Latest / Reformed Thinking / Kiss the Son: A Call to Yield to Christ (Psalm 2)
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we're going to be doing a
- 0:02really concentrated analysis of the source material around one
- 0:06of the most foundational texts for Christology, Psalm 2.
- 0:10On the surface, you see 12 verses.
- 0:12It's short, it's poetry, but when you get into it, for anyone
- 0:16doing serious theological reflection that is, well, it's
- 0:19something so much bigger. It really is.
- 0:22We're treating this text as really a definitive statement
- 0:26from God about Christ's sovereignty.
- 0:28It's laying out a prophetic blueprint that just anchors our
- 0:31whole understanding of his rule. So for this deep dive, what's
- 0:34our mission? What are we trying to pull out
- 0:36of the sources for you? Well, our goal is to really
- 0:39isolate and show why this Psalm, even though it's so brief, is
- 0:43seen across, you know, centuries of Christian tradition and even
- 0:47pre Christian tradition as the description of the Messiah's
- 0:49Christocracy. His divine government.
- 0:51Exactly. We're going to try to unlock
- 0:53that prophetic structure by setting up this really dramatic
- 0:57contrast you see in the text, this chaotic, almost irrational
- 1:00human rebellion on one side, and then on the other, the serene,
- 1:05completely unshakable certainty of God's sovereign decree.
- 1:09We want to show why this text is just it's absolutely vital to a
- 1:14Reformed understanding of Christ as King.
- 1:16And we can actually just state the conclusion right at the top.
- 1:19The sources are so clear on this, there's no need to build
- 1:22up to it. No, not at all.
- 1:23The core finding that comes through again and again is this.
- 1:27The direct messianic interpretation is the only
- 1:29coherent way to understand this Psalm.
- 1:31It's the only framework that can handle the claims being made.
- 1:34Yeah, any other reading just falls apart.
- 1:36Because the scope of the King's authority described here, I mean
- 1:40his decreed sonship, his worldwide dominion, his absolute
- 1:43power to judge, it's just far too vast for any earthly
- 1:47monarch. You can't fit it on to David.
- 1:49You can't fit it on to Solomon. No.
- 1:51Or any later king of Judah. It just doesn't work.
- 1:54This Psalm is demanding a divine person.
- 1:56It's demanding Christ. So let's start at the beginning.
- 1:59That first trophy, The futility of earthly rebellion.
- 2:03Versus 1 to 3? Right.
- 2:04And it opens with this immediate trauma, this rhetorical question
- 2:08that's just full of, well, astonishment, but also a kind of
- 2:12mocking tone from the psalmist. Yeah, almost a derision.
- 2:16Why do the nation's rage and the people plot a vain thing?
- 2:19It just plunges you right in. There's no gentle introduction.
- 2:22You're immediately in a political world that is defined
- 2:25by its hostility toward God. And that opening question, it
- 2:27really sets the whole trajectory for the song.
- 2:30It gives us a picture of the world in active rebellion
- 2:34against God, and it gets the very structure of his
- 2:37government. Let's talk about those verbs,
- 2:38because the source has spent a lot of time on them.
- 2:41Rage. What does that actually mean
- 2:43here? It's critical when the psalmist
- 2:46asks why the nation's rage. The Hebrew reviews there rogue
- 2:49gash doesn't mean you know a battle has already started or
- 2:52that an insurrection is complete.
- 2:53OK, so it's not the war itself. No, it's the agitated
- 2:57preliminary state. It's the mood before the March.
- 3:00So it's the noise. It's the noise.
- 3:02It's the sound in the movement of agitated anticipation.
- 3:06You can almost picture these vast crowds surging, filled with
- 3:10what the sources call gloomy and confused resentments, murmurs
- 3:14and alarms. That's a great phrase.
- 3:16Isn't it? It captures that feeling of
- 3:18dissatisfaction boiling over right before it becomes an
- 3:21organized result. It's loud, it's irrational, it's
- 3:24disorganized, but it has this powerful collective motion to
- 3:27it. So as a raging, they're also
- 3:29plotting A vain thing so that emotional energy is being
- 3:32channelled into some kind of intellectual effort.
- 3:34Well, an anti intellectual effort maybe, but yes, the verb
- 3:37for plotting or imagining it carries a specific weight in the
- 3:41older English the sources use. It means to scheme, devise,
- 3:45plot, and specifically it suggests meditating on evil,
- 3:49planning these rebellious undertakings.
