When God Laughs

Psalm 2: When God Laughs

Last week I promised you that Sunday evenings would not turn into Hebrew poetry classes. I will hold true to that promise. But, as we venture our way into the Psalms, we need to learn how to read the Psalms well. I just don’t want you to learn from me about the Psalms. I want you to be able to grow in your understanding of the Psalms when you read them yourself or with your family. That’s why we will spend time on these exciting introductory matters.

Last Sunday, we looked at how Psalm 1 and 2 introduce the book of Psalms. Psalm 1 connects the book to the rest of God’s law. Read verse 2. Psalms 1 and 2 set up some major themes for the book: the way of the wicked and righteous, the delight of the righteous in God’s Word. Psalm 2 contrasts the rule of God’s anointed King with the rebellious nations.

I also introduced the main element of Hebrew poetry: parallelism. One line is expanded or contrasted in the second line. This evening I brought a power point that breaks the text down into its lines. Read Psalm 2:1

We must also note that there are different types of Psalms. Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm. It paints life in broad strokes…in black and white. The righteous and the wicked and their eternal destinies. The gray in life is reserved for the lament Psalms. What do you do when Psalm 1 doesn’t feel real in your life? Psalm 3 is a lament psalm, so we will look at one next week. Psalm 2 is a royal Psalm, which speaks of God’s appointed king. One other type are psalms of thanksgiving. Different types of psalms are read in different ways…they communicate their messages differently.

Read Psalm 2

1. The Rebellious Nations (1-3)
When I read the first 3 verses of this Psalm, I think of the nations like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Don’t ask why that comes to mind. Their efforts are embarrassingly ineffective. In the second part of verse 1, the people imagine a vain thing. They are plotting against God. This is the same word used for mediate in Psalm 1:2. The word means murmur or mutter. The meditation of the righteous has given way to the plotting of the rebellious nations.

They are setting themselves against the LORD. Whenever you see LORD is all caps, it is God’s covenant name he revealed to Israel: Yahweh…or Jehovah. They are also in rebellion to God’s anointed.

We need to read this Psalm at 2 levels. The first level is speaking about Israel’s king who the Lord had set up. He had been designated by his anointing. As we go further in the Psalm, we see that God has appointed this king. In one sense, he is God’s son, or God’s ruler on earth.

When the nations during the time of Israel wanted to destroy Israel, they were also setting themselves up against God’s rule. The nation of Israel was a small piece of God’s kingdom on earth.

On a second level, this psalm is pointing to Jesus Christ, the Messiah (which means anointed one). He is truly God’s Son and will rule over all the earth. Yes, God did appoint kings to rule over the nation of Israel. In the end, their dynasties were sand castles. Christ’s rule is granite. Immovable and unstoppable. As believers living after the cross, we see Christ as the fulfillment of this Psalm.

The psalm speaks of the King shattering the nations. We look back and see that the nations of Assyria and Babylon decimated the nation of Israel. This failure of the Israelite king and kingdom paves the way for the true king to come and claim his throne.

2. God’s Rule in Heaven (4-6)
I love God’s response. He laughs. He doesn’t ring his hands. He doesn’t pace. He doesn’t even battle them. He sits and laughs. Then he speaks. There are a few other places in the Psalms that speak of God laughing.

Psalm 37:12-13
The wicked plots against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him,
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.

Psalm 59:8
But you, O Lord, laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.

People do laughable things. Sometimes laughable to others, sometimes laughable to God. At our old house, one of our driveways was off a very steep, unpaved road. It did not get ploughed or salted in the winter. We used our other driveway and avoided it, but some others had to learn the hard way. There were all sorts of accidents and comedies that unfolded right outside our window. One morning we heard the familiar whine of tires spinning on ice, and we looked out and saw a pickup with massive tires stuck on the shoulder. Apparently he did not have 4-wheel drive. His jacked-up truck was worthless at this point. Instead of turning around, he decided to call his friend to pull him up the hill with a tow strap. You can imagine the two trucks sliding down the hill together almost hitting each other. After a few attempts and near accidents, I went out and told him that he could pull into our driveway and drive down the hill. Thankfully he took my advice. Time after time, the roar of engines and the whining of tires could not overcome that hill.

