Chased By a Lion

Psalm 2:1-12 May 11, 2025 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis In Psalm 2, we find a King in whom there is no refuge from Him, but there is refuge in Him—and the way to blessing is to stop resisting His rule and embrace the renovating, smashing, recreating work He does in the hidden corners of our lives through His Word.

Series

Psalms

Type

Expository

Tone

pastoralpropheticdidactic

Method

grammatical-historicalredemptive-historicalcanonical

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

17 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #12

"Alcantar applies the renovation metaphor directly to the congregation, calling them to stop resisting God's work and hand over the keys to Christ. He addresses both believers resisting sanctification and non-Christians who need to open the door to Christ for the first time. The cross becomes the proof that the King can be trusted with the sledgehammer."

Doctrinal loci· 3 surfaced

Sanctification · 5 Christology · 4 Providence / Sovereignty · 1

Bible citations· 11

Illustrations· 1

personal story · unit #10 — Alcantar illustrates the King's smashing work through a personal story of renovating a 1960s fixer-upper house. The illustration makes the theological point vivid and accessible: destruction is necessary to make room for blessing.

Theological claims· 2

In Psalm 2, we are introduced to a God in whom there is no refuge from Him, but there is refuge in Him. unit #2
Jesus smashes what should not be in our lives so that His blessing can flow in—and God's way always leads to more flourishing than our own way. unit #11

Quotations· 1

"In Psalm 2, we find a king, and there is no refuge from him, but there is refuge in him." — James Johnston (unit #2)

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Full transcript

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0 · Alcantar frames the sermon series and sets a pastoral expectation: the Psalms are meant to deepen experiential relationship with God, not merely intellectual knowledge

Psalm chapter 2. We are beginning a series in the Psalms that we began a couple weeks ago. And one of our goals is that every single person that calls this church home will, through the Psalms, develop a personal relationship with the Lord. We do not want relationship with God, something that lives to be, something that just lives in your head. We want relationship with God to be an experience, experiential reality, and something that lives in our hearts. But I will warn you that Psalm chapter 2 does something surprising right at the beginning of the Psalms related to our relationship with God. And I won't spoil the surprise.

1 · Alcantar reads the entire text of Psalm 2 aloud, establishing the scriptural foundation for the sermon

So Psalm chapter two, beginning in verse one, let's read. This is God's word. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers to take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

2 · Alcantar introduces the sermon's controlling metaphor: the terrifying lion who turns out to be Aslan