- 3:51It's the same verb you see used elsewhere to describe the
- 3:53deceitful plans of a wicked heart.
- 3:55It's a calculated effort aimed at destruction.
- 3:58But the psalmist judges the outcome before it even begins.
- 4:01He calls it a vain thing, a foolish device.
- 4:03Why is it foolish right from the start?
- 4:05Because the effort is logically doomed, the outcome will prove
- 4:09it to be idle. The sources are clear on this.
- 4:12The Rebellion is destined to completely fail simply because
- 4:16of who they've chosen as their opponent.
- 4:17They're plotting against the Almighty.
- 4:19Exactly. So all the energy they pour into
- 4:21it, all the raging and the scheming, it's just going to
- 4:24vanish like smoke. So we have the emotional state,
- 4:27this raging tumult, and we have the intellectual effort, this
- 4:31vain plotting, but who's actually directing this
- 4:34rebellion? It's not just a chaotic mob, is
- 4:36it? No.
- 4:37Verse 2 gives us the command structure.
- 4:39It's the kings and the rulers, the leaders, the leaders.
- 4:41They're described as sitting together, deliberately
- 4:45consulting that phrase. Sitting together becomes this
- 4:48technical term for deliberation and conspiring.
- 4:51So this is organized, it's statecraft.
- 4:52It is. This is organized hostility,
- 4:54It's statecraft being deployed against the Kingdom of God.
- 4:57And the psalmist describes this plotting as if it's already a
- 5:00done deal, an accomplished fact, even before they actively set
- 5:04themselves against the Lord and His anointed.
- 5:07Let's get into their motivation, because this is where the
- 5:09theology of rebellion really comes into focus.
- 5:12They're using figurative language, but the thing they're
- 5:14trying to break free from God's ordinances are actually for
- 5:18their own good. And that's the great
- 5:20contradiction, isn't it? The sources point this out so
- 5:23clearly. Their language reveals their
- 5:25carnal love of liberty and their unruliness.
- 5:29They see God's laws, his decrees, the whole moral and
- 5:33governmental order he's established.
- 5:35They see it as nothing more than a yoke of compulsion, a fetter
- 5:39to their freedom. So the.
- 5:41Very structure that provides peace and order they perceive as
- 5:44a cage. Precisely.
- 5:45The sources call God's ordinances holy bands of moral
- 5:48communion, cords of love even that are thrown out for their
- 5:52salvation. But the rebels, from their
- 5:54perspective, see it as a point of honor based on their own
- 5:57supposed right to sovereignty, to tear away and strip off these
- 6:01cords. It's an attack on their
- 6:02autonomy. It's a personal insult to their
- 6:04autonomy. They believe divine sovereignty
- 6:06isn't an ordering force for good, it's an attack on their
- 6:09natural rights as rulers. And if you look at this through
- 6:12a reformed lens, this is just a perfect picture of original sin,
- 6:16isn't it? The creature trying to throw off
- 6:18the Creator's rule seeing obedience of slavery.
- 6:22It's a classic picture. Their unsubdued natural heart
- 6:25just cannot accept that these chords of grace being woven
- 6:29around them could be anything other than an oppressive yoke,
- 6:32so they want to tear them away. And yet the Psalm's verdict is
- 6:35immediate. Their rebellion is just
- 6:37condemned from the get go as miserable, abject and totally
- 6:41ineffective. They spit all this energy, they
- 6:43consult, they conspire, and nothing comes of it.
- 6:46Nothing except, as the sources say, self excitation toward
- 6:50wicked and pivotin pretensions it.
- 6:52Seems like the core agreement among the world's leaders is
- 6:54that God's rule, his extension into their world, needs to be
- 6:58limited, yes? And they feel the presence of a
- 7:00God whose rule is absolute, a God who is world embracing and
- 7:04that threatens their own local temporary claims to authority.
- 7:08And that shared agreement, all of them raging in the same
- 7:10direction, just highlights how absurd the whole situation is.
- 7:14It does. There's a wonderful quote from a
- 7:15Latin commentator in the source material.
- 7:17He says Fioret in Unum Populus at Miseratur Omnium Christus,
- 7:23which means the people rage in One Direction and Christ pities
- 7:26them all. And that thought immediately
- 7:29shifts our attention, doesn't it?
