Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome back. It is so good to be with you all this morning. I appreciate your understanding of my absence yesterday. Long story short, I had a Booster shot and had a little bit of a reaction to it. I don't have the Rona anything like that I told somebody yesterday, you know I probably should have put that on Facebook when I put the message on there about not being with you yesterday. I appreciate your understanding I'm feeling much better and it is good to be back with y'all. I'll be it on a Friday But hey a good way to start the weekend I hope that you all have had a wonderful week. It just seems really disjointed for me, but nevertheless, we made it through, and we are here, and I'm happy to be with you. Perhaps you recall that when we started back on Tuesday, we actually started a brand new study on the book of Psalms. As I said then, I'll say it again, there is a Psalm for every occasion. It doesn't matter what you're going through. It doesn't matter what you're facing. There is a psalm in God's word that addresses that, whether it's the emotions that we're facing or the difficulties we're experiencing. And as a result, the Psalms show us what our focus ought to be, because the Psalms reveal to us who God really is. And all of them point to the person of Jesus Christ, to what he did, to what he does, to how he fulfills his work as our Messiah. And what a blessing that is, especially in the world that we're living in today. If you recall, Last time I was with you, we finished up Psalm 1, the very first Psalm, which really is a couple of promises. First, the promise that we focused on on Tuesday was verse 1, Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of markers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. And as a result, The one who does this is like a tree planted by rivers of water, receiving nourishment as a constant, never having to worry about that sustenance that is necessary to growth. What a promise. As I said then, the world promises this left and right, usually over the things it's trying to sell to you. But nevertheless, only God can deliver that fullness, that completeness, that wholeness. And doesn't that make sense? Because God himself is holy and has said, be holy because I am holy. Remember, one of the keys of holiness is being whole, W-H-O-L-E, as in complete. Yet, as we saw on Wednesday, not so with the wicked. wicked are like chaff the wind blows them away therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment nor centers in the assembly of the righteous for the lord watches over the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish this is a promise my friends and it's especially a sweet promise in some ways and a very bitter promise in other ways it's a sweet promise when we look at the world around us and it seems like only those who are wicked are the ones that are prospering Those that are getting ahead those that seem to be having all the power and enjoying life and so forth and they're they're experiencing the benefits of riches and if there is such a thing. That's one of those things where they say money doesn't buy happiness, but I'd sure like to give it a try, right? Thankfully, the Lord has not put me in that situation. I say that, but the fact that if you're watching this right now, the grand majority of us are in the United States, and as a result, we are wealthy beyond our wildest dreams, even the poorest of us, comparatively to the rest of the world. But nevertheless, This is a comfort to us in Psalm 1, that those that seem to be enjoying life and everything's fine, that have rejected God and have sought to mock Him, that this life is brief, y'all. That the day of judgment is coming and those who have mocked God, those who have stood in the way of sinners and sat in that seat of mockers, those that are the wicked will not stand. For the Lord watches over the way of His people, the way of the righteous. but those that are wicked will perish. And so, to that end, we come to Psalm 2. Now, it's fascinating to me of all the ways that the psalmist could begin the book of Psalms. That's how he begins. But chapter 2 is also fascinating to me. And chapter 2 is also something that is sweet, yet at the same time bitter. Oh, and I left that part out of chapter 1. It's sweet to know that those who have rejected God, that have made a mockery of God, that persecute His people, will one day face judgment. But that's bitter too, because it ought to be a prompting to us to share the gospel with others, those who so desperately need it. Psalm 2 also serves as that reminder. Yet also, It is a sweet reminder of what's going on in the world today. Again, sweet and bitter. Let's talk about the bitter side of it. It's bitter because of verse 1. right? And following. And we'll get into that in a second. Let me open us in prayer. Our Father, what a blessing it is to be here together right now. Give us wisdom as we go to your word and help us to receive this wonderful, yet at the same time, this troubling reminder about the world around us. Help us to bask in your greatness and to rest in your sovereignty. And we pray it in Christ's name. Amen. Alright, so Psalm 2, why is this bitter? It's bitter because it tells us what the world is really like, and it does away with any misgivings that we may have. It asks the question, but the question points to the reality. Verse 1, why do the nations conspire and the people's plot in vain? Now again, verse 1 is a question. but it's also a statement. You know, the statement is that the nations are conspiring and that the people are plotting. They're doing so in vain, but that's what's going on. It was going on over 2,000 years ago, it is going on today. And