[0:00] Let us turn now to the book of Psalms and to the second Psalm and our text is the whole Psalm. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?
[0:13] 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 bands asunder and cast away their cords from us and so on.
[0:27] Now the subject of the Psalm and the author, one and the same person, it concerns David and the establishment of David on the throne of Israel.
[0:44] In the face of great opposition, many were opposed to David and to David God and that was a matter of sacred history.
[0:57] But this Psalm is more than a matter of sacred history, it's also a matter of sacred prophecy. For it concerns not only David, but great David's greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah Prince, the Lord's Anointed.
[1:17] And it's a prophecy of Christ's final triumph and of his ultimate reign. Its theme therefore is messianic.
[1:31] Its subject is Jesus the Messiah and its contents have to do with him. It's therefore a psalm for today. For he is the same yesterday, today and forever.
[1:47] Now its twelve verses can be divided into four parts of three verses in each part. And this division is not only in line with the sense and message of the psalm, but also it is according to its poetic form as Hebrew poetry.
[2:08] So our text is a long text. And if we go according to the advice given us in the monthly record this month, then two or three sentences should exhaust each point and then we move on from it.
[2:24] Well, we will try and do that. Because the text is a long one. Now in it we see these four things. The nations raging. The Lord laughing.
[2:38] The Son proclaiming the decree of God. And the kings of the earth receiving advice and hearing this final appeal to them to repent.
[2:51] That is then first of all the raging of the nations in verses one through three. That's the first obvious division in the psalm. The raging of the nations. We have read of that just a moment ago.
[3:04] And what they did in David's day, they have been doing ever since and certainly are doing it in our day. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?
[3:16] 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 bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.
[3:28] Now notice first of all the conspirators. The conspirators here in verse one. The heathen. The people. The kings of the earth and the rulers.
[3:43] The conspirators are the heathen nations and their heathen kings. The rulers and the peoples over whom they rule. And from Peter and John's quotation from this psalm, which we read in Acts chapter 4, it is obvious that this psalm applies to the Lord Jesus Christ from what the apostles said.
[4:04] And it's also clear that the Jews, as well as the Gentiles, were guilty as conspirators along with their rulers. In other words, the conspirators indicate the universality of the opposition.
[4:22] The universality of the opposition. Conspirators are found everywhere, in all classes of society, from the highest to the lowest. From those who are professibly religious and those who are irreligious.
[4:36] You get those who conspire and who plot against God and his anointed. And the scene hasn't changed today. The conspirators today, the conspirators of every age, are those who are out of Christ.
[4:55] For Jesus says, those who are not for me, those who are not with me, those who are not on my side are against me. And we are dealing here in this psalm with those who are against the Lord and against his anointed.
[5:11] Dr. W.S. Plummer says that if sin had its way, it would annihilate God's government and dethrone him. But sin does not have its way.
[5:23] The conspirators. The conspirators. Then think of those who are conspired against, in the second verse. Against the Lord and his anointed.
[5:35] Against the Father and the Son. And you cannot oppose the Father without opposing the Son. For they are the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
[5:52] And you cannot oppose either the Father or the Son without opposing the Holy Spirit from whom, who proceeded from the Father and the Son. And again, the scene hasn't changed.
[6:05] For tremendous, awesome and frightening powers are arrayed against the Holy Trinity. As John says, there are many antichrists.
[6:19] And will be until the revelation of the final antichrist. And there is great antichristian opposition. And there are powerful antichristian forces at work, directed by the principalities and powers of this dark world, against the Lord and his anointed, against the Lord Jesus Christ, and against Christian things in general.
[6:44] That's the climate in which we are living our lives today, my dear friends. That the Lord and his anointed are being opposed on every hand, by frightening forces.
[6:56] By the forces of darkness. And the Lord and his anointed are being conspired against. By raging nations the world over.
[7:11] The conspirators, those conspired against. Now what about the conspiracy? What about the conspiracy? What about the conspiracy in verse 3? Well, there's no lack of information about it.
[7:22] For one thing, the conspirators rage. They rage. You see, this is not a silent, private war with God.
[7:33] It's public. It's cosmic. It's a public demonstration of hatred and enmity and studied, and studied opposition.
[7:46] It's like the raging streams with air-proud swelling waves of Psalm 124. And the fierce floods of animosity and resistance which storm the very citadel of the Almighty.
[8:02] They rage. They rage. They rage. And they imagine a vain thing. That's another part of the conspiracy.
[8:14] They imagine a vain thing. That means they hatch futile plots. That's what it means. They hatch futile plots. They devise useless schemes against the Lord and his anointed.