- 7:30From all this chaotic energy on earth up to the serene divine
- 7:34response from heaven. Which takes us right into
- 7:37strophy 2 verses 4 through 6. And this is maybe one of the
- 7:41most dramatic instantaneous contrast you'll find in all of
- 7:44Scripture. It is you set the chaotic rage
- 7:46and exertion of the enemies against the silent, powerful
- 7:50action of Jehovah. The scene just shifts entirely.
- 7:52We go from the tumultuous earth to the calm of the heavens.
- 7:55And right up against the fury of the world, the psalmist sets the
- 7:58laughing quiet of God, who is just sitting securely on his
- 8:01throne. This is a highly dramatic
- 8:04expression because it shows that God can, with just a single
- 8:07word, bring all of their rioting to nothing.
- 8:10And it's important to see that this laughter isn't passive.
- 8:13It's a very deliberate response, and it comes in stages.
- 8:16There's this graduation in the divine reaction, moving from
- 8:20serenity all the way to a crushing judgment.
- 8:23That's a great way to put it. There are three stages.
- 8:25So what's the first stage? The first stage is that laughing
- 8:28quiet. He that sitteth in the heavens
- 8:31shall laugh, and this expresses God's absolute feeling of
- 8:35security, his consciousness of his own superiority.
- 8:38He's looking down on their frantic, pathetic undertakings
- 8:41with what with indignation, knowing that the fear they
- 8:45should be feeling is completely misplaced on their part.
- 8:48The laughter is 1 of utter contempt for their impotence.
- 8:51They're acting like they're equals in a power struggle, but
- 8:54God's silent amusement already tells you how it's going to end.
- 8:57So what's the second stage? The second stage is agitated
- 9:00scorn. The Lord shall have them in
- 9:02derision. This derision is an emotional
- 9:05reaction that rejects their presumption.
- 9:07It's deserved contempt that publicly reveals just how weak
- 9:11and foolish they are. So it moves from silent
- 9:13amusement to audible pointed mockery.
- 9:16It does. The silent laughter turns into
- 9:19vocal derision, and from there it intensifies even further.
- 9:25Into the third stage. Which is wrath and terror.
- 9:28The scorn then intensifies into active wrath, which breaks out
- 9:32in Word and act. And this is where the divine
- 9:34declaration becomes, you know, physically manifest.
- 9:38Jehovah speaks real words. Real words.
- 9:41And the sources describe these words in such a vivid way, they
- 9:44say they whiz and roll along like Thunder and lightning.
- 9:47So that's the mechanism of his judgment.
- 9:49The rebels wanted to break the bands of moral communion, and in
- 9:52response, God's speech is something that physically breaks
- 9:55them. Exactly right.
- 9:56This terrifying speech causes what the Hebrew calls behall
- 9:59terror, a terror that confuses the rebels, drives them into a
- 10:03mad flight, and ultimately to their destruction.
- 10:06The ungodly can storm and rage, but the sources have this
- 10:09beautiful image for it. Their efforts are like stormy,
- 10:11swollen waves that rush along as if they're going to destroy the
- 10:14shore. But they never do.
- 10:15They never do. Before they even reach the
- 10:17shore, they quiet down, they vanish into themselves, or they
- 10:20just break up into a little bit of foam.
- 10:22God's speech is the barrier. Their rebellion is the foam.
- 10:27So once their vain plot has been dismissed with divine scorn,
- 10:30Jehovah then states his definitive positive action.
- 10:35He contrasts their chaos with the establishment of his king.
- 10:39Yes, this is the great counterpoint, he declares so
- 10:42emphatically. Yet have I set my king, and that
- 10:46pronoun I is heavily stressed in the Hebrew.
- 10:49So it's God's action versus their action.
- 10:51It's his sovereign decision, standing in sharp, unyielding
- 10:55contrast to the King's vain earthly pretensions.
- 10:58This isn't a human coronation ceremony.
- 11:00This is divine appointment. And this appointment is anchored
- 11:03to a physical place, a place that becomes the spiritual seat
- 11:06of global government, Zion. Yes, the location of the throne
- 11:10is explicitly Zion, the Holy Mountain, and this is a really
- 11:13important distinction the sources make.
- 11:14Zion isn't designated here as the place of the King's
- 11:17anointing, that was typically done somewhere else.
- 11:19No, Zion is the seat of government for the Anointed, for
- 11:21the Messiah. So why is Zion so central to
- 11:25this decree? Because Zion, which includes
- 11:28Mount Moriah, the site of the Temple, the seat of the
- 11:30historical theocracy, is the place of the divine presence.
