Psalm 2 is what we'll be looking at. We have sung it. I will read it. And then we will have a... I hope it will be a brief meditation on it. I never know exactly what's going to happen in that regard, but we'll try to make it pointed and helpful and unto our edification. Psalm 2 follows Psalm 1. Of course, you know that, don't you? There is significance, I think, in the order that we have here. Psalm 1 speaks about the blessed man who meditates upon God's word and contrasting him to the ungodly man who is under God's, who will perish because he is like a leaf that fades. And then immediately in Psalm 2, we find not the ungodly man individual, but the whole world, as it were, all the nations opposed to God. So we have that sort of a continuing theme, but broadening it out to the nations and not just to the individual. We'll follow as I read. Why do the nations rage and the people's plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. Now, therefore, be wise, O kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled, but a little blessed are all those who put their trust in him. So we've read God's holy word. This song really has a center verse. Some of the songs do. And this one certainly does. The center verse is verse six. I'm not talking about counting the words of the verses. But the center in the sense is the theological and doctrinal or teaching center of the psalm. Verse six says, Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. Everything hinges on that truth in this psalm. The nations rage. The Lord says, I have a king and the nations and the Lord tells us that why he's there is because of a decree. And then we read at the end of the psalm, though the nations are raging, that they are given some very good advice, which seldom do they follow. And that is that they would submit and kiss to the sun lest he be angry. So verse six is really the center of the psalm. It's the it's the theme of the psalm. And of course, you know who the king is, who's been set on the Holy Hill, don't you? I don't need to tell this this this congregation that you all know it. And if you don't know it, talk to me afterwards or talk to anybody else here in the room and they'll tell you that it's Jesus. Well, there I told you. The psalm has four parts. First part, the nations are raging, verses one through three. Second part, the Lord derides the raging nations, verses four through six. The third part, the decree against the nations, verses seven through nine. And then the fourth part, the advice to the rulers of the nations. I'm not going to be able to cover in detail all of the parts of the psalm, but we'll just highlight some of them. The nations are raging. Notice we have a question. I'm listening to a series by Robert Godfrey on falling in love with the psalms. I already fell in love with them, but it's good to fall in love all over again, you know. Falling in love with the psalms, and I heard him say that He has counted over 120 questions that are raised in the Psalms. He said he quit counting somewhere along the line, and I don't ever plan to try to count that. The problem is in the Hebrew there are no question marks, so we have to do the questions in English. But this is a question, obviously. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? Why would they do such a thing is the question. Well, the answer is given to us in these verses. The reason they do this is because they don't like the laws and the rules and the shackles that God puts on them. You see, this is what they say. Verse three, let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. And I want you to notice here that the kings of the earth are doing this and the rulers are doing this. And it's not just something that they How can I say this? It's not just something that they decided all of a sudden, oh, we don't like this. No, no, no, no. Notice it's plotting and planning and scheming and devising to do all this because the text says they take counsel together. They meet in their committees and then from the committees, they send it to the whole House of Representatives. and the senators meet in their committees and then they send it to the whole house and then the executive branch of the government. Now I'm speaking here of course of our own government and the executive branch says this is what needs to be done. What do they want done? Oh, the idea that the marriage should be between a man and a woman. That is outdated. The idea that a woman doesn't have control over her own body and is not able to have an abortion. That that that that's just we've got we've got to have the woman have a right. You see, it's plotting, it's planning, it's devising. And the reason they rage against Yahweh, the Lord, is because they don't like his rules. They don't like his laws. And so that's what the psalmist is saying, that that is the it shows us the depth now and so on, the depth of the sin of the individual. But now when individuals come together, We see that the depth of their sin is even more than we ever could have anticipated. Plotting and planning against the rules of God is what they are doing. Well, what they want is take off the handcuffs, take away the rules, let us do what we want to do. And you all know, you probably follow the news closely enough to know that that's exactly what is happening, but it's not just in our nation. It's all around the world, all around the world. Well, that leads us to the second part of the psalm that I want to emphasize. And I find this very, very comforting, really, and also very illustrative because we have a picture painted for us here, as the Hebrew language often does