Psalm 2:1–3 1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 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 burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”
If any Psalm can be described as Messianic, referring to Jesus Christ as the Messiah, it is Psalm 2. Quotations from this Psalm are found in Acts 4, Hebrews 1 and 5, Revelation 1, 2, and 12, directly applying it to Jesus Christ. The Davidic applications in the kingdom of Israel when David wrote this song take a backseat to the fullness of its prophetic application to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over the entire world.
Spurning God’s Law reveals hearts that are determined to do their own thing and go their own way. The nations rage and the people plot in vain, employing a collective revolt to disavow the Lord’s authority to define good and evil. Sinful people all around God’s world believe that if there are enough united voices of defiance, they will prove the Law of God to be irrelevant and unworthy of adherence. The defiant attitudes of people in our communities, country, and nations worldwide show the teaching of this Psalm has abiding relevance.
People today mock the Law of God as outdated and as harmfully restrictive to human evolution and self-expression. Sadly, many Christians today have a similar attitude, viewing God’s Law as the dictates of a bygone era that Jesus removed. But Jesus said He didn’t come to destroy the Law but fulfill it. When the Apostle Paul says, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4), the word translated “end” does not mean removal, but a culmination.
Our desire should be to understand God’s Law as an authoritative revelation of God’s righteous character and a standard for His people. The gospel (good news) is that the unattainable standard of the Law for sinners finds fulfillment in the righteous life of Jesus, who gave Himself as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, paying the penalty for the sins of all those Jesus came to save. Being made spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit of God, we trust our ruling Lord as Savior. We are now empowered to appreciate and consistently live according to the standards of God.
As people in the world unite their voices and their lives in defiance of God and His standards, we rejoice in God’s forgiving grace for us in Jesus, and we love and embrace His truths and commands as identifying qualities of our born-again lives. We honor Jesus as our sovereign ruler, proclaiming Him as the King and the moral authority over His earth, to whom all men and women must give an account. As His redeemed people, we will “serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling,” because “blessed are all who take refuge in him.” (Psalm 2:11-12)
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