Okay, this evening now we wanna
take a look at Psalm number two. Psalm number two, it's 150 Psalms. I guess this is one of my favorite
Psalms. Psalm number two, because it
is quoted twice, actually it's quoted three times in the New
Testament. In Acts chapter four, in Acts
chapter 13, and again in Hebrew chapter five, making a direct
reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's a psalm of David, but
it's also a psalm concerning Christ. And the title of the
message will be Christ the King. That's what we see sitting on
the throne. Now this glorious psalm is the
gospel through and through. While it may have some faint
reference to King David, it speaks loudly, clearly, and plainly
of the greater David. Remember all the way through
the Psalms, I kept calling the Lord Jesus Christ the greater
David, and that's what he is. He is a son of David. If you
follow his genealogy back, it goes back to that tribe of Judah,
all the way back to David's family. And God promised that out of
that tribe of Judah that he would send a mediator, the line of
the tribe of Judah, he's called. Now this psalm tells us that
the person and mediatorial work and the righteous victories of
our king and our Lord and our head, our God and our savior,
for he is king of kings and he is Lord of lords. Our great God
and Savior does rule and reign with all wisdom. He never makes
a mistake. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? He rules and reigns with all
wisdom and absolute power. Therefore, we can trust Him at
all times. You remember Psalm 62? Trust
in Him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. Now, this Psalm, as I said earlier,
is referred to three times in the New Testament, twice in the
book of Acts, and then in Hebrew chapter one, where again, it
talks about a direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, as
he put away our sin. Now, I'm gonna divide this Psalm
up into four points. Verse one through three, we see
the rage of the wicked, the rage and rebellion of the wicked.
And verse four, five, and six, we see the Lord's reign over
the wicked. He sits on his undisputed, absolute
sovereign throne. He's not upset, he's not disturbed
about the rebellion of the wicked. Verse seven through nine, the
Lord declares the decree of the gospel. And the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ is the decree of God, is the eternal decree
and covenant of God. And then in verses 9, excuse
me, verses 10, 11, and 12, the Lord instructs us to serve Him,
to rejoice in Him, to kiss the Son. I love that, don't you?
Verse 12, kiss the Son. Kiss the son, that is to bow
to the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember those old, old movies
when they would talk about those kingdoms over in Europe and when
they would approach the king or the queen, they would bow
and kiss the hand. That's a pretty good picture
of what saving faith does. It bows and submits in love and
trust Him. Blessed is that man that puts
their trust in the Lord. Now, let's go back and look at
the first point, verses one, two, and three. We see the rage
of the wicked, the rebellion of the enemies against the Lord. Why do the heathen rage? Well,
they rage because they don't like God's rule and reign. They
rage because they hate God. the rage because they're sinners. Why do the people imagine or
meditate upon things that are just vain and sinful and wicked? Well, they meditate upon those
things because they are. We are by nature. We are what's
described here as the rage of the heathen. That's the way we're
born in a rage, unless God does something by His power and grace,
we'll die in a rage, in rebellion against Him, always meditating,
thinking vain, foolish things. The fool has said in his heart,
remember, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Why
do the heathen rage? Boy, I understand why people
rebel against God, don't you? They have a wicked and sinful
nature. The kings of the earth even,
not only the common people, but the kings of the earth. The kings
of the earth. They set themselves and rebellion
against God, the carnal-minded enmity against God, and the rulers,
they take counsel together. Remember all those Pharisees,
how they took counsel together, how they might destroy the Lord
Jesus Christ. I mean, they did everything they
could to put him out of business, and they wanted him not only
out of the ministry, they wanted him dead. The kings of the earth? rulers take counsel together
against the Lord, against God, and against his anointed. Now, who is the anointed? The
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the anointed of God. And
here's what they say. Remember when Pilate brought
forth the Lord Jesus Christ after he'd been mistreated so terribly
and beaten so horribly and said, well, this is your king, what
do you think? Remember? He said, Behold your king. Remember
what they said? We have no king. We don't want
him as king. We have no king but Caesar. Let
us break their bands asunder and let us cast away their cord
from us. That's man by nature. We see
here the inherent hatred and enmity of the carnal mind and
spirit against the sovereign rule of God. Men by nature are
all heathens. We're born that way, loving darkness
and hating God. The carnal mind will not receive
the things of God. foolishness unto him. Why do
sinners rage and kick and rebel against God? They hate God who
is God. Now they don't hate their little
puny idol God, but when faced with God who is God, the absolute,
eternal, sovereign God, they will say, I don't want that God. I don't have anything to do with
that God. As the accused Barnard years ago. He said, Brother Barnard,
that God you preach is a monster. A sovereign, holy, have mercy
on whom he will. If God's a monster, you know
what he said? Get ready to meet a monster.