in verses four through six. He who sits in the heaven. That's the Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah, all capital letters, you'll see. He sits in the heaven and he laughs. Well, we know that God is a spirit, that he doesn't have any parts. He doesn't have a body, but he's pictured as sitting. Well, of course, you say he doesn't sit. Well, no, but figuratively speaking, we understand what's being said here. He's not standing up. He's not gazing over and getting all worried about what's happening. in the various legislative bodies of the world. He just sits there. And as he sits there, he laughs and he holds them in derision. It doesn't bother him at all. Is what's pictured for us here. And he he shall speak to them in his wrath and God's wrath is not like our wrath. It doesn't have fits and starts. It's the same continually, eternally. He is always a God of wrath. He always hates the wickedness and he always has the same attitude towards wickedness. It is ever remains the same. And then he tells us in his kindness, in his kindness, he tells us why it is that he can sit and laugh. It's because he has a very good king who is ruling. And he sat him there, verse eight, verse six, I should say. And that's the center of the psalm. He says, Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. And as I said, you all know who the king is. And he is he is what we'll see in a moment how it was declared before the whole watching world that he is the king. But His wrath will be exercised by this king that he has appointed a king who came in humility, a king who suffered for our sins, a king who rose again, a king who ascended and a king who now reigns at the right hand of God. And he rules the whole world for the benefit of his church. And I think I'll read that verse here in just a few moments. So so there we have the second part of the psalm. We have the Lord's, the Lord's, Lord deriding the raging nations. Doesn't that comfort you? Boy, it does me. It comforts me a whole lot to know that the Lord can sit and laugh, figuratively speaking. And then the third part of the psalm is verses seven through nine, and that is the decree, the decree of the Lord. You notice here, and this is very interesting language. So sometimes the Old Testament, the Psalms especially, we've got to think who's talking here and who's speaking. So we've got to think about this a moment. I will declare the decree. The Lord said to me, who's the Lord and who's the me? Well, I think you can all figure that out. How many gods are there? One God. How many persons in the Godhead? Three. 1 in 3, 3 in 1, right? We all agree on that. We're Trinitarian. We all agree that we don't quite, I was going to say quite, that's an understatement. We don't understand how that can be, but we know it's true. So we have an interaction here of the persons of the Trinity, is what we have in this verse. I will declare the decree. The Lord, Yahweh, said to me, that is the King, you are my son. And I think I've read that someplace in the New Testament, haven't I? That's been quoted. You read it in Hebrews chapter one. Yeah, it is Hebrews chapter one. I remember that. Today, I have begotten you. And that's a phrase that deserves a whole theological lesson on it. And as C.H. Spurgeon said, he said, there's been a lot of unnecessary ink spittled over that phrase and trying to figure out exactly what it means. And the reason that they've never figured out what it means is because you can't figure out what it means. Romans, chapter one, verse four, I think is probably the best the best exposition and commentary on this phrase. Today, I have begotten you. I quote now from David Dixon, who is one of the Puritan commentators. He says, Roman one for teaches a saying. He was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead. And that's what Romans 1, 4 says. He was declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. And Dixon goes on to say, For the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a real speech, saying to Christ in the audience of all the world, in effect, as much as I declare thee this day to be my Son, My only begotten Son, one in substance, with me eternally. And if you have Dixon's commentary, you can read that on page seven. And he's succinct, pointed and accurate and true and helpful when he says that. So you see. Who is your father? Who begot you? And you can name him, can't you? I can name who begot me, who begot the Son, God the Father. Now, when's your birthday? Oh, you all know when your birthday is, don't you? When's the birthday of the Son of God? You can't tell when his birthday is because he's eternally begotten, eternally begotten. eternally begotten. Then what does it mean, this day have I begotten thee? Well, I think Dixon has it right, Romans 1, 4. It was this day when it was declared by the resurrection of Jesus Christ that he is the Son of God. That proved it, that he truly is the eternal Son of God. And so this day he was begotten. That is, declared to be begotten. as I am, we need to understand that there are some people who understand exactly what it means to be begotten by the Father. And everyone who understands that is a heretic. The Aryans understand it. That's the modern day Jehovah's Witnesses. He was the first created being. Well, they're heretics. They don't know who Jesus is. And you can go down through the list of Islam understands it. Well, he was the first great prophet. They're heretics. They don't know Jesus. If we know Jesus, we know he's eternally begotten. And we can't explain it to our children when they ask us, except to say this is a mystery of