the psalmist asks why. First question, though, is what does he mean by conspiring and the people's plotting? Well, verse two tells us. It says, the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers together against the Lord and against his anointed one. Now we're getting somewhere. This plotting that the world is doing, this conspiring that the world is doing, this stand that the kings of the earth have taken, that the rulers of the earth have taken part in, Y'all, it's not the kings and rulers of the world joining hands to sing, I'd like to buy the world a Coke, or even we are the world, or even set the chickens free from Saturday Night Live, if you remember that. But nevertheless, it's not any of that. God's Word tells us what's really going on in the world. You want to know what's happening. It never ceases to amaze me and I do it myself too. Something happens and I just scratch my head and I say, what in the world is going on? When did people become such fools? When did people decide that this was the path forward? And why do they think that fill in the blank over here is the remedy to make things better? These things are pungent to me and poignant to me. But personally, I think everybody has their things that they really enjoy. I really enjoy history. And I got to tell you, what's going on across our nation with the destruction of history and rewriting and revising and what they're doing to our children. Y'all, this burns me up. It is an absolute travesty what is happening. And I scratch my head and I say, what is going on in the world? And the answer to what in the world is going on is there in verse 2. That again, the reason the world is what the world is like. The reason these things are going on is because the kings and the rulers of the earth have taken their stand, and their stand is not for and with God and His Anointed One, which by the way this points to Christ. It points to God's people, but ultimately it points to Christ! The reason the world is such a terrible place, and by the way it is, there's wonderful things about the world, But there's horrible things about the world, and the reason the world is the way it is is because the world has stood against God, and the world has rejected Jesus Christ. And in this stand, the world has concluded, or as their goal, they have said, verse 3, let us break their chains, they say, and throw off their feathers. The world looks at subordination and obedience to God as slavery. And doesn't that make sense? Go all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Do you remember how Satan tempted Adam and Eve? Why wasn't it by telling them that if you do break God's law, if you eat from this tree, why, God knows you'll be exactly like him. At the core of that is the idea that I will break my bondage to the God above, and I'll do what I want to do. I will be my own God. You want to know what's going on in the world? That's what's going on in the world. And it manifests itself in so many different ways. This idea of breaking chains, throwing off fetters, whether it's the sexual revolution or the enlightenment or what's going on in school systems where it's not even enough that God has been removed from public schools. Public schools curriculum is actively against God. Okay. I'm not trying to cause a stir here or anything like that. I'm pointing out the fact that the world that we live in is not a neutral place. Forget about me. This is not about my contention. This is about whether or not you're going to believe Psalm 2. And there are manifestations of it everywhere, y'all, where the world rejects God and rejects Christ and instead embraces its own license, its own will, its own throwing aside of everything that God has said is pure and true and distorts it and twists it into this reality that we face every day. Now, again, as I've said, that is the bitter part of Psalm 2. Are you ready to hear the sweet part of Psalm 2, at least in this first section that we're covering? How does God react to this? What does this mean for God's people? The idea, and I don't remember, I think it was a Russian cosmonaut that talked about going to outer space and not finding God there. I think it was John Lennon that said Jesus, or the Beatles, are bigger than Jesus. I don't know if it was Voltaire or another philosopher that said that God is dead. Again, if you look at what even the United States embraces as good and complete, y'all come on. We got this situation where yesterday it was announced that the department or the Justice Department is going to sue the state of Texas. It's glad to see that our Justice Department has joined forces with the satanic temple that is suing the state of Texas over its new abortion law, claiming that the state of Texas can't tell women or non-binary people that have babies or menstruating people that happen to be pregnant. Oh my goodness. The point of this lawsuit is that the state of Texas can't tell women what to do with their bodies. And on the same day we get this vaccine mandate that's going to affect 100 million people because the federal government says it's okay for them to tell people what to do with their bodies. Yo, this is not about my opinion on the vaccine or anything else about that. It's to show you the lunacy of the world. And what does God do with this? That's the question. What does the future hold? It says the one enthroned in heaven laughs. It doesn't say that God is worried. It doesn't say that God has ceded his sovereignty and abdicated his throne. doesn't say that He's done with the world around us. No, it's already talked about His Anointed One, which again, ultimately points to Christ, but also points to His people. In this context, it pointed to most likely King David here, God's Anointed