Psalm 2
The Messiah’s Triumph and Kingdom
1 Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s
vessel.’ ”
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in
Him.1
Scripture Outline
The Nations’ Rebellion (2:1–3)
The Messiah’s Reign (2:4–9)
The Concluding Call (2:10–12)
Psalm
1 deals with the Word; Psalm 2 deals with the world. Psalm 1
contrasts the righteous with the ungodly; Psalm 2 contrasts the
nations with their divine ruler. Psalm 1 deals with personal life;
Psalm 2, with historical life. Psalm 1 deals with the particular;
Psalm 2, with the universal.
In a certain sense, Psalm 2 also serves, along with
Psalm 1, as a vestibule into the Psalter. It alerts us to the fact
that here we are not only dealing with our interior devotional life
and personal destiny but also with the whole purpose of God in
history and the destiny of the nations. In the sense that Psalm 1
gives us God’s Word as the conceptual frame work for our
meditation, Psalm 2 gives us the movement of that Word in history and
its interpretive key: “Yet I have set My King / On My holy hill of
Zion” (v. 6).
The Bible, as the written Word of God, reveals both
God’s plan for the world and its center, the living Word of God,
Jesus Christ (John 1:1–2, 14). Thus the psalms and the whole of the
Bible must be interpreted christocentrically. As Luther puts it, in
the Bible we have the words of God which are to be understood
by the Word of God, Jesus Christ. All meditation on Scripture,
therefore, and all movement in history must take us to Christ.
Some commentators identify Psalm 2 as a coronation psalm
written for the Davidic kings’ enthronement ceremony. In this view,
the transition from one ruling king to another provides the occasion
for vassal states to revolt (vv. 1–3). The new king’s coronation
then restores order (vv. 7–12). Older expositors, however, as well
as the New Testament itself, see this royal psalm as prophetic and
messianic. It is all the nations of the earth who are in revolt
against God’s kingdom, not merely local vassal states (vv. 2, 8,
10), and the King himself (v. 6) is the Anointed (v. 2), the begotten
Son of God (vv. 7, 12). Moreover, the rebellion takes place not in an
interim period before a new king is crowned, but during the reign of
a king who exercises divine sovereignty (v. 2). F. F. Bruce asserts,
“It is inconceivable that such notions were entertained in any
directly personal way concerning the line of monarchs who followed in
Judah. We have here, therefore, either the most blatant flattery the
world has ever heard, or else the expression of a great ideal”
(“Messiah,” in The New Bible Dictionary, p. 814), and, I
would add, a great prophetic promise.
In the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch, Paul applied “You
are My Son, today I have begotten You” (v. 7) to Jesus and His
resurrection (Acts 13:33). Hebrews 1:5 connects the same verse to
Jesus, to show that as the Son of God He is above the angels. The
Book of Revelation also sees Psalm 2 fulfilled eschatologically in
the final triumph of Christ’s kingdom (Rev. 2:25–27).
It seems clear that we may take this psalm as both
messianic and prophetic. In calling it “messianic,” however, we
do not deny that ancient Israel would have applied it to the Davidic
monarchy. The promise given to David was for an eternal throne, and
God’s relationship to his heirs was to be as a father to a son (2
Sam. 7:12–16). The universal aspect of the psalm, however, points
beyond any Davidic king to the fulfillment of David’s kingdom in
the coming of the Messiah. For the New Testament, the fulfillment of
that kingdom points beyond Jesus’ ministry in Palestine to His
ultimate reign throughout the universe. Thus there are three levels
to the prophetic passages in the Old Testament. The first is God’s
Word to His people in the immediate situation; the second is the
future aspect of that Word fulfilled in the first coming of Christ;
the third is the final aspect of that Word fulfilled in the Second
Coming of Christ. We are only true to the whole of Scripture when we
account for all three levels.
The author of Psalm 2 is unknown, although traditionally
it has been held to be David. The movement of thought is from
rebellion (vv. 1–3), to God’s response with His Messiah (vv.
4–9), and final resolution (vv. 10–12).
The
Nations’ Rebellion
2:1 Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
—Psalm 2:1–3
“Why do the nations rage, / And the people plot a
vain thing?” Through out the
Psalter we will be pummeled by honest questions. If God is the
sovereign Lord of history, why this rebellion? If God is a God of
order, why all this chaos? Here the nations seethe in revolt;
literally, they “rage” or
“throng tumultuously,” and “plot” or
“imagine,” or “growl” vanity.
The question of why they rage is not immediately
answered but is instead intensified by a parallel statement in verse
2 as the subject changes from the nations to their leaders. Rather
than squelching this upheaval, the rulers “take counsel
together” and join in an alliance “against the Lord
and against His Anointed,” here meaning “King” (see v. 6
and 1 Sam 16:1–13). The Hebrew word is māsı̂ah,
from which we get our word “messiah.”
