by Greg Kenyon, updated January 17, 2026
II – The First Stanza – Rage against the Messiah – Psalm 2:1-3
III – The Second Stanza – The Lord’s Response – Psalm 2:4-6
Other titles for this stanza include:
God the Father Speaks (Boice),
The resolution of the Lord (BKC),
Divine Rule (Mentor Commentary).
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The LORD shall hold them in derision.
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
“Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”
The Lord’s response to those who rage against Him is certain and sure, but the Lord does not take immediate action to stop this uprising against His Anointed and, thus, against Himself. The Lord does act but initially by sitting and holding. Then He speaks and then He distresses them in His deep displeasure . The Lord, in His response. does not question His own authority, strength or ability to respond rightly and firmly in the midst of the rage and plotting against Him.
1- Continues to Sit
The Lord sits in the heavens. This is not a new stance for the Lord. The rebellion of kings, rulers and nations does not cause the Lord to change His stance. It does not cause the Lord to sit up or stand up and take notice. It does not cause the Lord to sit. Sitting is the natural stance of the Lord. The Psalmist does not say, in the presence tense that the Lord sits. Instead, he references the fact the Lord is He who sits. My understanding (based on a look at dictionary meaning and parsing of the Hebrew, also realizing that I find Hebrew verb forms difficult to understand) is that “who sits in the heavens” is an absolute participle phrase used to make a statement of fact about what is. The fact is “the Lord sits” in a similar sense to the Lord’s name being “I am.” It is an all encompassing “sits.” An attribute of God. To remain who He is, the One who sits in the heavens, is the response of the very one which the nations, people, their kings and rulers desire to cast off, to free themselves from, the Lord God. They desire to free themselves from the bonds of the Lord who sits, dwells and is established in the heavens. Some translations like the NIV says enthroned, which is true of the Lord in heaven, but the Hebrew stands for sitting or dwelling. Of course, traditionally, where a king sits and dwells is also the place of his enthronement. But it encompasses more than His enthronement. It is part of His very being. He is He who sits. Nothing makes Him stand up in shock or alarm, not even extreme rebellion. In a sense, the Lord, knowing all things, being everywhere present and having all power. does not need to stand up and move around. From His “seat” He accomplishes all.
2- Finds Rebellion Laughable
From His seat He laughs. Looking up the way other uses of the Hebrew verb for “laugh” it appears this “laughing” is in the sense of amusement. Like when a person performs to amuse someone. Could one say, the Lord looking from his seated position at the antics of those who rage, plot, set them selves and counsel against Him, is amused at the smallness what what they are doing. They think they are so powerful and in control when in reality, what they do against the Lord does nothing to hinder or up-seat the Lord. Considering their antics and beliefs, against the backdrop of what is really going on, is amusing, It is laughable.
What those who stand against the Lord do, is not done apart from the control and plan of the Lord. It is amusing that they think they have power and sway but the opposite is true. What they do is within the hold or grasp of the Lord, whose arm is not shortened that it cannot do what He sets out to do. (Isaiah 59:1) The Lord, as He sits, holds all things. Those in total rebellion against Him, He holds in derision. “Holds in derision” is translated from one Hebrew word, yilag (H3932) Looking at other translations of this Hebrew word in the Old Testament, reveals a meaning of a mocking laugh, much like the verb for “laugh” in the preceding phrase. It is like the Psalmist uses poetic parallelism to ad emphasis to his description of the response of the Lord. Poetic parallelism is used all through this psalm adding emphasis and understanding.
Those who set themselves against God should stop and take notice. The fact the Lord does not immediately rage back, as we are so apt to do when someone rages against us, should cause them to stop and take notice. Here is also an example for us, to be wise and not immediately react by lashing out or throwing back. He who waits on the Lord shall renew their strength. Wait, as the Lord waits.
The Lord more than sits. He holds these usurpers in their place. They think they can or have broken free of the bonds of the Lord but they have not. The Law of the Lord is perfect and sure. (Psalm 19:7) The Lord holds then in derision. He holds them within the bounds of His sovereign will. They can go no further than He allows.
