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The Messiah’s Speech – CCD

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INTRODUCTION

The first two Psalms form a sort of introduction to the Psalter. Where Psalm 1 introduces us to the contrast between the blessed life of walking with God and the miserable life of walking with the scoffers and evildoers, Psalm 2 presents an eschatological vision. The first Psalm tells us how to live in the here and now, and the second Psalm goes on to lay before us the glorious future under the global reign of the Messiah.

THE TEXT

1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, [saying], 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou [art] my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give [thee] the heathen [for] thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth [for] thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. 10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish [from] the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed [are] all they that put their trust in him.

Psalms 2:1-12

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This Psalm pits mankind’s word against the Word of God’s Messiah. This song opens with the question which often confronts God’s people (v1). Why do the goyim rage? Why do the people have brains full of daydreams? Earth’s kings & rulers have called a war-council to determine what to do about Yahweh & the one He has Anointed (v2); they issue the results of their council: “let us overthrow the Almighty (v3).”

How does God respond to this challenge? He laughs (v4). Then He replies with the Word of His wrath (v5). What judgement shall these rebels bring forth upon themselves? How will He vex them? Despite their raging, despite their protests, despite their vanity, His anointed King shall reign from Zion (v6).

The Messiah then speaks. He reveals to the nations God’s decree. This Christ is Yahweh’s begotten Son (v7; Cf. 2 Sam. 7:14). This Sonship comes with the right to ask of the Most High for an inheritance of nations (v8, Cf. 1 Kg. 3:5, ); the Anointed Son might shepherd the nations firmly to either obedience or damnation (v9). He has every right to crush the nations into powder. But He holds out wisdom to the kings of the nations (v10). Obey His imperatives. Serve Yahweh with joyful reverence (v11). Kiss His Son in humble love, and so His lawful wrath might be removed (v12). This done, all the covenant blessings of Eden & Sinai held out in Psalm 1 are offered to these nations by trusting in the Christ of Yahweh.

 

AN APOSTOLIC FAVORITE

At the Apostolic Psalm-sings this second Psalm was likely a crowd favorite. It is one of the most cited Psalms in the NT. After Peter and John’s examination before the Chief Priests, after healing the lame man, the early Christians lift up a prayer with one accord. This congregational prayer quotes this Psalm and applies it to Herod, Pilate, and the threatening of the chief priests and elders (Cf. Acts 4:24-31). The wicked opposition to Christ had been foretold by David’s Psalm, and this emboldens the early church to stand courageous even in the face of the threatenings of those same rulers. A sort of second Pentecost takes place at the offering of this prayer.

Verse 7 is cited three times, once in Acts13:33; and twice in Hebrews (1:5 & 5:5). In Acts the thrust is that Christ’s resurrection was a new birth which affirmed that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, and therefore the heir of all the earth. While Hebrews asserts that Jesus total ministry was a proof of His Sonship, and thus a better ministry than the Angels or Aaron. Luke also records two moments where the Father declares the Sonship of the Christ, at Jesus’ baptism and at the transfiguration (Lk. 3:22, 9:35). Jesus baptism, an anointing of sorts, is immediately followed by the temptation in the wilderness, where one of Satan’s temptations was offering Jesus all the nations (Cf. Ps. 2:8).

Finally, verses 8-9 are either alluded to or directly cited by John as He describes the just wrath of the Lamb upon unbelieving Israel (Rev. 2:26,27; 12:5; 19:15). John saw the judgement on Jerusalem as an example of how the Ascended Christ was fulfilling His calling to break the nations and rule them with an iron scepter.

THE MESSIAH’S WISDOM

It should be plainly seen that the way God vexes rebel kings, the way He subdues raging nations, is by the Word. The Father sent the Word, in the Flesh, and now that Word issues His Word to the nations.

Jesus offers true wisdom, not just for kings & rulers, but for all mankind. He is depicted as a Shepherd King alike to David. The LXX translates “breaks” the nations as rule/shepherd the nations. The Good Shepherd is not a pushover. He will shepherd the nations to adhere to His commandments. It is apparent that for the Apostles, they viewed this Psalm as being fulfilled in Christ’s ascension. 

This means that as the body of the Anointed our proclamation of the Word is an outworking of the Good Shepherd’s commission to us to teach and disciple the nations. This Psalm inspired great missionary movements, going to all the ends of the earth to serve the Shepherd King in gathering His flock from every nation. So, what are the missionaries, according to Psalm 2, tasked with teaching the nations? To come near to Christ. To learn the wisdom of this better Solomon. To rejoice while trembling.

THE INEVITABLE

Christ reigns from Zion. This is not a far off dream. This is not a description of some day in eternity. The kings & rulers sought to thwart the coronation of Christ Jesus by slaying Him, but by His resurrection He displayed that God’s eternal purpose was not derailed. Christ arose from the grave. So not even death can stop the inevitable reign of Christ over all nations and distant isles.

This brings a great deal of implications for all spheres of human life. If Christ is the King of all nations, He is reigning over them now, He is shepherding them now. All of His commands pertain to all people from all nations. His commands to husbands to cherish their wives as they do their own body is not confined merely to Christian husbands. Parenting is not a clinical or medical proposition, for Christ commands fathers and mothers to raise their children in the nurture of the Lord; for parents to refuse to do so is to bring down the fierce wrath of the Lamb upon themselves. And what of a nation that doesn’t wince at aborting their offspring en masse?

