This evening, we're looking at
Psalm number two, Psalm two, and I'm taking the title for
the message from the theme of this psalm. Verse six, I've set
my king upon my holy hill, Zion. This psalm, and really all 150
psalms are all about the king, aren't they? The King, the King
of Kings, the Lord of Lords. And we know the King is the Lord
Jesus Christ. God said, I've set my King, I've
set my anointed upon the hill of my holiness. He's exalted
and seated on the throne in glory, is he not? So I'm taking the
title from that verse, Christ is the King. Christ is the King. Christ is our King. I'm glad
He's our King. This is the same glorious person
that is declared. We looked at Matthew 21 verse
9. You remember Sunday, that verse
said, Behold, the King cometh. Well, this is a prophecy concerning
His coming. The whole Old Testament says
someone is coming. Someone is coming. The King is
coming. The Christ of God is coming.
The four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they say and
they declare He's here. He's here. And the epistles declare
that he's coming back again. So it's all about the gospel.
It's all about the king. The king of kings, our Lord Jesus
Christ. And this glorious psalm is a
gospel psalm. While it may have some faint
reference to King David, it speaks loudly and plainly of the greater
David. Who is the greater David? the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's called, you remember, we've
seen several times in our study in Matthew, Thou Son of David,
have mercy upon us. That's referring to the Christ
of God. The Son of David is the Lord Jesus Christ. You trace
his human lineage back, it goes right back to David, doesn't
it? King, he's a lion of the tribe
of Judah. That was David's tribe, wasn't
it? This psalm tells us about the
person of our Lord Jesus Christ, about his work as a mediator
for us, and the righteous victory that the king of kings has accomplished
for us, thanks be to God who has given us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. You remember that scripture in
Revelation 6, verse 2, where it says, the Lord Jesus Christ
went forth conquering and to conquer. He's never lost a battle.
He's won every battle. He's had the mighty battle, but
he's never lost one. And we have the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Our great God and Savior does
sovereignly rule and absolutely reign over all things, over all
enemies. I looked up today this scripture
in Psalm 74 verse 12 where it says that God is the King of
all the earth. God is our King and He's the
King of all the earth. Everywhere you go, He's King.
Everywhere you go, He's in charge over everyone, over all things. Absolutely so. What is the sovereignty
of God? It's God acting as God. Acting as God. Now this Psalm
2 is referenced many times in the New Testament. Six or seven times. And it's
always in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, His person, His
work. We read in Psalm Psalm 2 is quoted in Acts chapter 4. It's quoted again in Acts chapter
13. It quotes verse 7 there in Acts
chapter 13. And again, that verse 7 is quoted
in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 5. Always in reference to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, I'm gonna divide this psalm
into four headings. Verse 1 through 3, we see the
rage of the wicked. The rage of the heathen. We see
the voice of the heathen. Why do the heathen rage? And
why do the people imagine the same thing? So we see the rage
of the wicked. And then in verse 4, 5, and 6,
we see the reign, the Lord's reign over the wicked. He sits
undisputed on His sovereign throne. I like what it says there. He
that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. shall laugh at them."
The Lord's not disturbed by the rebellion of the wicked. They're
completely under His absolute control. And then in verse 7,
8, and 9, the Lord declares the decree of the gospel. The decree
of the gospel. And the gospel's been decreed
forever, hasn't it? It's an everlasting gospel of
the everlasting God. And in verses 10, 11, and 12,
We see the Lord's instruction to us to serve Him, rejoice in
Him, to kiss Him, to love Him, and to trust Him. That's a wise
man. Where it says there in verse
10, be wise now therefore, to bow to the Son. That's wisdom.
That's wisdom. Now let's look at the first thing.
The rage of the wicked, the rebellion of the enemies against the Lord.
Verse one, two, and three. Why do the heathen rage? And
why do people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth,
they set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together
against God, against the sovereign ruler of all things, against
the Lord. And notice that's capital L-O-R-D,
capital O, capital R, capital D, Jehovah. And against, not
only against Jehovah, but against Jehovah's anointed. Against the
Christ of God, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's what
they say. We don't want him to reign over
us. Let us break the bands, the bands
of God's sovereignty. They said, we're gonna throw
them off. We're gonna take the bands of his reign. We're just
gonna throw them off. We're gonna break his rule. We're going to
break his way. We're going to cast his cords
from us. We're a free spirit. That's what
the heathen rage. Master of my fate and captain
of everything, that's man's, that's the rage of the heathen.