God is God. God is God. Why do they meditate
upon vain schemes? to end his authority, to put
God out of business, and to be their own God? Well, several
reasons. Ignorance of the character of
God. He's not who we think he is. God's no peanut God. God is almighty on the throne
who says whatsoever The Lord pleases, that's what he does.
So they're ignorant of the character of God and they're ignorant of
their own character, of their sinful arrogance and self-righteous
pride against God. There's no fear of God before
their eyes. If you would look over at Psalm
14. Psalm 14. Look at verse one. The foe hath said
in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done
abominable works, abominable works. There is none that doeth
good. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there are any that did understand
and seek God. He said, they're all gone aside. They're all together become filthy.
There's none that doeth good, no, not one. Now that language
sounds familiar, doesn't it? It's quoted over in Romans chapter
three, remember? There's none, none that seek
of God. There's no fear of God in their
eyes. When God was manifested in the flesh, is not this exactly
what they tried to do? They tried to enthrone their
own will and say, goodbye God. Brother Henry's got a message
that he preached years ago, and the title of it was, Goodbye
God. And that's what they said, away
with him. Now, that's what happened when the Lord was manifested
in the flesh. We studied that in the book of
Luke, didn't we? But pulpits and preachers all
over this world are still trying to do the same thing. to cast
off the sovereign authority of God and raise up the flag of
freewillism. To try to enthrone the human
will and dethrone God and say salvation and eternal life does
not depend upon the will of God, but rather salvation and eternal
life depends upon the will of man. Well, we know what's true. God said, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercies. God, we're born of the Spirit
of God, the will of God, by the purpose of God, not the will
of man, of his own will beget he us. with the word of truth. Let us break their band asunder
and let us cast away their accord. Now, that's the plain record
of scripture, is it not? About what we are by nature. And we'd still be right there
had not God intervened and done a work of grace for us and a
work of grace in us. Well, you reckon God's upset
about that rebellion? Verse 4, 5, and 6, we see the
Lord still reigns. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. You mean God's laughing at this
rebellion? I thought about, you remember
in 1 Kings chapter 18, when Elijah was on Mount Carmel facing down
the prophet of Baal, you remember? And they had that contest about
who is really God, the God that answers by fire, he is God. You
remember those heathens, they danced around all day, they're
idle, and God didn't answer, and their God didn't answer.
You remember what the Lord said? I said, won't you cry a little
bit louder? Maybe he's on vacation. Maybe
he's just too busy to deal with you. You see, God mocks them. He'll have them in a derision.
Well, they just got a little bit more anxious, didn't they?
They got a little bit more zealous, those pompous of Baal. Remember,
they jumped up and down and cut themselves and did all those
crazy things? And their God didn't answer,
but God just mocks them in their idolatry. He that sitteth in
the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in ridicule,
derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath. Remember what happened to those
prophets of Baal. Elijah lined them all up, cut
them in pieces. Why'd he do that? Then shall
he speak unto them in his wrath. and vex them or trouble them
in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set or anointed my
king upon my holy hill Zion. The rebellion of sinful man will
not one whit change the purpose of God. Will it? Preachers up
and down this country are saying, well, God wants to, but you won't
let him. That's not the God of the Bible. God does what he wants
to do in heaven and in earth and all deep places. God is either
God, absolute sovereign, or he's not. There's no middle ground. God still reigns. He's not alarmed
by the puny mutiny of the rebellion of sinful men. He sits undisturbed. in the majestic splendor of his
sovereign throne, quite amused by the wicked rebellion of men."
