Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / June 9, 2024 | Summer in the Psalms - Psalm 2: Christ the King

Transcript

June 9, 2024 | Summer in the Psalms - Psalm 2: Christ the King · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Morning.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Good to be with you.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, we're rolling today.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: We are in Psalm 2.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 2 has a lot of stuff in it.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're going to get going on it.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have a fun story to kind of like begin this message.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's just kind of like we gotta talk about Psalm 2.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: But as we do that, there is a pretty important section of it that you need to understand because it's going to impact kind of how we walk through the morning.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 2 is kind of like a three-layer cake, okay?
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Insofar as it is one of the most important Psalms, one of the most popular, uh, because it is clearly about David as well as Christ, and in fact, um ultimately the second coming of Christ.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're going to be looking at Psalm 2 kind of from each one of those levels, and I'm going to do my best, and my poor ability to do so, to try and explain how it really covers each of these levels.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because it's one of the really the neatest things that you could see about this Psalm is the depth that God has provided in his word and how he is fulfilling all of these amazing promises.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um so as we do that, though, the Psalm 2 still needs to be seen, first of all, before we get to all the stuff with about Jesus, uh Psalm 2 first needs to be seen for the purpose that it was written, which was King David talking about being the king of Israel.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: So many of the Psalms are written by King David.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And as he does so, um, oftentimes there are elements of what he's saying that we can obviously connect with Christ in the future.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: But anytime you're reading the Psalms, it's important, this is just interpretive, that uh we understand where it was centered first.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so as we get into Psalm 2, we're gonna hear uh David asking questions about, for instance, like, Lord, why if you have made me king and secured my position as the leader of Israel, as your anointed one, why is it that all of these nations still fight against you?
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Why is it that they continue to come against us?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: As he's wrestling with these things, um, we're going to begin to see his role come forward and how significant he is as the king of Israel, but then also our king in Jesus Christ.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: So Psalm 2 begins with a question that David asks.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And this is kind of the first level that we're going to be looking at.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: David as king.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and his anointed one.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: They say, Let's tear off their chains and throw their ropes off of us.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: So the Psalm begins with a question.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: And the question that David is asking is not because he like genuinely is curious, but rather it's a question of intent.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, okay, we understand their motivation.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's the last two lines here, right?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is why they're rebelling against God.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: They they are tired of being told that they need to be in submission to the Lord.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: And instead of seeing his guiding hand as something that is better for them and ultimately leads to salvation, they see it as oppressive, right?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: They uh we're not unfamiliar with this idea.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is anybody who struggles with the idea of bowing down before a heavenly king, and in this case it just extends to King David, right?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And King David, he's going, like they have a problem with me, which means that they have a problem with you, God.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so I don't understand why they think they are going to succeed by fighting against your kingdom, Israel, right?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: What do they hope to gain?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because over and over and over again, sort of the water has crashed against these rocks, and yet your kingdom has uh stood its ground.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so he's going, What why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Why do they continue their schemes even though they know they're going to fail?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, the rulers conspire together against the Lord and his anointed one.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Anointed one in Hebrew, it's where we get the word Messiah from.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: But obviously, that has a bit, you know, like we're going somewhere with that.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: But again, for David, he was called the anointed one too.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Anointed simply means that they were somebody, and this even has to do with like the pouring of the oil out on the head of the one who is going to lead the nation of Israel.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's this whole ceremony to it.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: But the anointed one is the one who God said, like, this is my king.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is going to be the leader of my people.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so David says, Lord, you have said that about me.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: You've said that I am the leader of your people.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so David is connected in this very special and unique way to the Lord, because God has established his reign.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: As the king of Israel, God has said, This is my king for my people.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so, again, right, all of this is coming together.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: This plot to sort of go against God is running up against the idea that they're not just fighting his king, but they're fighting the Lord Himself.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: As we move forward, though, we're going to see what the Lord has to say about these plots.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: The one enthroned in heaven laughs.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord ridicules them.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Then he speaks to them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Lord's plan now.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: So the plans of the nations to find victory and defeat against God are met by like laughter.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: God thinks it is not a funny ha-ha, but funny in a sort of how could they, like it is so insignificant that they would try and plot against me that it's a mocking kind of laughter.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Heaven is sort of rolling with the Lord in a way, thinking that this is amusing, that over and over and over and over again, people throughout history would conspire against him and actually think that they might have victory, right?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is really the um the uh kind of original sin back in the Garden of Eden, where Satan goes to Eve and says, Do you want to be like God?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you can have his knowledge, you can have the thing that is not meant for you, but he's just he's oppressing you.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want you to have this, he's he's holding you back from everything that you could be.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a captivating argument to Eve, and Adam doesn't do anything to stop her.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see that that continues on throughout history, as people through all time have said, like, the Lord is just oppressing me.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And when we bring those charges against him, uh, which are so crazy, uh, it makes the Lord bring out uh it's kind of a ridiculing laugh.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: How could you ever say that about me?