This is God's word. And Lord, I pray your blessing over the preaching and the hearing of your word today. Amen. Well, I received a love for reading from my mom. My mom read many books to us as a kid, and she introduced us to her favorite authors. And one of her favorite authors that became one of my favorite authors was C.S. lewis, and as a kid, his books, the Chronicles of Narnia. But my favorite Chronicles of Narnia book was not the one you're probably thinking of. Whatever it is. Mine as a kid was the Horse and His Boy. It occurs later in the series. And what happens is, as you read the first few books, you get to know the character of the great lion Aslan, who you're always excited to see Aslan show up, right? You're like, yes, finally he's going to come. He's going to fix everything. He's the protector, he. He's the defender, he's the warrior. He helps people. He is a comforting presence. And you're always happy to see him. So you're kind of primed. At any time you see a lion, you're like, yay, here comes the lion. Except for the horse and his boy. Because early in the story, when Shasta, the slave boy, encounters the roar, the terrifying roar of a lion, he is driven with fear out, away from where he was, into an escape and driven up next to another person who is also terrified of the lion. And that's not the first scary lion in the book. Later on, there's this scene where they're running away, but as they run, they're trying to escape from some bad guys. And they think, okay, they're gaining, but you know, we're gonna outrun them. And all of a sudden, this lion shows up and the lion, because begins roaring and racing with them and. And almost biting them and claws one of the people. And you're just like, oh, my gosh, I thought Chronicles of Nar only had happy lions, you know, helpful lions. This lion is going to take somebody's head off. And so they escape the lion. Now, I did spoil the book for one person in the first service because they were like, I'm literally in the middle of this book. But in my defense, I'm going to spoil the end of it. In my defense, the book has been out for a number of decades, right? This is not a recent publication. And so here's what happens in the book. At the end of the book, the scary lion confronts the boy, Shasta, and reveals himself. And surprise, surprise, it is indeed the great lion Aslan, the same lion from the earlier books. And you wonder, well, why did he act so terrifying? Why was he scaring everybody? Why was he roaring and clawing? Well, you learn that actually this roaring and clawing lion had Shasta's good in mind all along. He helped him escape through his first terrifying roar. And he drove Shasta onward faster than he ever thought he could go because he wanted to help him escape from enemies. And so here's the what you learn. You learn that the lion that Shasta spent the entire book being afraid of is actually the lion who becomes his help and his refuge at the very end. And in our text today, Psalm 2 functions very similarly. Often we open the Psalms and we expect to find a sort of soft, cuddly version of the Lord in the Psalms, right? I know so many people who say Man, I just. When I'm having a hard time, I just go to the Psalms. It's so comforting. I heard somebody say, psalms are like a balm for my soul. I don't know why, but whenever you see Art of the Psalms, you know, I mean, like, like at a Christian bookstore or something, it's always like flowers and fields behind the Psalms verses, right? This, the Lord is my shepherd. There's like a harp playing somewhere that you can hear in the background. And so maybe today you're like, oh, lovely. I can't wait to spend a beautiful Mother's Day morning in the Psalms, only to turn to Psalm chapter two, which goes, why do the nations rage? And there's rage. And then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify him in his fury. He will break them with a rod of iron. Then you're like, whoa, did you pick that for Mother's Day? Was that an intentional choice? The answer is yes and no. We just preached through the Bible. This was the next psalm. So you might be going, okay, well, that's not. I like the God of the Psalms, but the God of Psalm 2 seems quite scary. Keep quite disconcerted. This is a roaring, furious, terrifying God in Psalm 2. Well, I cannot summarize this text any better than James Johnston, a commentator on this verse. Verse. He summarizes it this way he goes. In Psalm 2, we find a king, and there is no refuge from him, but there is refuge in him. In Psalm 2, we are introduced to a God in which there is no refuge from him, but there is refuge him. And like Shasta, we find that the scary roaring lion actually, by the end of the psalm, becomes our comfort and help.

3 · Alcantar signals the sermon's four-part structure and names the first section with ironic humor, acknowledging the strangeness of preaching on divine wrath on Mother's Day

So four sections today. They'll be very brief. First section is rage. Happy Mother's Day, moms. This is the first point of your Mother's Day sermon. Rage, verse one.

4 · Alcantar unpacks verses 1-3, identifying the nations' rage as rebellion against God's authority

