Now, Psalm 2 this evening. We
have Psalm 2. It's a glorious psalm, isn't
it? It's a glorious psalm. This psalm is gospel all over. Gospel through and through, as
all the Word of God is. It's gospel all over. And while
Psalm 2 may have some faint reference to David, King David, as being
God's anointed, raised up from the sheepfold to rule and reign
in Israel, those, what, 40 years he reigned in Israel? It may
have some faint reference to David, the house of Jesse, but
it speaks loud and clear of the greater David, God's king, king
of kings, and Lord of lords, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you
ever realize this? The Lord Jesus Christ, when He
came, God manifested in the flesh, was born King. They said, where,
do you remember what the wise men said? Where is He that born
King? He was King when He got here.
He lived as King, ruled and reigned as King. He died as King. Remember the writing over the
cross? King of the Jews, born King,
lived King, died as King, and He rules and reigns as King of
Kings and Lord of Lords right now. He's my Savior. He is my hope of salvation. He's the King. This psalm tells
us of His person. what we call the mediatorial
work and the righteous victories of the Lord Jesus Christ as the
head and Lord of His kingdom. Our great God and Savior does
rule and reign over all people, friend and foe. He rules and
reigns over all. This Psalm, Psalm 2, is referred
to three times in the New Testament. always in reference to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now we read one just a moment
ago from Acts chapter 4 where they talked about all the people
of Israel, Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Jews and the Gentiles who
were all in opposition to each other but they came in one united
cause against the Lord and you know what they did? They did
what they wanted to do They hated God, hated the Lord Jesus, but
they did what God determined before to be done. Isn't that
amazing? God rules and reigns over all things. He even uses
the wicked hearts and motives and deeds and actions of wicked
people to accomplish His own purpose. He rules and reigns
over all things. This psalm is referred to in
Acts chapter 4, in Acts chapter 13, and in Hebrews chapter 5,
excuse me, Hebrews chapter 1 verse 5. And if we can, we'll try to
turn and read these as we go through this psalm this evening. Now, this psalm has a four-point
outline. In verses 1 through verse 3,
we see the rage of the wicked. And then in verse 4 through verse
6, we see the reign, the Lord's reign over the wicked. He sits
undisturbed in the splendor of His royal sovereignty. And then the third point, verses
9, 7 through 9, the Lord declares the decree of the gospel. the
decree of the gospel, the splendor decree of God's gospel. And then
the last point being verses 10, 11, and 12, the Lord's instruction
to his people to serve him, to rejoice in him, to kiss the son,
kiss the son. That means to embrace him. That
means to receive him and love him. And then it says to trust
Him, to trust Him. That's good instruction, isn't
it? To serve Him, to rejoice in Him, to kiss Him, to love
Him, and to trust the Lord Jesus Christ. He is everything in salvation.
I want to rest in Him. I want to believe Him and find
all of my hope in Christ. Now, let's go back over those
four points In verses 1 through 3, we see the rage of the wicked. The rebellion of the enemies
against the Lord. You see it in verse 1 there?
Why? Why? Why would anyone rage against
God? Why do the heathen, the ungodly,
rage? Rage in a tumultuous assembly. Rage. And the people, why do
they imagine, meditate on such a vain, vain thing? The kings
of the earth set themselves. They set themselves. They array
themselves. And the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord. against His anointed, against
the Christ, the Christ of God, saying, verse 3, let us break,
let us break their rule, let us break their dominion, let
us break God's reign, God's band, let's just cast them away, let's
break them asunder, let's cast God's sovereign rule away from
us. the rage of the wicked. We see
this all over, don't we? Against him. We see here the
inherent hatred and enmity of the carnal mind and spirit against
the sovereign dominion and rule of God. You know why? The carnal
mind is enmity against God. not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be. Men by nature love darkness,
not light. Why do the heathen rage and kick
and rebel against God and hate the sovereign rule of God? Why
do they meditate upon such vain schemes as to end His authority?