- 11:35So by setting the messianic throne there, the Psalm elevates
- 11:38this King's rule above all earthly heights.
- 11:41It's signaling that this government is inseparable from
- 11:44God's immediate presence in holiness.
- 11:46This establishment on Zion is Jehovah's decisive, absolute
- 11:50answer to all the world's plotting.
- 11:51So it declares that the Kingdom being set up is absolute,
- 11:55universal and righteous, a true Christocracy.
- 11:59It's the moment where the local and temporal aspects of the
- 12:01Davidic covenant are just. They're swallowed up.
- 12:04They're superseded by the universal and eternal
- 12:06sovereignty of the Messiah. God has made these eternal
- 12:09preparations in history against the world's destruction, and
- 12:11those preparations are all contained in the messianic
- 12:14institutions of salvation. And that takes us to the
- 12:16theological heart of the Psalm Strophy 3.
- 12:19Verses 7 to 9. The narrative voice makes
- 12:21another dramatic shift here. We've heard from the psalmist,
- 12:24We've heard from Jehovah. And now, now we hear from the
- 12:27anointed of Jehovah himself. The Messianic king, he appears
- 12:31dramatically as a personal being, and he's here to address
- 12:34the decree. And this is the moment that
- 12:36confirms his identity. The sources are so insistent
- 12:39that this is not David speaking. It's not some personification of
- 12:43the Kingdom. No, it is the personal being
- 12:45promised by God the Messiah, who steps forward to proclaim and
- 12:50explain the decree of Jehovah. And he appeals to a specific
- 12:54historical mandate, an ordinance, a cock to justify his
- 12:58status. This isn't something new.
- 12:59It's a pre-existing definite declaration.
- 13:02That's right. He appeals to a cock which the
- 13:04sources define as an express, inviolable and peculiar
- 13:07declaration of Jehovah of a historical kind.
- 13:10So it's a legal or governmental arrangement, yes.
- 13:13And to understand the King's authority, we have to find the
- 13:16historical root of this civic declaration.
- 13:19And the sources are very restrictive about where we can
- 13:21look. They are.
- 13:23They say it is found alone in Nathan's promise to David about
- 13:26his successor. You see it in Second Samuel
- 13:297.12. Nathan delivers the message that
- 13:33Jehovah will be his father and he shall be my son.
- 13:37That promise, given specifically about David's seed, is the
- 13:40original source for all the biblical prophecies about the
- 13:43line of David standing in this unique relationship of sonship
- 13:46to God. And that link is just so vital
- 13:48because it separates this sonship from, say, the general
- 13:52sonship of all pious Israelites, or even of kings in general.
- 13:56This is a special unique ordination it.
- 13:58Establishes the legal and historical foundation for the
- 14:01Messiah's rule. This is the backdrop for the
- 14:04most quoted line from this Psalm in the entire New Testament.
- 14:07Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
- 14:09That's the one. This phrase is foundational to
- 14:11Christology, so we have to spend some real time on what it means
- 14:14according to the sources. Specifically, what does this day
- 14:18hayom signify? This distinction is absolutely
- 14:21critical. The sources stress it heavily
- 14:23because it defines the Messiah's role without contradicting his
- 14:26preexistence. The phrase today hayom has to be
- 14:30understood in its historical meaning.
- 14:32Not a poetical 1. Not a metaphysical 1.
- 14:34So this is not a reference to the eternal generation of the
- 14:37sun from the Father within the Godhead as we see defined later
- 14:40in Nicene Christology. Correct.
- 14:42The sources agree it is not Speaking of an eternal
- 14:45generation, nor is it about the first moment of this person's
- 14:48existence. If it were, it would completely
- 14:51undermine the sun's pre existence, right?
- 14:54Instead, the King is talking about a specific, identifiable
- 14:57historical event. So what is actually being
- 15:00declared on this day? The personal being who already
- 15:03existed, the sun was declared to be the sun at that time.
- 15:06It's a historical recognition. It's made by a word of
- 15:09revelation upon a historical day.
- 15:11So it's a public inauguration. A public inauguration.
- 15:14The decree doesn't make him the Sun for the first time.
- 15:17Yeah, it publicly recognizes and installs him as the Sun, with a
- 15:21specific title and capacity to govern.
- 15:23It's a declaration of his functional sonship of the
- 15:26Messiah taking up his office and authority, even though he is on
- 15:29to logically the Son for all eternity.
