Well, we've read Psalm 2, we've sung Psalm 2, and now it's time to preach Psalm 2 and learn Psalm 2 and walk through it together, which is the plan here this evening. And welcome again to another episode of Psalms in the summer, Psalms, summer in Psalms, whatever we're calling it, but we are in Psalm 2. That's where we're going to be, that's where we're going to stay and understand this familiar Psalm, I think, to most in what we have before us. Well, this week I read a story about a Christian who was facing his own death by persecution and I thought it fit real well as an intro to our Psalm. It was 360 AD, the Roman Emperor was Flavius Julianus, and he tried to reinstate pagan worship to the Roman Empire, which had previously been abolished under his father Constantine in 313 AD. The followers of Christ were seen as a powerful enemy to the Roman gods. And so, Julianus tried to literally remove Christianity from the face of the earth. It's found in his writings that that was his goal. He took the lives of countless Christians, even though Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire at that time, and it was legal, he still went after them. Well, one evening while he was entertaining his friends, Julianus taunted one believer who was named Agaton. With so many Christians being put to death, the emperor asked of Agaton, how is your carpenter of Nazareth? Is he finding enough work these days? Without hesitating, Agaton replied, He is perhaps taking time away from building mansions for the faithful to build a coffin for your empire. It's strong, it's bold, but it's true. Centuries have passed. Where is Julianus? Have you even heard of him? Some of you maybe, but probably most not. I know you've heard of the Roman Empire, but even that, where is it now? It hasn't even been even slightly significant since the mid 15th century. A coffin was made for that empire, just as Agaton said. And the reason for that is because only one king reigns. One kingdom stands. And that kingdom continues to grow and build and spread every day. And such rebellion by Julianus stands and represents all rather pathetic attempts of men to revolt against the authority of God's King. People may try, but no one has ever been able to even make a dent into the kingdom of the King of Kings. His kingdom is invincible. The question for tonight as we look at Psalm 2 is really this, are we living according to his eternal kingship? Or are we working hard on a vain attempt at our own sandcastle kingdoms that will one day give way to his righteous fury? It's a question for believer and unbeliever alike. And that's why it stands here at the front of the Psalms. Psalm one, as you remember, exposed the two kinds of people that live in this world. One is righteous and they live by faith. They live according to God's word. They delight in his word. The other person is an unredeemed sinner who lives according to their own desires. They delight in themselves. For those who live by faith in the word of God, who delight in it, they will live eternally before God's presence, but those who refuse will perish. Psalm two then comes along and exposes which kingdom people belong to, either to the king whom God has anointed as ruler of all or to themselves as masters of their own destiny. So essentially Psalm one, ends up being a call to live according to God's written word or perish. While Psalm 2 is a call to live according to the living word, who is God's son, Jesus, to delight in him, to find your soul's refuge in him or perish. Which kingdom are you submitting your life to? That's what we will look at in Psalm 2 this evening. Let me pray, and then we'll look at it together. O great God of highest heaven, would you occupy our time and thoughts tonight? Grant us your abundant mercy to understand your word as you have given it. May we not be hasty to rush past your truth. May we not be slow to grasp its importance for our daily walk. Help us to grasp it and apply it so that we may live to please you, our King of Kings. In Christ's name, amen. Well, a couple quick notes real quick as we kind of, before we get into the outline of this, just a few things about Psalm 2 that are just helpful to have. First, the New Testament quotes Psalm 2 18 times. And every single time that it quotes it, it is in reference to Jesus. In other words, the New Testament authors understood this psalm to be purely messianic. It is about Jesus. And so when we read, like in verse 2 for example, that the Lord's anointed, in Hebrew, Meshah, Messiah, it is talking about Jesus. note to just kind of have in the back of your head. When it comes to who wrote this, we don't have a title for the name. Like if you look over in Psalm 3, you can see it's a Psalm of David. Psalm 4 is the same way. It's a Psalm of David. We don't have that title here. And so we don't actually know who the author is. We also don't have a context like you see in Psalm 3 or in Psalm 4, where you're given