To put, as we might say, to put God out of business and to be
their own God? Isn't that exactly what Adam
tried in the garden? Isn't that exactly what the Pharisees
tried to do when the Lord Jesus Christ came? When Pilate brought
him forth and said, Behold your king. You remember what they
said away with him? We have no king but Caesar. Why do they
do such things? Why do men in their hatred, why
do they act the way they do? I think two things. First of
all, the ignorance of the character of God. Man by nature are ignorant
of the true character of God. He's not who we think He is. He's who He is. He's the almighty,
sovereign King. Whatsoever the Lord pleases,
that's what He does. Why would any rage against the
sovereign power of God? It's because they're ignorant
of God. They're ignorant of God. There's a campaign that the atheists
have right now in the subways, the public subways of New York
City. And their campaign slogan goes
this way, a million New Yorkers good without God are you. That's their slogan. A million
New Yorkers don't need God. We are good without God. We don't
need His Christ. Away with God. Know what they're
saying? How foolish. But yet that is
the rebellion of sinners against God. They're ignorant of a true
God. Secondly, the reason that the
heathen rage in such a way, and they're not only ignorant of
God, but they're also ignorant of their own wicked
heart. The sinful arrogance and self-righteous
pride of the puny sinful creature against God. That's why they
rage. Turn over here to Psalm, the
arrogance of the flesh, the arrogance of fallen, fallen sinners. Turn
over here to Psalm 14. Look at verse 1. The fool has said in his heart,
You see it, Psalm 14, the fool has said in his heart, no God. The fool has said in his heart,
no God. Notice the two words, there is,
have been supplied, there is no God. But in essence, the fool
says, no, no God. I will not have God to reign
over me. 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 did understand and seek God. They're all gone
aside. They're all together become filthy.
There is none that doeth good. No, not 1. Same message that Paul writes
in Romans 3, there is no fear of God before their eyes. Why do the wicked rage like they
do? Ignorance of God, number one,
and because of their sinful, arrogant, self-righteous religious
pride against God. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
manifest in the flesh, this is exactly what they tried to do.
They tried to enthrone their own will and say, good-bye God. You say, well, is that still
going on today? Absolutely. Pulpits, churches
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
and plant the flag of free willism. The sinner's will, the sinner's
decision. By doing so, the human will,
the fallen will. Salvation, my friend, and eternal
life depend upon not the will of man, As I've said before,
the will of man is always self-ward and downward, never God-ward
and upward. Salvation is always determined, dependent, and accomplished
by the will of God. If His own will beget He us with
the word of truth. Still going on today, the rebellious
and the religious rebellious still rise in anger against God. We will not have God who is the
absolute God over all things. But this is a God with whom we
have to do. I'm glad that God is God. Because
I'm a sinner in need of a I don't need a puny Savior. I don't need
a puny God Because I'm such an awful wicked sinner. I need a
great God. I need a great Savior who saves
with everlasting Salvation who is able to put away all my sin
by the sacrifice of himself. I'm glad that God is God and
I'm glad that He's broken my stubborn heart and stubborn will
and made me to bow and surrender to this One who is King of kings
and Lord of lords. I'm glad He has broken my rage
and my rebellion and has taught me the gospel. Now, notice if
you will, verse 4, He still reigns. He still reigns, He that sitteth in the heavens. God's enthroned
and the Lord Jesus Christ is enthroned. He that sitteth in
the heavens when he by himself purged our sin, he sat down on
the right hand of the throne of God. He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh, shall laugh. God has a sense of humor. What
does he think about the rage of the puny will of the creature? He laughs. He laughs. He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them,
and He'll have them in contempt. He'll have them in scorn. He'll
have them in derision. Then He'll speak to them in His
wrath. and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet he said, in
spite of all rebellion, I have set my king, I have anointed
my king is the word. The word there set means anointed
upon my holy hill of Zion." God's church, God's people. The Lord
is not alarmed by the puny, insignificant mutiny of the rebellion of the
sinner. He sits undisturbed in majestic
splendor on his sovereign throne quite amused by the wicked rebellion
of man. He's not surprised. God wasn't
surprised at Adam's rebellion. God wasn't surprised when the
Lord Jesus Christ came among men. He wasn't surprised that
he was rejected of men. God said that he would be. He
shall laugh at them and their futile opposition to his sovereign
rule and reign. Let's look at some scripture
here. Find Psalm 37. Psalm 37, look at verse 12. Psalm 37, verse 12, the wicked
plotteth, the wicked practice, plotteth against the just and
gnasheth upon him with his teeth, the Lord shall laugh at him,
for he saith that his day is coming." There's a day of judgment
coming. There's a day of reckoning coming. Soon finds Isaiah 40. Turn over to Isaiah 40. What
does the Lord think of all this puny opposition of men, of sinners? You think it will change the
decree of Almighty God? You think he's upset by the wicked
rebellion of man against God's sovereign rule? Isaiah 40, notice
this, look at verse 15. Behold, the nations, the nations
are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as a small dust
of the balance. What's a drop of a bucket? Now
you young people have never done this, but you older ones have.