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: That I am just holding you back, that I am just oppressing you, I am the one who liberates, I'm the one who gives freedom.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see the two plans kind of brought together here.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is verse 3 and verse 6 of Psalm 2.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: The rebels say, Let's tear off their chains and throw their ropes off of us.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And God says, No, no, no, no.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: My plan is I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Zion's another word for Jerusalem, right?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so again, with King David here, uh, God is saying, like, I have put my king, he is sitting in Jerusalem, he is on my holy mountain, like this is where the temple is.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is a big deal, um, and he is going to continue to reign.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Your plans don't really affect my plans.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: My plans are the ones that end up happening.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, David comes together here, though, because remember, he is the one that is sort of um, he's writing these psalms, um, and many times because he is he is facing trouble or um potential disaster.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he's seeing the armies coming out against Israel, and he is kind of repeating these promises that God has made to him, because he's like, Lord, the the nations are coming out against me.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: They're trying to tear you down.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: And we know that David's king, his sort of reign as king, was often filled with war.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, this is one of the reasons why he's not allowed to actually build the temple.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's his son Solomon who does it, is because David was a warrior king.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so, anyhow, David has fought in so many different battles, and so you can hear him kind of saying these things, like, Lord, I see the armies.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Why do they continue to do this?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: And the Lord brings him, reminds him of his plan.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: But we're also going to see here that halfway through the Psalm, um, the narrator is going to switch.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to see that at Psalm 6, David is the one who begins to speak.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, instead of sort of giving the Lord's words, he is now going to communicate.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: David says, I will declare the Lord's decree.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now he's going, like, I'm going to repeat back what you have said to me, God.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: He said to me, God did, you are my son, today I have become your father.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, and the ends of the earth your possession.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: You will break them with an iron scepter, you will shatter them like pottery.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, King David, in the midst of attack and war and challenge to his throne, which even came internally from his sons and others, David is recalling one of the greatest promises in the Bible.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: And he is referencing back to what we would call the Davidic Covenant.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's an agreement that God made with David.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And a covenant, like we've, if you've been with us through Deuteronomy, we've been talking a lot about covenants because the Lord made one with the nation of Israel.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in fact, there are a number of covenants that God has made.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Covenants are special because both sides are committing to doing something, okay?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Covenants happen at other times.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's not only the Lord who brings them forth, like David and Saul's son Jonathan had a covenant, but anyhow, the Davidic covenant, it's like hard to overstate how important it is for the Bible.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because there are so many things that run through it.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: There are so many promises that are kind of instilled within the Davidic covenant that go way forward into the New Testament and in fact even into the second coming of Christ.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so David is recalling the Davidic covenant.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: You go, what is the Davidic covenant?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let me help you out.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Samuel 7, the Lord declares to you, this is the prophet Nathan speaking to David, the Lord himself will make a house for you.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: I will be his father, and he will be my son.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals, but my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, the king before David, whom I removed from before you.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Big words here to pick up on would be forever.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: God is making a promise with David that is really unique in the sense that so many different times throughout Israel's history, it's like, I will do this if you do this, okay?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then Israel's like, No, thanks, we're not going to do that.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then God goes, Okay, well then my part of the deal is sort of broken here too, because you haven't held up your end of the bargain.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's a very quick way to talk about Israel's failure in the covenants.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: But anyhow, as we get to David, the unique thing about that promise is God goes, No matter what you do, David, no matter your sin, like I will still handle your sin, I will punish you.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: And we see God doing that with King David.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: But he goes, the unique thing is that I am promising that there will always be a de physical descendant from your line on the throne of Israel.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately that that future king, because it won't actually be you, David, but that future king who's going to rise up after you, his kingdom in my name will endure forever.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, forever, forever.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is where David gets his confidence as the king of Israel.