. He
does not want moral restraint on his conduct.
He wants no prohibition to his desires, and he
wants no discipline for his actions. He wants
to be free. But in exercising this freedom, man
has made himself a slave, a slave to his own
lusts and sin. The essence of sin is self -centeredness.
Nowhere is this seen in our society more graphically
than in the pro -abortion movement of our day.
and their arguments for ending the lives of unborn
children. We hear cute little phrases like the
right to choice or the right to choose what happens
to my own body. But the fact is that one's personal
rights must be accommodated when the rights of
others are also involved. Nowhere is self -centeredness
more ugly. in my opinion, than in the pro -abortion
movement of our day that wishes the wanton slaughter
of children. But the fact is that all of us,
on whichever side of that argument we may be
on, all of us struggle with the same heart set.
I want my way. I want my way. That's the bottom
line of humanity, and all of us. That attitude,
I want my way, results in chaos in every relationship
between us and God, between us and others, and
within ourselves. The psalmist dramatically depicts
humanity's rebellion. Why are the nations in
an uproar? He writes. Why are the nations in
a raging riot? The picture here is of an assembly
of people which is characterized by tumult, by
disorder, and a seething hatred that is directed
toward something or someone. In this case it
is toward God. Why are the people's devising
vain things? The word devising in verse 1 is
the very same word as meditate back in Psalm
1 and verse 2. Where the blessed man meditates
upon the Word of God, the wicked man meditates
upon rebellion against God. He muses within his
heart. He mutters about the vain things that
he would do to throw off the rule of God in his
life. Although kings and rulers are mentioned,
They represent not just those who are in those
specific positions, but any who stand as leaders
before others and who guide humanity toward its
opposition, its concerted opposition against
God. He says these set themselves against God.
Notice that position, against God, against His
anointed, which is Christ. And he says they take
counsel together. In other words, those things
that might naturally divide people are absolutely
pushed away and submerged in humanity's shared
rebellion against the Lord. It is a co -belligerence
that crosses political lines, it crosses social
lines, it crosses racial lines. It is a rebellion
that unites all of humanity. and rebellion against
God. This rebellion is the heart of the natural
man. And while it is always present, it is occasionally
especially vented, as was the case in the crucifixion
of our Lord. It is interesting as the preacher
in Acts 4, Peter, speaks about that, the crucifixion
of Jesus. He refers to Psalm 2, attributing it
to David, and he says that these very words were
demonstrated in what happened in the crucifixion
of our Lord. The rebellion of the heart was vented
against the Son of God and crucified him. And
we will see these attitudes vented once more
worldwide in the tribulation period that is coming
upon the earth. at the end of this age. Let us
tear their fetters apart and cast away their
cords from us. Man does not want the restraint
of God upon him. He refuses the moral law of
God. It makes no difference to the natural man
what God says or what God thinks. For man in
our day thinks he is sufficient in himself To
establish his own standards and his autonomous
of God, so is the rebellion of humankind. But
then notice in the next stanza the response of
God. In contrast to the tumultuous earthly riot
that is in process in the first three verses,
there is the calm of heaven, where God sits on
his royal throne as the absolute sovereign of
his universe. The sitter in the heavens who is
described in verse 4 is none other than the Lord
Adonai The Hebrew name for God that calls him
Lord of all The sovereign one of everything Adonai
is the one who sits in the heavens And I want
you to notice his twofold response first he laughs
and Then he speaks Yes, God laughs. He laughs
not because the scene before him is humorous,
but because it is so pathetic. It is like grasshoppers
banding together to stop the rotation of the
earth, jumping fiercely and yet unable to do
anything. We would laugh at such a scene. It
would be so ridiculous. And so is God's response.
It is a deriding response. He mocks. the rebellion
of man. Please understand that God is ever merciful
to man's weaknesses. God is patient with our
failures. He is compassionate toward the awful
suffering that our own sin has caused for ourselves.
But he mocks this rebellion as ridiculous and
absurd. And then he speaks in anger and in fury,
because his wrath is appropriate in this case.
You see, sinners must not presume upon the patience
and mercy of God, for God's justice also has
its hour. And that hour has come, as the psalmist
writes. God speaks. He says, as for me, I have
installed my king upon Zion. The emphasis here
is upon I. God says, I have already taken action.