3- Then He Speaks
The Lord more than sits uninjured and more than holds back, or prevents, all attempts to come against the Lord from making any true headway at breaking the bounds of the Lord. The Lord also speaks. The Word of the Lord is living and powerful and sharper than a two edged sword…before which all are naked and open to the eyes of the Lord, to whom all will given an account of their ways. (Hebrews 4:12-13). The Lord spoke a sure promise that Satan would be crushed by the One born to the women. (Gen 3:15) When Cain tries to hide the fact he had killed his brother, the Lord spoke and said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed….the ground will no longer yield its strength to you….A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” (Genesis 4:10-12) When “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts and man’s heart was only evil continually….” the Lord spoke. “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth….” (Gen 6) The Lord did not only speak of destruction. He also spoke to Noah, offering a way to be saved from the promised destruction. Then the Lord gave Noah instructions and 120 years to carry them out. In this, before He acted further, He spoke a word of warning to those who ignored the way of offered salvation. The Lord spoke His promise to Noah, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. From mount Sinai He spoke, with His voice of Thunder, the Ten Words of the Law. He spoke, through Moses, blessing for those who keep this law and curses for law breakers. The entire record of Scripture is the Word of the Lord. The Lord speaks. His word speaks blessing to those who desire to follow God. But to those who want to break free of God’s law, He speaks His displeasure, as they are held stammering, or in derision, before Him.
As one thinks about the Lord’s response, remaining seated, finding the rebellion of nations, peoples, king and rulers laughable, and His speaking, as one considers the Lord’s response there is something important and reassuring to consider. The Hebrew for “shall laugh, shall hold, shall speak, shall distress” (NKJV) are all in the imperfect tense. The sense is an action in progress, ongoing and not yet completed. Verse 5 in the NKJV, KJV and ESV says “then he shall speak.” Saying “then he shall” may mislead the reader. In English, we often think of “then” in the “if…then” sense, where if this happens then that comes after. This, in addition to the English representation of these imperfect tense action verbs with, “shall…,” could leave some readers taking these verses to mean that once the rebellion has gotten bad enough or gone on long enough, then the Lord will respond, then the Lord will speak. In Hebrew, the conjunction “ar” which is translated “then” can have a sense that is less time sensitive than timed sense “then” often has in English. From what I can tell, in Hebrew, it can mean, because, since, hitherto. In the verses before us, the sense is that the nations are raging and because of this we see the response of the Lord because of this, even now, not just at some future point the Lord, continues to sit, sees their ways as laughable and the Lord speaks, is speaking and continues to speak. This is what we see in the variety of scripture mentioned above.
4- He has already responded
Yes, the Lord does not cower. He sits. He does not ignore and let those who rise against Him have free reign. They may think they have free reign but the Lord holds them in check. Nothing they do is actually outside of the Lord’s sovereign control. The Lord is not silent. He speaks. He does not simply speak instruction. He speaks living words that speak peace to those who will but listen and bring wrath and distress upon those who go against Him. More than just speaking His Word, the Lord sets His Word, His King on His Holy Hill of Zion. More than just speaking His Word, He sends His Word, His Word born to the woman, the One who will crush Satan, the One who will restore broken creation to its rightful state. The Word will accomplish all the Lord has planned, as Isaiah the prophet said the Lord says, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, and shall prosper in the things for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)
This is so sure the Psalmist now speaking the Word of the Lord, in the first person says, “I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.” (verse 6) It does not indicate “the Lord sets” or “the Lord will set” but rather “the Lord has set.” In the Hebrew, the verbs in this stanza thus far have been imperfect tense, meaning the action is happening and not yet complete, whereas in the final verse in this stanza (verse 6) the Lord says, I have set, using the perfect tense meaning the action has already been completed. The Lord’s setting of His King on His Holy Hill of Zion is as good as completed, even at the time this psalm was penned. It can be difficult for us, who live in time, to understand how something not yet – in time as we know it – can also already be perfectly completed. When God gave His name, a description of Himself, to Moses He said His name is “I am.” From our perspective an all encompassing description of God is, “God is!” Everything else, sin excepted, as God tells us, comes from God and is within the bounds of God. God “is” and everything else is, in a sense, smaller than God. This includes time. God is outside time. In this sense, what He will do in the future, in Himself, is already completed. From our point of view, within time, Christ had to become flesh, dwell among us, be crucified, rise again and ascended into heaven to His throne, none of which, from man’s perspective, had happened when Psalm Two was written. From our point of view, the Lord’s Son had yet to demonstrate His right to be set on the throne, as King of kings and Lord of lords. From God’s perspective, outside of time, all that is necessary was as good as done, and warranted the Lord’s perfectly completed claim, “I have set my King on My holy hill of Zion. Those who rage and set themselves against God are acting as though they have no concept of this truth. It is impossible to destroy or undo what is already. There is great comfort for the body of Christ, the Lord’s anointed in this truth. Those who think they can break the bonds of the Lord or cast off the Lord’s boundaries are utterly foolish.
