God’s Appointed and Anointed Ruler

Transcript

GRM 1151
03/20/2016
God's Appointed and Anointed Ruler
Psalm 2; Isaiah 40
Gil Rugh

We've come to the time of year where we focus attention in a special way on the significance of Christ's suffering and death, resurrection and I want to direct your attention to an Old Testament passage, Psalm 2, that is connected to the events of Christ's sacrifice in the New Testament, to His resurrection from the dead which was anticipated in what was written by the psalmist some 1000 years before Christ came to earth and suffered and died. We want to look a little bit at the background of this passage to remind ourselves of the situation. What Psalm 2 is about is the One that God has anointed and appointed to be the ruler of His people Israel and ultimately the ruler of a worldwide kingdom. And the world and the nations of the world, the rulers of those nations are in rebellion against God's designated ruler and thus they are in rebellion against Him. And Psalm 2 speaks of those facts, warns of the ultimate end of all who would have such arrogance as to rebel against God and His appointed ruler. And then God gives a gracious invitation which is a warning—turn from your rebellion, trust in Him, submit to Him and He will bring you His blessings.

But as a background for this I want to look at some Old Testament passages that remind us that there is one sovereign ruler overall and that is the One who created all—the sovereign God. So leave a marker in Psalm 2 and turn over to Isaiah 40. We need to understand the sovereign character of God. The world is in rebellion against God and all aspects of His person and His work. He is the creator of all things, the world is in relentless rebellion and opposition to what God says He did in creating all things. Since He is the creator of all things, He is the ruler over all that He created, and the world continues in rebellion against that as well.

Isaiah 40:6, “A voice says call out. Then he answered, what shall I call out.” Here is what you call out. “All flesh is grass, all its loveliness like the flower of the field. The grass withers and the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades but the Word of our God stands forever.” And the contrast being drawn here is that all people are temporary, temporal, they come and they go. And God is sovereign over that. But there is one thing eternal, that is God and His Word. That endures forever. Mighty rulers, the rulers that were in existence when Isaiah was moved by the Holy Spirit to write this have come and gone. You would have to stop and think, who might some of them have been? Who were the most powerful men of the time? Who were the wealthiest men of the time? They are gone and forgotten. But we are still looking at the Word of God, it will endure forever. Jesus said heaven and earth will pass away. My word won't pass away. His Word stands true because it is the word of the eternal God.

Come down to verse 15, here is how God sees things. No one gives Him advice or gives Him input, that's what was said in verse 13, “No one directs the Spirit of the Lord or acts as His counselor,” they give Him needed information. Then you'll note verse 15, “Behold the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales.” He's saying the greatest nations, the mightiest nations as God looks at them, they don't amount to anything. A speck of dust on the scale doesn't move the scale, it's nothing. A drop of water, it's nothing. That's how God sees the nations, the powerful nations as Isaiah is writing, as the Assyrians will storm on the scene to take into captivity the northern ten tribes. They seem the most powerful, awesome, fearsome nation. God says they are like a speck of dust on the scale.

Look at verse 17, “All the nations are nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless,” empty. We get caught up, we look at the world, we look around and what is this nation doing? What is that nation doing? I wonder what will happen if this happens here, I wonder if this nation does this what this will mean for that. God says, don't worry about it, I am in control. They are just instruments that I use, they are really nothing.

Look at verse 23, “He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.” They serve because God raises them up and they are done because God moves them out. That's the way it is. It doesn't matter how powerful, how influential. Verse 25, “To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal, says the Holy One.” The danger is we forget that God is God, He is sovereign. And what an awesome, terrible thing it is that the peoples of the world function in rebellion against Him. We are looking at these verses because that's where we are going to pick up in Psalm 2. The rulers of the world and the nations of the world, the peoples are all joined in rebellion against God.

