Psalm 2:1-12; The Front Door of the Psalms

Martin Wagner May 25, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This summer we are looking at a different psalm
each week, and this morning weare looking at Psalm 2, which we
will read here in just a moment.
In 1905, albert Einsteinpublished a paper that was
called Does the Inertia of aBody Depend Upon Its energy

(00:23):
content?
It sounds like riveting reading, I know.
The paper theorized that masscan be turned into energy and
that even the tiniest amount ofmass holds a huge amount of
energy.
The paper laid the foundationfor a simple but profound

(00:45):
equation that we know as Eequals MC squared.
Most physicists regardedEinstein's conclusion as
fascinating, but little morethan abstract theoretical
insight.
Einstein himself described thepaper and its conclusions as
scarcely interesting enough toeven be submitted to the academy

(01:05):
, and the paper received littleattention when it was published.
A few decades later,experimental physicists began to
realize what they had on theirhands, but it wasn't until World
War II and the ManhattanProject that Einstein's equation
transformed from just academiccuriosity into a weapon of

(01:28):
unprecedented destructive power.
So why the physics and historylesson this morning?
E equals mc squared had somemeaning in 1905 when it was
first published, yet no onecould have imagined the literal
explosive power that it wouldhave 40 years later, in a

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similar way.
To the original audience, psalm2 would have spoken about
Israel's great King David, theone on the throne of Israel, the
Lord's anointed one.
And to the original audience,this psalm would have been a
reminder of God's faithfulnessto His people.
But the psalm gets a kind ofatomic, thermonuclear energy

(02:15):
when we read it and we interpretit in light of the coming of
Christ, the true and better.
David, the King who is aboveall kings.
And so how do we interpretPsalm 2?
In the immediate context, weinterpret it through King David,
but in the ultimate sense, weinterpret it through Jesus, the
true king of Zion.
And so this, like so many otherpassages that we have in the

(02:36):
Old Testament, we have to readon two horizons.
We have to think about it inthe immediate context, but also
in the ultimate sense as well.
And so let's read Psalm 2 thismorning.

(03:02):
Hear God's cords from us.
He who sits in the heavenslaughs.
The Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them inhis wrath and terrify them in
his fury, saying Ask for me.
I have set my king on Zion, myholy hill.
I will tell of the decree theLord set to me.
You are my son, today I havebegotten.
You Ask of me, and I will makethe nations your heritage and

(03:23):
the ends of the earth yourpossession.
You shall break them with a rodof iron and dash them into
pieces like a potter's vessel.
Now therefore, o kings, be wise.
Be warned, o rulers of theearth, serve the Lord with fear
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angryand you perish in the way, for

(03:44):
his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refugein him.
Let's pray, lord, help us nowas we turn to your word, and
pray that you would speak to usby your spirit, that you would
make this more than just anacademic exercise for us or just

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something that we do, but that,through the power of your
spirit, that you would make thismore than just an academic
exercise for us or justsomething that we do, but that,
through the power of your Spirit, that you would transform our
hearts, that you would remind usagain of what a great Savior we
have in Jesus, and it's in hisname we pray, amen.
You noticed in your bulletinthat both Psalm 1 and 2 were
printed for us.
This morning we're only going tolook at Psalm 2, but it's hard

(04:24):
for us to understand the contextof Psalm 2 without the first
Psalm there as well, becausetogether, these two Psalms, they
form the front door of thePsalter.
For us, front doors tell youwhat kind of place you're going
to.
Imagine you're walking up tothese beautiful 12-foot wooden,

(04:45):
ornate, beautifully decorateddoors.
You could surmise that you'renot going into a storage shed.
Or imagine that you walk up toa door that is dented.
The paint is peeling off andthe windows are broken.
You would imagine that you'renot entering into this year's

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show house.
Some churches paint their doorsred.
You may have been to a churchlike this.
They paint their doors redbecause it symbolizes that when
you enter this place you'reentering through the blood, that
when you're in this space youare there by and through the
blood of Jesus.
Doors tell you something aboutwhat the rest of the building is

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going to be like.
In similar ways, psalm 1 and 2are the front doors that tell us
this is what the rest of thebook of Psalms is going to be
like.
This is a preview of what's instore.
Psalm 1 describes the blessedman.
The blessed man, psalm 1 says,is one who does not walk in the
counsel of the wicked or standin the way of sinners or sit in