I have set my king. Mankind sets itself against
God. God says, I have set my king in Zion. And
that king will end the rebellion. The announcement
will rightly terrify those who are opposed to
it. He will speak to them in his anger and terrify
them in his fury man is not terrified at God
today Because God is dealing with humankind for
the most part in patience and mercy Let me tell
you when God speaks in his anger man will be
terrified He will call for the rocks and the
mountains to fall upon him to hide him from the
face of him who sits on the throne Man will be
terrified when God begins to act in his righteous
indignation, the response of God. The next stands
that we have the report of the Anointed One.
Here Messiah speaks himself. His report is regarding
first of all his acknowledgement by God and then
his promise from God. He says in the first place
that God has acknowledged him. I will surely
tell of the decree of the Lord. By the way, a
decree is a definite purpose. The Hebrew verb
root for the word decree is to engrave something.
And so the picture of a decree is that of something
that has been said and is engraved as it were
upon stone. It is an unalterable purpose of God.
Messiah says, this is the unalterable purpose
of the Lord that he gave to me. Thou art my son,
today I have begotten thee. Now David is the
one who penned these words originally a thousand
years before Christ. As David wrote them he was
speaking of himself as God's anointed king. And
I believe what he says here in these verses is
nothing less than a summary of his understanding
of the Davidic covenant, the covenant that God
made with him and recorded for us in 2 Samuel
7. And when he says, I have begotten thee, David
was thinking of himself as having been brought
into an intimate loving relationship with the
Lord as if a child with his father. Brought into
that relationship by means of the covenant that
God had established between David and his household.
But of course there is something far greater
here than David's own thoughts, his own words.
For these words are applied to our Lord Jesus
Christ, the one who is greater than David. the
one who overshadows his ancestor. These words
are applied to him by the apostle in Acts 13
33 and specifically related to his resurrection
from the dead. Thou art my son, today I have
begotten thee. It does not mean that at the resurrection
he became the son of God. The point is that as
his resurrection he was openly acknowledged again
by God and in a climactic ultimate way. He was
acknowledged as the Son of God. Romans 1 -4 further
identifies that to be the case. His resurrection
is the ultimate proof and evidence that he was
who he said he was. Messiah reports regarding
God's acknowledgement of him, And at the resurrection,
God testified, this is indeed my Son. And I have
given proof of that by His resurrection in glory
from the grave. But then Messiah also reports
regarding a promise from God, beginning in verse
8. The promise from God is that He will eventually
rule over all of the nations of the world. Someday
there will be the complete and utter destruction
of all of His enemies so that the very ends of
the earth will be the possession of the Lord.
You know what that means? That means even Minnesota,
in the minds of some people, will be the possession
of the Lord. Because some people think that we
live in the ends of the earth up here in the
frozen waste But further north as someone said
this is not the end of the earth But you can
see it from here what you can see from here all
of that will be the possession of the Lord The
nations will be as inheritance Thou shall break
them with a rod of iron and shatter them like
earthen ware By the way, this rule will not come
as the result of gospel preaching, so as to bring
in the kingdom eventually by everybody converting.
That is not the picture given to us in the Bible.
Rather it is of the rebellion of man unto the
very end, and then God will break that rebellion
and will establish his king in Zion, that is
in Jerusalem. A rod is used for smiting. Forbeating.
And that is the picture. God will discipline
the nations. And He will break them as though
earthenware. The illustration, of course, is
of clay vessels made by a potter, which are easily
shattered. And so the nations think that their
rebellion is strong, and that they can lift their
fists together in the face of God and succeed.
And so did man think the same thing in the days
of Babel. And yet God will smash the rebellion
as though it was so much earthenware. Oh, the
fragility of man's co -belligerence against God.
All of the opposition will be absolutely smashed.
Now the gracious, restoring, healing aspects
of our Lord's reign are not mentioned here. They
are not appropriate to the context that the psalmist
is writing in. Those are part of his reign also.
But here he is dealing with the rebellion of
man and the final victory that will come to God's
anointed one, a victory that the anointed one
here reports to us. We come to the last stanza,
verses 10 to 12, and we see the responsibility
of the opponents. In light of the deserved doom
of those who rebel against God, a gracious exhortation
and warning is extended by God Himself. He says,
show discernment. Take warning. Worship. Rejoice.