Verse 28, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become tired or weary. His understanding is inscrutable.” Something that goes on in this context is God is sovereign, He makes choices. He has chosen the nation Israel to be His special nation. He has appointed a ruler for His people Israel. The nations of the earth will rebel against that, they will never succeed in overcoming God's plan. So he'll tell them down in Isaiah 41:8, “But you Israel My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen.” Remember Jacob, father of the twelve tribes, heads of the twelve tribes, his name was changed to Israel after he wrestled with God. So “you Israel my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham, My friend,” with whom the foundational covenant was established, the Abrahamic Covenant. You come down to the last line of verse 9, “I have chosen you, not rejected you. Do not fear for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.” Down in verse 14, “Do not fear, you worm Jacob.” Sort of tells you Jacob's position. They aren’t important because they are important, they are important because God has chosen them. They were nothing until He chose them. He makes that clear through his prophecies. “I will help you, declares the Lord, your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.” The terrible thing that will take place is that the nation Israel that God has chosen will join the nations in rebelling against God and His appointed ruler.

Come over to Daniel 2. You cannot understand the Old Testament, you can't understand the New Testament, you can't understand what is going on with the Person and work of Jesus Christ if you don't have some grasp that God is the Creator of all, He is sovereign over all, it is His work and His purposes that are being accomplished in the world in past history, in present times, in the future yet to come. Daniel 2:21, and here you are in the context of a vision, a dream that Nebuchadnezzar had had and God enables Daniel to understand it. And he says in verse 20, Daniel speaks, “Let the name of God be blessed forever for wisdom and power belong to Him. It is He also who changes the times and the epochs. He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding.” God is sovereign, He determines who will rule, who will not rule. He removes kings, He establishes kings. Doesn't matter how He does it. Sometimes like in the Old Testament here Babylon had conquered the southern kingdom of Israel, Judah and Benjamin. Daniel was in Babylon because he had been carried away in one of the deportations. Nebuchadnezzar is the king, but God had removed one king, He had raised up another.

Come over to Daniel 4, this has to be established. Nebuchadnezzar starts, verse 2 he says, “It seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me.” Here is the man, the most powerful man of the most powerful empire, he says I have come to know something. I want to tell you what “the Most High God has done for me, how great are His signs, how mighty are His wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, His dominion is from generation to generation.” God sovereignly rules over all.

So Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and he goes to Daniel to find out what it means. And so Daniel is going to tell him. Verse 17, “This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers, the decision is a command of the holy ones in order that the living may know,” something God intends all the living to know, “that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men.” You understand that right down to our day. We are in a political scene, we've talked about this. You understand the outcome has already been determined by God. That doesn't mean He doesn't use a human process, but it's not that the human process discerns the outcome. The sovereign God has determined and will set up the person He has chosen to rule in this country, as He does in every other country, small or large throughout the world. And we as believers need to remember that, we're not caught up in the political process because we recognize that the One of God's appointment will rule. So that can't be good for the country. Nebuchadnezzar rules by the appointment of God, so that He could bring judgment on the southern kingdom of Israel for their rebellion against Him. It's what we are talking about here.

What is the lesson to be learned here? Nebuchadnezzar has to learn, see verse 24, “This is the interpretation, oh king, this is the decree of the Most High.” There is no vote, Nebuchadnezzar doesn't have a say. The purpose, the end of verse 25, “until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.” The end of verse 26, “It is heaven that rules.” Then we find out, here is Nebuchadnezzar and he tells what happened to him. He is standing on the magnificent palace he has, and there have been excavations done there, bricks found with Nebuchadnezzar's name in them. And he had a magnificent palace, he is the ruler of the known world. In verse 30, “He reflected and said, is this not Babylon the great which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power, for the glory of my majesty.” And I love this, “While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice from heaven came saying, to you it is declared, sovereignty has been removed from you.”

Well, I wonder how God worked it out. Is He going to bring an army greater than Nebuchadnezzar? He doesn't need that. Do you know what He declares? Sovereignty has been removed from you. Look at verse 33. “Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled.” Here he is one minute standing on the porch of his palace looking around, patting himself on the back for his greatness, his power, his glory. God declares from heaven, sovereignty is removed from you. At that instant he becomes like an animal, scratching around, running around, and he'll be eating grass for the next seven years. God doesn't need to see, how am I going to maneuver the election? What kind of army am I going to bring in here? How am I going to get this done? I just say it, done.