(05:54):
the seat of scoffers.
His life is like a tree plantedby streams of water.
In all he does, he prospers.
In Psalm 1, this blessed man isdescribed, but he's never named
.
But he is revealed to us inPsalm 2.
The blessed man of Psalm 1 isthe Lord's anointed that we read

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about in verse 2.
The word that's used foranointed is the same word that
we use for Messiah or Christ.
The front doors of Psalm 1 and2 are about the blessed man, the
Messiah, the Son of God.
They are Jesus-shaped doors, ifyou will.
And so if the front doors ofthe Psalms are about Jesus, what

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does that tell us about therest of the house of Psalms that
we will look at this summer?
It tells us that they're aboutJesus as well, that you and I
can't understand the Psalms ifwe don't understand Jesus.
St Augustine once wrote Christis the singer of the Psalms.
Christ is both the subject ofthe Psalms and he is the voice

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of the Psalms.
When we sing the Psalms, wejoin our voices with His praying
back, his words in faith to theFather, not just this morning,
but the whole summer as we lookat the Psalms, we will sing the
Psalms together with our Savior,and one of the key ways we know
that Psalm 1 and 2 are intendedto be read together is how they

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begin and end.
You notice, at the beginning ofPsalm 1, the first line is
Blessed is the man, and Psalm 2ends with Blessed are all who
take refuge in Him.
And sandwiched between thatbeginning and end is a
description of the blessed life.
Is a description of the blessedlife.

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What does it mean to live ahappy and joyful and meaningful
life?
Psalm 1 shows us the kind oflife that is blessed.
Psalm 2 tells us who the one isthat brings that blessing into
our life.
Psalm 2 is arranged in fourstanzas, each of us helping to

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answer that core question thatwe all have how is it that we
find joy in meaning and purposeand satisfaction in life?
And since you showed up forworship on Memorial Day weekend,
you get a bonus sermon pointtoday.
Usually there are three pointsand we have four points today.
Some may argue that it shouldbe a two-point sermon if you
come on a holiday weekend, butI'm not going to argue with you,

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but there will be four pointsto the sermon today.
So the four points this morningverses 1 to 3, we see a
universal rebellion.
In verse 4, we have a sovereignresponse.
In verses 5 to 9, we have asurprising solution, and then in
verses 10 to 12, there is agracious invitation for us.
So, first, a universalrebellion.

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What is humanity's answer?
How does all of humanity answerthe question of what is the
good life?
In short, since the Garden ofEden, humanity's universal
response to that question isthat happiness and joy are found
as far away from the rule andreign of God as possible.

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This psalm begins the nationsrage in the people's plot and
vein.
That word plot is the same wordthat is used in Psalm 1-2 as
the word meditate in Psalm 1-2as the word meditate.
And so the picture you get isthat the kings of the earth are
meditating on how to throw offthe rule and reign of God.
Rather than meditating on theWord of God, as the blessed man

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does in Psalm 1, they'remeditating on how to rebel
against God.
They do this because they don'twant His control.
They think that freedom andhappiness can be found by
bursting and casting away thecords of God's control and reign
in their life.
It could be easy for us to readthis and to wag our finger at

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those around us that we thinkthis is talking about.
But what I want us to see isthat we are not innocent
bystanders in this rebellion.
We can be just like the rulersand nations shaking our fists at
God's authority.
These verses are about us.
They are about our sin and ourinsurrection.
We don't want the cords ofGod's rule and reign either.

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In a way, psalm 2 is not just ageopolitical statement.
It is a mirror for the peopleof God to see our own rebellion.
Psalm 2 tells us that we toohave set ourselves against the
Lord's anointed.
And that can be easy to seewhen you and I are living in
outright sin.
Easy for us to say well, theyare trying to throw off the rule

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and reign of God.
But what's not as easy to seeis how we can rebel against God,
not in our badness, but in ourgoodness.
We try to live in such a way asthough we don't actually need a
Savior.
We try to live such morallyupright lives that we can
sidestep any real need we havefor Jesus.
The writer Flannery O'Connoronce wrote the best way to avoid

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Jesus is to avoid sin.
The best way to avoid Jesus isto avoid sin.
Our self-righteousness can bejust as dangerous as our overt
sin, because ourself-righteousness, it distracts
us, it blinds us to our needfor grace.
What verses 1 to 3 show us isthat, apart from the grace of
Christ, that all of us arerebels, that we all rage, we all

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plot, we all set ourselvesagainst the rule and reign of
God.
It's not just them out there.
There are parts of our ownhearts that have sought to find
the good and blessed life bytrying anything apart from the
rule of God.
But perhaps that's where youare this morning.
Perhaps you are running as faraway from the rule of God, but
perhaps that's where you arethis morning.
Perhaps you are running as faraway from the rule of God as you

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can.
What I simply want to do is tohold up a mirror to all of us
and ask you how is that going?
How is that rebellion going?
Has the rebellion andindependence you are seeking,
has it brought the satisfactionand joy that you thought it
would?
No, so, in light of ouruniversal rebellion, we have a
sovereign response in verse 4.

