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by Katie Erickson

“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, 'Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.'
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 'I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.'
I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, 'You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.'
Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 2)

While the book of Psalms is an Old Testament book, many of its chapters look forward to the Messiah. This is one of those, and it tells us the story of God redeeming His people. Not sure how it does that? Read on…

This psalm starts out describing the turmoil that’s happening on earth. While we don’t know the date this psalm was written, scholars think it is likely in the time of David, who was the most important king of the nation of Israel. We see that the rulers of the earth are banding together to go against the Lord, but the psalmist realizes that is irrelevant against the power of God. The first phrase of, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?” expresses the irony of the kings’ efforts against God; they can conspire together all they want, but their power will be no match for God’s. They are trying to go against God, but it will not work.

Not only are the rulers trying to go against God, but they’re against His anointed one as well (verse 2). The word in Hebrew for “anointed” is “mashiach,” which is where we get the word Messiah from. The first couple verses of this psalm are quoted in Acts 4:25-26, where we see that the Greek word for “Christ” is used. We know that the Anointed One spoken of in this psalm is Jesus Christ, who HImself is God.

While the psalmist knows the rebellion of the earthly rulers is in vain, it’s still a dangerous situation to go through. We know that Jesus has saved us, but we still see the rulers of our world today trying to band together to go against God; things really aren’t all that different from the psalmist’s time. We too need to have that same confidence, knowing that anything this world does is no match for God’s power.

The psalm goes on to tell about God and how He is ruling in heaven, even with all this turmoil going on in the earth (verses 4-6). God knows that man has no power against Him; God created mankind after all. God’s reaction to the rebellion on earth is to proclaim that He is installing His King. God installed David as an earthly king over the nation of Israel, but that was only a foretelling of the real King of Kings who would rule the entire world, Jesus Christ. God already had His plan in motion before time began, and mankind has no power to thwart that.

We see the Apostle Paul quote verse 7 in Acts 13:32-33. In Biblical times, when a king was coronated, his coronation day was considered like a birthday of sorts for when he assumed that role. The language of declaring, “You are my son; today I have become your father” was often associated with crowning a new king and that new role the king would have. When Paul quoted this, he is talking about Jesus and His role as the Son of God the Father. Paul is showing that Jesus is the ultimate king. In Jesus’ death and resurrection on the cross, He paid the ultimate price for us, which He could only do because of His relationship with the Father.

While a son may inherit everything that belongs to his father, Jesus inherits rule over the entire world from God the Father (verse 8). A ruler (or a father) may need to discipline his people when they go astray from what is right (verse 9), but he is still in authority over them.

The psalm concludes with the last three verses telling us about the Messiah’s rule on earth. The kings are commanded to be wise (verse 10). In their wisdom, they should realize that they are powerless against God and should stop trying to go against Him. We today would be wise to realize that Jesus is the Messiah, the one King who rules over everything no matter what. We to are commanded to “serve the Lord with fear” (verse 11) in our lives; not necessarily fear as in being afraid, but fear as in being in awe of the amazing God who rules over the entire world.

So how does this psalm tell the story of God redeeming His people? It starts out with the evil that is going on and their need for a king (a savior). God sends that savior to the people, and that savior (Jesus) does the work He needs to do in order to bring about our salvation. When we believe this and submit our faith to God, we will be blessed forever with eternal life.

The psalm ends with the sentence, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (verse 12). While taking refuge in God won’t immediately deliver us from the dangers and troubles of this world, it will give us eternal life in Him. It is only Jesus who is the one true King, and everyone else is conspiring against Him. Whose side would you want to be on?

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