God has a sense of humor. He laughs at their rebellion. He shall laugh at them of all
their futile opposition against him. Now, I've got jotted down
here Psalm 37, You want to turn there, Psalm 37, 12. Psalm 37, 12. The wicked plotteth
against the just, and gnasheth upon them with his teeth. That's
what they did against the Lord and against his people. The Lord
shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out their
sword and have bent their bow to cast down the poor needy and
slaves such as be of an upright conversation. Their sword shall
enter into their own heart and their bows shall be broken. God will have the rule and reign
over all things. The Lord shall have them in derision,
laugh them to scorn, He will look upon them in contempt of
his sovereign rule. Then will he speak to them not
in love, but in his holy wrath, anger. God's angry with the wicked
every day and vex or trouble them in his sore displeasure. His wrath against sin is his
holiness stirred in activity against sin. It says down there
in verse 12, that kiss the sun lest ye be angry and ye perish
from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. God is
holy. God must punish sin. And we see his wrath as the activity
of his holiness stirred in activity against sin. God must punish
the wicked. God must punish the guilty. even
when his wrath is kindled but a little." Oh, the wrath of God. Oh, the wrath of God to come.
As the sovereign of the universe, he does not need to step off
his throne. Notice it says, he sitteth. He
does not need to step off his throne to exercise his authority. He only needs to speak and it's
done. Look at Psalm 33 verse 8. Psalm 33 verse 8. Let all the
inhabitants, let all the earth fear the Lord. Psalm 33 verse
8. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of Him. For He spake and it was done.
He commands and it stands fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to not He maketh the devices of the people of
none effect. The talents of the Lord standeth
forever. the thoughts of his heart to
all generations. Blessed is that nation whose
God is the Lord and the people he has chosen for his own inheritance. Oh, that's the blessed. Blessed
is that man whom God has chosen and causes us to approach unto
him. Now, verse six, Psalm two, verse
six. have I anointed and set my king
upon the holy hill Zion. God had made this same Jesus
whom you crucified, God had made him both Lord and Christ. Despite
all opposition, despite all malice of sinners against God, despite
the all-unanimous opinion of the rebel, God still reigns supreme. God has already accomplished
what the enemy has gone about to destroy. The Lord Jesus Christ
is King and Lord, not by what we do, but rather by the decree
of God. He said, I have made this same
one you crucify, Lord and Christ. I have set, the Lord says, Jehovah
Almighty. I have anointed my King upon
my holy hill, Zion. Now, God's anointed is appointed
and shall not be disappointed. Isaiah 45 says he shall not fail. God's anointed, the Lord Jesus
Christ, prophet, priest, and king, is appointed by God Almighty,
decreed by God Almighty, and he shall not be disappointed
in anything that he does. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
anointed. That's what the word Christ means. He is the anointed of God. And
as I said this once, I've said it a thousand times, he's the
anointed prophet, priest, and king. He's anointed prophet to
teach us and to reveal unto us the way of salvation. He's anointed
priest to make a suitable sacrifice for sin, which he did with his
own blood, and he is the anointed king. and Lord, not only of his
church and of his people, but he is Lord of every creature. For every man is going to bow
and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord. He rules and reigns in all wisdom,
perfect wisdom, and absolute righteous power. All things are
delivered into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has all
power over all flesh to give salvation to whom he will. Remember he prayed that in John
17, remember? Father, you've given me power
over all flesh that I should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given to me. Now look at verse seven, Psalm
two, verse seven. I will declare what God has decreed. Now that's a pretty good statement.
