Psalms 2 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

Bible Comments
  • Introduction open_in_new

    The first psalm looked at the righteous man and his relationship with God, indicating the blessings that flowed to him from God.. This psalm looks at the Righteous One and His relationship with man. It is necessary first to consider the background to this Psalm for it concerns first the King of Israel. It describes him as YHWH's anointed, His adopted son and as the prospective world ruler. But in the end it has in mind the Great King Who is yet to come, the One Who will fulfil all YHWH's will..

    Abraham was called by God to leave his family and go to the land of Canaan. When he arrived he received the first of a series of promises. Part of that promise was that the whole world would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3). This was later expanded to include the fact that he would be the father of kings who would rule nations (Genesis 17:6). And indeed in the thinking of those days the only way by which a man could bless the whole world would be seen as by ruling over it. Thus intrinsic in these promises was that Abraham's descendants would rule ‘the world'.

    A hint of this was included in Genesis 49:10 and Numbers 24:17, both of which indicated the ruling of an empire by the coming descendant of Judah/Israel. The idea was vague but growing. They thought in terms of their ‘world'. Exodus 19:6 speaks of Israel becoming a kingdom of priests and this again required that the nations should look to Israel. Thus Israel had a growing sense of the fact that one day they would be called on to act on God's behalf on the world as it was around them.

    Then the triumphs of David caused hope of the fulfilment of the dream. And this was when this psalm was written. To take it as just the description of a local squabble is to overlook a number of things. Firstly Israel's vision of itself; secondly, the fact that David was a poet as well a king, with all a poet's dreams; and thirdly, that his meteoric rise, as well as his successes, was extremely likely to cause a hunger after more. In the eyes of most of Israel he must later almost have seemed to be king of the world. He certainly ruled their ‘world', and the ‘worlds' round about, with an iron hand. And this would probably have seemed even more so in the splendour of the reign of Solomon. They are a picture (when viewed idealistically) of the future Kingly Rule of God.

    So David exulted in his privilege as being made YHWH's anointed, and he calls on the nations to submit and yield themselves to YHWH. Then and then alone will come worldwide blessing. He no doubt hoped for it in his day, with the eyes of the visionary, or at the worst in his son's day. But he spoke better than he knew. For its fulfilment would await the coming of his Greater Son, Jesus Christ.

    After the fall of Solomon this idea of future kingship was taken up with a vengeance by the prophets. In their eyes the collapse of the kingdom had not removed the possibility, only delayed it. Although the kingship appeared to be in decline they declared that YHWH could not finally fail. God had promised to David an everlasting kingship. So there would come one day a king from the house of David, endued with the Spirit of God, who would become the perfect example of righteousness and He would rule the world, with the result that the nations would be transformed (Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 11:1-4 with 9-10; Psalms 32:1-2; Psalms 72; Ezekiel 37:24-28). Thus the continual ideal ‘king to come' was seen as destined to rule the nations, bringing the blessing promised to Abraham on all the families of the earth. This was their hope. This was their dream. And it was necessary in order to fulfil God's promises for the kingship, and God's promises to Abraham. So when David failed to fulfil the ideal, the coming of a greater David became a certainty. And it was that dream that was in the people's minds when this psalm was sung throughout the periods of the first and second temples and beyond.

    In Acts 4:25-26 the new people of God refer to the opening words of this psalm saying ‘Who by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David did say'. Then they referred the significance of the Psalm to Jesus. They saw the psalm as spoken by the Holy Spirit through David and fulfilled in the coming of Jesus, and especially in the resurrection of Jesus, the final fulfilment of the psalm. He had been treated abominably by all the world, both king and governor, both Gentile and Jew (Acts 4:27), but had finally been set on God's holy hill as YHWH's Anointed (Acts 2:34-36).

    The time of the writing of the psalm was probably not too long after Nathan's vision from God, declared to David in 2 Samuel 7:8-16. We can imagine the impression those words made on David as he saw himself as the anointed of YHWH, adopted as His son, as his sons would be after him. Thus he sought to express the ideal in poetry. Each was ‘YHWH's anointed', but ever awaiting the One Who would rule the everlasting Kingdom (2 Samuel 7:13; 2 Samuel 7:16).

    It seemingly also arose at a time when there were simmerings of rebellion among the tribute nations. Possibly there was news of a plot afoot to rebel against David. But he was not afraid, for he knew that he was YHWH's anointed. He knew that he had defeated the mighty Philistines, taking over their empire (2 Samuel 8:1-14), and even at that stage the vision was possibly already growing in his mind of a ‘world' empire over which YHWH would rule. If he could defeat them he could defeat anyone.