You go out to the old well, and you've seen the picture of that
crank with the bucket and the rope, and you let down that bucket
into the well, and you draw, you get that bucket full of water,
and you draw that bucket of water up to the top, and off the bottom
of that, there's some water droplets off the bottom of that bucket.
You're not interested in the drop of the bucket, you're interested
in what's in the bucket. What he's saying here, as insignificant
as a drop of water off the end of the bucket, so insignificant
are all the nations of this earth are as a drop of a bucket. How
great is China? How great is Russia? How about
the United States? A drop of a bucket. are counted
as the small dust of a balance. Blow off the dust. You don't
weigh the dust, you blow it away. Behold, he taketh up the isle
as a very little thing. Lebed is not sufficient to burn,
nor the beast thereof sufficient for burn offering. All nations
before him are as nothing. They are counted to him less
than nothing, and even, he says here, What's less than nothing,
you math students? That's negative, isn't it? That's
negative. Less than nothing, and then he
said vanity. Look down at verse 22, Isaiah
40. He that sitteth upon the circle
of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. that stretches, he stretches
out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent
to dwell in. Drop of the bucket, dust of the
balance, grasshoppers. You can take all humanity and
all nations and bring them all together and try to change the
sovereign decree of God and the will of God and it amounts to
less than nothing and vanity. That's what he's saying here.
Absolutely so. He shall have them, look what
it says, He shall have them in derision. He'll look upon them
in contempt of His sovereign rule. He'll hold them in contempt
of His decree. Then He will speak to them, it
says, He said, I will speak to them, not in love, But in His
holy wrath, His holy anger, and then vex them or trouble them
in His dreadful sore and dreadful displeasure. His wrath against
sin is His holiness stirred in activity against sin. It's what
sin deserves. What does sin deserve? Wrath,
judgment, and death. Look what it says down in verse
12. He says, kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish from
the way when his wrath is kindled but just a little bit, just a
little bit of wrath. My friend, I don't want anything
to do with the wrath of God, not at all. I want something
to do with the love of God in Christ Jesus. Even a little bit
of wrath will condemn us forever. As the sovereign of the universe,
he does not need to step off his throne. Notice what it says
in verse 4, he sitteth in the heavens. He does not need to
step off his throne to execute and exercise his authority and
execute his purpose. He only needs to speak and it's
done. Look over here at Psalm 33 verse
8. Psalm 33, verse 8. Have you ever
noticed this? Psalm 33, verse 8. 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 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. Now watch this. The counsel of
the Lord shall stand forever. The thoughts of his heart to
all generation. Blessed is the nation whose God
is the Lord and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. Back to Psalm 2. Look at verse
6, he says, "...Yet, yet, yet, I have, I have set, I have anointed
my king upon my holy hill of Zion." Despite all opposition,
despite all the malice of the sinner against God, despite all
the unanimous opinions of the rebel against God, he still reigns. He still reigns supreme over
all things. God has already accomplished
what the enemy has gone about thinking they might destroy.
The Lord Jesus Christ, He is King of kings and Lord of lords. Not by what we do, but by the
decree of Almighty God. You remember Peter preaching
in Acts chapter 2, where he declared God had made that same Jesus
whom you had crucified, God had made him both Lord and Christ. Lord and Christ. He said, I've
set my King upon my holy hill, Zion. God's anointed, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the anointed mediator. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's
anointed and he is appointed of God. By the decree of God,
he's not lured by what we do, he's lured by what God has decreed.
And he shall not be disappointed in any aspect of covenant mercies,
covenant work. It says of him, he cannot fail,
he shall not fail. The pleasure of the Lord will
prosper in his hand, in his hand. I want my salvation placed in
his hand, don't you? His hand of power, His hand of
wisdom. Not in my hand, I want it in
His hand. Not in my time, I want it in
His time. The Lord Jesus Christ, as the Mediator, is anointed
in all of His office, threefold, you remember? His threefold office,
you remember what it is? Prophet, Priest, and King. Prophet, we can say it this way,
Prophet, Priest, and Potentate. He is the Most High Potentate. He is the King. The King. He is God's anointed prophet
to reveal salvation unto us. He is anointed priest of God
to redeem us with His own blood. And He is anointed King. What
does a King do? A King reigns. A King reigns. So He is prophet
to reveal, priest to redeem, and He is King to reign. King
of kings, reigns over all, all power is given to me in heaven
and earth. The father loved the son and given all things into
his hand, his hand. He has power over all flesh to
give eternal life to as many as God hath given him. I've set my king upon my holy
hill of Zion. Is any puny, rotten, guilty sinner
going to change the purpose and decree of God? Absolutely not. He rules and reigns to enforce
His will. His will will be done in heaven
and in earth. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. Now here's the third point. He
said, I will declare the decree, the decree the Lord had said
unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee, ask
of me and I shall give the heathen for your inheritance and the
uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. He has an
inheritance and he has a possession. God will break them, He'll break
them with a rod of iron, and He'll dash them in pieces like
a potter's vessel. None can stand in opposition
to His sovereign will. They will be broken. They will
be broken. The Lord Jesus Christ declares
the decree of the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ comes forth
as the great preacher of the gospel, as God's prophet. Find Psalm 40. Psalm 40, look
at verse 7. Psalm 40, verse 7. Then, Psalm 40, let's read verse 6.