[8:29] And God knows that they do. Because God says, why do the heathen rage? And why do the people hatch futile plots against me?
[8:41] What good can come of it? What do they hope to gain, says the Lord? By hatching futile plots against me? And my dear friends, when we feel a bit downcast at the size of the opposition, remember the second psalm and this part of it anyway.
[9:01] God says, why do the heathen rage? Why do the people hatch these useless plots and schemes? You see, this should encourage us.
[9:12] For it tells us that such schemes us, that God views such schemes us futile and useless and absurd.
[9:25] That in the eyes of God there's a massive question mark against all raging nations and against all those who hatch futile plots against the Almighty.
[9:36] The Lord is taking care of it. He knows what's going on. And he says, why do the heathen rage? Why do they engage in such a useless enterprise?
[9:49] And why do they imagine a vain thing? And then we are told here that the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together.
[10:04] They stand against the Lord and they hold a counsel of war. Now, what is the outcome of the counsel of war? It is this.
[10:15] Here's the result of the counsel. Here's the decision of the counsel. Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. That's the decision of the counsel.
[10:27] Let us cast the bands and the cords and the chains and the fetters which the Almighty puts upon us. Let's cast them away from us. You see, the outcome of this counsel of war is a decision to revolt against divine authority.
[10:46] That's the bands and the fetters and the cords and the chains. A revolt against divine authority. And that's what this psalm is about.
[10:59] That's what this part of the psalm is about. These first three verses are dealing with this revolt against the authority of God. The Lord and His anointed. And again, you see, that is why this psalm is so up to date.
[11:11] Because the scene has not changed. That's precisely what's happening before our eyes today. On every hand. Revolt against divine authority. Which in turn is leading to a revolt against any authority.
[11:27] The root cause of the peasant discontent and resistance to law and order is just this. We will not have this man to rule over us.
[11:38] Which comes down to the grassroots of we will not have any man rule over us. Who's lord over us? And so we have this revolt against authority of any kind.
[11:49] Let us break their bands. Let's get rid of their chains. Let's cast their fetters from us. We don't want this authority of God over us. The raging of the nations.
[12:04] Now we come to the second thing and notice the derision of the Lord. And here we have the divine response. The divine response to human opposition. The derision of the Lord.
[12:16] Verse 4. He that sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and becks them in his sword his pleasure.
[12:32] Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Now here's the second obvious division in this psalm. Which reflects the reaction of God to the opposition of the raging nations.
[12:45] First of all he laughs. He who sits in heaven shall laugh. And the Lord shall have them in derision. Now this is the first of three occasions where it is said in the book of Psalms that God laughs.
[13:00] In Psalm 37 we are told that God laughs at the wicked for he knows that their day is coming. That is the day of their judgment is coming. And again in Psalm 59.
[13:13] But it's not a laugh in any literal sense. This is a human characteristic ascribed to God in order to impress upon us clearly and forcefully what a derisory thing it is to stand against God.
[13:34] It is so futile and so absurd to oppose the Lord and his anointed as to be derisory and laughable. In the eyes of God.
[13:48] It's like trying to empty the mighty ocean with a thimble. When men try to reduce God's sovereign power and might and rule by their own human resources and endeavors.
[14:04] This laugh of which we read here in the fourth verse is not the laugh of cruelty or glee. It is rather the symbol in human terms of futility.
[14:15] As God sees it he sees it as futility and hopelessness. And God has not changed. It is still derisory. It is still laughable.
[14:28] To conspire and take counsel together against the Lord. And is anointed. And then in verse 5 there is something else that makes it derisory and laughable.
[14:41] And that is the anger of God. That makes it also derisory. To strive against the Lord. Then shall he speak to them in his wrath. And vex them in his sore displeasure.
[14:53] Who can stand against God when he is angry? And God is angry with the wicked every day. And who can hope to survive the displeasure of God even when his anger is kindled but a little?
[15:09] To say nothing of his full anger. Who can survive his displeasure when his anger is kindled but a little? When God speaks the mountains shake and the hills melt and the seas flee from before him.
[15:23] And then ultimately when God speaks from his throne in heaven to the assembled world the whole earth will be silent before him. And in view of the wrath of God.
[15:35] And the displeasure of God against sin. It is derisory for men to shake their little fists in his face. In view of his wrath. But there is a final thing here that makes opposition to God so laughable and so derisory.
[15:53] It is in verse 6 where he says, Yet have I set my king upon Zion the hill of my holiness. God's king is the Lord's anointed.