What does Nebuchadnezzar have to learn? Look at the end of verse 32, “Until you recognize the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind. He bestows it on whomever He wishes.” And so when Nebuchadnezzar after seven years, living as an animal, something happened. What has happened to our king? He has gone crazy, he is out of his mind. Where is he? He is in the backyard, eating grass, running around on all fours. The most powerful ruler of the then most powerful kingdom, why? Maybe it was something he ate. Because God said in heaven, sovereignty is removed. At the end of seven years God said, sovereignty is restored. He is back. And then verse 34, the end of the verse, “I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, His kingdom endures from generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.” Sounds like Isaiah, doesn't it? I'm just a speck of dust on the scale, I don't amount to anything. “He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can ward off His hand or say to Him, what have you done?” Verse 37, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the king of heaven. For all His works are true, His ways just, He is able to humble those who walk in pride.” Look forward to seeing Nebuchadnezzar in heaven. Amazing change.

Come back to 2 Samuel 7, we'll put this in here. This is all background, when we get to Psalm 2 then we'll just rush through it, so to speak. You see God sovereignly appointing a ruler in 2 Samuel 7:8, the prophet Nathan given instruction. “Now therefore thus shall you say to My servant David.” Verse 9, “I have been with you wherever you go, I have cut off all your enemies before you.” So you see David now has solidified the kingdom. He has had time to build himself a palace, he has thought it is not right that I live in a palace and the Lord is still worshiped in a tabernacle, tent structure. I think I'll build Him a temple. And God says that's not My plan, but I have a plan for you. At the end of verse 9, “I will make you a great name like the names of the great men who are on the earth.” Isn't it amazing how well known King David is today, even though we don't have archaeological things to find. We haven't been able to find great archaeological discoveries that tell of the grandeur of David, but we still know David. King David, yes he has a great name and the name will get greater.

“I will appoint a place for My people Israel, I will plant them that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed nor will the wicked afflict them anymore as formerly.” That has not happened in the fulfillment yet. “Even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord declares to you,” now note this, “that the Lord will make a house for you.” He's not talking about a physical house, David has a palace. He's talking about a dynasty, like we do when we talk about the House of Windsor where you have a line of kings and queens. I'm going to make a dynasty for you. “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you who will come forth from you and will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name.”

David wanted to build a temple for God. God said to David, no you are not going to build it, your son will build it, Solomon. “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, he will be a son to me.” Now I want you to note something about this; that establishes the unique relationship between David and his descendants on the throne and God. It will be a father/son relationship. Let me read on here. “When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men. But My lovingkindness shall not depart from him as I took it away from Saul whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before Me, your throne shall be established forever.”

Now the uniqueness here, God is establishing with David and his descendants on the throne a father/son relationship. What is unique about that? When David or his descendants sin, like David does, we're in 2 Samuel 7 and later in 2 Samuel, he will sin with Bathsheba, then later he will sin with numbering the people. Seventy thousand people die because of that sin. But God doesn't cut off the line of David. When Saul sinned, the line of Saul is over. None of his descendants now are going to follow him and sit on the throne, but that won't be true for the line of David. Well, that's not fair. Saul sinned and God said all right, I'm done with him as king. Some of you are familiar with that account. Now God promises to David, I've established a father/son relationship. It's similar like in our families. If your son does something wrong, you discipline him; if the neighbor kid does something wrong at your house, you tell him to go home. That's what the difference is. This child belongs to you in a binding, committed relationship; that child does not. God hadn't entered into covenantal relationship with Saul in the way that He is with David. Solomon, David's son, will sin grievously, turn away from the Lord and worship other gods. But God does not cut off the line of David because of that.

That's the promise here, “I will be a father to him, he will be a son to Me.” Remember that, if you don't have it marked in your Bible, underline it, highlight it. “I will be a father to him, he will be a son to Me.” That father/son relationship is inseparably connected to the Davidic kings, starting with David, passed on to Solomon and so on.

Now we can come to Psalms, but we're not going to Psalm 2, we're going to Psalm 89. Significant about Psalm 89, it reiterates the Davidic Covenant, and I just want to make note of that. Look at verse 3, “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David. I will establish your seed forever and build up your throne to all generations.” This is a sovereign act of God.

Come down to verse 11, “The heavens are Yours,” is the response to God, “the earth also is Yours, the world and all it contains. You have founded them.” Verse 14, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne, lovingkindness and truth.” God created it all, He functions always consistently with His character and He sovereignly chooses what He will do. Hard for us as rebellious human beings to accept that. We want to tell God what is fair and not fair, God does not owe us anything but justice, judgment because of our sin.