sort of an idea of what's going on. So we don't know exactly when this is written. However, and you can mark this, or maybe it's in your study notes on the side of your page and cross-references, Acts 4.25 identifies this psalm, Psalm 2, as being written by King David. And that's good enough for me to say it was David's writing. What's interesting about this is this does not describe anything about David himself, nor his kingly reign. nothing in his life, nothing in the book of 2 Samuel describes what we have here. And so, as I said, this is purely messianic. This is about God and his Son who will reign forever. And this is the first of many messianic Psalms throughout the Psalter Psalm 8, Psalm 16, Psalm 22, Psalm 110 would all be in that genre. They are written specifically and particularly about the future kingdom of Jesus the Messiah. One final note as sort of just sort of a big picture overview so we get it. The point of Psalm 2 is this. Humanity may attempt to resist God's kingship and sovereignty over all, but God has established his rule through his son. And he invites sinners to come and embrace his son before it's too late and they perish forever. That's what's going on here. Now, it works itself out in what I can see four different voices, and that will be simply our outline, very easy to see. The first voice that we see is in verses one through three, and I'm going to call this the rebellious voice of the wicked. The rebellious voice of the wicked. Drake already read it for us, he's saying it, but let's look at it one more time. Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devise a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us. Our narrator starts with a why. but it is not a gaining information kind of why. Rather, this is more of a statement why. And you've experienced these before, right? Why are you doing that? Like, you shouldn't be doing that. Or you do with your kids. Are you really going to have another snack after I told you not to have any more? It's not really a question, it's a statement. And this beginning Y draws us in to understand what the nations are doing is just downright stupid. And two words are given to us to help us see this, vain and an uproar. They're in verse one. Uproar is the Hebrew regish. It means restless or kind of agitated. One translation of this word regish translated as tumultuously assembled. Tumult actually is used for the same word in Psalm 64 too. And I don't know what a tumult is because I don't use this word. So I had to look it up. A tumult means disordered agitation. It's the milling about of a crowd, usually with confusion and the uproar of voices. some synonyms, commotion, chaotic, a ruckus, bustling about, or this one, everything is helter skelter. The word picture that's given for this word is a roaring sea, a tossing around sea with restless waves, an ocean in a storm. When I hear this word, I just kind of think of some of the things that are going on in our culture when folks get together for an evil cause together in a park or for some kind of a protest and they don't really have an agenda other than to walk around and be loud. So the nations are restless. They're chaotic and they're agitated. But we're given another word in verse 1. They devise a vein thing. Vein is rake in Hebrew and it is to empty something. It's kind of like dumping out a bag or a bucket. Something you do at TSA when they want to look through your stuff. But in scripture, rake is used to describe something that promises a reward, but ultimately is a meaningless, worthless pursuit. It's like being thirsty after wandering through a desert, seeing a bucket next to a well, but when you come up to it, the well is completely dry. It was the promise of water to quench your thirst, but it is nothing. Proverbs 12 and 28 talk about a fool who pursues rake, which is understanding they have worthless goals in life. And these worthless goals will, in these Proverbs, give them plenty of poverty. How do you like that? The synonym of this word is probably more familiar to you, chavel, which is used throughout Ecclesiastes, and this word means meaningless, or the pursuit after soap bubbles, as we learned in our study of Ecclesiastes. And so here we have the nations of the world. We have the peoples of the world collectively agitated, restless, and pursuing something that has no value, that's meaningless. It's like building a sandcastle in a hurricane. And it's not just the people, right? Verse two, they're being led by rulers, kings of the earth, rulers. And so this anxiety, this futile action is a worldwide deal from top to bottom. The people are milling about trying to figure it out and its leaders are collaborating together. Which if you step back, this is sort of odd. We live in a world that's pretty divided, right? Politics are red hot. Nobody can see eye to eye, even within their own parties. Nations are on the brink of war all the time. And so this is very