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: When he is going out to war or when nations are attacking him, he's going, Lord, like I have confidence because you have um given me this promise that there will always be somebody from my line on this throne.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, you have um assured me that we are going to find victory in your name.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: God, I can have hope in your promises because it is you who are guaranteeing them, and you have made a promise that even I can't mess up.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so the Davidic covenant sort of runs through Psalm 2.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, David has confidence, he has hope, he has conviction, because he is the Lord's anointed king.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's a really big deal.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he is unique in that status, and it means something very special.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, as we get to the last three verses of Psalm 2, um, all of this has come forward.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: David has said, Lord, the nations have come against me.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, Lord, that makes you laugh because you have a plan, and that plan is you have established my throne forever.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so the last thing that we have here in Psalm 2 is what is the response then of those kings of the earth that are fighting against David?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like God has said, their plans don't concern me.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to, like David, I'm going to give you victory.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: You can you can ask me for these things, and it comes to you.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so the last part is, okay, well, then the kings need to know that, that are fighting against David.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: What's their response?
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where we finish Psalm 2.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: So now, kings, be wise.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Receive instruction, you judges of the earth.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Serve the Lord with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's a really interesting companion there.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Rejoice with trembling, but that is the proper response for God.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Pay homage to the sun.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Some of your uh translations may say, kiss the sun, or he will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: For his anger may ignite at any moment.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: All who take refuge in him are happy.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: To oppose God is to think that you could yell at a tornado as it was coming towards you and it would turn away.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the overwhelming power of God is not something that, like we even take in, or rather, I should say, the power of the kings and however big they are and however many nations there are.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's not really a calculation.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like army against army.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's when God goes to battle, he wins.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: He's, you don't want to play board games with him.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like he will always be victorious.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so as they're going to battle, the kings are sort of facing this potential destruction, right?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's like if you continue on this path, uh, you will be destroyed.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: This is God's kingdom is going to happen.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, it is here.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: And uh as King David has the authority to go out and destroy the nations who are in opposition to God, uh, in his mercy and patience, the Lord extends them this offer.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, um basically, you don't know exactly when David is going to come.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: You don't know exactly when your destruction might be here, but until such a time, you have the opportunity to turn and to bow down to the king.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then we see the very last line of Psalm 2: all who take refuge in him are happy.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you were here last week, it sort of brackets the beginning of Psalm 1, right?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: Blessed are those, happy are those that are following the way of the righteous.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: And now we have the end of Psalm 2 basically saying the same thing.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 1 was looking at the difference between the righteous and the unrighteous.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 2 looks at the difference between the earth and the king over it.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: Or at least in the immediate context, the king that has the authority of God.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: But as we walk forward, I just want to give you a quick summary.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: I recognize this is like fire hose kind of stuff.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I get it.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: I get it.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: As the king and adopted son of God, David will find success against the schemes of his enemies.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, David will rule over them with the authority of God.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Those who trust in God will be saved from destruction.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: That is the immediate context of Psalm 2.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Furthermore, any time that we're reading about prophetic Psalms, it is important that we see that they are always first about the people, normally David, who wrote them.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Then we begin to see as the Bible moves on, people who knew those psalms, things happen, and they recognize that God was also speaking about something in the future that was a greater or more grand fulfillment of what even he was saying in the Psalms.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like you would pick up on this because in Psalm 2, as you're reading it, you're like, okay, well, David is saying this, but it's not really like all the nations of the earth are fighting against him.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's bigger language than what he's dealing with, right?
