by Greg Kenyon, updated January 16, 2026
II – The First Stanza – Rage against the Messiah – Psalm 2:1-3
Other titles for this stanza include:
The Narrator Speaks (Boice),
Rage against the Messiah,
The rebellion of the nations (BKC),
Rebellious Nations (Mentor Commentary),
The Conflict of the Ages (Songs of a Suffering King (Fresko).
Psalm Two begins with a question. Why do so people from every location, station and class rage against the Messiah, the blessed one of Psalm One? Not only do they together rage and plot they also believe they will succeed. As, will be shown, considering this rage is against the Lord and His Anointed, there is but one conclusion. To rage against the Messiah is utter foolishness.
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
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 bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
Nations, people, kings and rulers rage, plot in vain, plan together against the Lord and His Anointed.
As the last line of Psalm One is sung we are left with the troublesome taste of way of the wicked. As we begin to sing Psalm Two the question “why?” is expressed. Why do people go in the way of the wicked. What is this way? We learn it is a way of raging, plotting, setting oneself and taking counsel together against…. To answer the question “why?,” we need to know something about who is doing this raging and who is being raged against.
1- Who are these Ragers?
Who are these who do such a vain thing? The apostles quoted verses 1-3 of this psalm, identifying this rebellion, expressed in Psalm Two, with the conspiracy against Jesus Christ carried out by King Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the people of Israel. (Acts 4:25-27) They recognized that this group gathered together in an attempt to do away with Christ. Yet, they accomplished only what the Lord God purposed. (Acts 4:28) The apostles recognized this group of ragers has moved on, from setting themselves against the person of Jesus Christ, to being against His servants. Thus, they prayed for boldness to continue the witness and work of Christ in the name of Jesus. (Acts 4:29-31) This rage against God did not stop with the attempt to defeat the Anointed One, Jesus Christ, on the cross. They hope to defeat Christ but, as the next verses in Psalm Two attest, there is no hope for them in defeating God and His Anointed. The persecution of the Church, described in the Acts of the Apostles, and described and prophesied of in the New Testament, and in the historical record through the ages since the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, has continued at the hands of government heads (kings), governments (rulers), every nation of the world (Nations), and even those who come from God’s chosen people, Jews and even from many who have been brought up in the church of God. From every location and from every class and station of people. How is it that such a wide collection of people all together plot against the LORD’s anointed? Considering the wars through the ages pitting nation against nation, how is it they all stand together against Christ and His people?
It is noteworthy that this group gathered together against the Lord. In some ways, it was an unlikely group, as it included even those who hated each other, such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees plotting together. How is it that they all come together to plot against the Lord and His anointed?
Their plotting is evident at the time of Jesus birth as recorded in Matthew 2. When men came inquiring of Jesus birth, Herod and all Jerusalem was troubled with him. Herod potted with the leaders of the people and the leaders around to try to destroy Christ by killing all the male children in Bethlehem and all its districts from two years old and under. Reading through the gospels reveals this plotting continued and played a role in Jesus’ crucifixion. The nations, peoples, king and rules are not the only ones recorded to plot against Jesus. When Jesus started His earthly ministry, one early recorded event was the Devil’s attempt to tempt Jesus into joining with Adam and Eve and their descendants and to bow to him (the Devil) rather than to God the Father. (Matthew 4, Luke 4) This plotting did not begin with the the birth of Jesus Christ. The plotting against God goes back to the beginning. the first recorded event in this plot being Satan in the guise of a serpent temping Eve saying, “Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Satan’s temptation led to a growing seed of rebellion against the LORD entering the hearts of all of Mankind. Satan’s focus on Jesus Christ came as a result of the promise of the LORD God, recorded in Genesis 3:15, that One born to the women would crush Satan’s head. Symbolically, as can be deduced from the rest of Scripture, this means any control Satan has will ultimately be destroyed. Satan’s continuing attempt to destroy the promised Seed, the One born of the woman, can be traced from that time through the scriptures up to the crucifixion of the promised seed, Jesus Christ.