strange. This should feel very strange. What is one thing that everybody, especially rulers, could be so united in on? And it's something that is worthless to pursue. The answer is the end of verse two. They are forming an insurrection against God and his anointed. This is what they're united against. The nations, the peoples of the earth, the kings, the rulers are planning and plotting and preparing to overthrow Yahweh and his Messiah. And we can see this in our world, right? You've seen this in unbelievers. They are agitated at God all the time. They don't like their life situation. They don't like God's plan or will. Our rulers make laws and enforce regulations that attempt to keep God out of everything. Every other agenda is fine, but God and his word and his Messiah, Jesus, is not fine. And when you even suggest that God or Jesus must at least be in the conversation, we could talk about everything else. Let's also talk about them. Then they're just stirred up and it's rage that comes within them. Unbelievers don't want God. They don't want Jesus. The problem is they know that God is sovereign. That's why they want to overthrow him. They know he's sovereign over the universe and they know he's therefore sovereign over their lives, yet because God doesn't give them what they want or affirm their own autonomy, they rage against him and they work diligently and plan often and counsel together to find a way to overthrow God. This attitude of overthrowing, by the way, is why Satan's plan in the tribulation and after the millennial kingdom is going to work. He will convince people in the tribulation and at the end of the millennial kingdom that they can overthrow God and the Messiah and people will believe him and they will all be, they will all go after him. And of course they will be ultimately overthrown and cast into the lake of fire. The point is the unbelieving heart spends its whole life agitated, restless against God who is sovereign and desires to get rid of him. Do you see why the narrator calls this a vain thing? Why it's worthless and stupid, dumb, it's foolish. Really guys? You're gonna overthrow God? This is the dumbest idea ever. But this is us in our sinfulness. It's foolish thinking. This is who we all are naturally when we're dead in our sins. This was your way before salvation. Don't forget that. Sin blinds and causes us to think stupidly, considering God's ways like, verse three, fetters, chains, cords, thick ropes, as if they hold us back. Have you ever heard someone say, you know, as soon as I let go of religion, I just, you know, I just felt so free. Man, the burden was just lifted off my back because I was trying to be a Christian, but man, I'm free of it now. Unbelievers hate God's ways. They only see God's ways as a prison that they want to break out of. And so thinking they need to be free from this prison, They must do what Psalm 14.1 says. They must get rid of God. They must find a way to overthrow him, which ultimately amounts to all they can do, which is just deny his existence. Psalm 14.1, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. But this is foolish because, and they're called a fool, because this doesn't get rid of God. And it certainly doesn't get rid of God's rule. God still reigns. All it does is make you pursue vanity. It would be like deciding to live however you want saying, there's no US government. There's no police. I can do whatever I want, how I want, when I want, the way I want. I'm my own person. How's that going to go? When you run your first red light. They lock up people for this kind of stuff, right? They label them with mental illness. We pity people who have such foolishness to think that they can live free. But look, this is what the psalmist is saying about sinners, unredeemed sinners attitudes and actions against God. It's foolishness. It's vain. It's worthless. And this is all of us before Christ. Before we were saved, before God placed us into Christ by his grace and mercy, we were living in and for our sins. In rebellion against God, from the first humans, Adam and Eve, we all naturally believe in our own minds that our way is better than God's way. But if you step back and just think about it, it's ridiculous. Why? Because you're talking about puny, weak humans taking on the omnipotent, all-knowing God. This is like an ant thinking he can match up with a bulldozer. It's ridiculous. And this is what we're like when we think we can throw God off, his authority off our lives. But that's the rebellion, the rebellious voice of an unredeemed sinner. Well, as ruler, God has a response, a reaction. So let's look at verses four to six where we see the responding voice of the Lord. