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.