The point of the nations’ rage and the rulers’
counsel becomes clear in verse 3. It is open revolt: “Let us
break Their bonds in pieces, / And cast away Their cords from us.”
The question, “Why do the nations rage… ?” now
receives its answer. They no longer want to be submissive to God, His
King, or His kingdom. They see submission to God as bondage and His
sovereignty as restrictive, His will as demeaning. The nations want
autonomy; they want freedom. Responding to the serpent’s whisper to
Eve in the garden, they want to be like God (Gen. 3:5). They want to
be their own God.
The
Messiah’s Reign
4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
6 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
”
—Psalm 2:4–9
God’s response to the nations’ rebellion is twofold.
In verse 4 He derides them for their foolishness, and in verses 5–6
He directs them to His King on Zion.
To begin with, then, God sits and laughs at the nations.
Being seated is a sign of His authority: He is the eternal Creator
and the transcendent Lord of all things. News from earth doesn’t
dismay Him or make Him nervous. He doesn’t read the daily paper to
keep current. “Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket….
All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him
less than nothing and worthless … It is He who sits above the
circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers…. He
brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth
useless” (Is. 40:15, 17, 22, 23).
The presumption of the nations and their leaders causes
God to laugh. How can those who are temporal fight the Eternal? How
can the creation fight the Creator? God’s laughter, as we face the
terror of our history, keeps things in perspective. It reminds us of
the answer to the question “Who is in charge?” Ultimately,
neither ecological disaster nor nuclear nightmare are in charge; God
is!
God’s laugh, however, is not the laugh of the aloof
but the laugh of One who is offended at our absurd rebellion against
His authority. Responding in wrath (v. 5), He now exercises His power
by intervening in our history through His King whom He has installed
on Zion: “Yet I have set My King / On My holy hill of Zion”
(v. 6).
But God’s wrath in His King is, in Karl Barth’s
phrase, His “next to last word.” It is for the sake of our
repentance (v. 11) and His mercy (v. 13). The “last word” is
always the word of the gospel. Here is our theological, historical,
and interpretive center.
In verse 7 the King witnesses to God’s decree
concerning Himself, revealing His identity. In verses 8–9
the King declares His destiny over the rebellious nations.
Yahweh decrees two things about His King: First, the King is His Son,
and, second, the King is begotten by Him.
In the Old Testament the title son indicates
intimate relationship and subordination. As Son, the King’s rule is
divinely authored and legitimized. As Son, the King represents God,
His Father, and mediates His authority and will in His reign. At this
point in the progress of revelation “You are My Son” neither
asserts nor denies the pre-existence of the Messiah-King. It does
assert, however, the present relationship of unity and subordination.
Hebrews 1 later reveals that the full meaning of this verse includes
pre-existence. Ultimately the Son is Son by nature as well as by
decree and obedience.
The decree then continues, “Today I have begotten
You” (v. 7). While the Hebrew verb “beget” means “to
bear” or “to generate,” the original intention of the
time-element, “today,” excludes all physical concepts of
begetting, contrasting God’s King with Egyptian theories of
kingship. It is also eschatological: Today God’s King is enthroned
on Mt. Zion (v. 6) to rule the nations (v. 8). Paul rightly proclaims
that this promise of enthronement is now fulfilled in the
Resurrection of God’s Son from the dead. Easter inaugurates the new
age—the age of salvation (Acts 13:13). It is through His
Resurrection that Jesus, in conquering death, receives all authority
and rules all things (Matt. 28:18–20). While He is eternally God’s
Son, He is declared Son of God in power by His Resurrection from the
dead (Rom. 1:4). In this sense, the Son is “begot ten” by the
Father to be the second Adam, the “Firstborn from the dead,” the
progenitor of a whole race of new men and new women sharing His
resurrection life (see 1 Cor. 15:22–23).
The Anointed King on Mt. Zion then is the Son of God
mediating God’s presence and bearing God’s kingdom. That this
kingdom or rule is effective is seen in verses 8–9. First, there is
the what of His kingdom in verse 8. God promises to give Him
the nations and the continents. His destiny is to rule this whole
planet: “I will give You / The nations for Your inheritance, /
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.”
Second, there is the how of His kingdom in verse
9. The nations will be broken with a rod of iron and shattered like a
clay pot. His rule ultimately will be one of power and judgment, and
He will rule.
We are to take heed! While Christ comes now in this age
of grace to rule in our hearts by His love, it will not always be so.
Another day will dawn and, in the imagery of the Book of Revelation,
the conquering Lord will come on a white charger with the armies of
heaven: “Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He
should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod
of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath
of Almighty God” (Rev. 19:15). Here Psalm 2:9 is fulfilled.
The
Concluding Call
10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.