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: But yet God eventually is moving towards that.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: So the second level is Christ as king.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where we begin to move forward and we say, well, how does Psalm 2 apply for our life?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because really this actually middle section is the situation, the reality that we're in right now.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about Christ in the future.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's actually that's probably the greatest outcome of Psalm 2.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: But there are things that happened to Jesus during his life, death, and resurrection 2,000 years ago before he ascended to heaven where he is right now that were representative and were a fulfillment of Psalm 2.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: Even if you're not tracking with me, you should be like, I'm with you, right?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: So on the left, Psalm.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: On the right, fulfillment.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Peter and John after the resurrection of Christ are have been basically brought before uh authorities who are like, why are these uneducated, like, fishermen and shepherds somehow doing miracles and healing people?
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the the ruling Jewish authorities at the time are like, we don't know what to do.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: They're angry.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: And Peter and John retreat afterwards and they're praying for boldness.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: They're praying that the Lord would strengthen them.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of heavy emotions in the early days of the Christian movement as Jesus has ascended, and the apostles are sort of left to run the show, right, with God's authority.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyhow, this is how they connect as they're speaking about what has happened to Jesus and kind of making sense of it.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: They're finding comfort that the death of Christ was a connection back to Psalm 2.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: For in fact, in this city, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand for healing, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: So what they're saying there is they're taking the beginning of Psalm 1 and 2, and in fact they they quoted at parts here, and they're going, Okay, the thing that David noticed is that all of the nations, even though they should find unity in pursuing after God, the only thing that the nations are seeming to find is unity for the sake of rebelling against God.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so what was so wild about the, well, there are a lot of crazy things about the death of Jesus, but what he says at the very beginning here, that Herod and Pontius Pilate being Roman authorities and the leaders of the people and leaders of Israel being Jewish authorities who hate each other, like this, the leaders of Israel are expecting that the Messiah, this is one of the reasons why Jesus was crucified, is they didn't believe that he was truly the Messiah, because they expected that the Messiah would come and overthrow the Roman leaders.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so now what Peter and John are going back and forth and they're praying to the Lord, they're like, Lord, how how wild is it that they have come together for the purpose of killing your son?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: That people who hate each other and despise one another and just a couple decades previous have been having wars against each other have come to destroy the son.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: How fitting that is as a fulfillment of Psalm 2.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's a shocking alliance that comes together here.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um but as we know, and as Psalm 2 even says, ultimately the death of Christ, the murder of Christ, his sacrifice, was not a defeat, but rather was what was um foretold, what was prophesied, so that he would return and that he would rise again.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a sign of I mean, he was able to defeat death and sin and all of these things when he threw this uh alliance.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's an even greater fulfillment of Psalm 2 when we see like the plans of God and the plans of his people.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like the nations railed against the Lord Jesus Christ and thought they had defeated him, but in reality, God goes, No, no, that was actually all part of my plan.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: You played into my hand.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: But as we move forward, we see that there's another amazing connection to Psalm 2.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it has to do with God calling him his son.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 2.7, right?
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: David had said, You are, the Lord says to David, You are my son, today I've become your father.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, in Luke chapter 1, the angel Gabriel is speaking to Mary.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: And Mary is like, I don't know what's happening.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is crazy.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: What do you mean I'm about to have a child?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not married to Joseph yet.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: We haven't been together, like all of these things.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that Gabriel says to comfort her is he says, He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: You should be kind of picking up on that forever word that we saw earlier.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: That Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment and like final stop in the promises made to David in the Davidic covenant.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: That what David is referencing in Psalm 2, and he's saying, like, Lord, you call me your son, Lord, you are my father.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the language that God would use for kings.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: But then finally, when Jesus comes along, it's like the final deal.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: He is the Son.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: He is the physical descendant of David through Mary, like by blood, right?