    So in the psalm he signalled the certainty of the triumph of the favoured of YHWH, and gave warning to all of what it would mean to rebel against him and his God. Indeed the poem might have been despatched to kings in his empire as a subtle warning that he was aware of plans that were afoot. Inevitably they would be brought into fruition at any sign of weakness. But when it was sung regularly within the Temple it signified a looking forward to the dream, the dream of the great and godly king of the house of David who would one day arise, with YHWH's help and power, to rule the world, thus fulfilling David's vision.

    The psalm begins with the nations and rulers seething and hatching rebellion against YHWH and against His anointed king. It continues with YHWH's derision of their attempt to overthrow His anointed. Then it declares to the nations that this one against whom they rebel is in fact YHWH's ‘son', adopted by Him in order that he might rule the world and bring judgment on God's enemies. And finally it calls on the nations to submit to YHWH and His son, finishing with the words “Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him”.

    While possibly springing from a specific occasion we must remember that this is poetry. It was intended to be sung. It depicted David's view of the Davidic kingship. It was a vision of the significance of the rule of the ‘anointed of YHWH' which would carry on through generations, and it was his idealistic view of what it would achieve. David did not just have himself in mind. He thought of his sons, and his son's sons over an everlasting kingdom, with all men submitting to YHWH, as YHWH had promised him (2 Samuel 7:8-16). It was to be fulfilled in Great David's Greater Son.

  • Psalms 2:1-3 open_in_new

    The Nations In Rebellion Against YHWH and Against His Anointed One

    Psalms 2:1-3

    ‘Why do the nations rage,

    And the people imagine a vain thing?

    The kings of the earth set themselves,

    And the rulers take counsel together,

    Against YHWH and against his anointed.'

    Saying, Let us break their bands asunder,

    And cast away their cords from us.'

    The first reference is probably to a proposed confederation of nations under his rule planning to overthrow the king of Israel, the Davidic king, of which the king had become aware. David would ever be aware of such plots and schemes They began from the moment when David took ‘the bridle of the mother city' (the right to rule others) out of the hands of the Philistines and took over their subject nations, who did not, however, want to exchange tribute to the Philistines with tribute to this upstart king of Israel, and thus fought for their freedom (2 Samuel 8:1-14). The plots would continue in later simmerings of rebellion of which we are not told, plots and schemes that finally came to nought. In all cases they would be seen as an attempt to avoid being under the rule of YHWH.

    But if so it is described in words that look beyond local nations to the world situation of David's dreams. While David may partly have had the local situation in mind, it also looks forward to the greater vision, the vision of the world as required to be subject to YHWH and His anointed. YHWH was King over all the earth (Genesis 18:25; 1 Chronicles 29:11; Psalms 22:28; Psalms 47:2; Psalms 47:7; Jeremiah 10:10; Zechariah 14:9). But people did not want to be under His yoke. They wanted to be free to do exactly what they wanted. So he saw the wider world also as constantly simmering in its rebellion against God. He knew that not only the local nations, but all the nations of the world would one day be called to be subject to YHWH, but would plan rebellion against Him and thus would need to be brought into subjection to Him or summarily dealt with.

    This demonstrates David's great vision, and may well have been the result of David's dreams at that time. He possibly felt that that was his destiny, or the destiny of his son to whom he would hand over a powerful empire, world submission to YHWH. His vision of world empire was not thus just totally selfish. And he spoke better than he knew. For unknowingly he spoke of One Who would come as God's Anointed, Who would indeed be rejected and spurned, but Who would then lay claim to the submission of the world to His Father. He spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ.

    The stress is on the nations as being at odds with YHWH. The nations rage (definite tense) because they do not want to be in subjection to Him. The thought infuriates them. The people go on imagining (indefinite tense) folly by thinking that they do not have to obey Him. It was like that then. It is the same today. Men seek to throw off His restraints, they do not want Him to tie them down.

    The kings and rulers of the earth are also involved. They too seek ways of escaping from YHWH's grip. They try every way to avoid His rule. They are at enmity with YHWH and with His anointed. They are constantly setting themselves (indefinite tense) against Him, and thus take counsel together (definite tense) with this in mind. The world and its rulers are in it together.