Considering Satan’s attempts to destroy this Seed, it is interesting to note, there is no record of Satan ever directly killing anyone. He always uses one of Mankind to do this work, suggesting Satan has little physical ability and has little control over animals. Satan’s control is demonstrated through Mankind, those I call Satan’s henchmen. Many of his henchmen may not even realize he is using them to do his desire. Joshua refers to a choice. The LORD God or other gods. (Joshua 24:15) Samuel refers to a choice. Serve the LORD God or serve foreign gods. (1Samuel 7:3) The prophet Elijah puts before the people only two choices. Serve God or Baal. Matthew and Luke refer to two masters. (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13) Paul in Romans speaks of being either a slave to sin or to the Lord God (Romans 6). So, every person is either a servant of the LORD God or a henchman of Satan. It is this connection to Satan and his ways which explains the enigma of the unexpected collection of nations, peoples, kings and rules banding together against the LORD and His Anointed. Their raging, plotting, counseling and setting themselves against the Lord, whether they realize it or not, is their carrying out the desires of their master Satan.
Why do they rage? Because Satan rages.
Who is it they rage, plot, set themselves and take counsel together against? The Lord’s Anointed.
2- Who do these Ragers rage against?
Against the Lord and the Lord’s Anointed.
i- Against the Lord.
Who is The LORD? This is Yahweh. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Yahweh is mentions more than 6500 times and 20 times in the beginning narrative of the Bible, Genesis 1-3. Each time in this beginning narrative, Yahweh is used in conjunction with Elohim, the Hebrew word for god. A god in its generic sense is the object of one’s worship or adoration. Thus, in our fallen world there are many gods, for many adore and worship creatures rather than the creator. (Romans 1) But there is only one Yahweh Elohim, LORD God. In the OT, every time the Hebrew word “Yahweh” is used, it is used exclusively in reference to Israel’s God, the creator of all else. When Yahweh speaks with Moses as recorded in Exodus 3, He gives an explanation of His name, Yahweh, saying “I am who I am” or I will be who I will be.” The LORD makes it clear who He, the one called Yahweh, is saying, “The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” (Exodus 3:15)
The use of Yahweh in Psalm 2:2 as He who the nations, people, kings and rulers rage, plot, set and take counsel against leaves no question. The One they are against is The LORD God, the creator of all, the I AM. There can be no mistaking who He is. He is the One who created all things from nothing. He created these nations, people, kings and rulers. He is the one who judged the world and destroyed all people, except eight, in the flood. He is the one who heard the groaning of His people in Egypt and said to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, let My people go. He is the One who showed His power and control over all creation through the 10 plagues He brought on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to obey Him. He is the One who miraculously led His people through the Red Sea on dry ground, who remained with them for 40 years in the wilderness, who opened the way through the Jordan River and gave Israel the Land. He is the One who won the battle of Jericho and gave the Canaanites into the hand of His people. It is His glory which filled the Tabernacle and then the Temple. Of this God, the Apostle Paul says, “in Him we live and move and have our being.” It is against the very being who created and sustains them which these nations, people, kings and rulers rage, plot, set and take counsel against. Why? To those who know even just something of the power of the LORD God this rebellion is utter foolishness.
ii- Against The Lord’s Anointed!
Who is the Lord’s Anointed?
As the Anointed Prophet, the Anointed Priest and the Anointed King
a- As Anointed Priest
Who is the Lord’s Anointed? The first mention of people being anointed by the Lord’s is in In Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers when the Lord directs the anointing of Aaron and his son’s with oil. From this family came the line of high priests, who were also anointed. These priests were set apart by God to present sacrifices for the atonement of the people from the penalty of their sin. They point to the Anointed One, Jesus Christ, in His office of priest. Jesus, as priest, makes complete atonement once and for all His people. (Hebrews 7:26-28, 9:11-14, 10:5-12 )
b- As Anointed King
The next mention of people being specially anointed with oil is when Samuel is told to anoint Saul as commander of the people of Israel (1 Samuel 9:16). From this point on the Kings of Israel, in particular those of the Line of David, are anointed with oil, as Kings of Israel. This too points to the Anointed One, the Messiah, Jesus Christ and His office of King. King Jesus is the head, the authority and director of all aspects of His body, the church. And, as we will learn, as the King of kings, He rules over all nations, people, kings and rulers.
c- As Anointed Prophet???