So he says down in verse 20, “I have found David My servant, with My holy oil I have anointed him.” And the Hebrew word we have translated anointed here is the word we carry over into English, Messiah. The Messiah is the anointed one, like the king. When David was going to be placed as king, Samuel anointed him, as the other kings were anointed to be the king, the Messiah. Verse 26, “He will cry to Me, you are My Father, My God, the rock of my salvation. I shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” Verse 33, “I will not break off My lovingkindness from him nor deal falsely in My faithfulness, My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever, his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon and the witness in the sky is faithful.”

There are other kings and rulers that God raises up right down to our time, multitudes of them in various places and levels. There is only one chosen and anointed to rule over the people that God has chosen for Himself, Israel. And that is David and his descendants. They are unique. The one who is elected to be President of the United States isn't the anointed one that God has a covenant with as father and son. Nor is it Russia, nor is it any, but He appoints rulers and takes them down. And David is unique, and his descendants.

So come back to Psalm 2. So now you can see when the Psalm opens up, and what this Psalm does is talk about the rebellion of the nations of the world and their rulers against God and His appointed ruler. And we start with David. And Psalm 2 doesn't have David at the top like some of them do. Psalm 3 says A Psalm of David; Psalm 4 says that it is A Psalm of David. But as we will see later in Acts 4 Peter says, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, this was a Psalm written by David, Psalm 2. So we know that it is that. Psalm 2 written by David and he quotes from it.

Starts out by talking about the rebellion of the nations against the one that God has anointed to be His ruler. “Why are the nations in an uproar, and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand, the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed.” You have marked in your margin there, probably, Messiah, the anointed one. “Saying, let us tear their fetters apart and cast their cords from us.” The world is in a state of rebellion against God, it was true in the time of David. David could not build the temple because God said he was a man of blood. He had established and solidified the kingdom under God's direction by fighting. When do we meet David? What are we familiar with? He meets Goliath who is the champion of the Philistines, who are the enemies of Israel. And David is surrounded by enemies and it is an ongoing battle, he is a warrior king. But the attacks against David as he is placed on the throne and God enters into covenant relationship with him are, verse 2, “against the Lord and against His anointed.” If God said David is king, I have established him as My son, we have a father/son relationship. If you attack My son, you have attacked Me; your rejection of his leadership is your rejection of Mine with the nations of the earth. David doesn't have any more right to rule than we do, just a matter of who gets the greatest power. God says no. David has the right to rule because I gave it to him, and I have sovereign right over all creation, the heavens and the earth are mine to do with as I see fit. That's where we are. This is overt, active rebellion against God.

Keep a marker in Psalm 2, come to Acts 4. Peter is preaching and teaching and explaining in Acts 4:18-19. They had summoned them, this is the Jewish leaders, “commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Peter and John answered them and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge. We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” God has told us to go and do this. Can't pay attention to you. Down in verse 23, when they were released by these religious leaders, they went and reported to their companions in ministry. And all the people said, verse 24, “They lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, oh Lord, it is You who made the heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.” Do you see why the world in their overt continual rebellion against God and His authority rejects the biblical account of creation? This is where we start. He demonstrates His right to rule over all because He created it all, it's His. It's like somebody who creates a painting, it's mine, I did it, I made it with my own hands kind of thing. God created all things for His purposes so He is free to do what He wills.

And then note verse 25, “Who by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David our father,” that's inspiration. It was the Holy Spirit moving David to write Psalm 2. “Why do the heathen rage, the peoples devise futile things? “ The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, against His Christ, His anointed one. Christ is the Greek work for anointed, so we have the Christ, we have the Messiah, both meaning anointed. Note that He is the king, against His Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one. “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant, Jesus, whom You anointed.” See Christ is in the line of David. That's why on Palm Sunday when Christ rode into Jerusalem on the colt, Hosanna to the Son of David. They recognized that, the David Covenant, its promises would culminate in one final king who would be their Messiah, the One who would bring them deliverance and salvation.