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord scoffs at them, and then he will speak to them in his anger, terrify them in his fury, saying, but as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. So in verses one through three, we read of this all-inclusive, international, multicultural, universal warlike rebellion of the human race and its rulers against the authority of God and his anointed. And God's reaction to all of this? Laughter. Scoffing. Do you have in your theology proper a laughing and scoffing God? Because here it is. And it's not just here that God does this. Psalm 37, 13, God laughs at ungodly people who could think they can actually do real harm to God's people. Psalm 59, 8, God laughs at evil people who think God doesn't know their evil hearts. And even in Job 41, 29, God laughs at the threat of javelins and war against him. And here in Psalm 2, God laughs. He scoffs. He mocks people who believe they can usurp his absolute authority over their lives. You and I both know this is not a humorous laugh necessarily. It's kind of a pitiful scoffing laugh. Like when your five-year-old honestly believes they can take on his older teenage brother. you sit back and just laugh because it's ridiculous. But even more so than that, these people, these creatures who are injured and down for the count because of a mere paper cut, they want to oppose and they actually believe they can defeat an omnipotent God, a God who neither tires, nor gets weary, nor even breaks a sweat, nor even gets winded. His power is limitless and unmatched and unfazed seen in the very fact that he created the universe in all of its complexity by merely speaking a word out of his mouth. And he continues to uphold it by that same word. It takes no effort for him to create out of nothing. Again, this is, it's laughable. It's an ant against a bulldozer. Opposing God is the highest level of insanity. And it's the only thing, and the only thing you can do is initially just laugh at it. That's God's response at how ridiculous this is. But God is a holy God. And it's not just laughing and scoffing because it will change from laughter to anger. Let's notice just something real quick in verse 4. We change from the personal covenant name of God. You see that in verse 2, the capital L-O-R-D in verse 2, that's the name Yahweh. Here in verse 4, we have his title, Lord. Lord, Adonai, meaning master. It's an emphasis on ownership. In other words, God can laugh and mock and be unconcerned at puty human's attempt to usurp his authority because he owns everything. It's already his. Isaiah 29, 16, shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made should say to its maker, I did not make me, or what is formed say to him it's formed, he has no understanding. Kind of a ridiculous conversation that a clay would ever have with their maker. Isaiah 45, nine, woe to the one who quarrels with his maker, an earthenware vessel among the vessels of the earth. Will the clay say to the potter, what are you doing? Or the thing that you are making say, he has no hands. This is ridicule and it's confident because he's the Lord of all. Well, the laughing subsides. and God's holiness takes front stage. Just for a moment before we look at that, quick word to believers who are not raging against God and his Christ, but have placed their trust in the Lord Jesus. I just want you to see verse four as great comfort for your soul. Because no matter how the world flexes its proud muscles or flaunts its vain glory and struts around in its wealth that is in complete defiance to God, you and I must remember that we serve the Lord, the owner of it all. We may hear verses one through three from our leaders or from others who have say that they've broken free from the chains of following God, but we must hear God's voice in verse four and take comfort that even though our world rages against him, God forever sits on the actual seat of power. He is the Lord in the heavens. He can confidently scoff at people who rage against him because they have no power. This should give your heart rest and comfort in the God in whom you serve. Nothing is outside of His control. Notice then as we roll into verse five, His disposition before His talks, His attitude, anger, fury, For one who has all the power to do whatever he desires, this is very bad. But it's important to remember God's attitude towards sin. He hates it. And he hates it with fierce anger. Look, you and I too often, we excuse our sin. or sometimes we just don't take it very seriously, we're just so used to grace and mercy and yes, all of that's true. But we need to also remember that God has anger and fury against sin, especially the sin mentioned here of making ourselves God, of ruling and walking by our own way, of replacing God's rule with our own. which by the way is actually a fairly helpful understanding of what sin is. If you want a nice definition of sin, it's not just missing the mark, but it is saying to God, I can do things on my own. Thank you very much. Sin is wanting to overthrow God's rule over your life. It's autonomy from God. It's rejecting God's rule over me. That's sin. We just have a hard time seeing it that way because we live in the grace