    David may well have seen himself like this as the supreme anointed of YHWH (1 Samuel 16:13; Psalms 89:20). He laid great stress on what it meant to be ‘the anointed one', chosen by YHWH. That is why he spared Saul so often (1 Samuel 24:6; 1 Samuel 24:10; 1 Samuel 26:9 etc). To him being ‘the anointed of YHWH', the one chosen and called out by YHWH and empowered by Him, was the greatest privilege a man could have. And it contained within it a world view. Thus their refusal to submit to him was itself a sign of their rebellion against YHWH.

    So he saw in these local nations, simmering in their rebellion, a picture of the whole world unwilling to submit to God and His anointed one, a world that he wanted to conquer, a world that should submit to YHWH's rule. What he did not at that time know was that his dream for himself would never be fulfilled. But he would have been quite content to know that it would be fulfilled in his descendants, and, had he known of Him, in the greater Anointed One yet to come. It was then recognised that a promise from God was often to a man and his seed, so that David would be satisfied to think that what he had begun Another would take up. But they would reject Him too. 

    ‘Against YHWH and against His anointed.' We can almost hear David's scandalised tone. To David the two were one. The one who was anointed with oil had been set aside as the servant of YHWH. He was YHWH's anointed and expressing YHWH's will. Thus when the nations rebelled against God's anointed, they rebelled against God (2 Kings 19:22). It was the greatest of crimes, a crime that deserved only judgment.

    And his world would constantly consider rebellion against David. It was hardly possible to hold together an empire of the kind he ruled without it being so. But the attempts would be futile. He would bring them in subjection to his feet, because YHWH was on his side. The world would also similarly reject the greater Anointed One, the greater David, when He came, even though He came as the prince of peace. Indeed, the New Testament reveals how they constantly raged against Him. How they imagined vain things against Him. The rulers came together to take counsel against Him, and ‘kings' like Herod and Pilate set themselves against Him. All this was to be literally fulfilled. But it was a hopeless cause. They could not get rid of YHWH's Anointed. And they rage against Him and rebel against Him still, and still try to get rid of Him. But their attempts are in vain.

    ‘Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.' The subject nations saw David's rule as being like a yoke fitted on oxen ready for the use of the plough. The bands bound the yoke to the oxen so that they could not be rid of it. The cords may have been similar to reins. They chafed at being guided by someone else's reins. The more David conquered, the more it would be so. And the nations did not want to see themselves as oxen.

    And today the world still seeks to throw off God's yoke, and to rid themselves of His reins. For the truth is that obedience can always be looked on in two ways. One as glad obedience to a Father, the other as submission to a tyrant. And the latter was the view here.

    The world ever sees God as making demands that are too great. They do not want to submit to Him or His anointed servant. They want to be free of restraint, free to do what they like. They want to rid themselves of what they see as His chains. So ‘the bands' are what ties the yoke to the shoulders of the oxen, and they do not want to be subjected to His yoke. The ‘cords' can be seen as the reins for directing the oxen, but they do not want to be guided by YHWH. And because they could not attack YHWH directly they attacked His Anointed, and still do. It is an irony that the One Who offers perfect freedom is accused of bringing chains and ropes. But that is how they see His demands.

  • Psalms 2:4-6 open_in_new

    God Will Laugh At Man's Folly And Exalt His Anointed.

    ‘He who sits in the heavens will laugh,

    The Lord will have them in derision,

    Then will he speak to them in his wrath,

    And vex them in his sore displeasure (‘fiery wrath').

    “Yet have I set my king,

    Upon my holy hill of Zion”.'

    But God will laugh at the folly of man in thinking that they can dismiss Him. For in spite of their opposition as so vividly described above He will yet set His King upon His holy hill of Zion. It is true that when the King presented Himself in Mark 11:1-18 and parallels, He was rejected by all but a few, and once they had crucified Him they thought that they were rid of Him, but it was He Who had the last laugh, for He rose again from the dead, was enthroned and acclaimed in Heaven (e.g. Acts 2:36; Acts 7:56; Ephesians 1:19-21; Revelation 5), and came down at Pentecost in wind and fire in order to establish His claim to Kingly Rule (Acts 2:1-3; compare Matthew 28:18-20), the Holy Spirit bearing Him witness (Acts 2:4). On that very holy hill of Zion that God had promised His Kingly Rule was manifested. The Kingly Rule of God had come with power (Mark 9:1).

  • Psalms 2:7-9 open_in_new

    ‘I will declare the decree of YHWH.

    He said to me, “You are my son,

    Today I have begotten you.”

