One of my greatest joys in life is to teach the Bible to people. Sunday, Wednesday or any other time is always a good time to open up the Bible and hear what God wants to say to us today.
Lately I have had an increasing opportunity to discuss events we are witnessing in America and around the world with many people. I see this as a great blessing from God and also as a responsibility that I do not take lightly.
Several passages have risen to the top of these many discussions as they represent focal points to seeing and understanding world events.
The Bible serves as a remarkable filter in this respect. One of the most often asked questions is “What is wrong with the world today?” This type of question is almost always followed by “What can we do?”
The answer to these two questions is found in Psalm 2. In 12 verses the psalmist succinctly describes a timeless truth. That truth is this – when people abandon God terrible things happen.
Note Psalm 2:1 which reads in the New American Standard translation, “Why are the nations in an uproar and the people devising a vain thing?” The King James Version says, “Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?”
The root word for uproar or rage comes from a word that describes the snorting of a war horse who knows a battle is looming and is working itself into a froth. So the nations are roaring or in an uproar at a frenzied pitch. They are snorting and stomping their feet and making quite a demonstration. Clearly something has agitated the whole world.
In Psalm 2:2 we read that the leaders of these nations, the kings and rulers, have taken counsel together. That means that the leaders of the nations have strategized and coordinated a plan of attack against the source of their frustration and agitation.
We don’t have to guess who or what the source is because in verse 2 we read that it is the LORD and His Anointed. LORD is Yahweh and His Anointed is Jesus Christ.
Notice in verse 3 the reason for this rebellion against God the Father and Jesus the Son – the refusal of the nations to submit to the rule of God. “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us.”
Friends what we are seeing here is the rebel heart that refuses to bow the knee and submit to God’s loving rule. This is the result of sin. Human nature is predisposed against God. That is the doctrine of original sin. The nature of sin is deception and delusion. Sin creates in the heart of every rebel an arrogance that makes people believe they can reject God without consequence.
Note back in verse 1 the psalmist asks why the people are devising a vain thing. That vain thing is imagining that they can throw off God’s moral law, His righteous rule, and be better off for it.
The world as a whole has embraced this idea that each individual and groups of individuals that together form communities and nations can be moral “Sampsons.” People have imagined the arrogant and vain thing that they have the power and ability to throw off the moral fetters of God’s wisdom and love, that they have the power to resist God and create for themselves a utopian paradise where God is not necessary, and that they can do this without any consequences. Doesn’t that describe the world today?
We have witnessed this very thing in America. Consider for example these recent court cases and the results.
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1962 Engel vs. Vitale resulted in the removal of prayer from public schools.
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1963 Abington School District vs. Schempp resulted in the removal of Bible reading from public schools.
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1973 Rowe vs. Wade ruled abortion a constitutional right and has resulted in the murder of over 50 million unborn children.
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1980 Stone vs. Graham removed the Ten Commandments from public schools and government buildings.
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2013 United States vs. Windsor nullified the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
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2015 Obergefell vs. Hodges ruled sodomite unions legal across America.
What verse 3 really says is “Let us be free to commit every kind of sin our minds can imagine. Let us be our own judges, let us be our own gods. We do not need God.”
This so-called freedom those who oppose God are choosing for themselves is not freedom at all. It is instead bondage wrapped in a satanic bow.
The enemy of God and His people is Satan and he is the father of lies who seeks to kill and destroy all that God has created. Freedom from God results in an eternity free from Him as well. That friends is hell.
What is God’s response to this rebellion? We see two separate responses in Psalm 2. The first response is seen in verses 4-5. God laughs derisively, mocks, and scorns the pitiful state of these rebels. God is not wringing His hands in heaven trying to figure out what to do or how to make people love and obey Him.
Westernized American Christianity has downplayed the fact that God is a holy and righteous judge who will respond in wrath and fury toward all those who reject Him.
Sadly many Christians have adopted a pseudo-gospel message that elevates God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness while simultaneously minimizing the need for people to repent and confess their sins.
The second response God gives to rebels is to offer a provision for the forgiveness of sins and a way of reconciliation with Him. That is verses 6-9.
Take note of these points in verses 6-9:
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God offers the rebel nations and people a King of His choosing in verse 6 – “I have installed my King.” That King is Jesus.
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This was made sure as a testimony from God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus – verse 7 is quoted in Acts 13:33 as prophecy fulfilled.
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In verse 8 we see that God offers redemption and reconciliation through King Jesus. This leads to a life of discipleship. We become prized possessions and the inheritance of Jesus.
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Rejecting God and His offer of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ results in judgment. Verse 9 says Christ will break the nations with a rod of iron and shatter them like earthenware.
With this information in hand God calls the kings of the earth to make a decision. This is what happens daily in nations all across the earth. When God is rightly understood, when His moral laws are grasped and viewed in light of His character, people are accountable to make a decision concerning who He is and who Jesus Christ the Son is.
This is what we see in verses 10-12. Note the following points:
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End your rebellion. Show wisdom and discernment in recognizing God; not vanity in rejecting Him (v10; v1).
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Give God praise, glory, honor by repenting, believing, honoring and receiving (v11).
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Understand that there is salvation is no one else but Jesus Christ the Son (v12). “Do homage to the Son.”
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Receive assurance of your salvation (v12) – “How blessed are all those who take refuge in Him.”