and mercy and forgiveness of God, and that's good. But grace and forgiveness doesn't mean that we should not grasp the hatred and fury that God has towards sin and sinners. Remember, our sin deserves us to be cast into the lake of fire forever. Just one sin deserves this. A lifetime of goodness could never overturn one sin because God is holy. And this is just something we don't think about very often. How holy God actually is. We see God too often as a big, softy, pillowy, sort of grandpa, Santa type figure who's just there when we have problems and he'll dole out a little money for us and pat us on the back and tell us it's going to be okay and we can cuddle into his fluffy self. He's God. He's the ruler overall. Sovereign in power and glory, who takes rebellion with the utmost seriousness as an affront against His holiness. And His wrath is kindled against every sin. And the only reason that he has not responded immediately against sinners, that their every sin is because of his mercy that wants to save them in Christ. 2 Peter 3.9, God is patient, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. The fact that a sinner is not blown away every time they sin is because of mercy. But don't think that his merciful patience doesn't mean that he doesn't eternally despise sin. Psalm 5 verse 4, you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness. No evil dwells with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes. You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood. Yahweh abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit. So what is God's answer? We know his attitude, but what is his answer? Verse 6. Notice the contrast. Verse 3 is, let us, but God says, no, I am Lord and I will. You may think that you can tear away from me and my King, but you are sorely mistaken. I am the Lord. I am the ruler. You will not reign my anointed will. For the unbeliever, this should be terrifying. Nothing they can do, nothing they can spend their life on will even nudge God away from his plan. to set Christ, his anointed, his Messiah as ruler over all. It will happen, no matter how much people devise, no matter how much they scheme, no matter how much they plan or organize or counsel, God's anointed, Jesus Christ will rule. And yet for the believer, for the one who will later be called one who takes refuge in Jesus, for those who are walking by faith in Christ, who have entrusted their lives and souls to Him. This installation of the King is comfort. This is what we look forward to. Look, life can be complex and it is complex. It's full of ups and downs. It's confusing. Life can steamroll us many times over. There are tons of difficulties and heartaches and trials and internal struggles that we have to deal with. Other people can harm us. Sickness can debilitate us. is hard, and there's no diminishing that. But look at what verse six says, and believer take comfort. God is on his throne doing what he wills. That is sweet comfort. It should be. We cannot fully comprehend all the implications of our lives. We can't always see through the storms and the difficulties and the pains. But God has not lost control. And that's what calms our hearts. Because we know, Romans 8, 28, that God causes, that is an active verb, meaning He is in total control of all things. God causes all things to work for good to those who love Him and are called according to His name. My friends, no matter what happens, good or bad, No matter how down things can get, internally or externally, God's hand is always on the wheel. And he is on the wheel of your life. And because you are a child by his grace and through faith, he only has great and good for you. And nothing, not even rebellious sinners' plans can ever deviate from that goodness. Of course, ultimately his plan is to literally install Jesus as King upon a throne and rule and reign forever from Mount Zion in Israel. That's what's described in Revelation 19 and 20. That's where history is going. No matter what happens, no matter who rules, which country at what time or which province or which state, the presidential election this year means very little in the grand scheme of God's plan. Psalm 20 verse seven, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in Yahweh our God. That should be your little verse you walk into the voting booth with. Do your duty as a citizen in this country, no doubt, but do not place any real confidence in whoever ends up being the leader. God is sovereign. God is the one who rules. Trust him. And so we've heard the rebellious voice and the response from God. The scene shifted to another voice. from rebellion to God's voice. And now we go to the voice of the anointed, who is God's king and who is also God's son. And so let's look at number three, the ruling voice of the son. In verses seven through nine. Here, Jesus speaks. I will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh. He, God, said to me, you are my son. Today I've begotten you. Ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with the rod of iron and will shatter them like earthenware. So sometime in the past, God the Father had a conversation with God the Son. And by the way, this tells us right off the bat that God is more than one person. There is only one God. But God is two people, at least at this point, father and son. Later in scripture, of course, we discover that God is actually three persons. One God, three persons. Each is fully God, fully and completely. No one is more God than the other. They don't share being God. Each person is the one God. God is three in one. Here is the doctrine of the Trinity in the Old Testament, God in eternity past, the Father speaking with the Son. There's your theology proper for the day. And we get this conversation about God, the Father's decree, that His plan and His purpose when He creates, which is coming, future to this conversation, which is coming in human history. This means that before anything existed and it was just God, he already had a plan. He already had a direction. He already mapped out the whole thing. He made the end before he made the beginning. And the end is going to be his son as king over all. It's exactly what this conversation is about. Look at the details just very briefly. The father tells the son, the anointed one, the Messiah, the King, Jesus, first, you are my son. Here's the subordinate role of the second person of the triune God. He is the son. That doesn't mean that he is any less God. Jesus is fully God. But this is the role he has within the Godhead. He, like a son, is submissive to his father. And not the kind of son who just kind of goes along to get along because he doesn't want his dad to be mad. No, he is in perfect step harmony with his father, lockstep with him. He agrees with all of it. Furthermore, this sonship also points out the fact that the rulership of the world is rightfully his. because whatever the Father owns, the Son inherits. God created all, and therefore everything belongs to God. Psalm 24, one, the earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world and all who dwell in it. So the world belongs to God the Father, ergo it belongs to the one who will inherit it, the Son. And don't get thrown off by the end of verse seven. Today I have begotten you. This does not mean that God was created or Jesus was created or born somehow. He is eternal because he is God. In an ancient Near East, that culture, the word begotten doesn't refer to birth or creation. Rather, it refers mainly to kingly succession. Kings are considered begotten when they entered their kingship because they now have come to pass or come to life what is theirs, sort of like birth, but not birth in a physical sense. So this is just inheriting language and shows their equality. Secondly, he says, God says to the son, ask of me. So here again, we see the son is clearly subordinate role, even though he is the same substance, same essence as the father. He is still God, a very God. He is eternal, living in eternity past, but his role is subordinate. It is though a loving relationship with the son. And it's loving enough that the father tells the son to ask of the father for the inheritance of all creation and to be able to rule all of it. That's what the father wants to give him. Plus notice that the father is, again, the one who initiates this conversation. He tells the son to ask me for this inheritance. This is the purpose of making it all for his son. Third, we see that I will surely give you the nations and the ends of the earth. So before, again, history even begins, God's plan is for the Messiah, the son, to be the king, ruling over all nations, ruling every part of the world. He will own everything. Everything will be his own possession. Fourth, look how he will rule them. And keep in mind, the world is mostly rebellious. Verse nine, you will break them and you will shatter them. Here we learn that the son is not only the king, he is also the judge. And this is how his kingdom will run. And I'm not sure if you think of Jesus like this, but you need to make sure to get a right picture of him for who he really is. Of course, in the gospels, Jesus came to serve and to be humble. He came to die to redeem sinners from the penalty for which their sins brought them. The wages of sin is death. And Jesus came to die that death to receive the condemnation, as we looked at last week, so that sinners might go free. The purpose of the first coming was to redeem and to serve. That is true. It is also true that that is not the purpose for when Jesus comes back. That is not the end game. The climax, the pinnacle, the culmination of all things is the absolute authority of God the Son. And so we need to understand that the first coming was humility, but in the end, as this Psalm describes, Jesus is coming as King and Judge. So important is this concept that we remember this, that quoted three times