[16:06] The Lord Jesus Christ. He has already been anointed king. Installed as king of Zion. King of saints. King of saints.
[16:16] Who rules in the midst of his people and his church. And he has been king of saints from all eternity. Now what's the significance of this?
[16:27] Well it is this. That God has already done what raging nations have been trying to prevent down through the centuries.
[16:38] While they have been proposing and taking steps to do this and that in order to dethrone the Lord.
[16:50] God has disposed of the matter. So that Christ is already and has been king eternal. Immortal. The blessed and the only potency king of kings and Lord of God.
[17:03] Men have been proposing to do this and that in order. Taking counsel to each other. And all the time God has disposed of the matter. The Lord is king. I have set my king.
[17:15] In spite of all the opposition. In spite of all the enmity and the raging nations. Yet he says. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
[17:26] Why can God laugh? Why can God laugh at the efforts that are made by raging nations to dethrone him? Why?
[17:37] Because his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Thy throne. We were singing there in Psalm 45. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
[17:48] A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. All the raging nations shall not prevail against it. The matter has been seen to. And Jesus reigns and shall reign wherever the sun doth his successive journeys run.
[18:05] My dear friends, what a great comfort it is to belong to a kingdom like that. To a kingdom that is eternal and invincible and unassailable and everlasting.
[18:17] Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I wonder if that's true of all of us today.
[18:29] That we belong to that everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The raging of the nations.
[18:39] The derision of the Lord. And now thirdly, the proclamation of the Son. Verses 7 to 9. The proclamation of the Son. And here in a dramatic way, the Son of God, the King whom God has set upon Zion, enters the field.
[18:58] And he has his say. And this is what the King says. The Lord Jesus himself. He says in verse 7. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, thou art my Son.
[19:10] This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me. And I will give thee the heathen for an inheritance. The uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's desk.
[19:22] Now here we have the proclamation of the Son. The one whom God anointed. The one whom God appointed. Now proclaims the decree of God.
[19:35] I will declare the decree. Says the Lord the mighty. I will declare the decree. What's the decree? What is God's decree?
[19:47] It is God's eternal purpose. According to the counsel of his will. Whereby for his own glory. He has foreordained. Whatsoever comes to pass. And you notice that the Lord's anointed does not make the decree.
[20:01] He declares the decree. Which has been made from eternal ages. Now it's this decree. It's this eternal purpose of God. That is behind the kingdom.
[20:13] Which men can never destroy. Which is behind its everlastingness. Its indestructibleness. Its invincibility. Behind it all. That is the eternal purpose.
[20:24] And decree of God. God has decreed it. Who then can disannul or cancel it? God has ordered it. And established it. Who then can overthrow it?
[20:39] Now. This is what raging nations need to know. Who shake their fists. Who conspire together against the Lord.
[20:49] And against his anointed. And against the kingdom. This is what raging nations need to know. That by God's decree. They cannot pass. They cannot disestablish the kingdom.
[21:00] Or dethrone the king. God in his decree says. Thus far and no further. So the devices of men. That are in conflict.
[21:12] With the decrees of God. Are doomed to failure. I have declared the decree. Now what is the declaration.
[21:23] In the decree. We are dealing here with matters such. High to understand. Deep. And fathomless. But at least.
[21:34] This has been revealed to us. Regarding this decree of God. First of all. The sonship. Of the Lord Jesus himself. The Lord has said to me. Thou art my son.
[21:46] Verse 7. Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. That's the first thing. That the decree reveals. The sonship. Of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that tells us you see. That the king who rules.
[21:57] Who rules over us. The king who is king of nations. And king of saints. Is a divine king. He has divinity. He is God over all.
[22:08] He is the eternal son of God. To which of the angels. Did God say. Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Not to any of the angels.
[22:20] Not to any of the archangels. But to Jesus alone. And to Jesus he said. This day. Have I begotten thee. I take that to mean that.
[22:32] The day of the divine decree. Way back in the eternal ages. God said to his son. I have begotten thee. In other words. Our king. Our Lord Jesus.
[22:43] Is eternally begotten. He goes away back to the. Before the world was. To the beginning. In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God.
[22:53] And the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. God said. That's the kind of king we have. The eternal son of God. Thou art my son.
[23:06] This day. Have I begotten thee. Eternally begotten of the father. And then in verse 8. The decree reveals something about the priesthood.
[23:16] Of the Lord Jesus. Not only of his sonship. But of his priesthood. Where verse 8 says. Ask of me. This is what the father is saying to the son within the decree. Ask of me.