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is a descendant of David, and so that promise is true.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: David would always have an heir, a line on the throne.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: But then also, from a spiritual perspective, and you know, right, we're talking about the Trinity, the Father has sent the Son, and so he is going to, the Son is now establishing, Jesus Christ is establishing the Lord's kingdom forever.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, there's no king that comes after Jesus, because he is the one that did all of the things.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: He accomplished all of the things that God has said were going to happen when he talked with David.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so here in Luke 1, it's a fulfillment of Psalm 2.7.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus is this amazing fulfillment culmination of the Davidic covenant.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so, even just as we're at level 2, we're going to go to level 3 here in a second, Jesus as king right now is where we're all at.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: When we get to level 3, we're talking about Jesus in the future, things that have not happened yet.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, Jesus as the king in heaven, this is the reality that we're dealing with.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so you go to the end of Psalm 2 and you say, all who trust in him, all who take refuge in him are blessed.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the situation now.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: Anybody who trusts in King Jesus as their Savior, they receive the same promises, right, that Psalm 2 was talking about.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: All who trust in him are blessed.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: They are saved, they are protected, because God is still going to bring judgment against those who oppose his kingdom.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: But instead of King David, it's now King Jesus who is sort of ruling and leading, right, even from the heavenly realms, until he returns once and for all.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: In sum, up to this point, we have King David as the level one kind of fulfillment.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: What he was saying about Psalm 2, those were things that were happening to him and were real.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: Then we have level two, which is Jesus as the King right now.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: There are things that were quoted in the New Testament where they're like, Psalm 2 was talking about this moment here.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like Psalm 2, this is a prophecy of right now.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: But the greatest fulfillment of Psalm 2 is actually the second coming of Christ when he returns.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason why I say the greatest sort of fulfillment is because Christ as King in the future, when we look at Psalm 2, you go, this is a psalm of warfare.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is a psalm of a warrior king.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is what he's talking about.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: He's talking about battle.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: He is talking about fighting enemies.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: And as much as we might talk about Christ the King right now as our Savior and Leader, ultimately it's the second coming of Christ that speaks the most about God's plan for the future judgment of the world and what will happen to his enemies.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where we find all of the big language in Psalm 2, like the nations of the world, actually find their truest and fullest fulfillment is in the second coming of Christ.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 2, 1 through 2, right?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you might notice that we talk about the kings of the earth.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, now in Revelation 19, the kings of the earth are gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the rider on the horse, that's Jesus.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we have an image of the final battle.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of Armageddon, right?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: As we get to Revelation.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: And what's happening there, as we're picking up here, is Jesus has already come out, and he is kind of the nations of the world and the kings of the earth and all of these people groups, they have found their sort of final unity.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas David was fighting sort of a regional battle.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: And even with Jesus, and we talk about Pontius Pilate and Herod and the Jews, I mean, we're talking about, you know, sort of European Middle East powers there.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, now we are on a global scale.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it really is the nations have found unity and they continue their scheme.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's another thing that is, it continues to be a part of this, is that uh the nations have not really, those who are in opposition to God continue to plot in vain to overthrow him.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: But now finally is their basically last and biggest attempt, and actually their army is led by Satan himself.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so then Jesus comes out against them.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so the the images of warfare throughout the Bible and those who oppose God, now they find their true um their most um, what do I say, their ultimate form.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: All the evil has now, we have we've kind of climaxed with a and nations and armies led by Satan, and then uh the armies of God that are led by Christ Himself, and they're about to fight.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the difference here is that even though the battle is bigger, that would be the difference, uh, the thing that is the same is that God is not in any way troubled by the size of the forces that are against him.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 29 says, You will break them with an iron scepter, you will shatter them like pottery.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Originally language for King David, but ultimately it is for the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: He will rule them with an iron rod.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: Again, you should be seeing some of this language that's similar.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: He will also trample the wine press of the fierce anger of God the Almighty, and he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so we have this image of Christ that, to be honest with you, it makes some of us uncomfortable, particularly if the image that we have of Jesus is only the one who is kind of ministering to the poor and the needy and healing and the one that is in the gospels.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: And these are not two different figures, but rather it is a complex and nuanced picture.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's God, right?