in the book of Revelation, including Revelation 19, which describes this coming, this psalm, this verse is quoted. because this is the end of the story. Revelation 19.15, from his mouth comes a sharp sword, this is describing Jesus when he comes, so that with it he may strike down the nations and he will rule them with the rod of iron. When Jesus returns, it will be in judgment, and that will be the characteristic of his reign. He will put down rebellion often and instantly. All people in his kingdom will be required to follow his law or face immediate judgment. Those who oppose him at that time, the rightful king, the king of kings will be crushed, will be broken, shattered. Why? Because wickedness will not have a place in his kingdom. A good king, a good government does not stand for rebellion against God and his will be a perfect kingdom and rule. So a voice of the rebellious is looking more and more ridiculous by the verse, is it not? They want to smash God's rulership over creation. They want to be their own God. But God, the sovereign over all, has already planned history. He's already decreed what it's going to be from the beginning to the end. And history is headed toward Jesus as king over all. How foolish must a person be? How blind? how agitated and filled with anxiety must be in their lives to know that everything they're doing is a complete waste of time. But again, that's the blindness of sin. Now again, I just take a step back for the believer as one who has faith in the Son of God, who has a redeemed stole because of Christ. This is comfort again. This dominance, when we see this, is lovely to us because no matter what happens, again, election year, if countries keep circling the toilet of gross sins, they celebrate gross sins, they persecute people who don't affirm their gross sins, you and I need to remember that not only does God reign now, but it's all headed toward His reign in the future. Christ will win and he will reign. That's great comfort and peace. Now, the psalm could have ended here. All mankind trembling at the wrath that is to come on upon rebellious hearts, upon hard-hearted, deserved sinners, but it doesn't. And praise God, it doesn't. Why does it not end here? Because God is a God of great mercy and grace. He shows this compassion on sinners by calling us to the grace of repentance so that we can know true salvation. Ye sinners, seek his grace, whose wrath ye cannot bear. Fly to the shelter of his cross. Find salvation there. And so we conclude with the repentant voice to be saved. That's the final point here in verses 10 through 12. These final verses are grace upon grace. God and his anointed has every right to smoke the rebellion in our hearts and in the hearts of every person. And yet instead, he gives us the remedy, the solution. the invitation, if you will, to avoid his kindled and just coming wrath. And that remedy is repentance. What grace, what grace that a God should have this toward us. What King, what ruler exposes the rebellion of the people he rules, and instead of smiting them on the spot, instead offers them salvation. What a wonderful God. What does repentance look like? Well, we're given five imperatives here. It'd be fun to preach on all five, but I'm trying to get the whole Psalm done, so that's not going to happen. But here are the imperatives. Number one, show discernment. Literally, be wise in Hebrew. Notice your surroundings, people. Pay attention. Read the field and stop this rebellion. Stop making plans to rebel and instead see God rules. And that rulership is in Christ. Lay down your weapons. Stop your schemes before you're destroyed. Second, take warning into verse 10. This is really just a parallel statement, I think, to show discernment. And together, these imperatives are calling the leaders of the rebellion and the nations to understand their situation and their evil, that it's vain and it's foolish. God is calling them to stop this. Because the result is gonna be, you're gonna be crushed. under a righteous son. So stop being foolish. Stop pursuing vanity. Take yourself off the throne of your life. Stop thinking of yourself as yours. As if you own you, God owns you. These two actions are the beginning of repentance. But repentance isn't complete if you just merely recognize the wrong thing to follow and do nothing else. to repentance is turning from evil completely and humbly submitting yourself to God and His Son. That's exactly what the last three imperatives are. Look at them. Verse 11, worship Yahweh with reverence, rejoice with trembling, and do homage to the Son. So repentance is show discernment, take warning, And instead, worship the Lord, rejoice with trembling, do homage to the Son. By faith, throw off worship of yourself and your way and instead embrace the Son and His way. Align yourself with God and His Son. Stop being the one who receives glory and give glory to Him. I find the end of verse 11. to be very interesting, rejoice