Do homage. That is, kiss the Son. The picture
of bowing the knee and coming before the sovereign
one and kissing the ring on his finger or the
hem of his robe. Kiss the son. Do homage to him.
Give a token of submission and loyalty to him,
not rebellion. That is the plea of God to mankind.
That is the responsibility of God's opponents.
God will not compromise. There is no accommodation
with enemies. When it's between holiness and
sin, there is no middle ground between the two.
And in the end, holiness will reign and sin will
be judged. And so God says to sinners, in essence,
repent and turn and believe while you may. Trust
in my anointed one. He warns that the alternative
is to experience his anger. To perish in the
way he says or to experience his wrath which
will soon be kindled he warns My friend if you
are here today outside of Jesus Christ, do you
understand what God is saying to you in his word
today? He is warning everyone That unless there
is repentance and faith that brings submission
and loyalty to Him, then there will be judgment.
And that will lead to utter ruin and loss and
eternal hell. The result of one's faith is found
in the end of verse 12. How blessed are all who
take refuge in Him. Thank God there is a refuge
from His judgment. Thank God He has provided
a safe place from His wrath. Thank God that He
has provided salvation. And that place is the
cross, where the wrath of God has already fallen
upon His Son. And God's wrath will not fall there
again. It's already fallen. And so there is refuge.
It is just like a forest fire that is licking
up the forest and one is caught in it not knowing
what to do and then begins a backfire so that
there is a burn off. And the one who is trapped
is able to go to that area which he burned off
and stand in it and let the fire rage around
him and destroy everything but he is safe because
the fire has already burned the ground upon which
he stands. And so is the ground of the cross.
It has experienced the fire of God's wrath already.
So that when we stand at the cross in faith in
the Son of God, we have refuge. How blessed are
those who take refuge in Him. Just three final
concluding observations I want to make. Based
upon our study this morning, The first is, the
greatest of follies is to oppose God. There is
no foolishness so great in all of the universe
as to lift one's fist in resistance and rebellion
against the Lord. Because in the end it cannot
prevail, and it only leads one to hell. And so
the greatest of follies is to be on the other
side from God. A second observation I would make
is that God's sovereignty assures that the final
victory will be His. Yes? God's enemies may rage
in their fury, and they do today. So clearly
is the rebellion against God's rights as creator,
and as the establisher of moral law, so great
and clear is that rebellion that one cannot miss
it in our society. Yes, God's enemies may rage
against him in their fury, but they cannot undermine
what God has decreed. And God has already decreed
that his will be the final victory. We know which
side is going to win in this war. So that brings
me to the third observation, and that is be sure
you are on the winning side. Be sure that you
are on the winning side, God's side. If you have
not bowed the knee to Jesus Christ and believed
in Him, you must do that. or remain on the other
side that is already doomed. There is no alternative.
Be sure that you are on the winning side, which
is Christ's. And if you are on Christ's side,
if you are on the Lord's side, and you serve
the King today, let me exhort you as a faithful
soldier of Jesus Christ to endure hardship and
endure suffering for His sake. For whatever we
experience in our battles in the world is nothing
compared to the victory that is our Lord's and
by His grace ours in Him. And so if you are on
His side today, if you have believed in Him,
then stand tall and strong in Christ and fight
your battles and fight the Lord's battles. And
do not be afraid. the words or the terror of
the enemy, those arrows that fly by night, the
pestilence that comes in the noonday, our Lord
will guard you, for you are His, you are His.
And His is the victory, and ours is the victory.
Hallelujah. The Lord God Omnipotent reigns. Let's
pray together. Whose side are you on, my friend?
If not Christ's right now, will you make the
decision to change sides? You must make that
decision. It doesn't happen just automatically.
There must come a time in your life when you
understand the peril that you're in because of
your own sin and you see God's provision of a
Savior. You believe on Him. You go to the cross
where God's wrath has already fallen. If you've
not done that, will you do it right now? Just
tell Him so. Tell Him that's what you want. That
you repent of your sin. You believe on Him. You
receive Christ as your own Savior. O Christian
soldier, if you've been running, if you've turned
your back on the enemy, God forbid if you have
taken the side of the enemy, then today come
back from your AWOL. Get online and be a soldier
of Jesus Christ, one who is commissioned to represent
him. God, apply this message to our hearts and
lives for Jesus' sake. Amen.