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: He is his ways are above our ways.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see that this is just sort of the final form that we are witnessing, where all the splendor, all the glory, all the majesty of Jesus Christ is revealed.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: And in ways that were sort of hidden during his time on earth, that he did not reveal his full glory, now it is on display.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: And the nations are put on notice.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, they have already made their final mistake and error, which is they have gone to battle against him.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: They have not taken the opportunity that the Lord has provided up and until this point to bow down to the Son and to worship him in rejoicing and in awe and wonder.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: But instead of this, they have decided, no, we are going to go to the ends of our plan.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: We are not only in rebellion, but we are going to try and defeat and overthrow because we want to be king.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so God is going to respond to them.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: And the, like I said, the language of revelation is heavy, right?
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: But just like any king, any like human king, would not allow somebody who is plotting their destruction to remain in their kingdom, right?
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: God is never going to allow somebody who wishes to destroy him and reject his ways and to overthrow his kingdom to remain there.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: And the hard truth about that is that from God's perspective, because this scheme of rebellion only continues, because everybody seems to have it until they trust in Christ, the only way that God will ever get peace in his kingdom is by destroying those who are in rebellion against him.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's the hard truth that is presented at the end of the Bible, is that the time of patience is over, right?
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that ultimately the mercy of God had its limits, and it was tested, and now at the very end, God is bringing judgment against those who are fighting against him.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: The last piece, the last comparison to look at, though, is that we don't know, because of where we're at in history, we don't know when Jesus will return.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: And this is an element that should stick with us.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: Peter says this But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, meaning we don't know when it will happen.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: On that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be uncovered.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: So why do the nations of earth plot against the king?
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: Why do they continue to go against him in battle?
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: The question for us is why do we continue to fight against God?
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: Why do we continue to have an attitude against him?
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: Why do we say, Lord, your ways are oppressive instead of giving freedom?
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, you are instead of your authority, I want to be the authority in my life.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like the idea of bending a knee to the king is one that is unbelievably hard for some of us.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: And one that for many of us, even, is something that we are continuing to do.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: We're refusing to bow down before the king and to recognize him as truly the one who is overall.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: And though we might love the idea, um, perhaps if we are not fully appreciating the depth of scripture, we might just go, well, I just love the Jesus that sort of invited people over to his home for dinner.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, Yes, I love that Jesus too.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's wonderful.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but that is also the aspect of God's character that is his patience and his mercy and his care for people, because he knows what's coming.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately Jesus, the one who is holding the dinner party, is the one who has a tattoo on his thigh later that says King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: And he is the one that is going to come and bring judgment.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so, in a final sense here, right, there is a level of urgency that we should have and a level of anticipation about what is coming, because there are really two ways that this finishes, right?
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: Either you are on the side of the Lord or you are against him.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: That was kind of Psalm 1, but this is the end of the story.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, if you want to be on the Lord's side, if you want to bow down to him, you need to do it soon because it is an offer with an expiration date.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_00: It is not an eternal opportunity to go, actually, you know what?
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: Coming on a white horse, actually, now would be a great time.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: No, we are, you it's too late.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: The window has closed.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so you can do it before the Lord calls you home, whenever that might be, or until Jesus returns.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: Whichever one of those two comes first.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's the window of opportunity that you have.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: Summary of Psalm 2.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: Though originally about King David, Psalm 2 has fulfillment through Christ the King, the true Son of God, both now and in the future.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: The schemes of God's foes will not ultimately succeed, though at times it seems like they are right now.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus rules over the world, and those who trust in him will be saved from righteous destruction.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: I have, um, if up to this point you are dizzy because um we have just sped through Psalm 2, I want to finish this morning.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: I have four brief things that I think that you should take away from Psalm 2.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately what I want from you, I don't, I don't really, this is just more me talking.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I do, and this is the kind of thing I like doing.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I recognize that when you read Psalm 2 for your own relationship with God and devotional time and are just walking through scripture, I'm not expecting that you just remember, you know, like ten different Bible references.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: What I want you to feel as you read Psalm 2 is to just understand what's going on behind it so that you can appreciate what God is saying.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_00: And first would be just the depth of Psalm 2, which serves as a great example of God working through the ages to fulfill his promises.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like when you read Psalm 2, I want you to understand that it is more than meets the eye.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_00: It is bigger than what just appears on the page at first glance.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_00: That God is doing amazing things, and it is true for David, for Christ, and for the second coming of Christ.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: Number two is the absurdity of fighting God and yet the constant habit of humanity to do it.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is one of those things that when you ask yourself, like, why is there so much trouble in the world?