Then on he goes in his explanation. He is quoting here, David is the speaker because he wrote this. And ultimately it finds its fulfillment in Christ. So you come back to Psalm 2, “The nations are in an uproar, the people advising a vain thing.” This has been true of people's attitude toward God from the beginning. And when He established a nation for Himself and appointed a king over it, entered into a covenant relationship with the king, David and his descendants, that rebellion directed toward them; them the nation and him the king. This has both a historical significance and a prophetic significance. For some of you who study Bible interpretation, they would call it prophetic typology. It is historically true, this was true of David. It would be true of Solomon and subsequent descendants of David. The nations of the earth would rebel and subsequently God would raise up nations like Assyria and Babylon to bring judgment on His own people and their king for rebelling against Him. But it does not abrogate the Davidic Covenant. The Jews realized that; we wait for the One who can ultimately fulfill it. But David talks about the attitude. This is true today, people of the world are in rebellion. Christ now is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Turn over to Psalm 110, and this is the Psalm that is quoted so often in the New Testament. If you look in the margin of your Bible and all the quotes that go on in the New Testament from Psalm 110, particularly verse 1 and then verse 4. Verse 1 says, “The Lord says to my lord, sit at My right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” What happened to Christ after His crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension to heaven? He was seated at the right hand of the Father. He is not ruling on the throne of David now, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, on the Father's throne, awaiting the time when God says now it is time for your enemies to be crushed, destroyed, and You to set up the kingdom I have promised.

Down in verse 4, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” Now here is a new twist. None of the descendants of David could also serve as priest, the Mosaic Law forbids it because the king had to come from the tribe of Judah and the priest had to come from the tribe of Levi. Jesus is of the tribe of Judah so He can be king, but He can't be a Levitical priest, and He is not a Levitical priest. There is a new priesthood because the Law has been ended and replaced, the priesthood associated with that Law has been ended and replaced. We saw that when we studied the book of Hebrews. He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. So He is the kingly priest and He is at the right hand of the Father. And Hebrews 7:26 says He is there “making intercession for us.” He as a priest made the required sacrifice, His own body on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. Then He ascended to heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father, awaiting the time when He would come and then set up His kingdom, comprised of people who have experienced the redemption He provided as a priest. The awesome plan of God, arranging all the details of everything that goes on in the world. As Jesus said, a sparrow doesn't fall to the ground without your heavenly Father being aware of it. The beauty of the flowers just isn't a random act of evolution, God created it that way to display something of His beauty, His character. Amazing!

Come back to Psalm 2. So we live in a world in rebellion that goes back to the time of David. Nothing has changed. God's appointed king, even though he is not functioning in that realm on the earth yet, the Davidic kingdom is not in operation because Israel is under judgment. But the nations of the earth continue in their rebellion against God and the One that He has appointed to someday rule over all the earth. It is futile. They think they can be free from God, their obligation to Him, His demand of them to turn from their sin and believe in Him. They are in the same condition that Israel was toward their God. Israel joined the unbelieving nations in rebellion against their God and against His appointed king. Isn't it amazing?

Turn over to Luke, it is Palm Sunday, in Luke 1:32 in anticipation of the birth of Jesus the angel Gabriel said, “He will be great,” Luke 1:32, “will be called Son of the Most High.” Do you see that, Son of the Most High, Son of God? “The Lord will give Him the throne of His Father David.” So what was promised in the Davidic Covenant is about to come about. “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, His kingdom will have no end.” That has not happened yet because Israel rejected their king. But remember God said He won't abrogate His covenant with David, which is based on His covenant with Abraham.

Come over to Luke 19, this is the Triumphal Entry. He is on His way to Jerusalem, He has already told His disciples He is going to Jerusalem to suffer and die and He tells them to go get the colt of the donkey. So they go and we come on down, they spread the palm branches, they don't record that here, they do in Matthew 21. And as they are approaching the Mount of Olives, verse 37, the “disciples began to praise God joyfully, shouting with a loud voice, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven, glory in the highest.” They are anticipating this as they also cried out according to Matthew 21, “Hosanna to the Son of David, praises to Him.” You know what Jesus does, He weeps over Jerusalem. And He said, verse 42, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace, but they have been hidden from your eyes.” Do you know why? Their continual, persistent rebellion brings God's judgment. Now they are blind. Here the Prince of Peace is there, the One who can bring peace to the nation. They would not have Him. What did they say? We will not have this man to rule over us. We have no king but Caesar. We join with the nations in their rejection of our God and His Messiah. So God says “judgment is coming upon you,” verse 43. Verse 44, “they will level Jerusalem to the ground, not one stone left on the other.” Note the end of verse 44, “because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” What a tragedy, what a tragedy! The King is here, the One to bring peace, salvation, and you don't recognize it. Just like when we share the Gospel with people, they hear it, they are blind to it. They don't realize this is the message that brings life, peace, salvation.