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One of the joys of being a dadis the chance to do all the
annoying things that my dad didto me and I get to do them to my
sons.
I can remember as a young kidwanting to challenge my dad to
an arm wrestling match, wantingto challenge my dad to an arm

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wrestling match.
And so we would lock hands andhe would say go.
And I would grimace and gruntand I would try my hardest this
time, thinking it was going tobe different, and his arm
wouldn't even move, it wouldn'tbudge even a little bit.
And he would look over at mecalmly and smile and he would
say well, just let me know whenyou're going to start and it'll

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be fine, just let me know whenyou're going to start.
And I would get so frustratedby my dad not even acknowledging
my effort.
It was infuriatingly hilarious.
It was the perfect dad thing todo in a situation like that and
something that I have enjoyedpassing on to my kids.
But you get that kind of picturein verse 4.

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God, the one who sits in theheavens, is just laughing.
That's all the rebellion thatyou've got All the kings and all
the powers and all thedominions.
They are grimacing, they'retrying their hardest and God in
heaven is looking down sayingjust let me know when you're
really going to start therebellion.
All the rebellion in the worldwill not thwart the plan of God.

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He's not laughing in theheavens in a way that minimizes
what it means to rebel against aholy and righteous God, or he's
not laughing in a way thatmocks or diminishes those made
in his image.
He laughs because of the ironythat is playing out.
The kings and the nations andall of humanity, we think that
our rebellion is going to trumpGod's plan, that we will break

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free.
And God laughs in the certaintyof one who knows how the story
ends.
His plan is not going to bederailed by rebellion.
What we see is God's plan isactually fulfilled, not apart
from man's rebellion, butactually through our rebellion
and sin.
But God's laughter is not theend of the story.
That leads us to his surprisingsolution.

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Our third point that we see inverses 5 to 9.
First, in verses 5 to 6, godresponds to the world's defiance
and rebellion.
What's stunning to me in verses5 and 6 is not what he says,
but actually what he could havesaid.
God would have been no lessjust, no less holy, no less

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righteous if verses 5 and 6 hadread something like this, then
he will speak to them in Hiswrath and terrify them in his
fury, saying depart from me.
If independence is what youwant and you can have it, you
will receive the just reward foreverything you have done.
God would have been completelyjust to have said that to us,

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but he doesn't say that.
What is God's response to ourrebellion?
He says as for me, I've set myking on my holy hill.
God's response to humanity'srebellion is to say I have a
king who is going to puteverything right.
I have made a covenant with mypeople and I am so committed to

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the promises that I have made tomy people that my fury and my
wrath will not fall upon them,but it will fall upon my king.
My king is going to wear acrown, but it will be a crown of
thorns.
This is God's surprisingsolution to human rebellion.
It is not a sword, but a son.

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He does not declare judgment,but rather he declares that his
king is going to be the one onthe throne.
This king will allow himself tobe broken like the potter's
vessel.
At the cross, jesus experiencedthe fury and the wrath that
verse 5 describes not asjudgment against him, but as

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judgment for what you and I havedone.
And then, in verse 7, the kingspeaks.
The second person of theTrinity is echoing the words of
the first person of the Trinityyou are my son and today I have
begotten you.
This is not the only time thatwe hear words like this in the
Scriptures, god the Fathersaying these words of God the

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Son.
We see them at Jesus' baptism.
We also hear them at the Mountof Transfiguration.
These words are a publicannouncement of Jesus' divine
sonship and his kingship.
But we don't just see theannouncement of the king, we
also see the mission of the king.
We also see the mission of theking.
Look at verse 8.
Ask of me and I will give thenations to you.

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All the ends of the earth isyour possession.
The irony is that the verynations who, in verse 1, were
raging against the Lord will behis possession one day.
The king is not just coming tosave individuals.
The king comes to claim theentire world, to bring every
square inch of the world underhis dominion and rule.