As The Anointed One, it is relatively easy to see Jesus as The Anointed Priest and the Anointed King. The Westminster and Heidelberg catechisms, identify Jesus as anointed to three positions. As well as priest and king, they say that Jesus is also our anointed prophet. The answer to the 23rd question of The Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC) says, “Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king,” The 31st question of the Heidelberg Catechism says Christ “is ordained of God the Father, and anointed with the Holy Ghost, to be our chief Prophet and Teacher, who has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our redemption; and to be our only High Priest….and to be our eternal King.” Both the Heidelberg and Westminster catechisms speak of Christ as the anointed priest and king but they first speak of Christ as our anointed Prophet. The WSC provides multiple scripture proofs which are all from the New Testament. The HC references Deuteronomy 18:15 where Moses says, “the Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren, Him you shall hear.” We can see how Moses as prophet can typically point to Christ as our prophet but, unlike the office of the high priest and the king, there is no record of Moses ever being anointed with oil. As far as I know, there is only one biblical record referring to the anointing of one of the prophets, that being when the Lord tells Elijah in 1 Kings 19:16 that he(Elijah)shall anoint Elisha in his place.
d- The anointed prophet Elisha as a type of Christ
So, is anointed Elisha the type of the Anointed Prophet, Jesus Christ? There are some interesting similarities between the anointed Jesus Christ and Elisha. The mantle of Elijah was handed or picked up by Elisha on the east side of the Jordan just across the Jordan river from Jericho. (See 2 Kings 2:4-5, 8-15) The people said that the spirit of Elijah came to rest on the Elisha. Elisha had asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. As the narrative unfolds, one is left to believe that Elisha did receive a double portion. He crossed the Jordan into the promised land and performed many miracles. We are not told that Elijah actually anointed Elisha with anointing oil. This does not mean such an event could not have happened. But the transfer of the mantle of Elijah to Elisha and the transfer of a double portion the spirit of Elijah, has elements of an anointing. Now consider John the Baptist and Jesus, as recorded in John 1:19-34, Matt 3:1-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:1-22. In Mark 9:11-12 Jesus disciples ask Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first.” Then Jesus said after speaking of Himself, “Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.” In Matthew 11:11-15, Jesus speaks highly of John the Baptist and says to the multitudes, “and if you are willing to receive it, he [John the Baptist] is Elijah who is to come.” Here Jesus confirms that when the prophet Malachi writes of the LORD, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD,” it is John the Baptist who is being spoken of. So, in Elijah we have a type of John the Baptist and in Elisha we have a type of Christ. At the baptism of Christ, John (Elijah) initiates, or is used by God to set the stage for Jesus anointing. Then God, the Father, anoints Jesus with the Holy Spirit saying, “this is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” As Elijah “anoints” Elisha, and Elisha receives the Spirit in a greater way than Elijah, becoming a prophet also filled with the Spirit of God, so Jesus, as THE Anointed Prophet, receives the fullness of the Spirit of God. We also learn in John 1:28 where it tells us that John was baptizing at Bethabra or Bethany. This Bethany is on the other side of the Jordan River from Jericho. As the narrative continues, Jesus’ formal ministry moves into Galillee requiring a crossing of the Jordan river. Elisha also began his formal ministry as a prophet, picking up the mantle of Elijah and struck the water of the Jordan river. The water divided and Elisha walked across the river into the region which would become known as Galilee, typifying the ministry of Jesus.