Self-centeredness, self-righteousness, pride, isn't it? Here we see
the problem of humanity. Inherit hatred and enmity. of the carnal mind and spirit
against the sovereign rule of God. Now, people aren't upset
with the God of their imagination, but when they're faced with the
God of the Bible, God who was God and sovereign over all things,
if God doesn't cause them to bow in submission, all you will
have is rebellion against God. They'll say things like, well,
that's not fair. That's not right. God is God
in all things. Well, I don't like that. Tough. That's just the way it is. That's
just the way it is. God is God. That we see they
rage in their heart because of the enmity of their carnal mind. against God. We read in Romans
8, the carnal mind is enmity against God. That word enmity
is deep-rooted, deep-seated hatred. The carnal mind will not receive,
the carnal man will not receive the things of God. Hates them. Sinners, heathen as it's mentioned
there. You don't mind me calling you
a heathen, do you? That's what we are. We're heathens.
Heathens, the heathen rage, and that's describing what we are
by nature. We're heathens. We're heathens. We're heathens. Sinners who are
heathens, they love darkness, not the light. They're fond of
darkness. They're fond of wickedness. Why
do sinners rage and kick and rebel against God and hate the
sovereign rule of God? Why do they meditate upon such
vain schemes to end his authority, to put God out of business, and
to be their own God? Why do they do that? Sin, S-I-N. That's what Adam tried to do
in the garden. He believed Satan's lie. You'll
be like God. Pride brought him down. Pride
brought all the angels, the one-third of the heavenly host, that fell
from heaven, what brought them down? Pride. Pride made one third
of the heavenly angels into devils. Pride did that. You remember
Isaiah 14? They said, I will ascend, I will
do this, I will be like the most high God. God said, no you won't.
You'll be brought down to hell. Pride ruined Adam in the garden. The Pharisees tried to end the
sovereign rule of God at Calvary when Pilate brought the Lord
Jesus Christ forth. We're going to see this in a
few weeks. Pilate said to the Pharisees, Behold your king.
Remember what they said? We have no king but Caesar. Away
with him. Crucify him. They tried to throw
off the band, didn't they? They tried to cut asunder the
cords of God's sovereign rule. Away with him. Crucify him. Ignorance of the character of
God. Ignorance of who He is. God is not who we think He is. He's who He is. Whatsoever the
Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, earth, sea, and all deep
places. You remember Psalm 115, where
David said, Our God is in the heavens, and He had done whatsoever
He had pleased. God is not who we think that
He is. Our thoughts left to ourselves. Our thoughts are always wrong.
We think too highly of ourselves and too low of God. By nature
now, God has to teach us and instruct us. The sinful ignorance
and religious pride of puny, sinful creatures. That's our
problem. That's why man by nature is at
a rage against God. Psalm 14. Turn over just a couple
of pages. Psalm 14 at verse 1. Psalm 14 at verse 1. You there? Psalm 14 at verse
1. The fool hath said in his heart, Know God. The fool hath said,
Know God. They are corrupt, They have done
abominable works. There is none that doeth good.
The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see
if there were any that didn't understand and seek God. They're
all gone aside. They're all together become filthy.
There's none that doeth good. No, not one. Now that's quoted
in Romans chapter 3, isn't it? Where it says, we have both proved,
Jew and Gentile, they're all under sin. We've all sinned to
come short of the glory of God. Pride. Pride. Religious pride. When God was manifest in the
flesh, is not this exactly what they tried to do? To dethrone
God and enthrone their own wicked will and own wicked way? One old preacher of the past
preached from Psalm 2 and the title of his message was Goodbye
God. Goodbye God, we don't need you. We're going to break your bands
asunder. We're going to cast away your
cord. We're going to be our own God. Sadly, pulpits all over this
world are still trying to do the same thing. to cast off the
sovereign authority of God, to raise up the flag of man's supposed
free will, and to enthrone the human will and kick God off his
throne. Man's will is not free. Man's
will is in bondage to his nature. That's his problem. His nature is sinful. His nature
is that he's dead in sin. Salvation we read of in the Lord
here. If you look right across the
page, it's Psalm 3 verse 8. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Who does it belong to? Salvation
belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people.
