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Why do the heathen
rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth
set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the
LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their
bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in
the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then
shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore
displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I
will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art
my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss
the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when
his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that
put their trust in him.
(Psalms 2:1-12 AV)
In a world where "road rage" is a big concern and
people kill each other over the lack of common courtesy on the
highway how appropriate the beginning of this Psalm appears. Rage,
unsuppressed anger is the topic of the day. We even continue to read
accounts of those who profess to be of the family and call
themselves Christian losing control and cursing another or God
forbid even taking the life of another, as especially noted in those
who champion the unborn and man the anti-abortion lines. While we
call this anger and as if it is a normal thing, it is as here named
by king David, and the mere ranting or raving of a vain creature,
man without knowledge of the eternal.
Of all the things to top the list of shame for children of God to
be caught in, the first is surely giving occasion for the heathen to
correct the child of God for gross behavior that is contrary to the
Word of God. This usually results when as if we had no assurance of
the salvation we have in Christ is all sufficient, strike out in
frustration and anger and like the heathen imagine vain things and
seek solutions outside the eternal counsel of God provided in the
Bible. God has called us apart from the world to set the example,
and then given us the ability to do so with the indwelling Holy
Spirit, whereby we read that one of the fruit of the Spirit is self
control. Please notice that in Galatians 5:22 where we find
this list of the fruit of the Spirit that it is not plural. We do
not pick and choose from this list, nor does God give this fruit
severally as He does the gifts of the Spirit (Romans 12 ; 1
Corinthians 12). This means that the whole list is part of every
believer in Jesus Christ.
While these grow as we grow in faith and Spirit, they are present
and can be called upon in times of stress and frustration to give us
an inner peace and rest that is not available to all outside of
Christ. While most of this Psalm is seen as being Messianic, that is
speaking about the coming Messiah, there is strength, promise, and a
very present hope to the believer in this passage. The psalmist
carefully lays out that the powers to be of this earth are nothing
before the awesome God of creation who would have the lot so to
speak in His mirth, that is with no effort on His part. Likewise we
see them admonished to "kiss" that is make peace with the
Son while they may, for if only a most minute portion of His wrath
be shown toward them, they are at an end. Hope for the believer is
boldly asserted for those who put their trust in Christ as the
closing statement of this passage.
God here declares the end from the beginning and the fact that He
has a plan for His creation, His sovereignty is made visible in such
declarations of truth in events that have yet to be made manifest.
Here is the practical application for us in this Psalm, God is
sovereign. God is in control. Despite what man may think and how the
situation might appear, and the ranting of man to the contrary,
God’s eternal plan will come to be. "I
have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it
came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine
idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath
commanded them" (Isaiah 48:5 AV). It is in passages like
Psalm 2 that from our advantage of the centuries we can see that it
is true, God has declared it all.
We then have the "experience" of life and all who have
went before us that God is both faithful and able to do that which
He has declared. Paul says it is this experience that enables us to
persevere in the face of the current moment. In faith then we trust
God to do that we cannot do for ourselves, and the waiting upon the
Lord brings this experience that makes the hope within each believer
a living organic part of them (Romans 5:1-5).
God does not call us to a blind faith but has provided the
witness of all who have gone before that we might know this is true.
God Himself having declared many things that we might witness their
coming to be in our own generation to further strengthen the hope we
have in Christ. Nay, I say that God no where calls for a leap of
blind faith, but that using the intellect he has given we can look
around us in our own day, and that firmly upon the foundation of the
saints who have gone before gives a tangibility to this hope that
defies any understanding other than God is sovereign, God is in
control of all things. "Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" {substance: or,
ground, or, confidence} (Hebrews 11:1 AV). The reformers wrote in
the margin of the Geneva Bible this concerning Hebrews 11:1 "An
excellent description of faith by the effects, because it represents
things that are but yet in hope, and sets before our eyes things
that are invisible".
"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial
which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto
you:" (1 Peter 4:12 AV). St. Francis wrote that we do not
know the depth or breadth of our faith until we hit the pot holes in
the roadway of life. Elizabeth Skogland in a book called, More
Than Coping, says that we are to praise God for the confidence
He has in us when we leave one pit of life only to be faced with
another, for God has shown great confidence in us. God has promised
not to place more on us than we can bear, therefore the testing is a
measure of God’s love and confidence in us. While the Bible
truthfully says those whom God loves He chastises, it is also a
truth that God tries the heart of His people. "The LORD
trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence
his soul hateth" (Psalms 11:5 AV). So rather than hide in
fear or cry out to God to lift the hand of wrath which we will not
see applied to the righteous, take heart and sing God’s praises in
the trials of life, for in such a manner God refines us as if fine
gold. Enter not into the vain imaginations of the heathen, darting
this way and that seeking for an answer to our foes, but trust in
God. If the fathers of old could exercise and set the example of
such faith, how much greater the witness should be through the
centuries as God tarries in mercy shown toward us, withholds His
coming in judgment, for we have the Word of God, the witness of all
who have gone before, and the experience of our own life to testify
of His mercy and loving kindness shown to His own in every
generation. Praise God for the glory of His goodness shown to us.
Father help Thou my unfaithfulness, that I might chafe not
at the trials of the heart you work, but that from wherever I am, I
can sing your praises, even the ends of the earth.
Amen
By: Dr. Chuck Baynard
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