Indeed, the scope of Christ’s jurisdiction is both global and personal. He is Lord of all, and He is Lord of you. There are two options, and only two, be Shepherded by the Shepherd who laid down His life for the flock, or be dashed to pieces by the Potter who can dispose of malformed vessels as He sees fit. What you can’t do is ignore this Anointed One which God the Father has enthroned in Zion. Here, in the gathering of the saints, Christ reigns, Christ feeds us, Christ Shepherds us, and sends us forth to bring all nations to enjoy the promised blessing of trusting in Him.

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Mind the Gap (Troy)

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Sermon Text – Isaiah 55:8-9

INTRODUCTION

Meditating on the character of God usually falls into particular grooves. We think about his love, how he shelters us under the shadow of his wings, how he walks up and down the vine—pruning branches here, grafting branches in there, providing support in one area, and providing cover to protect against frost. We think about his grace, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor so that you, by his poverty, might become rich. We think about his mercy, how our debt piled high. Our balance sheet was covered in red. And yet he zeroes it out, hands it back to us and says, “Now you go practice this same forgiveness.” We think about his goodness. And doing that, generally leads to pondering our own badness. That God would save a wretch like me? We ponder about his glory. What does the Father look like? My mind goes to a pure unadulterated light. A light that emanates so purely from his visage, that seeing through it, to the true form from which the light transmits is impossible. We think about his peace, and we imagine tranquil scenes of still waters, slight breezes, and a warm sun. We find ourselves at ease despite living in a world that’s falling down around us. He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. His great patience comes to mind. How can he see the evil in this world and not stamp it out right now? Because  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 

WHY HE IS TO BE FEARED

Let’s begin with the basic concept, why should we fear God? Outside the context of the Christian experience, is man afraid of God? Not so much that we’d notice. Our culture literally parades their sexual immorality in the streets. Sam Smith and Kim Petras, dress in red and devil horns for their performance at the recent Grammy awards. Gyrating around, with demonic minions in cages, surrounded by flames. We bestow the title of “doctor” to men and women who specialize in the dismemberment of babies in the womb. The culture chides about tolerance and blind acceptance, unless of course a Christian calls for tolerance, and the answer is, what it’s always been, “Well, you’re an exception,” which basically means, we’re more than willing to be tolerant, just so long as you don’t disagree with us. But this sort of behavior is not surprising. Whether it’s the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, the Philistines at Aphek, or the Pharisees in Jerusalem, this is standard fare for those who have no fear of God before their eyes. 

But when it comes to the followers of God, fearing God is one of the principles of Christianity 101. So to begin the discussion, I will ask a basic, child-like question. Is God scary? We will turn to the Word, but like Elijah of old, let’s douse the altar with water and fill the trough.

A REALIZATION

What realization? The realization that in this life, we can only experience God through a filter. A watered down version, if you will. We are approaching autumn. And I love the weather this time of year. There comes a point when you can find a sunny patch of ground, stand there in a t-shirt, close your eyes, spread your arms, and bask in the sun. The sun is just warm enough to keep you in this perfect equilibrium between the cool of the brisk morning and the warmth the sun provides. Most of the time we don’t think about such things, but the truth is, we experience the sun through a series of filters. For one, it’s very far away. The heat travels and cools as it makes its way through the void of space, and then hits our atmosphere where absorption, scattering, and reflections take place. Some of those molecules end their 93 million mile journey by hitting my skin’s thermoreceptors which then generate electrical signals in my nerves to tell my brain that it’s warm. If I was to be transported to such a location where I could reach out and touch the sun, I would be unable to experience what that intense heat would feel like because I would be vaporized before the signal could ever reach my brain. 8 million degrees!? Who can fathom that?

OUR BLESSED HOPE

If you were forced to relinquish one of your senses, which one would it be? I venture to say the one lowest on the list for most of us would be sight. How difficult it would be even in this modern age to navigate the world without sight. How much more of a trial would it be in the first century. There are no guide dogs, there is no brail, there is nothing to aid the blind. And so the man at Bethsaida begs the Lord to touch him. Our savior, what a loving savior he is, drops everything that he’s doing, gingerly grabs the hand of the blind man and leads him out of the village. “Excuse me, coming through, make way.” He comes to a stop, away from the hustle and bustle of the market, The Lord spits on his eyes, lays hands on him and says, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees walking.” This is the state we find ourselves in. We hear the voice of our savior. We sense his calming presence. Our eyes are darkened, but we follow him where he leads us. We feel the strength of his hands, pressing on our maladies. We open our eyes, and see a blurry face. The resolution is low, but yet we cannot deny the change. We once were only privy to darkness. But it’s still not quite right.

CONCLUSION

Looking at God and then despising yourself, wallowing in the mire and the dust and the ashes, being ashamed of your sin, recognizing that you are man of unclean lips is either a good thing, or a bad thing. And what makes it good or bad depends on what side of the line you’re on. There is a line of repentance. On this side of the line is pre-repentance. On this side of the line is post-repentance. And it’s actually not a line at all, but rather a waterfall of blood that separates the two sides. A recognition of your guilt and shame is proper and right and good on this side of the line. And if that is where you are today, then by the power of the Holy Spirit, put your faith in Christ, dust yourself off, cross the line, and be washed in the blood of Christ. But if you are experiencing guilt and shame on this side of the line, then rebuke the devil and tell the accuser to begone because resentment and grief and sorrow belong on the other side. This is a place of rejoicing. This is a place of singing. And this is a place of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you’re there, come over. And if you’re here, experience God to the fullest.

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