    “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance,

    And the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

    You will break them with a rod of iron,

    You will dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

    And after Jesus had been baptised as the representative of the new Israel (Matthew 2:15), He came up out of the water and the decree of YHWH was declared, ‘You are My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I am well pleased'. He had passed His probation with flying colours, and was now set on course to fulfil God's purpose for Him. And on the mount of Transfiguration His Kingly glory was revealed, with Moses on one hand and Elijah on the other, and again the heavenly voice declared' ‘This is My Beloved Son, hear Him' (Mark 9:7). And we need not doubt that He asked of His Father precisely this, that He would give Him the nations for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession. Indeed we are told how this began to happen at Pentecost when men were present ‘from every nation under Heaven' (Acts 2:5), and from then on through Acts we have the description of how He triumphed until at last He came to Rome itself where Paul proclaimed His Kingly Rule and taught the things concerning Jesus (Acts 28:31).

    But there is also another side to the King, for there are those who will refuse to accept His rule, and concerning them God declares, “You will break them with a rod of iron, You will dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.” For He has committed all judgment to His Son (John 5:22), and those who reject Him must finally face their judgment.

  • Psalms 2:8,9 open_in_new

    God's Offer To His Anointed One.

    “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance,

    And the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.

    You will break them with a rod of iron,

    You will dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

    Here the widespread nature of the promises is made clear. David is promised that to him and his house will be given the world-wide dominion promised through Abraham. The nations will be blessed through them, and the whole world will come under their control. Kings always described their conquests in terms of blessing under their benevolent rule, and often depicted them as universal, but certainly in mind is something more widespread than a few local small kings. David is given a vision of widespread conquest. But first they will have to be conquered, although Jesus would later point out that it must be by words.

    ‘Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance.' Israel's original inheritance was the promised land (Genesis 17:8; Deuteronomy 4:21; Deuteronomy 32:49), but now the inheritance is to be enlarged for YHWH's adopted son. He will give to him ‘the nations' outside Israel. That is then expanded as reaching to ‘the uttermost parts of the earth.' He is to seek by prayer for the expanding of YHWH's rule to the whole of the known world. He was not to know that his prayer would be fulfilled in One Who was not a warrior, as all over the world people of all nations would submit at His feet, given to Him by the Father as His inheritance (John 6:37; John 6:39), as His possession (Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9). He asked and He was given His inheritance.

    ‘You will break them with a rod of iron.' This may indicate the severity of the treatment. Beaten and broken, not with a wooden stick but with a rod of iron. Or it could equally well be translated, ‘you will rule them with an iron sceptre'. Either way the idea is of stern control, with all who refuse to submit firmly dealt with. Judgment will come on the rebellious, either once they are defeated or in process of that defeat. For we must ever remember that ruling also includes judgment. Those who will not submit will suffer his wrath.

    The picture of the potter's vessel may well have in mind the vessels which come out of the kiln of substandard quality and are irreparable, and are therefore deliberately smashed by the potter (Jeremiah 19:11; Isaiah 30:14). So what is being demanded is submission, with the alternative of judgment. Both pictures are vivid, depicting the iron control of God where it is needed, and His devastating judgments on those who finally refuse to submit to His will. All men must choose between willing submission, or the rod of iron

    The words are later specifically applied as His destiny to the glorified Jesus in Revelation 12:5; Revelation 19:15, and to the persecuted people of God in Revelation 2:27. They too will partake in the judgments of God (Matthew 19:28; 1 Corinthians 6:2).

  • Psalms 2:10-12 open_in_new

    The Call For Response.

    ‘Now therefore be wise, O you kings,

    Be instructed you judges of the earth,

    Serve YHWH with fear,

    And rejoice with trembling,

    Kiss the son, lest he be angry,

    And you perish in the way,

    For his wrath will blaze forth quickly.

    Blessed are all those who put their trust in him.'

    Was this poem sent to certain kings to seek to achieve their submission before they had even rebelled, a hint that he knew what they were about without being too direct? (Compare for such an idea Judges 11:12-27). Or was it simply sung to sustain his own people? We do not know. But after describing the certainty of his success it calls for submission.

    ‘Now therefore be wise, O you kings, be instructed you judges of the earth.' He calls on the kings and their councils, and others responsible for justice (see Psalms 148:11), to be sensible and to accept reproof. Note the emphasis on the ‘dispensers of justice'. Unless they bow the knee they are shortly to have justice dispensed on them. ‘Wise' means to be understanding, prudent, sensible. The word for ‘instructed' has within it the idea of chastening. Let them consider their ways before severe chastening comes upon them because of their proposed rebellion.