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The mission of Jesus is thatall of the nations of the world
would belong to him, that at thename of Jesus every knee would
bow.
Every tongue in heaven and onearth would declare that Jesus
is Lord of all.
And what we see in this psalm isthat you and I find joy and

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fulfillment in life as we submitto the King and as we
participate and join in hismission.
That is the good life.
Simply, that is the life thatis blessed.
But how do we get that life?
How is it that we participatein that life?
And that brings us to ourfourth point, in verses 10 to 12

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, where we encounter a graciousinvitation.
This invitation is a mercifulcall that extends to everyone on
earth.
Verse 10 begins with a warningto the very kings and rulers who
were trying to break free fromGod's authorities.
Is therefore O kings, be wise,be warned, o rulers of the earth

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.
Notice the tone here.
This is not the voice ofcondemnation that you or I might
have or that we might expect.
Instead, it is the voice of apatient father offering one more
attempt, one more offer ofreconciliation.
The words that grabbed myattention this week as I was

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studying this passage were thelast two words of this psalm,
the words in him, small words,but they hold the key to
understanding this entirepassage.
Psalm 2 ends by calling us totake refuge in the Son, in him,
and that phrase in him ought toring a bell for us, because in

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him or in Christ is the phrasethat the New Testament uses
throughout to describe theentirety of what it means to be
a Christian, to be united toChrist.
You can barely read a page inthe New Testament without seeing
that in Him or in Christ.
It's not just about usbelieving things about Jesus,

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it's about being found in Him.
Things about Jesus.
It's about being found in Him.
The blessed life, the joyful,happy life that we all want, is
found when we take refuge in theKing.
But let me give you anillustration that I adapted from
something I read recently thatwill help us to understand this.
What I want you to do is toimagine that you are at

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LaGuardia Airport, you're at agate and you're waiting to get
on a plane that's going to takeyou back to Birmingham, and so
the question before you issimple what relationship do you
need to have to the plane thatis at the gate in order to get
back to Birmingham?
Would it help you if you werepositioned under the plane?

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Would it help you toacknowledge that the plane is
the supreme authority in allmanners related to flight and
aviation.
Certainly, the plane ispowerful, it's impressive, it's
a beautiful machine that can fly, it's amazing.
But being beneath the planedoesn't get you to Birmingham.
What if you were inspired bythe plane?

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Would that get you home?
You could stand at the gate andyou could watch your flight
take off and you could saythat's amazing.
One day, I too will take to theskies and I will fly my way
back to Birmingham.
How incredible, how inspiring.
Inspiration is wonderful, butinspiration won't get you to

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Birmingham.
Perhaps you could follow afterthe plane.
After all, if the plane isheaded to Birmingham, logic
tells us that if you follow theplane, you'll get to Birmingham.
But we all know how that ends,don't we?
It ends with you beingexhausted at the end of the
runway and your planedisappearing into the clouds.

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The relationship you need isn'tto be under the plane, it isn't
to be inspired by the plane.
It isn't to be inspired by theplane or even following behind
the plane.
You need to be in the plane,because if you are inside the
plane, the question of did youmake it to Birmingham is

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answered by a second questionDid the plane make it to
Birmingham, Because if the planemade it to Birmingham and
you're in the plane, then youmade it to Birmingham.
This is a picture of the gospelfor us.
Our salvation does not dependon our performance under Christ.

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Our salvation does not dependupon our inspiration about
Christ or our ability to followafter Christ.
It depends entirely, 100%, onus being in Christ.
When we are united to Him byfaith, his victory becomes our

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victory.
His righteousness becomes ourrighteousness.
His destination is now ourdestination.
To be in Christ is to be onewho is carried along.
It is to rest in His strengthand in His merit, and not your
own.
It is to be held fast even whenyou are feeling weak and

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confused and you are failing InChrist.
You and I are not striving toearn a place.
We already have one.
You are secure, you're seatedon the plane and you are headed
for home, where he is preparinga place for you even now.
But this is where the psalm'swarning becomes deeply urgent

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for us, because the opposite isalso true.
There is refuge in Him, butwhat that means is that there is
no refuge outside of Him.
In the chaos of our anxious age, we are constantly looking to
so many other things to give usshelter.
We want everything around us togive us a sense of safety and

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control and peace.
We run to our politicalaffiliations.
We're convinced that if theright person is in power, then
everything will be okay.
But election cycles come and go, political promises get broken
and what we see is that noearthly king or ruler can
provide what the king in Psalm 2promises to give us.