Come back to Psalm 2, since we've only done the first stanza we have to go fast. We have three stanzas to go but we have covered them. “He who sits in the heavens,” the second stanza. There are four stanzas in this and we are at the second. “He who sits in the heavens laughs.” What is His response? The whole world is against You, all the rulers against You. God is sitting up there, I've put Myself in a box, we really are in trouble now. He laughs, He scoffs at them because remember they are not even a speck of dust on the scale. All He has to do is say the word and the whole world would be wiped out, like He did in the days of Noah.

“He will speak to them in His anger, terrify them in His fury saying, but as for Me I have installed My king upon Zion My holy mountain.” Zion is the mountain, the hill where Jerusalem is built, where the temple is built. It is the center of the kingdom. He has done it, He has made His covenant with David and the descendants of David, culminating in the Descendant. It is done. It's a joke that men can think they can overthrow God, they think if they get a plurality they can overthrow God. All the scientists say this, all the scholars say this, all the churches say, all the religious people in the world . . . We join together and we realize those few fanatics . . . You can't overthrow God, His promises. Aren't you glad?

You know the people think when they think Easter, they want to celebrate and this is a time for happiness. It is, but how sad you miss the day of your visitation, the day and the opportunity God gives. That's why later Paul will say, “today is the day of salvation,” don't miss it. We look and say, how could they do that? How foolish. He will come in terrifying judgment, that's just as sure as Christ came the first time.

Come over to the New Testament, Acts 13. You know when it says, we're going to come to verse 7, we're going to read the verses in the New Testament then we'll come back to verse 7 and the next stanza. Look what Paul says on his first missionary journey in Acts 13. Verse 32, and he has told them about the resurrection of Christ, the life of Christ, His death and resurrection. Verse 30, “God raised Him from the dead.” Verse 32, “We preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children and that He raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you.” Psalm 2:7, “He said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you.” Do you know what God says is the fulfillment of that? Not the birth of Christ, the resurrection of Christ.

Acts 13:33, “God has fulfilled the promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus as it is written in the second psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you. As for the fact that He raised Him up from the dead no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way.” What do you mean that He has been begotten? That's when He was revealed as king. It's like when David was brought into covenant relationship with God, that's when he was begotten of God. I have begotten you, that's when he is established as king. When was Christ revealed in fullness? Revelation 1:3-4, “declared the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead.” The resurrection was the seal, this is My Son, the One who is appointed king. None can replace Him. The Davidic line culminates in that sense with Christ, He is the fulfillment ultimately of what was experienced in a lesser way in history by David and Solomon and so on. But now He is revealed as the Son and established as the Son for as David was established, the appointment of Christ was the resurrection, that sealed it. Now He doesn't take the throne of David because Israel is still under judgment for their rebellion. You can't have the kingdom, they have rejected their king. So He is seated at the right hand until it is time for God to have Him come to earth and bring all things to an end.

Come to Hebrews 1, quoted in the book of Hebrews as well. Paul has just reiterated Christ in verse 3 “is the radiance of His glory.” Christ is the “heir of all things,” He is the One through whom God the Father made the world, “He is the radiance of His glory,” Hebrews 1:3, “the exact representation of His nature. He upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.” That's what we read in Psalm 110, that's one of the quotes in the New Testament from Psalm 110:1. He is seated there until it is time for all His enemies to be crushed and Christ to assume His rightful position of ruling in the kingdom that He will establish on the earth. He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High.

Come over to Hebrews 5:5, “So Christ did not glorify Himself to become high priest, but He who said to Him, you are My Son, today I have begotten You” said in another passage, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” So the two joined together that you have in Psalm 110, you have in Psalm 2, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.” When He is raised from the dead it is testimony to all that He is God's anointed, appointed king. He is seated at the right hand of the Father until He is told, now go and assume Your throne. He will sit on the throne of David, no longer on His Father's throne.