the Trinity. A glorious, glorious mystery of the Trinity, eternally begotten, publicly declared to be that at his resurrection. C.H. Spurgeon says of this, you are my son. Here is a noble proof of the glorious divinity of our Emmanuel. For under which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Spurgeon goes on to say, what a mercy to have a divine redeemer in whom to rest our confidence. And then then Spurgeon goes on to say, It is a fact that there's dispute about this verse. And then he in a very quaint saying in his treasury of David in the quaint sayings. He just this is the only statement he has in the quaint saying if you've if you've read Spurgeon's Treasury of David, you know, he has the commentary that he has the quaint sayings. And there's many, many quaint sayings that he lists from other authors. This is the only one on this verse. He says, the controversy is one of the most unprofitable which ever engaged the pens of theologians. Just accept the fact that he is eternally begotten, declared to be the son of God, as Romans chapter 1, verse 4. But what I want to emphasize, and this may be the end of my meditation tonight, is verse 8. You notice what Christ is really speaking here. And but he's quoting his father. He says, ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. And then you shall break them with a rod of iron. You should dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. This is a this is a very instructive little. Phrase or actually, it's just to be a whole sentence and ask of me. So here's the eternally begotten son told by the eternal father to ask him something. I assume, therefore, it must be an eternal asking. I don't know how else to think about it. And what's he to ask the nations? And in a sense, that's already been answered because he's up at the right hand, the father reigning of all the nations. But in a sense, it's yet he's yet asking and yet to be answered because we read in the next phrase and the ends of the earth for your possession. What kind of possession does Jesus Christ have? Well, the kind of possession he has is the rule and reign of in the hearts of all his people. That's what he has. And he says, ask that you will have this rule and reign and control over the hearts of men and women and boys and girls. Does he have control over your heart? Is he ruling over your heart? Oh, I trust that he is. Here is the God, man, Christ, Jesus ruling, and he wants he's going to have the possession in the spiritual sense. And then in the literal, historical, physical sense, He's going to break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. So you see, people who do not who put all their hopes in in politics and politicians and presidents and premiers and so forth, they're going to be sadly disappointed at the last day when they see them all judged. Ah, but there is a possession that Jesus Christ has in the hearts of his people as his people bow to him and recognize him. having all rule and authority and power and dominion and say, I'm yours, Lord, I submit to you. I don't want to be amongst the nations that are raging against you. I want to be the man of Psalm one, the blessed man who meditates upon the law of God day and night. Well, there's a third part of the psalm, and I'll just mention it briefly, and that is We find here the advice that's given to the rulers of the nations. I suppose that if you're ever given an opportunity to preach to Mr. Putin or Mr. Biden or any of the rulers of nations, that this would be the text you'd want to use. I don't know what other text you could possibly choose. And I don't know if I'd be brave enough to do it, but I'll never be asked, so I don't have to worry about it, you know. Here's the advice. The advice to all the rulers of all the nations is, serve the Lord of fear and with trembling. Notice he says, serve the Lord of fear and rejoice with trembling. So he doesn't ask the kings of the earth to be scared to death that they're going to get cast into hell at this moment. He says, no, serving with, serving with fear. But the kind of fear you need to have is a fear that's rejoicing with trembling because of the greatness, the majesty and the mercy of our God. And that's advice for us, isn't it? We serve him not out of dread, no, out of love. But we rejoice with trembling, knowing that he is the great and majestic and glorious God. There's none like him in heaven or on earth. And then the final advice given to the kings, kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way. In other words, if you don't serve him with fear and rejoice with trembling and you do not kiss by kiss, it means to bow before him, acknowledge him. That was a very common way that one indicated their submission to someone else. You'll perish and his wrath only has to be kindled a little, just a little. And then that will be the end. But we end the psalm on this wonderful, wonderful note. Blessed are all those who put their trust in him. So if you're trusting in him, you're blessed. If you're not, it is not good for you. In the end, it's judgment. Just a little kindling of his wrath will bring that judgment. So be encouraged. We all need to be encouraged and we need to learn to ask since since our Christ was said told to ask for the possession of the nations, let's ask that he will possess the nations that he'll save the souls of our children, our grandchildren, of our friends and our neighbors and of people all around the world. Our father, we thank you for this song. May it may be an encouragement to us as we think about your glory and your wonder. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.