Why do the nations rage and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves against the set themselves. And the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. Now, notice this right up front. We're introduced to a group of enemies. They are raging. They are angry. And what are they so angry about? They are. They're united, whoever they are, against one thing. You know, sometimes you're not all for something, but you can all get against something. Like a group of angry neighbors don't speak to each other. But if they're going to put some weird speed bump in, they're like, you know, or not everybody all of a sudden is angry together. This is what's happening with Psalm chapter 2, verse 1 and 2. They are united together against something. Against who? Against the Lord and his anointed. That word, anointed, means Messiah, or in the Greek, later, Christ against the King. Essentially, they're united against the Lord and against his King. Why? Well, listen to them talk. We're going to overhear them. Verse three, they're saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast their cords from us now. So we find the reason that they do not like the Lord, they do not like the Lord's king, is that they do not want the bonds or the restrictions of the Lord on their lives. They don't want to be told what to do. Now, this really is not just a problem limited to those in verses 1 and 2. This is the core of sinful rebellion from the very beginning of the Bible. Remember the very opening scene where humanity falls as Eve is speaking to this serpent who is Satan. Remember what Satan says to tempt her. The serpent essentially says, if you violate God's commands, if you stop letting him tell you what to do, then you will be like God, knowing good from evil. Really, that word is determining good and evil, meaning the voice of the serpent is the voice of these people. In Psalm 2, they're saying, don't listen to God. He's too restrictive. He doesn't know what's good for you. We should decide for ourselves what our lives should be. No one should tell us what to do, right? This is what they're saying. This is why they're raging. Now, a couple things we learned from this. First is that the world around us is whispering this message constantly. It's not just the serpent. It's not just those. In Psalm 2, our entire culture against the Lord whispers the same thing, right? They're saying, listen, don't listen to God. Christianity's sexual ethics are too restrictive. They don't understand what's going on in your marriage and what your needs are, right? They. They don't understand that you can't forgive this person and you shouldn't be expected to. In fact, you should hurt them, right? They this is the kind of, you should decide what's right for you. So we listen to this. We have to recognize we are in a constant swirl as a culture. In movies, stories, media, everywhere. This is the air we breathe. And we might think, well, that's bad. Those people are terrible. But if you listen closely, you might hear your own voice among them. Because often we think, well, I don't rage against God. I'M a church going person. Do you not see me here in church right now? I also listened to Caleb at some point this week. I also watched that inspirational movie a few years ago that everybody was saying it was so good. Um, I, I am a good person. I don't rage against God. But listen closely. Are there areas of your life that you think, you know what, God's commands are too restrictive? What God is telling me to do, he doesn't understand my, my life. I need to decide what's right for me. This is the same whisper. Now we all are confronted with this. I am currently doing one of the Re Engage marriage groups with Jen. Not leading a group, just attending a group. And originally Jen and I decided to attend a group and I, because we were hearing great things from other people, we wanted to work on our marriage and what I thought was great. I'll, you know, I'll get some tips and tricks on how to have a better marriage. It's going to be a wonderful time and everybody will probably commend me, really, I mean, if I'm being honest, for being a great husband. And let's be like, wow, why are you even in this class? And I'll be like, listen, I just, I'm just humble, humble too. Just want to, just want to learn. But here's what happens in Re Engage. You spend many weeks looking at what God says about marriage and many of the rules and restrictions that God puts on marriage. Like for example, Ephesians 5, Husbands, love your wives when it's convenient. No, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Right? And you're like, okay, but that, I mean, that's gotta be qualified, right? But it's not all the time, every day and everything. And then you kind of look at it, it's like, yeah, that is kind of what it means all the time, every day and everything. And so you begin to find. I've begun to find pockets in my heart and life which I'm not loving Christ as. I mean, I'm not loving my wife, rather as Christ has loved me and has given himself for me. There are times where I'm like, you know what Jen should sacrifice for me. I think that's good. I think that's good. I sacrificed for her last week. If she just does that every week, I mean, then we'll be even after a while because I'm just so great. And really, by the way, when it says love your wives, sometimes it doesn't mean you can't speak impatiently or Meanly, you know, that's what I'm telling myself it means. You know, sometimes when she does something annoying, you can get annoyed and impatient, and it's fine. It's. I'm gonna decide what's right for me. God doesn't understand my life. His big command can't take into account the details of my marriage. And so you begin to fight, right? I began to see these pockets in my own heart and life where I'm going. Nope, nope, nope. That doesn't mean what it sounds like it means. When it says, be patient and understanding as a husband. It's like, okay, well, patient asterisk, understanding asterisk, Right? Patient when you haven't had a hard day. Okay? That's what I think that text means. And then I look at it. No, it means every day, especially on hard days. And you start going. And I'm starting to see this whisper in my own life, right? If you listen to your life closely enough, especially in areas in which you have a lot of excuses. Cause if you want to find an area where. Where you're raging against the Lord, all you really need to do is look for the areas. You quickly make excuses when anybody asks you about it, right? It's like, why would you handle your money that way? Listen, you don't understand my life. You don't understand. You don't understand. You know, and I. Here's the 10 excuses why I have to do this. Whoa, okay. I was just asking, you know, those are where you find those areas. And why is that happening? Because we rage. There's something in our hearts against the Lord. It's like, no, he shouldn't tell me what to do. So, friend, what is that area? Where do you push back on the rule and reign of God? Where is it uncomfortable? Where do you have lots of excuses?