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, the blood and bulls
of goats cannot take away sin. My ear hast thou opened, digged,
the bond-servant, burn offerings and sin offerings thou hast not
required then said I lo I come in the volume of the book it's
written to me I delight to do thy will oh my god thy law is
within my heart I have preached he's a preacher The Lord Jesus
Christ is a preacher. I preach righteousness in the
great congregation. Lo, I've not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. I've declared it. I've declared
your faithfulness. I've declared your salvation.
I've not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great
congregation. The Lord Jesus Christ declares
the decree of God, all that the Father hath given to me they
will come to me and those that come to me I will in no wise
cast out. The gospel is the everlasting
gospel. Do you know the gospel is older
than the fall? older than Adam's sin. Before
Adam's sin, the Lord Jesus Christ stood as a surety, as a guarantor,
as a savior of his people. That's right. The gospel is the
everlasting gospel. It's the gospel of God concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is the decree of God
to save sinners through the Blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world Being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus The Lord Jesus Christ is a charity of that covenant What
makes salvation certain and sure? He does. He is a surety of it. He is a guarantee of that salvation. He is a surety of the everlasting
covenant of grace. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to Him, all that were given to Him. He's able
to save to the uttermost all that come to Him. He's able to
save them. He's a surety of that covenant.
He's a surety of a better testament. a better testament, not one of
the blood of bulls and goats, but with His own blood. He is
the sacrifice of that everlasting covenant of grace, Hebrews 13,
20. God brought again from the dead that great shepherd of the
sheep to the blood of the everlasting covenant. And He is the Savior
of His covenant people. call his name Jesus, he shall
save his people from their sin. Now, it says there in verse 7,
I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said to me, you're
my son, you're my son, God the son, this day have I given thee,
this day have I begotten thee. Now there's a lot here, more
than I can understand, but let me see if I can take a shot at
it here. He is the only begotten Son. He is the true and proper eternal
Son, the Son of God, owned and acknowledged, God the Son, owned
and acknowledged and declared so by God the Father. He declared,
this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This day of
begetting is the timeless day of God's eternal decrees. For
with Him there is no time. He said, I've spoken it, I'll
bring it to pass, I've purposed it, I will do it. Now we see in time, as we are
creatures of time, we see this eternal day of begetting revealed
in time, but He's always been the well-beloved, only begotten
Son of God from all eternity. For what God has decreed in eternity,
He does display in time. Galatians 4. In the fullness
of time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law. Begotten in time,
in the flesh, to die for our sin according to the Scripture.
Now here's that other reference I said. There were three references. Turn to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. begotten in
the flesh, he said, a body thou hast prepared me. Why did he
need a body? To die for our sin. Begotten
in time, in the flesh, God manifest in the flesh to die for our sins
according to the Scripture. Now this is what it says here,
Hebrews 1, you got it? You with me? Look at 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 sin, sat down on the right hand
of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the
angels, He has better the angels, as he hath by an inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of
the angels did he say at any time, Thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee? And again, he said, I will be
to him a father, he shall be to me a son. Again, when he bringeth
the first begotten into the world, he says, Let all the angels of
God worship him. Verse 8, 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. Now here's the
other reference. Turn to Acts chapter 13. Begotten in time, the only well-beloved,
eternally begotten Son of God, the only begotten to die for
our sins according to the Scripture. Not only that, He didn't stay
dead, did He? He's begotten from the dead.
This is a reference here in Acts chapter 13. Look at verse 30,
verse 29, Acts 13. And when they had fulfilled all
that was written of him, they took him down from a tree and
laid him in the grave. But God raised him from the dead.
He was seen of many days of them which came up with him from Galilee
to Jerusalem. who are witnesses unto the people,
we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was
made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their
children, in that he raised up Jesus again, as it is also written
in the, there's that second Psalm, thou art my son, this day have
I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised
him up from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he said
on this wise, on this account, I'll give unto you the sure mercies
of David. Begotten again from the dead.