[23:27] And I shall give thee the heathen for your inheritance. The uttermost part of the earth for your possession. Now it's part of a priest's duty. To intercede. To represent the people before God.
[23:38] And the Lord Jesus is not only king. He is also priest. And he is a priest. Not after the order of Aaron. That as Hebrews 7 tells us.
[23:48] After the order of Melchizedek. And what order is that? That Melchizedek was both king and priest. He was king of righteousness. And king of Salem. And king of peace.
[23:59] On the one hand. And also priest. Of the most high God. On the other. And to his priestly son. God says.
[24:10] Ask of me. That's the work of the priest. To intercede. Intercede with me. Ask of me. Stephen Charnock.
[24:22] Who has written on the attributes of God. Says that. After Christ's resurrection. The father gave him the power. Of command. And asking.
[24:33] To give him. But you'll notice from the verses before us here. That the father retains to himself. The sovereign right of giving. Ask.
[24:45] Of me. And I will give. The giving. Is in response to the asking. Now my dear friends. It's a wonderful thing for us to remember.
[24:55] That from among the raging nations. And from our alien peoples. Christ's own kingdom.
[25:06] Is people. For the promises. I will give the heathen to you. For your inheritance. Those heathen. Those people from the raging nations. I will give them to you.
[25:17] For your inheritance. And the uttermost part of the earth. For your possession. And many of those. Who at this very moment. Are raging against the Lord.
[25:28] And are counseling together against the Lord. And trying to overthrow the things of God. Many of them we believe. Will yet bow before him. Not only because of the proclamation of his gospel.
[25:41] But also because of the power of his intercession. Ask of me. And I will give. The heathen. The very people who are raging against me.
[25:54] For your inheritance. And the uttermost part of the earth. For your possession. And one other thing that is noted here in this decree. That the Lord declares.
[26:05] It is. Christ's own judgment. Thou shalt break them. With the rod of iron. With a rod of iron. And thou shalt dash them in pieces. Like a potter's vessel.
[26:16] That is. Those who remain obdurate. To the end of their lives. Those who never leave the ranks. Of protesting and raging nations.
[26:28] We are told here. That they have to face eternal punishment. And the doctrine of eternal punishment. Is just mentioned here. In this verse 9. And although judgment.
[26:42] To God. Is a strange work. It gives him no delight. Yet at the same time. It will be done. With the utmost ease. With the ease.
[26:55] With which pottery. Is broken. When struck with a nine rod. Thou shalt break them. With a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces.
[27:06] Like a piece of pottery. This is part of the. Purpose of God. The ultimate purpose. For those who rage. Till their dying day. Then they will be in the sight of God.
[27:20] And under the judgment of God. As fragile. As pottery. Broken with an iron rod. We come now to the last thing.
[27:33] The raging of the nations. And the laughing of the Lord. The duration of the Lord. The proclamation of the Son. And now in verses 10 to 12. The appeal of the psalmist.
[27:45] Taking it that these last verses. Are the words of the psalmist. They may not be. I think possibly they are. But in any case. They are the appeal of the Holy Spirit. The appeal of the Holy Spirit.
[27:59] Be wise now. Therefore O ye kings. Be instructed. Ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. Lest he be angry. And he perish from the way.
[28:10] When his wrath is kindled. But a little. Blessed are all they. That put their trust in him. Here is the final appeal. Let us first of all. The logic of it. The logic of it.
[28:21] Be wise now. Therefore. Therefore. This appeal is addressed to the conspirators of verse 1.
[28:34] And in view of the. Of the derision of God. And the enthronement of Christ. And his divine sonship.
[28:46] And intercession. And final judgment. How futile it is. To resist the Holy Spirit. And to rebel. Against the Lord's anointing. And so this appeal.
[28:58] Is thoroughly logical. The argument. Is a sound argument. In view of the. The greatness. And almightiness. And invincibility. Of God himself. There comes this appeal.
[29:12] Which we notice now. The content of this appeal. It's logical. Therefore. In view of all the past. In view of all that God is. Here is the appeal. The content of it.
[29:22] First of all. Be wise. Be wise. Well that will be a great change. For raging nations. Because those who rage against the Lord. As individuals. Are anything but wise.
[29:35] We are marked by foolishness. And by utter folly. And so the appeal is. Learn sense. Learn sense. Be instructed.
[29:47] Ye judges of theirs. Be willing to be taught. Submit to instruction. And correction. And give heed to warning. And this is addressed to those. Who are proud. And mighty in themselves.