That is God declaring that he's going to declare the decree,
and that's the eternal decree of God's covenant of grace. I
will declare the decree. The Lord said unto me, Thou art
my son. This day, This day have I begotten
thee, verse eight, ask of me and I shall give the heathen
for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession. Now, let's take a look at those
verses. The Lord Jesus Christ comes forth as the great preacher
of the gospel. I will declare the decree. Remember,
he went forth preaching the gospel. We have it over here in Psalm
40. Turn over there. Psalm 40, verse six. Sacrifice and offerings thou
didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt offerings
and offerings for sin hast thou not required. Psalm 40, verse
seven. Then said I, Lo, I come, and
the volume of the book is written to me. I delight to do thy will,
O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. I have declared thy faithfulness. I have declared thy salvation.
I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great
Congregation, the Lord Jesus Christ declared the decree of
God to save his covenant people by the sacrifice of himself. The gospel of God is the everlasting
gospel. It's as old as God. It's the
gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ is the decree of God, the absolute decree
of God to save sinners and to justify the ungodly only through
the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. That substitutionary
sacrifice and the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ unto death. The Lord Jesus we read in scripture
is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God had declared
the decree from the beginning. From everlasting to everlasting,
thou art God. And we knew the Lord Jesus Christ
is the only begotten Son. He is a true and proper eternal
Son of God, owned and acknowledged and declared so by the Father. He said, this is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased. God was manifest in the flesh,
the Word was manifest in the flesh, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, who is full of
grace and full of truth. This day of begetting is the
timeless day of God's eternal decree, for with him there is
no time. Remember Isaiah 46, God declares
the end from the beginning. Ancient time to things that are
not yet done saying, I will do it, I purposed it. We see this
eternal day of begetting revealed to us in time for what God has
decreed in eternity is displayed in time. He is declared from
eternity to be God the son, but in time he's manifested as a
son of God and a son of man as God incarnate. Begotten in time
in the flesh to die for our sins according to the scripture. Now
here's the other reference I want us to see. Turn over here to
Hebrew chapter one. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3, Hebrews
1 verse 3, who being in the brightness of his glory, the expressed image
of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high, being made so much better than the
angels, as he hath by an inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they. For unto which of the angels
said he at any time, thou art my son this day, have I begotten
thee. And again, I will be to him a
father, and he shall be to me a son. Again, when he bringeth
the first begotten into the world, he saith, let all the angels
of God worship him. Look at verse eight, Hebrews
1 verse eight. But unto the son he saith, Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is a scepter of thy kingdom. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
He's the only begotten of God, but he is God the eternal Son. I can't explain that in language
that is quite adequate. In the vocabulary that we have,
when you talk about eternal and the infinite God, we lack words
to describe it as it should be. This begetting of him also has
to do with his resurrection, begotten from the dead, because
he finished the work the father gave him to do. He's delivered
from our offenses and raised again from the dead, as we read
over here in Acts 13. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you again. Thou art my son this day, I begotten
thee. He's begotten, he's the first
begotten from the dead. As concerning him that raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
he said on this wise, I'll give you the sure mercies of David,
based upon his coming, based upon his sacrifice, and based
upon his resurrection glory. Delivered for our offenses, and
raised again from the dead, begotten from the dead. Now look at verse
8, Psalm 2 verse 8. Now, ask of me and I'll give
you whatever you want. This is the Father and the Son
in this eternal covenant of grace. Ask of me and I'll give the heathen
for thine inheritance. and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession." The father said to the son on the
ground in the merit of his righteous sacrifice and his successful
mediatorial work upon the ground of his effectual blood sacrifice,
ask what you will and it's yours. All is given to Christ Jesus,
all of His elect given to Him as His inheritance, heirs of
God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. All is given
to the Lord Jesus Christ as reward of His suffering and obedience
and death, for He bought the church with His own blood. We studied that in 1 Corinthians
6. Remember, He bought us with His
own blood. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit. You're no more your own, you're
bought with his blood. He said, you ask of me and I'll
give thee the heathen, sinners, God's elect for an eternal inheritance. He has a people out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue under heaven. Now look at verse
nine, thou shalt break them You ask me, and I'll give you an
elect. Oh, they're by nature, they have
the nature of a heathen. But I'm going to give them to
you. All that the Father giveth to me will come to me, and those
that come to me I will in no wise cast out. For thine inheritance
and the uttermost parts of the sea, out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, and kindred, people, Verse nine, thou shalt break
them. Now what do the heathen need? They need broken, don't they? Heathen are too full of sinful
pride. We won't bend the neck until
he breaks us and bows us before him. Thou shalt break them with
a rod of iron. And this is the word of his truth.
And thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Remember
what he says in Psalm 34. He's nigh unto them of a broken
heart. He saith us such as be of a contrite
spirit. The Lord of glory. Here's what
he's saying. The Lord of glory will conquer all that oppose
him. This includes the reprobate and
the lost sheep. The reprobate will be crushed
by divine wrath, and the sheep of Christ will be crushed by
divine love. I want him to crush me by divine
love, not wrath. For he's neither of a broken
heart. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of his power. We're more than conquerors through
him that loved us. Now look at verse 10. I want him to break me, don't
you? I want him to break you. Our stubborn will break our will, bend our heart. and cause us to bow unto his
sovereign rule and love him in our heart. Thou shalt break them
with the rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces. I'm thinking of another scripture
over here. Let me look at it real quick. Psalm 110. Let me just read this
to you. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send... Here's
what I was thinking. The Lord shall send the rod of
his strength. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron. What is that? The rod of his
strength. Out of Zion. Thou shalt send the rod of thy
strength out of Zion. That's the gospel. 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 thou hast to do of thy youth. Now, how does he make
us willing in the day of his power? He shows us the beauty of His
own person. He makes us to want Him, to love
Him, to submit and bow unto His Lordship. And we like it that
way. We call that a loving, willing
bond servant, for the love of Christ constrains us. Now, verse
10, 11, and 12, Psalm 2. Be wise now, Therefore, O ye kings, be instructed,
ye judges of the earth. Now serve the Lord with fear. Serve the Lord with fear. This
is reverential awe and fear of his name. Holy and reverent is
his name. Now rejoice Rejoice with trembling. That kind of sounds a little
bit opposite of each other, doesn't it? Trembling and rejoicing. But we rejoice with reverence
in our heart. Trembling, knowing that God is
God. But we rejoice in him and we
have no confidence in the flesh. We are a true Israel which rejoice
in God and rejoiced in the Lord Jesus Christ and we have no confidence
in the flesh. Now verse 12, kiss the son. That's such a sweet
phrase, is it not? Serve the Lord with fear, holy
and reverent is his name. Rejoice in him with reverence
and worship in your heart. Then he says, kiss the son. Now
kiss is for the most part, is a show of affection. Now, I know
Judas, his kiss was a kiss of betrayal, but this here is a
kiss of affection and reverence and rejoicing. Kiss the son,
that is, bow to the son. Love the son. Oh, lest he be
angry. If any man, we're gonna see in
our study in 1 Corinthians, if any man loved not the Lord Jesus
Christ, If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
anathema maranatha. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let me give you the interpretation of that. Let
him be accursed when the Lord comes. Kiss the son lest he be
angry. And you perish from the way when
his wrath is kindled just a little. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in Him. You know, the blessedness of
the gospel, and He gives us faith to cause us to trust Him. And
we know in trusting Him that all the wrath due our sin fell
upon our substitute, therefore there is no more any wrath or
condemnation due us. Isn't that good news? Now, it's
a delight to trust Him, is it not? Blessed are all they that
put their trust in Him. Their trust in Him. Turn, just
look across the page here. In Psalm 7 verse 1, O Lord God,
in Thee do I put my trust. Save me from all them that persecute
me. I put my trust in Him, all my
trust, my trust of pardon, my trust of forgiveness, my trust
of salvation, my trust of justification, reconciliation, regeneration,
all them other things that we can think of, resurrection. Who's
going to resurrect you from the dead? He's raised us from the grave
spiritually, but who's going to get us out of that when we
put this flesh back in the dust? We're trusting him, aren't we,
to raise us up at the last day.