John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ. In a sense, the mantle of John the Baptist was picked up by Christ and Christ continued to baptize with water. It was at the time, when John the Baptist baptized Christ, that Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove. The anointing oil of the OT is typical of, or represents, the anointing or outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Peter, in Acts 10:38, refers to the Lord God anointing Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power. As the prophetic work of the tabernacle, the priests and kings were shown to be set apart for God by being anointed, so too is Christ. Even the miracles of Elisha seemed that much more amazing than those recorded of Elijah. Christ’s miracles far exceed the prophets who preceded Him.
So, there is support for the only recorded anointed prophet, Elisha, being the type of The Anointed Prophet, Jesus Christ. But this may place more importance on Elisha than we should. The record of the person of Elisha had ended long before the incarnation of Jesus Christ, while the office of the anointed high priest includes a long line of men, as does the record of the anointed line of king David. Unlike the office of priest and king, where the bible includes genealogies connecting these offices to the time of Christ’s incarnation, there is no clear record of a line of prophets connecting Elisha to the time of Christ. There is also a problem with one prophet being the anointed type of Christ, as the work of the office of Christ as prophet, in breadth and power, far exceeds that of the one prophet Elisha. Also the anointing of Elisha, compared to that of the anointed priests and kings, is somewhat obscure and the record does not even definitely indicate that Elijah actually anointed Elisha with anointing oil used for priests and kings.
Elisha has a place in typifying the prophetic work of Jesus, but there is another anointing that completes the typical picture of the anointed prophet, The Anointed Prophet, in an even more significant way. The anointing oil which Moses was instructed to prepare to anoint priests and then kings was first used, before it was used to anoint the priests and the kings, to anoint the tabernacle and all of its elements, including the ark of the testimony.
e- The Tabernacle/Temple as anointed prophet
The anointing oil in the Old Testament was not only used for priests and kings. It was first used to anoint the tabernacle and all of its elements, such as the ark of the testimony. After a detailed description of the making of the tabernacle and all its parts, along with detail of how it was to be set up and used, an instruction is given to anoint the tabernacle and all its parts. (Exodus 40:9-11) Following the command to anoint the tabernacle is the command to adorn and anoint Aaron and his sons, the beginning of the line of the high priests. The use of the anointing oil for kings came later.
If the primary role of the king is to govern and protect his subjects within the of the boundaries of His law, with its just requirements, and the role of the priest is to perform the work of consecrating people to be holy subjects of the king , and the role of the prophet is to declare the way of the king and the way of consecration to the king, then it can be appreciated how the tabernacle fulfills the role of prophet. In Exodus and Leviticus, there is much said about the tabernacle and its various parts, its types and figures. Each of the parts of the tabernacle were given to help us to see the great truth of our King and our High Priest. The tabernacle itself did not rule as King and it did not perform the act of consecrating as the priest did. The anointed tabernacle had the role of bringing attention to the King, His priest and His consecrating work. The prophets also played a role in this, but the tabernacle, designed by God to testify of the King, particularly of His mercy and forgiveness, provides a far more comprehensive prophetic work than any one of the prophets of the OT.
Jesus, the God-man, in His divinity, came to take His rightful place as King of His kingdom. He also came to perform the ultimate high priestly act of consecration. In His humanity, He came as the perfect sacrificial lamb. And He came to be the prophetic temple. Jesus, reads of this from Isaiah, as recorded in Luke 4, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor…to proclaim liberty to the captives…[and] to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (from Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61). Preaching and proclaiming are the work of the prophet.