[29:58] Rising. And standing against the Lord. And his anointed. Climb down. Is the appeal here. Humble yourselves. Be warned.
[30:10] Be instructed. And taught. And serve the Lord with fear. And rejoice with trembling. And again you see. That will be a tremendous change. For those who are in the opposition.
[30:22] For they serve. They don't serve the Lord. They serve. They serve the devil. And the appeal here is. Change your master. And you will rejoice as never before.
[30:35] And then. Kiss the sun. Kiss the sun. And this is what it all comes down to. The need.
[30:46] Of enemies. Of enemies. Is reconciliation. And the appeal here is. To. Engage in the kiss of reconciliation.
[31:01] Reconciliation. And the way to receive reconciliation. Is to kiss the sun. Who has purchased it with his own blood.
[31:14] In other words. To kiss the sun. Is to believe in Jesus. To trust in the Lord. To submit to him. And to be reconciled to God.
[31:26] Through the death of his son. And when we have the kiss of reconciliation. Then we are no more enemies. But friends. There is no more divine derision.
[31:39] And there is no more perishing. When once his anger is changed. Only a little. All is well then. When once we kiss the sun. And we can say.
[31:50] It is well. It is well. With my soul. I kiss the sun. I have surrendered myself to him. I no longer oppose him.
[32:04] That is the content of the appeal. And that is the conclusion. Blessed. Are all they. That put their trust in him.
[32:17] Blessed are all they. That put their trust in him. It is a benediction. A parting blessing. To the reconciled. For.
[32:29] Those who put their trust in him. Is. The blessing. Of the raging storm. Becoming a calm. At his command and will.
[32:44] But it is not only. For. I think it is not only. A benediction here. This last part. It is also a doxology. Blessed. Are all they.
[32:56] That put their trust in him. There is praise to God here. Praise to God. For the change. That is wrought in the hearts. Of his enemies. Of those. Who at one time.
[33:06] Are among the raging nations. Of those who at one time. Are among the raging nations. Men shall be blessed in him. And because of that. They can say. Now blessed. Be the Lord our God.
[33:17] The God of Israel. For he alone. That wonders works. In glory that is self. Blessed are all they. That put their trust in him. It is a benediction. And it is praise to God.
[33:30] For any trust. That is put in. That we put in him. Is due. To what he has done. And does within us. And for that. We bless and praise.
[33:42] His great name. Well then. The raging nations. Are made up. Of individuals. Who as individuals.
[33:54] Are enemies. Of the cross of Christ. And my dear friends. If there is anyone here this morning. And you are at enmity with God.
[34:05] You have not given yourself to the Lord. Then. Kiss the son. Kiss the son. Get right with God. Be reconciled to God.
[34:16] Through the death of the son. With the kiss of faith. The kiss of submission. The kiss of loyalty. To that great son of God. Who is king of kings.
[34:27] And lord of lords. And when you kiss the son. What does the son say. I call you.
[34:39] Friends. Let us pray. O gracious God.
[34:56] We give thanks to thee now. For the word that was put in our hands. We thank thee for its teaching. We thank thee for the encouragement it gives us.
[35:07] In bringing before our minds yet again the fact. That thou art on the throne. That thou art the king. Eternal. Invisible. The only wise God.
[35:19] We thank thee O Lord. O God. That behind that kingdom of thine. In all its everlastingness. Is there. Is thine eternal decree. And we thank thee.
[35:32] That everything. Is in thy hand. The whole world is in thy hand. Thy kingdom is in thy hand. And we.
[35:42] Pray that thou will give to each one of us. The wisdom. And the instructiveness. To bow. And to kiss the son. To seek.
[35:54] Reconciliation. Reconciliation. With him. Who is. The king of heaven. Lord grant us. We pray thee. The grace we need.
[36:05] To bow. At Jesus feet. And to acknowledge him. As our lord. And our master. And our king. Give us the faith.
[36:16] That would bring us. Into. That everlasting kingdom. The kingdom of grace. And the kingdom of glory. Deliver us. From our blindness. And foolishness.
[36:28] In fighting against thee. For it is hard to kick. Against the goals. We thank thee.
[36:38] For the lord. Jesus Christ. We thank thee. For all that he is. In his divine person. God. And man. In two distinct natures.
[36:48] In one person forever. And we pray lord. That. He would be our. Savior. And lord today. And that. Our rebelliousness.
[37:00] Will be taken from us. And that we would be. Friends of the king. And know him. To be the friend. Who sticks. Closer than a brother. We ask all this.
[37:12] In Jesus name. And for his sake. Amen. Amen.