—Psalm 2:10–12
The sober description
of judgment in verses 8–9 leads to a call in verses 10–12. The
end has not yet come. It’s as if the offer to the Messiah-King,
“Ask of Me, and I will give You / The nations for Your inheritance”
has yet to be accepted. There is still time for the rulers of the
nations to be wise and to receive divine instruction before they are
broken with a rod of iron. The kings and judges need to come to their
only King and Judge. Stop the rebellion! Submit to the King! How they
may answer the call is addressed in verses 11–12. The thesis is
simple: Worship the Lord! “Serve the Lord with fear”
(v. 11a). “Serve”
includes the surrender of the
will and the submission of the heart. It means to come under the
King’s rule and obey Him, as a slave surrenders to his master. In
the Old Testament “serve” is often used in parallel with the verb
“worship.” The nasb
renders verse 11a, “Worship the Lord with reverence,” and Psalm
100:2 summons us to worship: “Serve the Lord with gladness; / Come
before His presence with singing.” That worship means submission is
seen in Psalm 95:6: “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; / Let us
kneel before the Lord
our Maker.” The “fear” in
service comes from a sense of awe and even terror before the numinous
majesty, power, and holiness of God (see Ex. 20:18–21).
Worship also includes joy: “And rejoice with
trembling” (v. 11b). This joy comes from the very presence of
God: “In Your presence is fullness of joy” (Ps. 16:11). It is not
sentimental, however; it includes the “fear” of the
previous phrase now manifest by “trembling.”
An attitude of submission to the Lord and joy and awe in
His presence leads then to an act of submission in verse 12:
“Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, /And you perish in the way, /
When His wrath is kindled but a little.” Kissing the Son is the
act of worship itself. It is the concrete sign of surrender. Thus,
the Greek word for worship, proskuneō,
means “come toward to kiss.”
To surrender to Christ, to rejoice in His presence, and
to kiss Him in an act of submission, means that the rebellion is
over. Apart from this, there is only His anger, wrath, and our
perishing. If He does not ride into our hearts on a donkey, He will
ride down our hearts on a white charger.
Psalm 2’s ending blessing echoes Psalm 1:1 and links
the two psalms together: “Blessed are all those who put their
trust [literally, “seek refuge”] in Him.” To make
the Son the object of our faith and to flee to Him is to be blessed.
This is the way to happiness.
Two final points are in order. This psalm is
evangelistic. It is addressed to the nations. It beats with a
missionary heart. It is the nations who are in revolt against Christ
(v. 2). It is the nations, however, who are promised to Him (v. 8)
and it is the nations who are called to Him (v. 10). Psalm 2 directs
the nations to the Son, warns them of judgment to come, and promises
them blessing if they will worship Him. Thus the Psalter is for those
who make this submission. It is for the nations, the Gentiles who
submit to God’s Son and King. In the psalms they will learn how to
“serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with
trembling,” and “kiss the Son.” As in the whole
Bible, the indicative mood of the verb (“I have set My King on My
holy hill of Zion”) is followed by the imperative (“Serve the
Lord … Kiss the Son”). As J. I. Packer points out, there is no
real evangelism without both. We must tell people what God has done,
and we must also tell them what they must do in response.
Finally, while we cannot accept responsibility for the
rebellion of the nations, we can accept responsibility for our own
rebellion, our illusions of freedom, our quest for material security,
our chafing against the Lord’s sovereign will.
Psalm 2 really structures an evangelistic invitation. It
defines the problem: our revolt. It offers the solution: God’s Son.
It then warns of judgment to come and calls us to surrender to Him in
worship. The road back to the Father’s house is already marked and
the door is open. It is Christ who stands at the door. We must come
and greet Him … “kiss the S2
——————
THEME: Drama of the ages—man’s rebellion
against God
Anoticeable
feature in the Book of Psalms is the systematic arrangement. The
first psalm presents the perfect man, the happy man. (And I believe
it pictures the Lord Jesus Christ as the last Adam.) Now in contrast
to the perfect man, the blessed man in Psalm 1, we see the rebellious
man in Psalm 2. We call this the Genesis section of the Book of
Psalms, and the parallel is striking. Genesis begins with the perfect
man, the happy man, in the Garden of Eden. But he became the
rebellious man who ran away from God, was no longer seeking Him, who
had no capacity for Him. Now here in Psalm 2 we find the children of
Adam—mankind.
Psalm 2 has been called the drama of the ages. It
contains a decisive declaration concerning the outcome of events and
forces that are in the world today. This psalm is divided more like a
television program than a play. It is presented as if there was a
camera on earth and one in heaven. We experienced something like this
when we were treated to on–the–spot moon exploration by camera.
It was quite exciting and dramatic.
When we come to the second psalm we find that the Spirit
of God uses two cameras in a dramatic way beyond the imagination of
man. First, the camera on earth comes on, and when it does, we hear
the voices of the masses. We hear little man speaking his little
piece and playing his part—as Shakespeare puts it, “A poor player
that struts and frets his hour upon the stage” of life. Little man.