One in terms of His King in Israel. But it points to all of these. And the one enthroned in heaven as a result of this effort of the world, this concerted effort to destroy Him, says the one enthroned in heaven laughs. And then it says, the Lord scoffs at them. In other words, when the Lord, the one enthroned in heaven, when Jehovah, God Almighty, sees what's going on in the world, and the world's effort to dispense with Him, He laughs. He scoffs. Be gone. He scoffs. Verse 5, Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill. And it's that concept that we'll come back to when we get back together on Monday. But for right now, this idea of the Lord rebuking in anger and terrifying them in His wrath. You might say, well, when does that happen? You know, we know in the Bible that we have the flood, and from time to time we hear of other things going on. Let me ask you something. Do you not see what's going on in the world as a manifestation of God's wrath? You know, God's wrath is not always fire and brimstone raining from the sky. Sometimes God's wrath is His removing, His restraining hand of grace. In other words, Sometimes God's punishment for sin, oftentimes God's punishment for sin, is for God to say, in effect, I'm not putting words in God's mouth, but in effect, for God to say, you don't have any use for me? You don't care about my law? You don't care about how I've designed things to work? Have it your way. Go along with your sin. The punishment for sin, often enough, is more and more sin. And what that looks like is this world around us that's so foolish that it doesn't know its right hand from its left, that embraces the things that ought to make it weep, and decries the things that ought to make it be filled with joy. The idea that God's wrath isn't present anymore, look at the world around you. And by the way, we just finished Romans. Read Romans 1. Romans 1 says that the wrath of God is being poured out right now. Why? Because the world has rejected God. They've exchanged the truth for a lie. And as a result, God is pouring out His wrath. And my friends, that's what we're seeing. Now, you might say, well, what about the terror part? People aren't terrified of God anymore. You know, in some ways, you might make that argument because we see this continued ramped up pressure, this continued ramped up effort against God and the embracing of wickedness. But let me remind you of what we talked about earlier this week, y'all. Life is short. And one of two things is going to happen. A, Jesus is going to come back and judge us, or B, we will die and we will face judgment. While you and I may see the outside surface level of what's going on with the people of the world that have rejected God and seek to make a mockery of Him, what we don't see is what's going on in the inside. And furthermore, what we cannot know in this life is what they face when they meet the Lord, their Maker. Y'all, this is a promise from God. And as terrible as it is, because this means people perishing, at the same time, If you have in your mind that God is checked out, if you have in your mind that God is asleep or that he doesn't see what's going on, au contraire, the Lord knows. He's watching. And sometimes God lets people go their own way, not even just so that sin is its own punishment and they have to face the effects of that sin, but also for people to build a case against themselves. So at the time of judgment, that judgment would be all the more fierce. This God that I'm describing is not the God of popular culture. It's not the God that people talk about. The God that people talk about is like grandpa with a peppermint in his pocket for you at all times, a cosmic genie somewhere that exists to give you what you want. But the God I'm telling you about is the God of the scripture that says wrath is coming. The God I'm telling you about is the one that says vengeance is mine. I will repay." And y'all, as sad as that is for those that will face it, we should take comfort in the fact that God is working, that he is still in charge, and that no matter how crazy it gets, he is going to continue to be in control until that time that his church is built, and then Jesus will come back. Our challenge as we wait is to remember, first off, that we are part of His anointed one. Again, this ultimately points to Christ. But the Lord has chosen us to be His people, and we're to function in light of that. And in doing so, we're to be faithful. On Monday, we will pick up with this proclaimed decree of the Lord. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Let's pray. And Father, what a blessing it is to have this time together. I thank you for everyone that is here now. and also for everyone that will be here. I pray your blessings on us, your people, as we try to live through this storm, this storm that your people have faced throughout the millennia, where the world conspires against you, yet you laugh, you scoff at them. Oh, Father, would that day come. Lord Jesus, come quickly when all is dispensed, but as we wait, May we be found among the faithful and may we keep that perspective that you're in charge and take comfort in you. I pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Well, again, I'd like to thank you all for being a part of this time. I see we've had Christine, and Sybil, and Rose. Yes, thank you very much. And Becky, and Alice, and there's Roberta, and Stacy. Yes, indeed. And you are exactly right, Monica. The gift is Jesus, is salvation. And then there's Mary Ann. Good morning. And Rebecca, and Terry, and Mike. Thank you all again, and thank you for your kind comments yesterday in my absence. Again, Lord willing, we'll be back Monday morning at 7 a.m. Until then, have a great weekend.