5 · Alcantar signals the structural shift from the nations' rage to God's sovereign response, moving the congregation's attention from earth to heaven

Second section. The reign of God we raise against God. The reign of God, verse 4 introduces us well to entirely different scene. We move from down here, plotting and planning, all the way up to heaven.

6 · Alcantar expounds verses 4-6, contrasting the nations' limited earthly perspective with God's sovereign, heavenly vantage

Verse 4. He who sits in the heavens laughs. And the Lord holds them in derision. And then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. Now look, the comparison between those of us all the way down on the ground and the sinful world around us, thinking we know best with our limited perspective. When we compare that to God. And notice it says in the heavens in. In Hebrew, thought there were three planes of existence. The kind of mortal plane, the under Plane and the heavens, the over plane, right? And so the Lord is essentially saying, you're not even on my level. You don't even understand what I can see. You don't understand history from the beginning like I do. You didn't make the world. You can't see all things. You don't judge men's hearts. And so when you go, he doesn't understand my life, or he shouldn't tell me what to do. Just. You realize how laughable that is? Do you realize how you, in that moment are like, he just doesn't get it. He gets more than anything, right? He gets your life better than you do, by the way. Look, we're introduced to these. These. These uncomfortable but beautiful truths that. That God is the one who reigns, not us. And remember, Psalm 2 is a song, right? This is a song that God's people would sing. So this isn't them reluctantly going, he who sits in the heavens laughs, and he's gonna, you know, rule. No, this is God's people clapping and cheering. He who sits in the heavens laughs. Right? The Lord reigns over it all. But for God's people, if they are willing to embrace the reign of God, the reign of God becomes not a. An uncomfortable, difficult, sad thing, but a joyful, hopeful, freeing thing, because he's in charge. The Lord reigns. And there are times then when. When we think, he doesn't know what I should do. He doesn't understand my life. And his commands intersect with our desires and say, you must bow the knee. Well, here's what's helpful to remember from all of scripture related to the Lord's reign. First, remember that God made you and knows you better than you know yourself. Look, I'm 39, and I feel like every year, especially in my 30s, I've learned something about myself I didn't even know. And I'm me, right? Like, oh, man, that pattern in my life, that was from age 12. I've been doing this since age 12. Oh, my goodness. Right? And the Lord's like, yep, I saw that one. You know, And. And you think at. At a particular moment, the Lord doesn't know me. He does. He made you. He sees everything about your life. Second thing, God knows where the story ends for your life and for the world better than you do. Also, because you're thinking, listen, I don't like chapter three, Lord of my Life. I don't like chapter. I don't like where chapter four is going. I don't like the look of it. We gotta change stories. We gotta change writers. We need to get a new team of script doctors in here to fix this life story. And the Lord's like, no, I have it planned. I have your life planned. I have the world planned. I'm taking you someplace good. Trust me. Third thing we learn, God sees the spiritual and the eternal, not just the physical and the material. We so often just see what's right in front of our faces, right, whatever we can touch and see and feel right in front of us. He sees not only that, but the eternal. He sees not only that, but the spiritual to the soul level. And fourth, God sees true right and wrong without bias, without confusion, meaning when we are wondering, like, is this right? Is this better? Is this wrong? He sees it. He sees it. And we're like, well, I'm just not sure he sees it. He's. He. He's a judge that is incorruptible. He's not to get persuaded by, like, ah, you know, they're making a pretty good argument. No, he sees it. He sees right and wrong. So therefore, we get to the point where we go, you know what? I'm glad that the Lord rules and reigns. I'm glad that he's putting his rulers in place. His rule in place. I'm glad that he is in charge and not me. And that's the first step. The first step is going, I'm glad you're in charge and not me, Lord.

7 · Alcantar signals the shift from God's sovereign reign to the introduction of God's appointed King, preparing the congregation for the sermon's Christological climax

Third section, the reign of God. Then, third section, the ruler of God. Now, we're introduced here to a figure that we will become very familiar with over the next number of weeks and months. In Psalms book 1.