Then the camera on earth goes off, the camera in heaven comes on, and
we hear God the Father speak. After He speaks, the camera shifts to
His right hand, and God the Son speaks His part. Then the camera in
heaven goes off, the camera on earth comes on again, and God the Holy
Spirit has the last word.
CAMERA
FOCUS: MANKIND
Now
let’s watch this presentation. First, the camera on earth comes on,
and we see mankind. He is put before us here in the first verse with
this question:
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a
vain thing? [Ps. 2:1].
Why do the heathen (Gentiles) rage, and the people
(Jews) imagine a vain thing? The word vain here means “empty.”
It means that this which has so enraged the Gentiles, and which has
brought together mankind in a great mass movement, a great protest
movement, will never be fulfilled, will never be accomplished. It is
an empty, futile thing that has brought mankind together.
Well, what is it?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers
take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed,
saying [Ps. 2:2].
“The kings of the earth set themselves” are the
political rulers, “and the rulers take counsel together” are the
religious rulers. Not only do you have the masses of mankind in this
protest movement, but also the establishment has joined in with it.
Here are the rulers, both religious and political, joining together.
Now what is it they are protesting? Whom are they
against? “Against the Lord, and against his anointed.” The word
anointed here means
“Messiah”—that is what it is in Hebrew. When the word is
brought over in the Greek New Testament it is Christos,
and in English “Christ.” Here is a great worldwide movement that
is against God and against Christ.
Now when did this movement begin? Scripture lets us know
about this. Over in the fourth chapter of the Book of Acts, when the
first persecution broke out against the church, we’re told that the
apostles, Peter and John, after they had been threatened, returned
back to the church to give their report: “And when they heard that,
they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord,
thou art God …” (Acts 4:24).
We need to pause here just a moment because this is one
of the things the church is not sure about today: “Lord, thou art
God.” Many people are not sure He is God. They wonder. The early
church had no misgivings or questions.
“… Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy
servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people
imagine vain things?” (Acts 4:24–25). As you can see, they were
quoting Psalm 2. “The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers
were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ”
(Acts 4:26). Now this is the Holy Spirit’s interpretation: “For
of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of
Israel, were gathered together” (Acts 4:27). Here is this movement,
beginning, we are told by the Holy Spirit, back yonder when Pilate
joined up with the religious rulers and Herod in order to put Jesus
to death. This is a movement against God and Christ. It has been
snowballing as it has come down through the centuries, and it will
break out finally in a worldwide revolution against God and against
Christ.
Now somebody says to me, “You really don’t think the
world is moving in that direction, do you?” May I say to you, I
think it is. Someone comes to me and asks, “Dr. McGee, do you think
the world is getting better?” I say, “Yes, I do.” Somebody else
comes and says, “Dr. McGee, don’t you think the world is getting
worse?” I say, “Yes, I do.” “Well,” you may say, “what in
the world are you trying to do? Go with both crowds?” No, both are
true. That is the same thing the Lord Jesus said in His parable of
the tares (Matt. 13:24–39). The Lord Jesus said that He Himself is
the sower and that He is sowing seed in the world. Then He said an
enemy came in and sowed tares. The servants wanted to go in and pull
up the tares. When I entered the ministry that is what I wanted to
do. I was the best puller–upper of tares you’ve ever seen. But I
soon found out that we’re not called to pull up tares (I sure found
that out the hard way!). That is the reason I don’t try to
straighten out anybody else. I’m having enough trouble with Vernon
McGee, so I don’t worry about the others. He will take care of
them. But what He said was that the wheat is growing, the tares are
growing, they are both growing together, and He will do the
separating. He will take care of that.
Today the good is growing. Did you know that there is
more Bible teaching going out today than in any period in the history
of the world? We brag about the few radio stations that carry our
Bible study, but other radio programs have been giving out the Word
lots longer than we have. Across this land are many radio stations
that are dedicated to the ministry of broadcasting the Word of God.
The Word is going out today through many more avenues than it has
ever gone out before. The wheat is growing. But I want to tell you,
brother, the tares are growing also. Evil is growing. There is an
opposition against God and Christ today that is unbelievable. I could
give you many incidents of the enmity that I’ve encountered.
Somebody says, “I just can’t quite buy that. I
believe that over there on the other side of the Iron Curtain atheism
is growing, but not on this side.” Well, it is growing on the other
side, and it is rather amazing. Did you know that you and I have seen
in our lifetime (those of you who are as old as I am) a nation appear
whose basic philosophy, basic political economy, is atheism? There
has been nothing like that in the past. No nation of the ancient
world, that great pagan world of the past, was atheistic. Not one.
Somebody says, “I thought they were.” No, they were the opposite.
They were polytheistic. They worshiped many gods. None was atheistic.
You see, they were too close to the mooring mast of revelation. Noah
knew a man who knew Adam. When you are that close to it, you do not
deny God. In Noah’s day the world was filled with violence, but
there wasn’t an atheist in the crowd. When God gave the Ten
Commandments, He didn’t give any one of them against atheism. He
gave two against polytheism: “Thou shalt have no other gods before
me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness
of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth
beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Exod. 20:3–4).