It is most interesting to see Jesus, The Prophet, fulfilling this prophetic work of the tabernacle. When Jesus walked on earth, even before He fulfilled His work as the High Priest, in being the perfect sacrificial lamb, and before He took His rightful place on His throne in heaven, He spoke like He was the temple. In His incarnation, He came to replace the temple/tabernacle. Ultimately, His body, the body of Christ, is the tabernacle of God, the temple of the God, onto which, into which God the Holy Spirit has descended and filled, as prefigured in the glory cloud which descended on and filled the tabernacle/temple. (Exodus 33:1-10, 40:34-35, Lev 16:2, Num 9:15-16, 2 Chr 5:7-14) This temple, Christ’s body, ultimately, is the house which God promised David that His son would build. Solomon, David’s earthly son through Bathsheba, did build a house for the Lord. But, it was an imperfect house which ultimately failed to be the place for God to dwell on earth. When the temple was rebuilt in the days of Nehemiah there is no record that God came to reside in it in a visible way, as He did in the earlier temple, as seen in the presence of the glory cloud. (1 Kings 8:10-11, 2 Chr 5:13-15, 7:1-3) Jesus, the Son of David, is the builder, the chief corner stone and the head of the house. After Jesus ascended into heaven the ultimate anointing of this house of David occurred. In a very real and present way, the Lord God came to dwell in His temple, when the Holy Spirit descended on and entered the people of God like tongues of fire. (Acts 2) Jesus the anointed prophet continues to to preach the gospel to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, using His body, the Church, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, to carry this out.
f- Singular – The LORD’s Anointed is One
It is also interesting to see that in Psalm 2:2 “the Lord’s Anointed,” is in the singular. The nations, people, kings and rulers counsel together against the singular Anointed of the LORD. As indicated the Anointed Priest and King clearly point to the LORD Jesus Christ. In the OT there was only one place…. ***** (I hope to share mor on this thought in due time, the Lord willing)
3- Summary of Psalm 2:1-2
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the LORD and against His Anointed. (NKJV)
Now, back to Psalm 2. The preceding description of Jesus in His People, the temple of the of the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the position of The Anointed Prophet has been laid out to help us understand the picture in Psalm 2 of the nations, people, kings of the earth and rulers taking counsel together against the Lord’s Anointed, including Christ and His body. The rebellion is not only against Christ and His body but also against the Lord as it says. “against the LORD and His anointed. To rebel against the LORD, to disregard, or even worse, to act contrary to His law, to take His name in vain is common place. To be against His law and blaspheming His name does little harm to the LORD God. How does one hope to accomplish anything by plotting against an Unchangeable Spirit. The Lord is Spirit and does not have a body like men. Even Christ, the second person of God is hard to see, having ascended into heaven. The anointed body of Christ, which yet remains on earth, the people of God, the church, are visible. They visibly represent the Lord God. This anointed body of Christ can be seen and reacts and thus bears the brunt of the physical rebellion against the Lord and His Anointed. The Lord and the Lord’s anointed, including the people of God, cannot be raged against as individuals. Rage against one automatically includes the others. When one part of the body hurts the whole body hurts. (1 Cor 12:20, 1 Cor 12:12-27) To rage against the people of God is to rage against God’s Temple which is to rage against the Lord God!
To act out rebellion against the Lord by acting out against the body of Christ is not new. This is Satan’s method right back to the beginning. Satan in his rebellion did not directly challenge the Lord God. Instead, He went after the people of God, the Lord’s image, the Lord’s visible representation of Himself. Satan’s rebellion against God happened after creation. Satan is a created being, as are all beings other than God. When God was finished creating, all was very good. As part of creation, when created Satan was good. Satan’s rebellion came before the fall of Adam and Eve. In some ways, Satan rivals Christ as one of the two masters each person follows. As men and women, we are servants of either of Christ or of Satan. Satan’s direct attack was not on the Invisible God, Himself, but on His flesh and blood image, mankind. One can walk through the scriptures and see this has continued to be so.
So, Psalm 2 begins with a question, Why? Why do nations, peoples, kings and rulers rage, plot, set themselves, and take counsel against the Lord and His Anointed? Although the Lord is the primary object of their rebellion, their rebellion is primarily played out against the visible body of the Lord’s Anointed.
4- Their foolish desire.
Psalm 2:3
“Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.” (NKJV)
i- Their Plot
This raging, plotting, counseling together to break free of the bonds and cords, to break away from the good boundaries of the Lord, can be seen woven through the Scriptures. It begins after creation and before the fall of Adam and Eve, when Satan desired to usurp God’s position. The first outward act of the plot is the deception of Adam and Eve in the garden. The stage is set in Genesis 3:15 with the promise of God, which sets Satan on a course to try to destroy the One born to the woman who God promised would crush Satan’s head. A thread can be followed through the narrative of the Scriptures showing Satan, via his henchmen, attempting to destroy the family line, from which The Anointed One is to come, who is to crush Satan’s head. By the time of the writing of Psalm Two, it had likely become clear to Satan that the One to destroy him is to come through the anointed kingly line of David.