Come back to Psalm 2. What we just mentioned is what is covered in verses 7-9. “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord,” verse 7, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.” We read what is quoted in those passages. “Ask of Me, I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, you shall shatter them like earthenware.” David experienced some of that, some of his successors experienced those victories. But the ultimate worldwide accomplishing of this waited the final Son, the Messiah, the One who would reign forever. That point. “You will break them with a rod of iron, you will shatter them like earthenware.”

Come over to Revelation 2:26, “To him who overcomes, who keeps my deeds until the end,” the overcomer is the one who believes in Christ. John made that clear in his first epistle. “To him I will give authority over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces as I have received authority.” Christ says those who have believed in Him are going to be part of His kingdom, now have authority from Him to rule as His representative in His kingdom. And we will tolerate no rebellion. There will be no overt, open sin during that thousand-year reign, until the very end when the nations again express what is in their hearts. So looking forward to that ultimate time when this will be realized in its climactic way.

Over in Revelation 12 we are told that Christ, verse 5, “Who was born of Israel is the One who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron.” But He was caught up to heaven. Come over to Revelation 19:15, Christ, His Second Coming, now the One seated at the right hand is told by the Father, go take the kingdom. So Christ descends from heaven to smash and destroy His enemies like pottery. Verse 15, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword so with it He may strike the nations. He will rule them with a rod of iron.” Blessing, joy, peace, but no sin tolerated; no overt acts of sin. That's why Isaiah prophesied and said in that kingdom anyone who dies at a hundred years of age will be thought to be an infant, just a kid. They will think him accursed because judgment was brought on him. You won't have to be afraid to walk the streets at night in the kingdom, there won't be any overt sin.

Come back to the closing stanza of this psalm. “Now therefore O kings,” verse 10, “show discernment.” Here is God's instruction. “Take warning O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence, rejoice with trembling, do homage to the Son so that He does not become angry and you perish in the way, for His wrath may be soon kindled.” Remember in the book of Revelation, the promise of Christ is “I am coming quickly,” I am about to come, and the devastating judgment that will come upon these peoples and nations that are in rebellion against Him. “How blessed are all who take refuge in Him.” Some say that Psalm 1 and 2 go together, you see the individual blessed man and ungodly man in Psalm 1, in Psalm 2 you see them as a conglomerate, as nations. The wicked and the blessed. So the blessed man that started in Psalm 1;1, the end of Psalm 2, “how blessed are those who take refuge in Him.”

Warning. But how gracious God is, it still goes out to the same. Christ the Son of God, the Son of Man is coming again. Judgment will come on this earth. All the wicked will be turned into hell, but turn to Him. Why would you be like those that we read about in connection with the Triumphal Entry that are in the presence of the Prince of Peace and they have blinded eyes. They don't know it is the day of their visitation. How sad that you would sit here and hear of Christ who came to be the Savior, to offer a sacrifice on the cross to cleanse you from your sin. It's like you have your eyes and ears closed and you go out on your way. Well, I have tomorrow. God says you have today. The opportunity you reject today may not be offered to you tomorrow. That's God's grace. “How blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.” Like the hymn, there is a shelter in the time of storm. He is the shelter in the time of storm, He's the One we turn to. It doesn't shake me at all that the world is going to judgment; that the nations of the earth have joined together in rebellion against God and His appointed ruler because I take refuge in Him. I'm not better than someone else, you are not better than someone else, we are all in the same miserable boat of rebels against the God who in grace provided His Son to be the Savior. That's the message we have.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your grace. Thank You that You are a God of patience, that 3,000 years after David was used of the Spirit to write Psalm 2, 2,000 years after Christ the Son of David, the One in whom all could be fulfilled has come, has paid the penalty as our high priest so that we could be forgiven and cleansed and now offers salvation to all who will believe in Him. We know that our Savior, the King of kings and Lord of lords will come to this earth again someday to destroy the wicked and rule and reign in righteousness. And Lord, we want to serve You every day, not unsettled, not confused, not frightened because the nations of the earth and their rulers are taking counsel against You and Your anointed, because we have taken refuge in You and belong to the One who is Your anointed. He is our Savior and we pray in His name, amen.