- 15:31Exactly. This declaration made in time,
- 15:35demonstrates the King's personal capacity for the government in
- 15:39question, which was to overcome and embrace the world.
- 15:43It's his public title deed to the throne, confirmed and
- 15:47implemented by Jehovah. And Jehovah immediately confirms
- 15:50that authority in the very next verse by promising this
- 15:53universal Commission. He just says to the Messiah, Ask
- 15:56of me, and I will give thee. And that ask and receive.
- 16:00It's a political figure, of course, but it represents God's
- 16:03absolute willingness and certainty in delivering the
- 16:05kingdoms of this world to His anointed.
- 16:07And the grant is universal completely.
- 16:10The heathen for line inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
- 16:13earth for his possession. Which makes it clear that the
- 16:15Messiah's rule is fundamentally different from David's or
- 16:18Solomon's. Their dominion was regional, his
- 16:21is global. It reaches the uttermost parts.
- 16:23And this is the moment we understand that this messiah's
- 16:26power isn't just destined to embrace the world through, say,
- 16:29peaceful expansion. It's destined to conquer the
- 16:32world. He's commissioned in a dual
- 16:34role. He is both judge and savior.
- 16:37And that dual role is illustrated so graphically by
- 16:40the promise of the rod of iron and the verb used to describe
- 16:44his action. Yes, he is commissioned to break
- 16:46the rebellious nations. The verb in the Septuagint, the
- 16:50Greek translation, is poi main. It usually means to rule or to
- 16:55shepherd. OK, like a gentle shepherd.
- 16:57Right, but here it's linked with a rod of iron, which totally
- 17:00shifts the meaning. The gentle guidance of
- 17:03shepherding is transformed into ruling with irresistible,
- 17:06crushing force. So the Messiah is a shepherd
- 17:09king, but for those who rebel, the shepherd's crook becomes a
- 17:13scepter of iron used for breaking.
- 17:15Precisely. The imagery asserts that he will
- 17:17shatter the rebellious nations with little trouble and to
- 17:20entire destruction. It compares them to a Potter's
- 17:23vessel. Fragile.
- 17:25Clay vessels are fragile, easily fragmented, so this guarantees
- 17:28that all earthly efforts against his established Kingdom are
- 17:31completely vain. The rod of blessing for
- 17:33believers becomes the rod of iron for the rebellious.
- 17:36And that imagery is picked up later.
- 17:38It is. It's directly referenced in the
- 17:39Book of Revelation, which confirms the Messiah's
- 17:42invincible world conquering judicial authority.
- 17:46So the claims made here in Strove 3 the Divine King, the
- 17:50Unique Sonship, Universal Dominion, this crushing judicial
- 17:53power, they're so immense that it forces us back to the
- 17:57question of interpretation, right?
- 17:59We have to turn now to why the sources insist the Psalm has to
- 18:03be directly about Christ and why they reject all the other
- 18:06competing views. This is where it all comes
- 18:08together theologically. If this Psalm were about any
- 18:11earthly king, it would just be absurd hyperbole.
- 18:13It would. The sources are unanimous on
- 18:15this. The prophetic or direct
- 18:17Messianic explanation is the only coherent solution, and this
- 18:22view has the support of all the ancient Jewish and ancient
- 18:25Christian traditions, even when they disagreed on who the
- 18:28Messiah actually was. So let's walk through that claim
- 18:30by showing why the alternate views just don't hold up.
- 18:33Let's start with the historical view.
- 18:35Why does trying to pin the Psalm on the reign of David or Solomon
- 18:38or Hezekiah fail? It fails because of scope.
- 18:42Primarily scope. The circumstances described
- 18:46here. Universal dominion over all
- 18:47nations, crushing judgement, The eternity duration of the rule.
- 18:52That specific declaration of unique sonship just doesn't fit
- 18:56any known historical reality. Take Solomon for example.
- 19:00If you look at Solomon, his reign was famously peaceful.
- 19:04The sources state plainly that the circumstances here do not
- 19:07fit the peaceful government of Solomon, which we know from
- 19:10other texts had clear boundaries.
- 19:11So the earthly limitations of David and Solomon proved the
- 19:14negative case. They were limited by geography
- 19:17and by time. Yes, David's rule was constantly
- 19:20being challenged by the nations around him.
- 19:22Solomon's Kingdom fractured right after he died.