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, this should be one of the answers that comes to your mind.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: Is because people continue to fight and rebel against God, and uh it is not ultimately going to succeed, and there is they're plotting in vain, uh, but yet they continue to do it because they don't like the idea.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_00: They consider God's authority to be chains and ropes around them.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, so the only way to fight against that is by fighting God Himself, and that is something that he laughs at.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: Three, the uncertainty of God's timing and the urgency of salvation through Christ.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: There is a healthy fear and anticipation that you should have for the return of Christ.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is even Jesus, when he was talking to believers, he was like, it's gonna be a lot.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like it is, this is the woe to those of you who are pregnant kind of language.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um speaking to those who trust Christ, he's like, it's it's coming.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: And when it comes, it's very important to know which side you're going to be on, um, because there's not there's not really much opportunity uh to change once Jesus is already here.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so there is a uh a way that we should view, and this is not like the traditional sort of I mean, I went to a Baptist seminary, so like Baptist kind of practice of like, what if you died today?
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sort of like what if you got hit by a bus while you were leaving, and you're just like, man, that's woo, okay.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_00: But there is there is biblically a level of anticipation that people who don't know Christ should have about his second coming.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like part of the reason for this strong language is so that they might understand what is coming down the pike.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: So there is uncertainty about God's timing.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_00: Even Christ does not know when the Father is going to send him.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so we have an urgency for all of us as a church, right, to be talking with people, inviting them here, just sharing the good news of the gospel because we don't know.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth and finally is the mercy of God, who is patient in his judgment and desires that everyone would trust in him.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, I don't think I probably did a good enough job explaining how wild the last three verses are in Psalm 2, 10 through 12, as it talks about the response of the kings.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: And even though when you first read that, you might go, like, kiss the sun, bow down, awe, rejoicing, all of that.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: Really, what you should take away from that is that God is giving people who are in rebellion against him the opportunity to do what they should have been doing all along, and is giving them like fourth, fifth, seventeenth chances to respond to his authority.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot get rid of God's authority.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you try and fight against it, you will lose and he will laugh.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: But if you respond to it, God is merciful and gracious, and this is why he sent Christ in the first place, so that right now, today, people can trust in him because we aren't at the end times yet.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: But they're coming soon.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_00: They're coming soon.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: So Psalm 2 is a bit of a doozy, but it's beautiful and its depth and the love of God that is presented and the way that he is fulfilling his promises to his people, even just the neat things that we get to see, how the Davidic covenant rolls forward and Christ is the ultimate king.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: God is faithful to keep his promises, including the one that says that anyone who trusts in his son will find life.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we come before you today, and um Lord, I thank you for the beauty of Psalm 2, the words that your spirit gave to King David as he was writing, how they would echo through the ages and even into eternity.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we should not be surprised, but yet it's a privilege to study and see these things and Lord to just apply them to our own lives.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_00: God, what does it mean for us to have a greater sense of urgency about the gospel?
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, what does it mean to see you really as the authority and not just, you know, somebody with good advice?
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, what does it mean for us to understand the patience that you have for us and how that might motivate us, Lord, to carry out your will to the best of our abilities.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: God, your Spirit is the one who enables us to do all of these things.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I also pray for anybody who is just in rebellion against you right now.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_00: They might understand clearly what side they are on.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: They might understand uh clearly, Lord, uh, how absurd it is to think that they might win against you, but Lord, also the love that you extend to even those who fight against you.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: And you say anybody who trusts in the cross is saved by the blood of Jesus.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, I thank you for all of these things.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um we pray that we would take them into our lives, our weeks, and that they would impact us forever.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name we pray.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: Love you.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: See you next week.