Welcome back!

Thank you for joining me again as we continue to dig into Psalm 2. On Friday, we dug into verses 1-3 from a modern perspective. If you missed that post, you can check it out by clicking here.

Today, we’ll be exploring verses 4-12. Take a moment to refresh yourself with Psalm 2 below or in your own Bible or preferred version.

1 Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand,
and the rulers conspire together
against the Lord and his Anointed One:
3 “Let’s tear off their chains
and throw their ropes off of us.”

4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord ridicules them.
5 Then he speaks to them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath:
6 “I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”

7 I will declare the Lord’s decree.
He said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.
8 Ask of me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with an iron scepter;
you will shatter them like pottery.”

10 So now, kings, be wise;
receive instruction, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with reverential awe
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Pay homage to the Son or he will be angry
and you will perish in your rebellion,
for his anger may ignite at any moment.
All who take refuge in him are happy.

When we examined Psalm 2 from the psalmist’s viewpoint, we skipped around a little, and that was originally my plan for this post, but, the more I meditated on it, I realized we need to finish by going through in order when looking from our modern perspective. Let’s begin.

As we noted last week, in verses 4 through 9 the psalmist shares God’s response to the people who rebel against Him and His Son. In those verses as well as verse 12, we see God’s sovereign authority proclaimed and His wrath kindled at those who refuse Him and His Anointed One, His Son. In verses 10-11, he pleads with the people of his day to be wise by following God and serving Him with rejoicing and awe. In verse 12, we see a warning from the psalmist that those who rebel against God, who refuse His way, will experience His wrath and perish.

God’s wrath is one of those topics that none of us like to meditate on for very long, and at the time this psalm was written, I wouldn’t want to meditate on it for very long either, but we have the blessing of living on this side of the cross, and that means we know something very important about God’s wrath toward those who rebel that the psalmist didn’t know.

What is it?

Remember our discussion last week God’s great love for us and His great hatred for sin? God loves all people and desires all people to be saved. The whosoever of John 3:16 is truly whosoever. God is patient, wishing all people to come to salvation (2 Peter 3:9). God hates sin because sin separated us from Him in the Garden of Eden and has created a gap between us and Him every since (Genesis 3:24). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). God has always made it clear that He hates sin and loves sinners. He made the Law to teach people how to avoid sin by avoiding the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life.

BUT GOD…

How I love those words!

God knew that we could never perfectly follow the Law; God has always had a plan to reunite us with Him, and that plan was carried out by His Son, His Anointed One, fully God and fully man, the only person to never sin, Jesus Christ. On the cross, Jesus bore the wrath of God, wrath that we deserved, and He paid the wages for our sin (1 John 4:10). Those who believe on Jesus, who accept Him as Lord and Savior, become debt free, free from the wrath of God, and this is why, on this side of the cross, those who believe on Christ do not need to fear God’s wrath. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, God removes our spirit of fear and gives us a spirit of power, love, and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).

Do we perfectly follow God’s way?

No, we don’t. I don’t, and neither do you.

But by choosing to follow Jesus Christ, THE WAY, we are continually covered in God’s grace, allowing us to grow up into the image of Christ, never perfect, but progressing, maturing day by day (John 1:16; 1 Corinthians 13:11; Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 3:10-14).

Praise the Lord! We who believe on Christ are spared God’s wrath!

And friend, our ability to praise, to sing of God’s goodness, that comes with a responsibility – a responsibility to share God’s good news with those around us.

Why?

Because God’s wrath is very, very real, and His word is clear:

Those who refuse Him, who refuse the way to reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ, will experience God’s wrath for all eternity (John 3:36). It may look like following the world’s way brings success; we certainly see people living large in this life while rebelling openly against God. Some very successful people refuse that God even exists. But make no mistake, earthly success, worldly riches, do not transfer to eternal goodness. God makes the sun shine on those who do good and those who do evil; He makes it rain on the fields of the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). The sad reality is that, for those who refuse the Lord, earthly success is all they will ever have because their eternity is marked by endless suffering (Matthew 25:31-46).

Friend, no one likes to think about the wrath of God, but like the psalmist, we must allow ourselves to meditate on it from time to time because without a proper knowledge of the wrath of God, we will not feel a sense of urgency to share Christ with those who refuse God. Like the psalmist, we must proclaim God’s goodness and righteousness and plead with others to follow Him.

Unlike the psalmist, we know that salvation is much closer than people think. We do not wait for a coming Savior, following Laws as closely as we can and hoping we’ve done enough good works. We know our Savior has already come, has already paid the price for us; we know that salvation comes by faith in Christ and not by our own works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3).

As you meditate on Psalm 2, have you thanked God for your freedom from His wrath through the gift of Jesus Christ? Have you thanked Jesus lately for taking on your sin and God’s wrath on the cross? Do you have a sense of urgency to share God’s salvation plan with the lost? Do you share God’s love for others, wanting none to perish , but all to gain eternal life through Jesus Christ?

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for making a way for us to be spared from Your wrath! Lord Jesus, thank You for carrying our sin to the cross, for bearing Your Father’s wrath to spare us from it! Forgive us, Lord, when we take Your saving grace for granted. Forgive us when we lack a sense of urgency to share Your good news with those around us. Grant us wisdom, Lord, and the right words to share Your redemption plan with others that we may be as seasoning salt, bringing flavor to conversation, as light, splitting the darkness with Your love and truth. To You God be all honor, glory, and praise, forever and amen.