More than just being the One who will crush the head of Satan, this Anointed One, as we are informed in John 1, is the Word of God. He is the one who presents Israel, and thus the world, with the Ten Words of the Law which are a clear instruction to love the Lord God and to love one’s neighbour. Moses and Aaron, the anointed priests, present the finer details of the Law as outlined in the books of Moses, the book of the Law. It is against the author and fulfill-er of the Law, Jesus the Christ, who Himself is the embodiment of this law, which the nations, peoples, kings and rulers set themselves against.
ii- To break bonds and cords?
It is really about rejecting good and gracious boundaries.
What is it they plot and counsel together to do? To break the bonds of the Lord, His Anointed, which includes the subjects and followers of the Anointed One. To break them in pieces. And to cast away the cords of the same. The description of the Lord’s involvement in the lives of those who rage, as “bonds and cords” is in the words of those who rage. Right from the beginning, to live in the goodness and blessing of the Lord, He has required one to acknowledged, respect and obey His (the Lord’s) boundaries. The Lord is gracious. He told Adam and Eve what the boundaries were. To not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Rather than a burden, this boundary was a test of their love for the Lord, for they could freely eat of all the other trees abundant in the garden. For Adam and Eve and their descendants, troubles came due to Adam and Eve’s rebelling against this simple boundary. When Cain brought a sacrifice to the Lord in a way not pleasing to Lord, the Lord did not simply reject Cain. The Lord came to Cain with explanation of the problem and with instruction. Rather than following the instruction of the Lord, Cain rebelled against the way of the Lord and showed hatred to Abel, who listened to the Lord. The guilty one hated the one who desired righteousness. This is not uncommon today. Those who are guilty hate those who strive to do what is right. The Lord has continued to provide men with enough guidance to leave all without excuse. (Romans 1)
Why do the nations rage, the people plot a vain thing, kings and rulers gather together against the Lord and His Anointed? This question does not come out of the blue. It comes on the heals of a description of true happiness and of a grave warning, given in Psalm One. Does not everyone seek happiness. In Psalm One, we are told happiness is associated with delighting in the law of the Lord. So why? Why do the gentile nations rage and even the peoples of God plot in vain… rather than delight? Also, in Psalm One is a grave warning. It ends with, “the way of the ungodly shall perish.” So why? Why do kings and their leaders take counsel together against the Lord… rather than mediated on His law? Do they wish to perish? The Lord God offers to fill them with with all goodness, goodness of the freedom inherent in His Law and even tries to guide them back to all goodness with warning. To rage, plot, stand against, and plan to overthrow the gracious ruler, the anointed one, whom the Lord has set in place, is utter foolishness. But this is what is described in the opening of Psalm Two. The peoples and rulers of the earth are not ignorant to the Law of God. They acknowledge it. Not for the freedom it truly represents but, deceived, they claim it as a source of bondage. They want to break it in pieces and get away from being bound by conscience and to get rid of the rules and laws of Christ. They want nothing of the protecting, and thus loving, cords of the Law of the Lord God. They are not ignorant to the law but they are ignorant to its goodness. If this is not the case, then they are ever so much more foolish.
iii- A warning for us
We will learn in the study of the second stanza of Psalm 2 (Psalm 2:4-6) that the raging described in this first stanza (Psalm 2:1-3) does not include the sins of believers but there is teaching for us. To follow the ways of these nations, peoples, kings and rulers is utter foolishness.
To what extent are we like these people, walking with them in their ungodly counsel, standing with them in ways of sin, and even sitting with them as they speak against the Lord? (Psalm 1:1) Do we not call out with them, I have my rights, rather than living before God as unprofitable servants, as servant who are doing what is required? To what extent do we grumble against the law of the Lord?