He gave these two commandments against polytheism, none against
atheism. Why? There were no atheists.
Now when you get to the time of David, you meet
atheists, and there were a great many atheists by that time. David
labels them, though. He says, “The fool hath said in his
heart, There is no God …” (Ps. 14:1). The word fool in the
Hebrew means “insane.” The insane, the nutty individual, is the
one who is the atheist. Of course he may be a Ph.D in a university.
The Bible says he is insane. It is insane for a man to say there is
no God.
There is, I believe, as much opposition to Jesus Christ
on this side of the Iron Curtain as there is on the other side of the
Iron Curtain today. I believe that with all my heart. Somebody says,
“Wait a minute. I hear many talk about Jesus, and how wonderful
Jesus is.” Have you ever stopped to think that the Jesus of
liberalism, the Jesus the world thinks of, actually never lived? The
Jesus of the Bible and the Jesus of liberalism are two different
individuals. And the Jesus of liberalism never lived at all.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. For many
years when I was a pastor in downtown Los Angeles, the leading
liberal in this country pastored a church nearby. Actually I had
great respect for him because he was one liberal who was honest. For
instance, he would just come out and say he did not believe in the
virgin birth. And if you don’t believe it, I’d like for you to
say it and not beat around the bush. He had a question–and–answer
program on radio. I had a question–and–answer program on radio,
and listeners would feed questions to both of us to set us in
opposition. Every year we went through that same little ritual during
the Christmas season. I always enjoyed it. So one time we both were
invited to a banquet, and (I think it was done purposely) we were
seated together. I got there first and sat down. I saw his name
there. In a minute he came in. I felt somebody put his arm around me
and say, “You know, Brother McGee, you and I ought to be much
closer together. We preach the same Jesus,” and he sat down. I said
to him, “Are you sure we preach the same Jesus?” “Oh, don’t
we?” “I don’t think so. Let me ask you some questions. Was the
Jesus you preach virgin born?” “Of course not.” “Well, the
one I preach is virgin born. The Jesus you preach—did He perform
miracles?” “I do not believe in miracles.” “Well, the Jesus I
preach performed miracles. The Jesus you preach—did He die on a
cross for the sins of the world?” “Of course He died on a cross,
but not for the sins of the world.” “The Jesus I preach died a
substitutionary, vicarious death for the sins of man. Do you believe
that Jesus rose bodily?” “Oh, no, of course not.” “Obviously
then, you and I are not preaching about the same Jesus. Now I want to
ask you a question.” You see, these liberal men have called some of
us fundamentalists “intellectual obscurantists.” (Now whatever
that is, it’s terrible!) So I said to him, “Look, what are the
documents or where are the documents for the Jesus you preach?” He
laughed, just laughed and passed it off. “Of course we don’t have
any.” “Now isn’t that interesting. We have documents for the
Jesus we preach, and you don’t—yet you call us intellectual
obscurantists. I’d like to know who is an intellectual
obscurantist!”
May I say to you, my friend, the Jesus that the world
believes in today doesn’t even exist. He never lived. The Jesus we
preach is the Jesus of the Bible, and that is the One against whom
there is opposition in the world today. There is a tremendous
build–up, a mighty crescendo of opposition against God and against
Christ in this day in which we live.
Now how does it manifest itself? Exactly as He said it
would. Notice again the second psalm. Hear what they are saying:
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their
cords from us [Ps. 2:3].
What are some of the bands God has put on the human
family? Marriage is one. God has made marriage for the welfare of
mankind. Whether you are a Christian or not, God has given marriage
to mankind. Today they not only want to get rid of it; they
are getting rid of it. I was rather shocked two or three years
ago. (I’m a square. I’m not really keeping up with it today, so I
don’t follow along in the way they are going in this modern
thinking, relative to God, relative to man, and relative to the Word
of God.) So I was startled at a young people’s conference when the
sweetest little girl got up in our question–and–answer period and
said, “Dr. McGee, why does a young couple have to get married if
they love each other? Why can’t they just start living together?”
God gave marriage, and God intends for it to be followed. But they
say, “Let’s break their bands asunder.”
Also, “Let’s cast away their cords from us.” The
Ten Commandments are cords. When somebody accuses me of saying that
we don’t need the Ten Commandments, they are wrong. We are not
saved by keeping them—I tried it, and it won’t work—but I’ll
say this: God gave them, and He gave them to protect mankind. They
are thrown out the door today, and right now we are experiencing
lawlessness in this country because of the fact that crime is not
being punished. There has been a terrible toll of lives that would
not have been sacrificed had laws been enforced. You see, we are
living in a day when the prevailing philosophy is “Let us break
their bands asunder, let’s cast away their cords from us. We want
to be free and do as we please.” God says we can’t make it that
way. It won’t work. We’ve got old evil natures that need to be
restrained. But mankind is moving toward getting rid of all
restraints today.