- 19:24No Jewish monarch was ever given the uttermost parts of the earth
- 19:27for his possession. So the words are just too big
- 19:29for them. The words are simply too great
- 19:31to have all their meaning exhausted in David, Solomon or
- 19:34Ahaz or any other Jewish monarch.
- 19:36The moment a commentator has to start looking beyond the
- 19:39immediate history to find a fit, the argument for a purely
- 19:42historical reading just collapses.
- 19:44The only subject big enough is the Messiah.
- 19:45OK, So what about the typical view, the idea that a historical
- 19:50king like David was a type A foreshadowing of Christ?
- 19:54We see typology all over the Old Testament.
- 19:57The typical view is more sophisticated, but it runs into
- 20:00a very specific structural problem within the Psalm itself.
- 20:04David cannot be the speaker in verse 7.
- 20:06It's impossible because the ordinance of sonship, the coke
- 20:09that's appealed to there, well, it refers, according to Second
- 20:13Samuel 7.14, to David's son. Not to David himself.
- 20:18David is the one who receives the promise about the son, but
- 20:21he isn't the son who then speaks the decree.
- 20:23That internal logic makes it impossible for David to be the
- 20:27one speaking the central decree of the Psalm, and that shatters
- 20:30the foundation of a typological argument applied directly to
- 20:33him. If the king can't speak for
- 20:34himself in the text, he can't be the primary type.
- 20:37Correct. The text isn't about the type,
- 20:38it's about the anti type. It's about the ultimate
- 20:40fulfillment, the decree, the dominion, the judgment.
- 20:43They all point past the temporal Kingdom to the everlasting
- 20:45universal one. All right.
- 20:47And finally, there's the political view that the king is
- 20:50just a general poetic glorification of the Kingdom,
- 20:53not a specific person. And this view fails because it
- 20:57ignores the specificity of the revelation.
- 20:59It just brushes past the appeal to a precise historical divine
- 21:03ordinance that tohawk in verse 7.
- 21:06The text describes the King as a personal being who is promised
- 21:09by God and is surely coming. He's not just a poetical figure.
- 21:13Reducing it to a general theme disregards the legal, historical
- 21:17and dramatic particularity of the Messianic decree.
- 21:20So the messianic interpretation isn't just one option among
- 21:23several, it's the only one that is exegetically viable.
- 21:26And that brings us to the New Testaments confirmation of this
- 21:29How did the earliest followers of Christ use this text to build
- 21:32their arguments about Jesus? The New Testament writers
- 21:35treated Psalm 2 as a historical source of revelation about
- 21:38Christ's identity, his authority, and his destiny.
- 21:42They didn't cite it as poetry. They cited it as authoritative,
- 21:45legal, prophetic bedrock that was fulfilled in the person of
- 21:48Jesus Christ. And one of the most powerful
- 21:50examples is Paul's argument about the resurrection.
- 21:52Oh yes, the resurrection proof. In Acts 13.33, Paul uses Psalm
- 21:582.7 to establish the propriety and the reasonableness of
- 22:03Jesus's resurrection as the Son of God.
- 22:05Paul treats the resurrection as the actual fulfilment, the thing
- 22:09that happened on that historical day of the declaration of
- 22:12sonship now. That's a sophisticated move.
- 22:14If this day have I begotten thee is a declaration of existing
- 22:18sonship for the purpose of government, why does Paul apply
- 22:21it to the resurrection which happens long after Jesus's
- 22:24birth? This is such a critical point.
- 22:26The sources suggest that Paul sees the resurrection as the
- 22:29public the final and the most forceful recognition of Christ's
- 22:32capacity to execute the full scope of that decree.
- 22:35That is universal government, right?
- 22:37The resurrection demonstrated that the Son who already existed
- 22:41was indeed the one designated by that ordinance to overcome and
- 22:44embrace the world. It was the ultimate inauguration
- 22:47day for his Christocracy. The Psalm also establishes his
- 22:50divine rank, which the New Testament writers used to argue
- 22:53for his superiority over all of their beings.
- 22:55Absolutely. In Hebrews 1.5, Psalm 2.7 is
- 22:59quoted directly to prove the solemn recognition of Christ's
- 23:02sonship and authority, and this citation forms the entire basis
- 23:05of the argument for the Super angelic nature and rank of
- 23:08Jesus. No Angel was ever addressed this
- 23:10one. Never.
- 23:11No Angel was ever addressed with this specific language of unique
- 23:15decreed sonship, and it goes further.