A look at history up to the time this psalm was written is another reason to view their rage against the Lord as foolishness. The books of Moses and narrative contained therein were known in the days of the kings. Josiah refers to the reading of the books of the Law. Cain rebelled against his punishment, saying to the Lord God, “my punishment is more than I can bear.” In the days of Noah, most of the people had rejected the ways of the Lord. In spite of the Lord’s gracious 120 year long warning given through Noah while building the Ark, they continued to reject the ways of the Lord and sealed their own destruction in the flood. Their ways were like grasshoppers compared to the awesome power of the Lord, who was able to bring a flood of destruction upon the whole human race. Then there is the power of Egypt pitted against the power of the God of the people of Israel, resulting in the land of Egypt being decimated and the army with all the choice horses and chariots destroyed in the red sea, while Israel passed through the waters of the red sea on dry ground to go on to the promised Land. Not to mention God’s care for His people in the wilderness, with provision of water, manna and quail. Then there is the conquest of Canaan, the walls of Jericho falling and the city of Ai, both clearly being defeated by the power of God. Yes, the kingdom of Satan, rearing its head up over and over again, is put in its place. In the days of the judges, the power of God over the ways of evil is demonstrated again and again, with Moabites being defeated by God leading the hand of Ehud and Shamgar, the Canaanites defeated by God leading the hand of Deborah, Barak, Jael, and the Mideanites clearly defeated by God using the small 300 man army of Gideon. How is it the nations, peoples, kings and rulers dare to think they can cast off the cords of the Lord. It should be beyond anyone’s comprehension. It is utter foolishness.
We too have all of this history, and have been instructed to remember our history and to teach it to our children and our children’s children (Deut 6, Ps 78). Even more, we also have the written history, of God defeating Goliath, using a child, David, of God protecting David from Saul after Saul had opened his heart to the leading of Satan. When Satan and the evil powers of this world seemed to be winning, even to the point of the people of Israel being carried of to Assyria and Babylon we know this was not outside of the caring and power of God. Precisely at God’s appointed time (70 years), God brought His people back to the land He had promised they would possess. In spite of great opposition, the wall and the temple were rebuild according to the word of God which was delivered through the prophets of the Lord God, again showing the power of God over evil. (Ezra & Nehamiah) When evil seemed again to have won, and the word of God through the prophets was silent for 400 years, God demonstrates His persistent presence and power, as He kept the memory of His promise alive in those of His people who waited for the fulfillment of the promise. He also kept it in the form of His written word spoken when men came to Jerusalem saying, “where is He who was born king of the Jews, for we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” Yes, at the appointed time, the star appeared in the east, the promised Christ Child was born, He was protected from the destruction attempted by Satan’s henchman, King Herod, and given opportunity to live without sin in this sin filled world, to become the perfect Lamb of God, crucified dead and buried, to defeat the power of darkness and then raise again from the dead, demonstrating His absolute power over death. We have the evidence of the Holy Spirit being poured out on the church, the anointed body of Christ and temple of the Holy Spirit, such that the church grew in spite of great opposition and persecution. We have the ongoing events of History. Satan and evil continue to try to stop the witness of of the church. Satan with nations, and with some people who associated with church, with governments and church leaders try to destroy the church. Yet, the church continues. Given God’s care and concern repeatedly accomplished in spite of great, yet vain, opposition. If any of us reject the ways of the Lord we are utterly foolish.
Considering this, the words in the last stanza of this psalm, as we will see, are given for us to heed.
Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
And rejoice with trembling. (Psalm 2:10–11 NKJV)
On our own, we are prone to such foolishness. We, too easily, walk, stand and sit in the ways of such foolishness. It is such foolishness we need to be saved from. Once saved, we need ongoing help to keep us from turning back to it.
III – The Second Stanza – The Lord’s Response – Psalm 2:4-6
IV – The Third Stanza – The King of kings Responds – Ps 2:7-9