It is disturbing as we look at this world in which we
are living. In the political world there is confusion. In the moral
realm there is corruption. In the spiritual sphere there is
compromise and indifference. And in the social sphere there is
comfort. This affluent society never had it so easy, and their goal
is to make it easier. We are living in that kind of a day. It is
disturbing, and I’ll be honest with you, I do worry about it a
little.
CAMERA
FOCUS: GOD THE FATHER
The
question arises, How does God
feel about this?
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord
shall have them in derision [Ps. 2:4].
What kind of laughter is this? Let me say at the outset
that it is not the laughter of humor. He is not being funny.
Do not misunderstand me—there is humor in the Bible.
The devil has really hit a home run by making people think that going
to church is quite an ordeal. We are living in a day when folk think
you can’t have fun in church. I think the Bible is full of humor.
Those of you who study with us through the Bible know we find a lot
of it. There used to be a dear maiden lady at a church I served who
never found any humor in the Bible. When I gave a message which cited
some humorous incident, she used to come down, shake a bony finger
under my nose and say, “Dr. McGee, you are being irreverent to find
humor in the Bible.” I said to her, “Don’t you wish you
could?” She’s gone now to be with the Lord, and I certainly hope
she’s had a good laugh since she has been there because she has
gone to the place where she can have a good time. She needs to have a
good time—she never had one down here. There are too many
Christians like that today. My friend, it is going to be thrilling to
be with Him some day. We’re going to have a wonderful time with
Him. It’s going to be fun, and I’m looking forward to that. God
has a sense of humor, and there is humor in His Word.
“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh …”
Since this is not the laughter of humor, what is it? Well, look at it
from God’s viewpoint—little man down there parading up and down,
shaking his midget fist in Heaven’s face and saying, “Come on out
and fight me! I’m against you.” God looks down at the puny little
creature. It’s utterly preposterous. It is so ridiculous! He
looks down and laughs. “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
the Lord shall have them in derision.” It is so utterly ridiculous,
my friend. Little men putting themselves in opposition to God won’t
be around very long. Mussolini did a lot of talking, and we haven’t
heard from him lately. Stalin did the same thing, and he is gone.
Little man plays his brief role here on the stage of life, then his
part is over. How ridiculous and preposterous for him to oppose God!
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex
them in his sore displeasure [Ps. 2:5].
This is the judgment that is coming upon this earth.
What effect will man’s opposition have upon God’s
program? God is going forward to the accomplishment of His purpose.
What little man does down here won’t deter Him, detour Him, or
defer Him at all. God did not read something in the morning paper
that He didn’t already know about. There is nothing that has
surprised Him at all. He is moving according to His purpose. He has,
I believe, a twofold purpose in this world. I think He has a heavenly
purpose; I think He has an earthly purpose. Right now He is working
on His heavenly purpose. The writer to the Hebrews expresses this: it
is “… bringing many sons unto glory …” (Heb. 2:10). God today
is calling out of this world a people to His name. That is His
present purpose. However, God has another purpose, and it is stated
here:
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion [Ps.
2:6].
God is moving forward today undeviatingly,
unhesitatingly, uncompromisingly to the establishment of that throne
on which Jesus Christ will sit on this earth. I hear folk say, “If
the Lord delay His coming.” Where in the world did that idea come
from? He is not delaying anything. He is going to come on
schedule—His schedule, not mine, because I don’t know when
He is coming. He is running on schedule and nothing will stop Him,
nothing can cause Him to change His plan.
CAMERA
FOCUS: GOD THE SON
Now
the camera in heaven shifts to God the Son on His right hand. God the
Son speaks, “I will declare the decree.” Those of you who have
studied theology know that the Lord Jesus executes all the decrees of
God.
I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto
me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee [Ps. 2:7].
This is a verse that the Jehovah’s Witnesses use a
great deal. I wish they would listen long enough to find out what it
means. It would help them a great deal to find it has no reference to
the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ—which they would see if only
they would turn to the New Testament and let the Spirit of God
interpret. This verse was quoted by the apostle Paul when he preached
in Antioch of Pisidia. This was, I believe, one of his greatest
sermons; and he was talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
“God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he
hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second
psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee” (Acts
13:33).
The reference in the second psalm is not to the birth
of Jesus. He never was begotten in the sense of having a beginning.
Rather, this is in reference to His resurrection. Christ was
begotten out of Joseph’s tomb. Jesus is the eternal Son of God, and
God is the eternal Father. You cannot have an eternal Father without
having an eternal Son. They were this throughout eternity. This is
their position in the Trinity. It hasn’t anything to do with
someone being born, but it does have something to do with someone
being begotten from the dead. It has to do with resurrection. I’m
afraid the Jehovah’s Witnesses have not heard this, but they could
find, with a little honest searching, that the New Testament makes it
very clear Jesus Christ is not a creature. He is the theanthropic
Person. He is the God–man. Psalm 2:7 sustains this doctrine. God
the Father continues:
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession [Ps. 2:8].