8 · Alcantar unpacks the dual meaning of 'the Anointed'—first as the ideal Israelite king, then as Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of that ideal

This figure has a number of names here. He's called the Anointed. And the translators have helpfully, in English, can kind of capitalize some letters here. So if you look at verse two, you see anointed, capital A talks about the sun, capital S. And you're like, okay, well, they're. They're getting at something here because this figure is introduced in Psalm 2 that will recur throughout the entire books of the Psalms. Now, that word anointed here, as I mentioned, means Messiah in Hebrew or Christ in Greek. And it has two different meanings, okay, in this context, first is that this anointed one is the ruler is the king of Israel, but not any of the earthly kings of Israel. Rather, the ideal king of Israel, meaning this psalm, what it says of this ruler, it. It is kind of sort of true of some of the best kings of Israel, but it goes way further than any of those kings ever went, right? Extending God's rule to the nations and destroying every enemy. That's not something we see from any specific king in Israel. So. So why is it speaking this way? Well, it's speaking of the ideal king, in a sense. It's speaking of the office of king more than any particular earthly king. Think of it this way. A number of years ago, I heard an interview with somebody who'd been part of the White House staff for decades. And so whoever the president was, they just served the president. And somebody that was interviewing them asked, well, what do you do if you don't like the person in the Oval Office? What if you don't like the results of that election? No one, you're going to be serving this person for four years. They said something really insightful. They said, well, for better or for worse, I serve the office of president, not just the particular president who sits in the office at any time. So in a similar way, that's what this psalm is doing with the kings of Israel. It's saying, I, sir, like this king of Israel is the ruler that God gives to his people to extend his reign. And all earthly kings are going to fall short, but the ideal king remains. That's the first meaning. But second, this is where we're really glad to live on the other side of the New Testament. Because you might be thinking, but. But I really wish there was somebody like this. I understand it's the ideal, but I wish, wish God would give us that kind of ruler. Well, in Acts, chapter 4, Peter the Apostle stands up in front of Jerusalem, quotes Psalms 2 and says, essentially, guess what? We got him. He's here. The Psalm 2 anointed the Son from Psalm 2, the King from Psalm 23, the shepherd from Psalm 23. Right, all of those figures. He's here right now. I can tell you about him. And then later, Acts 13, Paul the apostle quotes Psalms 2 and says, yep, we did find him. I've given. Remember, Paul studied his entire life to be a rabbi, one of the Pharisees. And. And after pouring over the Scriptures and encountering a particular figure, he goes, I see him. Now we know who the Psalm 2 guy is. He's not just an ideal, he's a person. He walked the earth, and his name was Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And so what we find here in Psalm 2 is that this ideal king is fulfilled by the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. Christ.

9 · Alcantar confronts the congregation with the King's violent work in verse 9—smashing nations with a rod of iron

And so what does he do? Because you should be going, yes, all right, here we go. The King of kings, he's coming. Here we go. The lion aslan he's going to help us. Notice what he does in verse nine. You shall break the nations with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. And you should be going, what? Like, I thought you were gonna save everyone. I thought you were gonna help everyone. Right, Just verse eight. It talks about the nations being his heritage, the end of the earth being his possession. He's gonna fulfill the promise made to Abraham. He's gonna fulfill the promise to bless all the nations through God's people. He's coming. What's he gonna do? What's his first move? Smashing stuff. And you're like, I am not understanding. Just like Shasta going, I thought the great lion Aslan was supposed to be a help, but he's roaring at me. How can this be the case? Well, notice this. This is not wanton destruction. This is not senseless destruction. This destruction of verse nine is a defeat of evil, of injustice, and of God's enemies.