It's His salvation to give to whom He will. He said, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Salvation and eternal
life depends upon the will of God. Not the will of man. Now you hear religious people
say things like, God's trying to save you, but you won't let
Him. Or God has done all He can do, now the rest is up to you. You know what they're trying
to do? Let us break their band to sunder and cast away the sovereign,
sovereign God. Man would be his own God. The
God of his imagination. Salvation, we know, is by the
will of God. If His own will begat He us with
the word of truth. Now, what is the response of
God to this? Is He upset, wringing His hands? Oh no, I'm not going to have
my way, those rebellious sinners. I can't do what I want to. That's
not the God of the Bible. Look what it says, verse 4. He
that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. God has a sense of humor. He laughs at the puny rebellion
of sinful men. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. The Lord has
them. God's not in your hand, you're
in His hand. The Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall he speak unto them in his... What's that word? What's that word in verse five?
I thought God loved everybody. I say, smile, God loves you.
What's that word right there? Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. God is
holy. God will and must punish sin. The Lord is not alarmed. God
still reigns. He's not alarmed by the puny
mutiny and rebellion of sinners. He sits undisturbed in the throne
of His majestic splendor, on His sovereign throne, quite amused
by the wicked rebellion of man. He laughs at their futile opposition. Turn over here to one other scripture.
You remember, I think we read this a few weeks ago, Psalm 37. Psalm 37, verse 12. Psalm 37,
verse 12. The wicked plotteth against the
just and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh
at him For he seeth that his day is coming, the wicked have
drawn out the sword, they have bent the bow to cast down the
poor and needy to slay, such as be of upright conversation,
their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bow
shall be broken. The Lord shall have them in derision. God is God. He looks upon them
in contempt of His sovereign rule. You know, I don't know
much about civil law, the law of the United States, but one
thing I know you don't want to do when you go into a court of
law, you don't want for the judge to say, I hold you in contempt.
You're in trouble. You're in trouble. The Lord looks upon these heathen
and he holds them in contempt of his sovereign rule and his
sovereign reign. Then he will speak to them, not
in love, but in his holy wrath, anger, and vex or trouble them
in his sore displeasure. His wrath against sin is his
holiness stirred in activity against sin. Down in verse 12,
it says, Kiss the son, lest ye be angry, and he perish from
the way when his wrath It's kindled just a little bit. He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not in the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of the Lamb. You remember
from Revelation chapter 5 or 6, where it talks about those
who prayed to the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and
hide them from thee. It wasn't the love of God, the
wrath of the Lamb. God is holy. God must punish
sin. As the sovereign of the universe,
He does not need to step off His throne to exercise His authority. He only needs to speak, and it's
done. Hold your place there. Turn to Psalm 33, verse 8. Psalm
33, verse 8. He speaks. He shall speak unto them in His
wrath, and vex them in His sword, His pleasure. Psalm 33, you need
to see this. Psalm 33, verse 8. Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to nothing. He maketh the devices of the
people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever. Thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is
the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he hath chosen
for his own inheritance. He spake and it was done. He
doesn't ask our permission. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. All things. Now look at verse
six. Yet, he says, Yet, he says, I've set my king, my anointed,
upon the hill of my holiness. And we know he's talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Despite all opposition, despite
all the malice of sinners against God, despite all the unanimous
opinions of the rebels, God still reigns supreme. The kings of
this earth, you remember Proverbs 21, The kings of the earth are in the Lord's hand and he
turns them whether so ever he will as he turns the Mississippi
River, they're in his hand. Despite all opposition, God still
reigns supreme. God has already accomplished
what the enemy has gone about to destroy. The Lord Jesus Christ
is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Not by what we do, but
rather by the decree of Almighty God. To this end, to this purpose,
Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord
of the dead and the living. He's every man's Lord. Every
knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess. He's Lord
to the glory of God the Father. Peter said to those people on
the day of Pentecost, Acts chapter 2, God hath made that same Jesus
whom you crucified, God hath made him Lord and Christ. Yet, he said, I've set my anointed
King upon the hill of my holiness. God's anointed is appointed and
shall not be disappointed. The anointed is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the Messiah, the anointed
of God. He's anointed in all of his office
and he cannot fail. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. You remember Isaiah 42 verse
4? I think that's one of my favorite verses in all the book of Isaiah.