This response of the Lord to those who persist in rebellion against Him is seen woven through the Scriptures. Psalm 11 says the same, telling of the wicked bending their bow and making arrows ready on the string to shoot secretly at the upright in heart and, then, asking the question, “what can the righteous do? Like Psalm 2:4- 6, Psalm 11:4 tells us the Lord is in His temple on the throne. The Lord sees what goes on and the wicked will get the likes of coals of fire and brimstone. Isaiah, In Isaiah 40:21–26 (NKJV), also tells of the Lord sitting in the heavens is in control. Psalm 37:12-13 tells of the wicked plotting against the just and the Lord laughing at this. In Psalm 59, when David is under attack from Saul and enemies, he refers to the Lord laughing and holding the nations in derision. In Proverbs 1:24-27, Wisdom calls out to laugh at and mock those who refuse to regard what she has to say. In Psalm 53:5, David describes these fools saying, “the fool has said in his heart ‘there is no God.’… Of these it says, “God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you; you have put them to shame, because God has despised them.” Yes, those who think they can break the bonds of the Lord or cast off the Lord’s boundaries are utterly foolish.
5- A word for the Lord’s people (His anointed temple)
Yet….
This response of the Lord to the raging of nations, rulers and kings, confirms the first verses of this psalm are not directly referring to the sinful disposition of God’s people. God does not find it laughable when His people sin. A more likely expression would be sadness. We are told in Luke that the Lord wept over Jerusalem. (Luke 19:41-44) The Lord does not hold His people in derision or speak to then in His wrath or address them in His deep displeasure. Instead, to His people, He shows tenderness, mercy and kindness. Yes, He does discipline. But the discipline of the Lord, as the discipline of us, fathers, ought also to be to our children, is done in love, care, concern and kindness. Just like His Son’s right to be set upon His throne is perfectly complete, so is His Justice perfectly complete when it comes to dealing with His sinful people with tenderness, mercy and kindness. As we read in this Psalm of the terribleness included in the Lord’s wrath and displeasure, let those who have begun to know the Lord as He IS, as King of king and Lord of lord’s, take comfort in the fact the Lord “has set” His Son up as King.
For the Lord’s people, in the face of the raging and plotting of nations, people, kings and rulers against the Lord’s people, as the Anointed temple of Christ, there is reason for comfort. The Lord continues to sit. He is in control. His Son, our Saviour, is on the throne above all thrones. Isaiah, when he declares the word of God saying, in Isaiah 40, “Comfort, yes, comfort My people,” says, “her warfare is ended…her iniquity is pardoned…she has received…,” the verb tenses in Hebrew are all “perfect tense.” This comfort is perfectly complete now, as the work of the Lord for His people is perfectly complete. Nothing more needs to be added. According to the word of the Lord through Isaiah the prophet, this was true even in Isaiah’s day.” As we face opposition to our belief in Christ and our Love of the the Lord, let us rejoice. That it remains true today and will always be true.
The Lord has set His King on His holy Hill of Zion. In the following Stanzas we will learn that this King is the Only Begotten Son of God. Thus, it is the enthronement of the Lord’s beloved Son, Jesus, the Christ. This enthronement is a the pivot point of Scripture. The Words of the Lord point to and lead up to the enthronement or they are the result of and flow from the enthronement. The Rage of people, nations, kings and rulers under the sway of Satan focused on the destruction of the Lord’s King which culminated on the Jesus’ death on the cross. In the face of their raging, Jesus, the Christ, humbled Himself and came and lived among His usurpers, willingly going to the cross, speaking not a word in His defense. Having completed this, He demonstrated His power over even death and rose again from the dead and ascended into the throne room of God to be set upon the Lord’s holy hill of Zion. His enthronement is sure. He cannot be touched in the throne room of heaven. We are told in Revelation 12 of Satan and the fallen angels being cast out of heaven, down to the earth. He the anointed one is enthroned, as King of kings, the King to which every knee will bow. He is enthroned as priest, making continual intercession for His people based on His completed and fully satisfying sacrifice on the cross, fully satisfying God’s required just punishment for sin. His anointed body, the church, is still on the earth, the place Satan was cast down to. Now, Satan is trying to destroy the anointed body of Christ. Although the work of Christ to destroy the power of Satan was finished on the cross, Satan and his henchmen have not given up tying. Yet, the Lord has set His King, perfectly and completely on His holy hill of Zion. There is nothing Satan can do to destroy the anointed body of Christ. Let us the body of Christ rejoice!
IV – The Third Stanza – The King of kings Responds – Ps 2:7-9