This is the nations. They cannot take on God. This puts the actions of today’s nations and terrorists in perspective. Russia bears its teeth…the US sanctions…North Korea shuts down movies. Terrorist groups commit unspeakable crimes. They can’t touch God and his kingdom. The nations are like a drop in a bucket, like dust on the scales compared to our mighty God. Their attempt to be God or take on God is laughable.

God will terrify them by setting up his King. In the OT, the nations were terrified by David and Solomon’s rule. In the day of judgment, God will terrify the evil rulers by judging them by Jesus Christ.

3. God’s Decree (7-9)
Verses 7-9 give a decree that the Lord gives about the King. It is a retelling of the adoption of the earthly king. God is the Father to the Davidic King. Verse 7 is quote several times in the NT speaking of Jesus. It shows that Jesus is the true Son of God and that he is the true King to sit on David’s throne. No, Jesus was not born or created by God, but he is begotten in the sense that he is the Son in relationship to the Father.

The promise to the King is that he will have the earth and rule over the nations. His rule is described in strong terms: break with a rod of iron and dashed into pieces. Jesus will be revealed to all the world and he will take out evil people and wicked rulers. This does not fit with the picture of Jesus, meek and mild who wouldn’t harm a flea. The Jesus of the Bible will break the wicked with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a clay pot. If this is not he Jesus you know, it is not the Jesus of the Bible.

If there is to be any justice for evil, there must be a judge. When we see evil in the world, and experience evil done against it, the only answer is for a King to come and take it all away. For peace to come, the King must break evil. Through his death on the cross, Jesus overcame sin, evil, and the devil. When he comes again, he will vanquish them.

4. The Rule of the Messiah (10-12)
The Jesus of the Bible is not all fire and brimstone. There is a way for you to be safe in him. The rulers of the earth are warned: serve the Son or you will perish. Not many options there. Verse 11 guides us in how we respond to the LORD. Don’t attempt to overthrow his rule, but:
-Serve with fear
-Rejoice with trembling
Charles Spurgeon remarks on this passage: “There must every be a holy fear mixed with the Christian’s joy…. Fear, without joy, is torment; and joy, without holy fear, would be presumption.”

How, then, are we to approach the King? Kiss the Son. Commentators are not exactly sure what is represented by this idea of kissing. In the context, worship and respect are appropriate. To be safe from the terror of the King, we don’t flee from him but come to him in faith.

If you’ve ever read the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, you know of Aslan. When the children first enter Narnia, they meet Mr and Mrs Beaver, and hear of King Aslan.

“Is – is he a man?” asked Lucy
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion, the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh,” said Susan, “I thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king I tell you.”

The Jesus of the Bible is not safe. But he is good. The way to escape the terror of the Son is to find him as our refuge. Psalm 2 ends where Psalm 1 begins: bestowing a blessing. Psalm 1 blesses the righteous person who avoids wickedness; Psalm 2 blesses those who take refuge in the Son. That is a good way to sum up the Psalms: taking refuge in Jesus and walking in righteousness before him.

The message of Psalm 2 goes beyond the OT into the NT. Turn to Acts 4:23-31. The context is this: Peter and John healed a lame a lame man by the power of Jesus and everybody is paying attention to them. They had been called before the council of the Jewish leaders. The verdict is: do not speak in the name of Jesus. We pick it up in verse 23. Read until vs 31. Notice that part of Psalm 2 is quoted by those early believers. Not just speaking of the Gentile nations, but also of the Jewish leaders. They knew that rulers can rage against Jesus; they can shake their fist in God’s face. But nothing can stop Jesus. No one can stop his church.

We hear of persecution of Christians…Beheaded for Christ…The threats of nations and terrorist against the church of Jesus Christ. Our culture grow more hostile toward Christian beliefs and morality. Jesus reigns. Nothing can stop him from building his church. Not even death itself. People rage against Jesus and his church. God laughs. Jesus reigns. We win.

This view of heaven gives us incredible boldness. Let’s pray and go, knowing that Christ reigns.