    The words also had in mind the wider world, who in their turn would be faced up with the claims of YHWH. Let all kings and rulers everywhere take note of his words and submit to YHWH before they too are sought out for judgment. All men are similarly advised to consider their ways. Will they continue with rebellion, or will they submit to YHWH? They should be wise, for David has already revealed that they face an invincible force.

    ‘Serve YHWH with fear, and rejoice with trembling.' Notice that it is YHWH to Whom they must submit. This is the positive option. Recognition of God's authority and a reverent fear of YHWH evidenced by submission to YHWH's Anointed. This gained new meaning when the lowly King came, and called men to submit to His teaching. They were to allow themselves to be conquered by His word, and come under the Kingly Rule of God.

    To ‘rejoice with trembling' indicated the blessing that could be theirs in return for their acknowledgement of His overlordship. If they bow the knee in fear and awe they will prosper under His benevolent rule and it will be well with them. They will be able to rejoice, and have good cause to do so. This is true also for those who enter under the Kingly Rule of God (compare Philippians 2:10). They too must ‘fear the Lord', and then their joy will unspeakable.

    ‘Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way. For his wrath will blaze forth quickly.' The summons is urgent. They must either kiss the feet of the anointed of YHWH in submission and acknowledgement of YHWH's uniqueness (compare 1 Kings 19:18; Hosea 13:2 where the kisses are given to idols), or wherever they are they will perish. There is no time to lose. At the appointed time His wrath will blaze forth, and it will do so quickly, without further warning.

    The same warning went out when God's greater Anointed walked the earth. He not only offered mercy to those who would submit, and receive His words and follow Him, He also warned of judgment to come for those who refused to do so, a judgment vividly revealed in Revelation 19:11-21. Men must either come under the Kingly Rule of God or under His wrath (John 3:36).

    ‘Kiss the son.' If the text is correct it is a most unusual usage. The word for ‘son' is not the Hebrew ‘ben' as in Psalms 2:8 but the Aramaic ‘bar'. The only other usage of the latter, apart from in Aramaic sections of the Old Testament, is in Proverbs 31:2 (three times) in a context where there are other Aramaisms. But that usage warns against dismissing it too easily. Its use may be deliberate here in order to stress the expansion of his message to the whole world. In Psalms 2:8 the ‘son' (ben) is adopted as the chosen one of Israel, but here he is the world's ‘son' (bar), offering himself to the world. The wider world and not only Israel must recognise him as the son of YHWH, ‘bar YHWH' as well as ‘ben YHWH'.

    This is even more significant when applied to the greater David. He had come to offer Himself to both Jew and Gentile, to the whole world, and all were called to kiss His feet.

    Instead of ‘kiss the son' the LXX has ‘lay hold of instruction' and the Targum ‘receive instruction'. But these may have arisen as a paraphrase, partly as a result of the above problem, so as to avoid it, and possibly because they did not like the word ‘bar' being applied to David.

    ‘Lest he be angry.' The verb used here is elsewhere only used of God's anger. Thus the ‘He' here is YHWH, angry at the thought of the rejection of His anointed.

    ‘And you perish in the way.' That is before you reach your objective. Their plans will never reach fulfilment. This may have in mind the rebellious forces being cut down while on the way to meet YHWH's anointed in battle, but it could also be in order to stress that God's judgment will catch all the world's rebellious unawares as they go about life's business. Compare Matthew 24:40-41.

    ‘Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.' But for those who respond positively there will be great blessing. For He will watch over them and protect them and enable their ways to prosper (compare 2 Kings 18:31-32), because their confidence is in Him. Just as Abraham believed in YHWH and He counted it to him for righteousness (Genesis 15), and Israel of old came under His protection when He called them to Him in the covenant at Sinai, and they responded, so will all in the whole world who respond to Him come under His protection and blessing. So this great psalm finally points to the final triumph of YHWH.

    A Meditation.

    While very much rooted in the environment of the times this Psalm can also be seen as clearly pointing forward to Our Lord, Jesus Christ. And that is unquestionably how it was seen in the New Testament. It is cited in Acts 4:24-27 with reference to the attitude of the Jews towards Him, to say nothing of references to it in the words spoken at Jesus' baptism and transfiguration (Mark 1:11; Mark 9:7; Luke 3:22; Luke 9:35; Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5). We will now therfore consider it from this viewpoint.