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We chase success and reputation.
We curate our online image,hoping that will make us secure.
We craft the perfect Instagramstory.
We accumulate likes andfollowers, hoping that digital
validation will somehow make usfeel worthy.
But what happens when thealgorithm changes?
What happens when the commentsturn cruel and critical?

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We seek refuge in relationshipsand we place an unbearable
weight of expectations forsecurity and identity on our
spouses and on our friends andour children, weight and
expectations that no human canbear.
We retreat into distractions tonumb out, to bury our fears, to
avoid our deep sense ofmeaninglessness.

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But our phones can't bear theweight to be our refuge.
We attach to entertainment, tosubstances and to overwork to
avoid the terrifying realitythat you and I are not in
control.
But here's the truth.
Every one of those refuges willfail us, political systems will
shift, economies will crash,accomplishments will fade,

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people will disappoint us andour bodies will break down.
And only one refuge will standfirm Jesus Christ, the Son whom
God has enthroned on His holyhill.
But maybe you're thinking youdon't know what I've done.
I have shaken my fist at Godfor years.
I have made so many choices inlife that have hurt others and I

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have made a mess of my life andI have destroyed relationships.
I'm filled with shame.
I'm tired and anxious and empty.
Surely this invitation doesn'textend to someone like me, but
that's exactly why this psalm issuch good news for us.
Look again at verse 12.

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Blessed are all who take refugein Him.
It doesn't say blessed are allthe good ones who take refuge in
Him.
Blessed are all of those whohaven't messed up a lot in life,
but blessed are all who takerefuge in Him.
Everyone who looks to Christ issafe in Him.

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The point is not what you havedone or haven't done.
The point is who you werelooking to for refuge.
The invitation still stands.
Kiss the son, bow in love andtrust to the one who gave his
life for rebels like you and me.
Some of you may have experiencedloss that makes it hard for you

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to believe that God couldactually be good.
You've buried loved ones,you've received a devastating
diagnosis that has changed yourlife.
You have watched your marriagecrumble and your life is just a
mess right now.
And when we talk about God'ssovereignty and God's kingship,

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part of you might think well, ifhe's really in control, you
ought to look at my life,because it doesn't seem like
he's in control in my life.
If God is sovereign, why doesmy life look the way it looks
right now?
I can't answer all of thosequestions this morning, but I
can tell you this that the Kingof Psalm 2 is not ruling the

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earth from a distant throne.
He is not untouched by humansuffering.
He entered our pain.
This king knows what it is liketo feel abandoned and to suffer
unjustly and to face death.
And when you take refuge inJesus, you are not running to
someone who doesn't understand.

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You're running to someone whohas walked through the valley
with you and someone whopromises to be with you in your
suffering and pain.
But here's what I want you tosee is that the King just didn't
visit us in our suffering.
Our King has conqueredsuffering for us.
The same hands that werepierced on the cross are the
hands that now hold you as Hischild.

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The voice that cried my God, myGod, why have you forsaken me?
Is the same voice that now saysI will never leave you or
forsake you.
The nations may rage, thefoundations of the world may
tremble, your own foundations oflife may feel like they are
crumbling beneath you, but thereis one foundation that cannot

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be moved, and so, this morning,I'm simply asking you this will
you take refuge in Jesus?
Will you let the King who boreyour sorrows carry your burdens?
Today, this week, week, whenyou feel that familiar anxiety
and discomfort rising, insteadof reaching for your phone to

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scroll away the discomfort, canyou say Jesus, I take refuge in
you.
When shame whispers that you arenot enough, or that you've done
too much, or that you aredefective in some fundamental
way, can you speak back to thatand say I am in Christ and His

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righteousness belongs to me.
When you're tempted to findyour identity in others'
approval, can you look and say Ihave the approval of Jesus.
I have the only approval thatreally matters, the only
approval that can't be takenaway from me.
And so the question for us allis will you take refuge in Jesus

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today?
Blessed are all who take refugein him.
Let's pray, lord, now take thisword that we have heard, and we
pray that you would multiply itin your hands.
Lord, some of us are hurtingand tired, and I pray that you

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would enable us to take refugein your Son and that we would
find that he is a kind Saviorwho welcomes sinners, and so we
pray that you would bless us and, by your Spirit, work that
which is pleasing in your sight.
We pray it in Jesus' name, amen.