- 23:19The title of first born, which had previously been given to
- 23:21Israel, is transferred to the Messiah, typified by David in
- 23:24Psalm 89, and then applied directly to Jesus.
- 23:28This links his eternal birth from God before creation to his
- 23:31relationship with the Church through his resurrection.
- 23:34And the New Testament writers, they don't shy away from the
- 23:36violent judicial aspects of the decree.
- 23:38They don't ignore the rod of iron.
- 23:39Not at all. The judicial reign is confirmed
- 23:42repeatedly in Revelation, especially in chapters 12 and
- 23:4519. The apostle John directly
- 23:47references the Messiah's judicial activity, ruling the
- 23:50nations with the rod of iron. This confirms His invincible
- 23:53world conquering authority. The sources even note that
- 23:56Revelation 12.5 views the Messiah's entrance upon His
- 24:00world sovereignty when He is snatched away to God and His
- 24:03throne as a kind of birth from the Church.
- 24:05So it connects that final judicial triumph all the way
- 24:08back to historical declaration of sonship right here in Psalm
- 24:112. So, taken together, the New
- 24:13Testament authors used Psalm 2 as a kind of comprehensive legal
- 24:17brief. It defines his nature, it proves
- 24:20his resurrection, and it establishes his final
- 24:23authoritative reign as judges. It's the bedrock.
- 24:27Every aspect of his mediatorial rule is traced back to this
- 24:30prophetic blueprint. It confirms that the scope of
- 24:33authority described isn't metaphorical hyperbole.
- 24:36It's literal truth above the ultimate king.
- 24:38Which brings us to the end Stir 4.
- 24:40We've seen the futility of rebellion, the certainty of
- 24:43God's decree, the universal nature of the sun's authority,
- 24:46and it all culminates in a direct, urgent call for
- 24:49allegiance. This final strophy is the
- 24:51application, It's the So what, and the warning is directed
- 24:55emphatically at the powerful and those in I positions, the very
- 24:58same kings and judges we met back in Strove 1.
- 25:01They're the ones in special danger of overrating their own
- 25:03temporary authority, so they're urged to be wise and to receive
- 25:07instruction. And the central command is that
- 25:10famous line Kiss the Sun. It's such a concise summary of
- 25:14the required allegiance. It's an exhortation to those
- 25:17previously rebellious Princess and leaders.
- 25:20It's a demand that they submit and pay homage to the Messianic
- 25:23king. The language itself is so
- 25:25significant. The phrase uses the Aramaic word
- 25:27for sun bar instead of the more common Hebrew Ben.
- 25:31Why the sudden switch to Aramaic for the word sun right at the
- 25:34end? The sources confirmed that using
- 25:36bar here suits entirely the messianic interpretation.
- 25:40It acts as a kind of transitional form, almost like a
- 25:42proper noun. The Sun, using Aramaic, also
- 25:46emphasizes the universality of the King's claim.
- 25:49It extends beyond the Hebrew world to the Gentile world where
- 25:52related Semitic languages were spoken.
- 25:54And what does the act of kissing represent in that ancient
- 25:57context? It's the required public sign of
- 26:00reverence and submission. It was typically done on the
- 26:03hand or the clothing or even the feet of a superior.
- 26:07It signifies both political allegiance, acknowledging the
- 26:11King's sovereignty, and religious submission, converting
- 26:13to Jehovah. And the warning is immediate.
- 26:15The warning is immediate. They must convert and submit
- 26:18before the crushing judgement from Stroh 3 is fulfilled.
- 26:21The sources also talk about how some have tried to interpret
- 26:25Kiss the Sun differently. Right, seeing bar as meaning
- 26:28pure or something else? That's right, Some historical
- 26:31translations rendered it as a door purely or lay hold of
- 26:35purity. But the sources state that this
- 26:38kind of interpretive evasion only happens when you reject the
- 26:41direct messianic character of the Psalm.
- 26:44The context demands a person. The context, A warning to
- 26:47Rebellious kings, demands homage to the person of the king, not
- 26:51to an abstract concept. And this submission isn't meant
- 26:54to be just a grudging political act.
- 26:56It requires a specific spiritual state of being.
- 26:59Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
- 27:02This creates that necessary theological balance.
- 27:05The sources call it a sacred compound.
- 27:08Kings and judges aren't just submitting to a bigger political
- 27:11power. They're entering into a
- 27:12relationship defined by both awe and delight.