with trembling. We don't usually put those two together, do we? Rejoicing and trembling, the word is actually fear. Some of you ladies are reading Michael Reeve's book, Rejoice and Tremble, and I commend it to you, it is very good. In the third chapter, which I think is where you're at, I don't remember, I don't know though, but anyway, Reeves points out that scripture is clear that the fear of God defines true joy in God. The fear of the Lord is pleasure to believers, for it's about finding his fearfully lovely glory. That's great. In other words, the fear of God, the fear of Christ, for a believer is not fear of punishment. That is for those who continue in rebellion. That's a satanic form of fear. That kind of fear sees God only as hazardous. And they rightly should fear God's wrath. No. The fear that is mentioned here, a rejoicing tremble that saves you from his wrath, is a fear that is both reverent, because he's God, but it is also overwhelmed by his goodness and majesty and holiness and grace and righteousness and love that he has toward you as a sinner and then entrust yourself to him. In other words, it's true faith in God. It's a stop cowering and distrusting God and seeing his ruling as chains that hold you down and instead giving him everything and walking after his ways. Michael Reeves goes on in the book to prove that joy and fear are the experience of the believer by quoting multiple scriptures. I'll just give you a couple. Proverbs 28, 14, blessed or happy is the one who fears God always. Nehemiah 1.11, God's people delight to fear God. Psalm 112.1, how blessed is the man who fears the Lord. Parallel statement, who greatly delights in his commands. And so we're back to Psalm 1 and 2 again. Fear of the Lord and delighting in his commands are parallel. They're the same concept. And of course, Reeves quotes Psalm 211. Reeves then finishes with a great quote from Spurgeon, and I'll read it to you. And what does this ultimately look like? It ultimately looks like verse 12, doing homage to the Son, literally in Hebrew, kiss the Son, lowering yourself before a superior, being humble to whatever Lord you want of me, whatever you desire, your will, not mine. In New Testament terms, deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me. Or 1 Thessalonians 1, turning from God, turning to God from idols to serve a living and true God and waiting for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, that is Jesus who rescued us from the wrath to come. Or at the end of verse 12, blessed are all who take refuge in him. So which kingdom do you find yourself? under the reign of King Jesus by faith, repentant and believing in Him, taking refuge your soul in Him? Or are you preparing your heart for the wrath to come by pursuing worthless pursuits? You see, these two Psalms, as I said earlier, are grace upon grace. They reveal where we find ourselves naturally, wicked, sinners, scoffers, against God, waiting his wrath. But it also shows us what we can be by faith in King Jesus, blessed, happy, prosperous no matter what's going on in life, righteous standing before God, anticipating His return, following Christ, finding our ultimate joy in Him. And how we get in on this blessed life is simply by the gospel. by repentance of sins, repentance of our old hell bound way of life and turning to Christ by faith and taking refuge in Him, following Him, delighting in Him, seeking to do His will, all by faith according to His grace. It's the gospel again. Believe in it and be saved. And if you are believing it, and live like it. Jesus is your King. Do you live like it? Show the world that Jesus is whom you find your greatest joy. Show them that no matter what, He is your King and you will live according to His word. Let me pray. Father, thank you for our time again tonight in your word. for something so clear and helpful to us. Lord, too often, you know our hearts. We are, even as believers, we can be rebellious. And yet, Lord, we understand your grace that is found in Christ, the grace that's found in repentance, which is why our life is full of repentance. Help us, Lord, to see who we truly are. And help us then to marvel and wonder at the gospel. And that you have opened our eyes to see our rebellious hearts, that we're doing vain pursuits throughout our life. And you opened our eyes and help us to see our sin, the ruin of it, the eternal hell-bound ruin of it. and You caused us to see Christ, who saved us according to His death and resurrection. That's Your decree, that we'd be saved in Him, and that one day we would be with Him when He reigns forever. Oh, we look forward to that day, Lord. Come, Lord Jesus, quickly. We long for Your reign. Until then, Lord, by Your Spirit, by Your grace and Your power, Continue to help us strive for holiness. And may we trust you in the ups and downs of life. You are our King and our Lord. And we are so thankful that we are loved by you. In Jesus' name, amen.