The scepter of this universe will be held by a Man with
nail–pierced hands. He is the One who is yet to rule.
This verse is often used in missionary conferences. I
suppose I have heard a dozen sermons on missions using this verse of
Scripture—and probably you have—but it ought never go to a
missionary conference. It hasn’t anything to do with missions. I
remember listening to a graduate of Union Seminary in New York City
bring a missionary message using this verse. I was then a student in
seminary. As a student I did something that was very impolite, very
rude. I think I’ve got more sense than to do it today. I went up to
him after he had preached the message, and I asked, “Doctor, why
didn’t you use the next verse?” He acted as if he didn’t hear
me, although I am sure he did, and began talking with somebody there.
I said to him the second time, “Doctor, why didn’t you use the
next verse?” This time he turned his back on me, and just ignored
me. Well, I should have left, but I didn’t. I walked around in
front, and I said to him, “Doctor, why didn’t you use the next
verse?” He looked me right straight in the eye and said, “Because
it would have ruined a missionary sermon.” And it sure would have!
Notice the next verse, the verse that follows it:
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt
dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel [Ps. 2:9].
Do you think this is the Gospel of the grace of God we
are to preach today? It is not. This passage hasn’t any reference
to Christ’s first coming. This speaks of His second coming, when He
comes to this earth to judge.
This is the way He will come the second time—to judge
the earth. He has not asked me to apologize for Him, so I won’t
apologize. He says that He intends to come to this little planet and
put down the rebellion that has broken out—and He will break
them with the rod of iron. Maybe you don’t like that. Well, you
take it up with Him. He said it, and He is going to do it just that
way.
Now I have a question to ask you, if you think He ought
to do it the way some of our political leaders are suggesting.
Suppose Jesus came back to this earth tomorrow, like He came over
1900 years ago, the man of Galilee, the carpenter of Nazareth, the
gentle Jesus. Suppose He went to the Kremlin and knocked at the door.
Whoever keeps the store over there would come and say, “Yes?” He
would say, “I’m Jesus. I’m here to take over.” Do you think
they would say, “My, we have been waiting for you”? No, they’d
put Him before a firing squad in the morning. My friend, how do you
think He could take over if He came to Russia today? He would have to
break them with a rod of iron, would He not? Apparently that is what
He is going to do. Now suppose He goes to France. They don’t want
Him. Suppose He went down to Rome. I was there just a few weeks ago.
I went over the Tiber and listened to a man speak. Although I could
not understand what he was saying, I was told that he was telling the
world how they ought to do it. He would like to take over. Suppose
our Lord would go and knock on the door of the Vatican. The man with
the long garment would come to the door, and the Lord Jesus would
say, “I’m here to take over.” What do you think he would say? I
think he would say, “Now look, You’ve come a little too soon. I’m
having trouble with some of my priests, but I’m going to work that
out. I don’t need You.” I don’t think he would want Him.
Suppose He came to this country. Suppose He went to the Democratic
headquarters, or the Republican headquarters, and said, “I’m here
to take over.” They would say, “We’re getting ready for a
presidential campaign, we’ve already got our candidates; we don’t
need You.” Now maybe you think their reaction would be different.
Maybe you are saying, “Oh, they would take Him.” Then why
don’t they take Him? They will not because they won’t have Him!
Suppose He went to the World Council of Churches today, and He said
to Protestantism, “I’m here.” Would they receive Him? Then why
don’t they receive Him today? When He comes the second time He will
come exactly as God said: “Thou shalt break them with a rod of
iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” He
intends to put down the rebellion when He comes to this earth the
next time. Oh, my friend, this namby–pamby way of thinking that our
God is not going to judge! You and I are living in a world that is
moving to judgment day, and God is going to judge.
CAMERA
FOCUS: GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT
The
camera in heaven goes off. The camera on earth comes on. Now God the
Holy Spirit speaks:
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye
judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling
[Ps. 2:10–11].
One of the most startling things I have encountered in
studying the Bible the past few years is a little thing like this:
God, in the history of this world, has always gotten a message to the
rulers of this world. Always. No exception. Down yonder in the land
of ancient Egypt, there was a Pharaoh on the throne, and there was
boy Joseph in prison. God kept him in prison so that at the right
moment He could bring him out to make him the prime minister of
Pharaoh at one of the most crucial periods in the history of the
world. That is the way God does it. Down yonder when the first great
world power, Babylon, came into existence, God put the man Daniel at
the side of Nebuchadnezzar. He not only became his prime minister,
but also he brought him to a saving knowledge of the living God. And
God kept him there until Cyrus, the Persian, came to the throne. And
Cyrus even made his decree in the name of the living God.