Verse 1 it says, Behold my servant, my elect, in whom my soul delighted. And then it says down in verse
4, He shall not fail. Our God is not a failure. He
performs all his pleasure. He's performed all things for
us. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. The
Lord Jesus Christ is anointed in all of his mediatorial office.
There's one God, one mediator between God and men, and that
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's anointed in all of his office.
You remember his threefold office? His threefold office. He's anointed
prophet. God said, I'll raise up a prophet
from among the brethren, and he'll speak my truth, and you
better hear him. If you don't, I'll hold you accountable.
The Lord Jesus Christ is a prophet of God to represent God to us,
to reveal the Father unto us. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. He's the prophet
that we need. He's the anointed prophet, he's
the anointed priest to make atonement for our sin, and he did that
with his own blood. A prophet represents God to the
people. The priest represents the people
to God. And what does he represent us
with? His own blood that puts away all our sin. That's the
blessed man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. We've heard that before. Blessed
is the man whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. That's a
blessed man, isn't it? And it's all because of Christ
our prophet, Christ our anointed prophet, anointed priest, and
anointed potentate. A potentate, what is that? The
Most High God. The Most High God ruleth in heaven
and among the inhabitants of this earth, and He giveth to
whom He will. Our God is in the heavens, and
He's done whatsoever He hath pleased. All the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to His will
and the army of heaven among the inhabitants of this earth,
and no one can stay His hand or say unto Him, what are you
doing? He'd work with all things after
the counsel of His own will. The Lord Jesus Christ is a potentate. That's where we get the word
omnipotent. He's the omnipotent God. He's the king priest that
we need to represent us and present us before Almighty God. He's
not only the anointed priest, He's the king priest. Remember
our study in the book of Hebrews? He's called the King of Righteousness
and the King of Peace. like unto Melchizedek, the priest
of the most high God. That's our anointed savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ. All things are delivered into
his hand. The father loved the son and given all things into
his hand. He has power over all flesh to
give salvation to whom he will. And one day soon, every rebel
will be made to bow to his sovereign crown rights. Rob Barnard came
to Ashland in 1950 preaching the crown rites of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lordship of the Lord Jesus
Christ. When he first came to that meeting
in April of 1950, preaching the sovereignty of
God and the Lordship of Christ, they were singing a song in that
meeting about Jesus. Jesus saved, Jesus does this,
Jesus does that. And the old man got up and said,
it's the Lord Jesus Christ that saved sinners. And that town
has never been the same. That was in April 1950 and that
town has never been the same. It turned that whole town upside
down. Some people got mad. Some people
got glad. Some people got angry. Some people
rejoiced. Now here's the third thing. The
Lord Jesus Christ declares the decree of the Gospel. The decree
of the Gospel. I will declare the decree. Now
the Gospel is the decree of God. It's the Gospel of God concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. When did God declare the decree? that Christ would save sinners
by His blood and righteousness. He's a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, isn't He? I will declare the decree. The Lord said unto me, Thou art
my Son, eternally begotten of God. God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give the
heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. The Lord Jesus Christ comes forth
as the great preacher of the gospel. The gospel is the everlasting
gospel. It's as old as God. It's a gospel
of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is the decree
of God to save sinners only through the blood and righteousness of
Christ, the lamb slain, before the foundation of the world.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the surety of that everlasting covenant.
I love that word surety, don't you? We studied that in Hebrews
chapter 7, didn't we? And then the Lord Jesus Christ
is the sacrifice of that covenant. We also studied that in Hebrews
chapter 13. The blood of the everlasting
covenant, that great shepherd of the sheep is the blood of
the everlasting covenant, and he's the savior of the covenant.