He finished the work God gave him to do, delivered for our
offenses and raised again for our justification. His resurrection
declares that all that he did was gloriously accepted of the
Father. Now look at verse 8, back in
our text. Ask of me, he says, ask of me, just ask me and I'll give you anything you
want. Ask of me and I'll give you the
heathen for your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the
earth, I'll give everything to you. The Father says to the Son
on the ground of His merit, His righteousness, His success, His
meditatorial work, upon the ground of His effectual sacrifice, He
expiated all our sin. Ask what you will and it's yours. All is given to Christ Jesus
as reward of His suffering, obedience, and death. He bought the church
with His own blood. He certainly will receive what
He asked for and what He bought. All that the Father gives to
Him, they will come to Him. I'll give you, the heathen, God's
elect among the Gentiles for an eternal inheritance. His kingdom
will extend to the uttermost parts of the earth. He will have
a people out of every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue under
heaven. I want to be part of that possession,
don't you? Lord, possess me by your grace. Lord, make me an heir of God
in a joint heir with the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in verse
9, Lord, break me. He's nigh them of a broken heart.
He saves such as be of a contrite spirit. Thou shalt break them
with the rod of iron. Write a reference there to Psalm
110. And that's referring to the Gospel. What does He break us with? He
breaks us with the gospel. He convicts us with the truth.
And He dashes any other hope we have of salvation apart from
the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll dash them in pieces like
a potter's vessel. Lord break me. Dash any hope
I have apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Rule and reign in my
heart. I would be the willing captive
of the Lord Jesus Christ. How about you? How about you? Oh, I tell you, the Lord of glory
will conquer all that oppose Him. This includes both the 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 nigh them of a broken heart.
He saves such as be of a contrite spirit. Thy people shall be willing
in the day of God's power. Do you know what I do? We see
in religion going on all the time, about preachers and evangelists,
they put pressure on people. They put pressure on people to
do things. They try to substitute themselves
to do the work of the Holy Spirit. They try to bring on conviction.
Bring on a broken hearted, heartedness. I tell you what God's preachers
do. They preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, preach
the truth of God, and leave sinners in the hand of Almighty God.
I'm willing to do that. I want to do that. Preach the
gospel and leave folks alone. God will convict them. You reckon
He's able? You reckon He's able to teach
His people the gospel of Christ? I reckon so. He taught me. He
can teach you. One time I had no interest. You
know, I've not always been a preacher. At one time in my young adult
life, I was a rebel, an outright rebel against God, hater of God,
raised in religion, but false religion, didn't know the true
God. And one day God conquered this rebel. He planted His flag
of sovereignty in my heart. and caused me to love the Lord
Jesus Christ. And one day He gave me a burden
and desire in my heart to tell others about Christ and this
good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in closing,
let me give you this. Be wise now. Would you be a wise
man? You remember the fool has said
in his heart, no God. Would you be wise? Be wise now
therefore. Kings, be instructed. Judges of the earth, high or
low, serve the Lord with fear. Worship Him. Rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. Kiss the Son. What do you do when you kiss
someone? It's an expression of love, isn't it? Isn't it an expression
of love? Expression of intimate tenderness
toward that person, kiss the Son, embrace the Lord Jesus Christ,
lest he be angry and you perish from the way when his wrath is
kindled but a little. Now look at this, blessed, blessed
are all they that put their trust in Him, in Him. Would you be a wise man? Would
you be one instructed of the Lord? I hope so. All those who
have heard and learned of the Father, they come to Christ.
Serve the Lord with fear. What a great privilege to be
called a servant of the Lord. To be a willing, loving, bond-servant
of Jesus Christ. Rejoice with trembling, with
reverence. Rejoice in the Lord always and
again I say rejoice. We have many reasons to joy in
Him. Believers find great joy in His
person and His salvation. I love to hear about Him. I love others to talk about Him. You know those to whom you love?
You always talk about them. You ever notice how grandparents
always talk about their grandchildren? Why do they do that? They love
them. They love them. And believers love to talk about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Rejoice with trembling and kiss
the Son. Embrace Him, receive Him in faith,
love and submission as all in salvation for truly He is. Blessed
are all they that put their trust in Him. Right across the page,
I'll leave you with this. Psalm 7 verse 1, O Lord my God,
in Thee do I put my trust. Save me from all them that persecute. And Lord, deliver me, redeem
me, take me for Your own.