Napoleon said that he was a man of destiny, that he was told God had
raised him up. It is interesting how God has gotten His Word to the
rulers of this earth and to those who are in high places. God the
Holy Spirit says to the rulers: “Serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling.”
Also He says:
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from
the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they
that put their trust in him [Ps. 2:12].
The late Dr. George Gill used to tell us in class, “
‘Kiss the Son’ is the Old Testament way of saying, ‘… Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved …’ (Acts
16:31).” “Kiss the Son.”
Do you remember who kissed Him? Have you ever noted what
our Lord said to Judas after he kissed Him? The theologians today
argue about predestination and election and predetermination and
foreknowledge, and that this man Judas could not help what he did
since it had been prophesied he would do it. Now I’m going to let
the theologians handle that. I’m just a poor preacher who doesn’t
know very much; so I stay away from those problems and let the
theologians solve them. However, after I listen to them awhile I have
a sneaking feeling they haven’t solved them. Notice what the Bible
says, and it is well to listen to the Bible rather than to the
theologians. Remember at Jesus’ betrayal when Judas led the mob out
to apprehend Jesus in the garden, he said, “I’ll identify him for
you by kissing Him.” So he came to Jesus and kissed Him. Have you
noted what Jesus said to him? “And Jesus said unto him, Friend,
wherefore art thou come? …” (Matt. 26:50). Why did He say that?
Didn’t He know why Judas had kissed Him? Of course He did. Then why
did He call him friend? What did He mean? Let me suggest this.
“Judas, you have just kissed Me, which has fulfilled prophecy, and
has satisfied all the theologians who are going to come along. Now
you are free to turn and accept Me, free to turn that kiss of
betrayal into a kiss of acceptance. You can do that, Judas. You are a
free moral agent.” And the Spirit of God says, “Kiss the Son.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
My friend, the Spirit of God today is in the world
saying to mankind, “Kiss the Son before it is too late. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ before it is too late.” He is coming some
day, and He is going to establish His kingdom here upon this earth.
He is going to rule, and He is going to put down all rebellion. He
will bring peace and harmony to this little earth.
When I first went to Nashville, Tennessee, as a pastor,
some friends, thinking they were doing me a favor, called me and
said, “We have tickets for the symphony orchestra that’s coming
to town and we want to take you as our guest.” Well, I love music,
but I know nothing about it; and I can’t sing it—I always help
congregational singing by keeping quiet. Frankly, I can’t think of
anything more boring than a whole evening of symphony! But I had to
go because they were polite and I wanted to be polite, so I accepted
graciously and went along. I had never been to a thing like that
before, and I was impressed by what I saw. We went in, took our
seats, and in a few moments the musicians began to drift out from the
stage sides. They were in shirt sleeves for the most part, and each
man went up to his instrument and started tuning it. The fellows with
the fiddles too big to put under their chins sawed back and forth—oh,
it sounded terrible. The fellows with the little ones they put under
their chins squeaked up and down with those. The ones with the
horns—oh my, nothing was in harmony. It was a medley of discordant,
confused noise. Then after they got through with that kind of
disturbance, they all disappeared again—went out through the wings.
Another five minutes went by, when all of a sudden the lights in the
auditorium went off, the lights on the platform came on, and the
musicians walked out. This time they had on their coats. My, they
looked so nice. Each one came out and stood or sat at his instrument.
Then there was a hush in the auditorium, a spotlight was focused on
the wings, and the conductor stepped out. When he did, there was
thunderous applause for him. He bowed. Then he came up to the podium
and picked up a thin little stick. He turned around again to the
audience and bowed, then turned his back to the audience, lifted that
little stick—total silence came over that auditorium, you could
have heard a pin drop—then he brought that little stick down. And,
my friend, there were goose pimples all over me. I never heard such
music in all my life. Oh, what harmony, what wonderful harmony there
was!
Today I live in a world where every man is tooting his
own little horn. Every little group wants to be heard. Everybody
wants to tell you what he thinks. Everybody is playing his own little
fiddle, and I want to tell you, it’s a medley of discord.
Everything is out of tune. But one of these days the spotlight is
going on, and the Lord Jesus Christ will come. When He comes to this
universe, He is going to lift His scepter, and everything that is out
of tune with Him is going to be removed. Then when He comes down with
that scepter—oh, the harmony that will be in this universe! I’m
thankful today that I do live in a universe where I can bow to Him,
and I can bring this little instrument of my body, my life, into tune
with Him. I can bow to Him, and I can acknowledge Him, I can make Him
my Savior and 3
1
The
New King James Version. (1982). (Ps 2).
Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
2
Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1986). Psalms
1–72 (Vol. 13, pp. 32–38). Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson Inc.
3
McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru
the Bible commentary: Poetry (Psalms 1-41)
(electronic ed., Vol. 17, pp. 22–36). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
No comments:
Post a Comment