He called, call his name, what it is, Jesus, he shall save his
people from their sin. He's the only begotten Son. He's
the true and proper eternal Son, owned and acknowledged and declared
so by the Father. He said, this is my beloved Son,
remember, in whom I'm well pleased. Hear Him. hearing, be swift to
hear, slow to speak. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the own begotten
of the Father. He's full of grace and full of
truth. This day of beginning is a timeless
day of God's eternal decrees, but with Him there is no time.
We see this eternal day of beginning revealed to us in time, but what
God has decreed in eternity, He has displayed in time. He's the only begotten. And that
verse is quoted there in Acts chapter 13. He's begotten in
time in the flesh to die for our sin according to Scripture.
It says that in Hebrews chapter 1. And then Acts chapter 13,
when Paul is preaching there in Antioch, he declares that
he's begotten, the only begotten from the dead. because he finished the work
the Father gave him to do. Delivered for our offenses and
raised again for our justification. Delivered for our offenses and
raised again for our justification. Verse 8, ask of me, I'll give
thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. His church, His bride, is His
inheritance. He says, all that the Father
has given to me, they will come to me, and those that come to
me, I'll never cast them out, and we are His possession. He
bought us. He bought us with His own blood.
You're no more your own, you're bought with a price. The price
of His blood. Aren't you glad that He asked
for you? You think about this. He knows His sheep by name. God
asked for you, Lionel, David, Freddie, God asked for you from
all eternity and the Father gave you to the Son. How amazing a
miracle is it, no? And the other most parts of the
earth, for thy possession. He possesses us by His decree,
by His death, by His Lordship. And He will break us. Verse 9,
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, and dash them. He breaks
the stubborn sinner's will. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Remember? Let me read this to
you, Psalm 110. Don't turn, let me just read
it. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, till
I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
his strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, in the beauty of holiness, from the
womb of the morning, for thou hast to do of youth. See what
he's saying there? Thou shalt break them with the
rod of the gospel. The gospel truth that we need
to hear. And he dashes Any hope we have,
any false refuge we have, He dashes that to pieces. He just
dashes that to pieces. He causes us, like Saul of Tarsus,
to count all things lost, done, and ruined, that we may win Christ
and be found in Him. He breaks us and dashes any hope
we have but Christ. Now, verse 10, would you be wise? The Lord will conquer all opposition.
This includes the ungodly reprobate and the lost sheep. The reprobate
will be crushed with divine wrath. The sheep of Christ will be crushed
with divine love. He's not in the name of a broken
heart, save as such as be of a contrite spirit. Let me wind
this up. Verse 10, be wise. Would you be wise now? Therefore,
O kings, would you be instructed? O judges, those who have been
made wise in Christ, those who have been instructed by the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 11 says, they serve the Lord
with fear. They serve the Lord with reverence.
This is a godly fear. They serve the Lord with reverence,
and they rejoice with trembling. That's a good definition of worship. Serve the Lord with reverential
fear, awe, and love, and then rejoice. Rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. Rejoice with reverence. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say, rejoice. Believers find great delight
in Him. He's altogether lovely, and to
you who believe, He is precious. Verse 12, kiss the Son. Kissing. Not like Judas did with
a kiss of betrayal, but like the woman did who bowed at His
feet and kissed His feet. Kiss the Son. That is, bow to
the Son. Lest he be angry, and you perish from the way when
his wrath is kindled just a little. Those who are wise, those who
are instructed, those who serve the Lord, they do kiss the Son.
They do love the Son. We love Him because He first
loved us. And they're blessed. because
they put their whole trust of their salvation in Him. Cursed is a man that trusteth
the arm of the flesh. Blessed is that man that trusteth
in the Lord. That's a blessed man. Blessed
is that man that trusteth in the Lord. Someone said this. I wrote it
down. I believe this is a quote from
Matthew Henry. God is either your friend or
your worst enemy. Think about it. Out of Christ,
God's a consuming fire. In Christ, he's reconciled. He's
a reconciled Lord. The Apostle Paul writes this,
if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, if any man love
not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned. Isn't that too
hard? The man loved not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. What does that mean? Let him
be accursed when the Lord comes. He's coming back, he's on his
way.