- 27:15Let's break that compound down. Why is trembling necessary if
- 27:18you're also rejoicing? The sources note that the
- 27:21trembling is necessary so that rejoicing doesn't turn into
- 27:24security and pride. You have to remember that our
- 27:26God is a consuming fire. This requires what's called the
- 27:31indelible trembling of the creature before the Almighty and
- 27:34holy God. If your joy pushes out awe, it
- 27:37just becomes presumption. And on the other side, why must
- 27:39fear be balanced by joy? Because fear without joy is just
- 27:43torment. It's despair.
- 27:44It would make the service slavish, not the service of the
- 27:47sun. The submission required here is
- 27:49a sincere self-discipline reverence that combines
- 27:51religious and political allegiance into one act within
- 27:54the Christocracy. This blend ensures holy all
- 27:57alongside sacred joy. It reflects that new covenant
- 28:00instruction to work out your salvation with fear and
- 28:03trembling on one side and sacred joy and assurance on the other.
- 28:06And the Psalm ends by emphasizing the two possible
- 28:09outcomes of this choice of allegiance.
- 28:12The final warning and the declaration of blessedness are a
- 28:15sharp contrast. The warning is simple but stark.
- 28:19If God's wrath is kindled but little, just a little bit, those
- 28:23who refused allegiance will perish.
- 28:25The rebellion will be annihilated.
- 28:27The speed and ease of the destruction is emphasized by how
- 28:30little effort it requires from God.
- 28:32And yet the blessing is just a certain.
- 28:34Just as certain, conversely, those who take refuge with God
- 28:38and His anointed are declared blessed ashrae they find
- 28:42deliverance and security. The Messianic Kingdom holds both
- 28:45the means of grace for those who willingly submit and
- 28:48overwhelming judicial destruction for the rebellious.
- 28:51So blessedness is only found in taking refuge in the Christ, not
- 28:54in trying to establish your own Kingdom.
- 28:56The implication for any listener, especially Reformed
- 28:59listener, is clear. The only appropriate response to
- 29:02the absolute sovereignty of Christ, which is established by
- 29:04divine decree, is immediate and joyful submission.
- 29:07It confirms the doctrine of Christ's mediatorial reign.
- 29:10The rule is already established. The rule is established, the
- 29:13decree has been spoken, and the only choice left for humanity is
- 29:16allegiance or annihilation. Christ's sovereignty is an easy
- 29:21yoke to believers, providing those holy bands of moral
- 29:24communion, but it is the rod of iron to the rebellious.
- 29:28So to close this out, we've really seen the dramatic
- 29:31precision of how Psalm 2 unfolds.
- 29:33We have from that chaotic, irrational human plotting in
- 29:37Strophy 1 which is immediately dismissed by the serene and
- 29:40powerful divine establishment in Strove 2.
- 29:43Which then gave way to the detailed declaration of the
- 29:45King's unique sonship and his Commission for universal
- 29:48conquest in Strove 3. Culminating in that urgent
- 29:51demand for immediate allegiance and refuge in Strove 4.
- 29:54The key take away here isn't just about prophecy, it's about
- 29:57a present reality, the messianic institution of salvation.
- 30:01This Christocracy is God's historical preparation and His
- 30:04ultimate solution against the world's tendency towards self
- 30:07destruction. And that act of rebellion, that
- 30:10attempt to tear away the cords of moral governance, it's
- 30:14condemned from the start as futile and without effect.
- 30:18The sovereignty of Christ is guaranteed by divine ordinance.
- 30:21It's absolute. And recognizing that is the only
- 30:24path to deliverance. This Psalm really is a
- 30:27declaration of divine authority. It's a definitive blueprint for
- 30:31the structure of Christ's Kingdom.
- 30:33And it compels every single person, but especially those who
- 30:36hold any kind of earthly authority, to recognize their
- 30:38absolute accountability to the heavenly king and judge the true
- 30:42scope of this decree. It really demands personal
- 30:45reflection and submission far beyond the kind of technical
- 30:48analysis we've done here today. And we can close the Latin
- 30:51phrase that's often associated with commentary on this text.
- 30:54It urges that kind of personal contemplation over any external
- 30:57discussion. Epiphanima Dignias umediteres
- 31:01Kwam UD Amet Tractor tour. A commentary more worthy that
- 31:04you should meditate upon it than that it should be handled by me.
- 31:08Thank you for joining us for this deep dive into the decree
- 31:10of the Messianic King.