10 · Alcantar illustrates the King's smashing work through a personal story of renovating a 1960s fixer-upper house

Let me see if I can help you understand this. My wife and I, our first house we bought was a. I think I would generously describe it as a fixer upper, whatever below a fixer upper is. That was the level of house we bought the. It had a crumbling carport. It was from the 1960s era in El Paso. And it was great. We just kept saying, got great bones. That's what you say to comfort yourself when you buy a house. That's like, oh, this is not great. It's got great bones, though. Good bones. Found out later. It had termite damage, but great bones, though. And so one of the things we had to do is a bunch of this stuff hadn't been updated since the 1960s. And so it had one of those, like, if you've ever seen a 1960s, early 70s oven, it's not an oven that's like this size. It's like this size, so your pans don't even fit into the oven. The carpet hadn't been updated in decades. I think JFK was the president when they installed them. And there's just these cabinets. And so we went to work on it. We got a bunch of friends from church, which I now realize was probably more than we should have asked, but we got friends from church to help us, and we started ripping these carpets out. And what we found underneath those carpets, scientists are still studying that. We have teams looking at, what is this? Right? We're ripping this stuff out. And I'm thinking halfway through, should we have more to mask for this? And so, yeah, we should Have. And then the other. You know, I also have this vivid memory of pulling the cabinets down and they hadn't been cleaned up there. And, you know. You know, I don't know, since again, the JFK announced, we're going to the moon, that's probably the last time they were cleaned up there. And Bobby Wilkins is pulling, you know, the cabinet down, and he finally yanks it down because he's a strong dude. And all of the bugs and stuff from the last 40 to 50 years, poof, right into his face, right? You're just like, oh, gosh, this is. That's gonna probably become a doctor's conversation later on in your life. And here's the point. If we were gonna turn that house into something usable, something beautiful, something we could make memories in, something we could write, raise our kids in, something we could have people over in. A bunch of that had to be smashed. A bunch of it had to be torn out. A bunch of it needed to be destroyed. And we had a dumpster. We were throwing stuff just endlessly into this giant dumpster, just filled up, filled up, filled up. Why? Because in order to bring, if you could use the language of Psalm 2, blessing into the house, we had to destroy what should not be there.

11 · Alcantar applies the house illustration to the work of Christ in individual hearts, using the temple cleansing as a biblical example

That is what the King, the Messiah, the man Jesus Christ is doing in Psalm 2. He is breaking apart what should not be in the world. He is identifying that shouldn't be there. That injustice, that evil. It's got to go. This has got to go. That's got to go. This has got to go. That's got to go. And when we encounter Jesus, he does happily, gloriously, the same thing in our hearts and lives. Jesus comes into our lives and begins to go. You know what? This is not going to work, right? We're going to need to take this out and this other thing. You don't even want to know what's under there. I'm going to just pull that out for you. He smashes things to make room for what should be there. He removes what should not be. The. So that what needs to be there can be set in place so that blessing can flow into your life. But it starts with smashing what should not be there. You get a beautiful picture of this, in fact, in Jesus Ministry, where right before the week, he's headed to the cross. He goes into the temple. You guys remember this scene of Jesus at the temple? Jesus comes to the temple and this court of the Gentiles, which was meant to be a place where people could seek the Lord and press into The Lord and get to know the Lord. A place where the. The blessing to the nations would be beginning to be extended in Jerusalem. And he sees all this sin, all this wickedness, all these money changers ripping people off, all these people being greedy. And do you see what he does? He smashes them all, right? He takes a whip and drives people out. He destroys the tables. Why? Because that shouldn't be there. That should not be there. That was meant for something else. That was meant to be a place of blessing for the nations. So I'm going to clear out what should not be so that what can be and what should be can flow in brothers and sisters. That is what God is doing in Psalm 2. With each of our lives. When the Lord's reign and rule extends into an area in our lives that is uncomfortable, we often resist. Right? Just like me and Re Engage. Like, nope, get out of there. Nope, stop that. Nope. And the Lord's like, I gotta. I'm gonna take that out. And I'm going, no, Lord, it's fine. It's been in there for 10 years. Okay? I think we're just gonna leave it. And he's like, it's gotta come out. You wanna be a husband? Like, Christ loves the church. It's gotta come out, right? That's. So he begins to smash it. And you're thinking, I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying. Right? This is so difficult. This conversation's hard. I'm seeing stuff about my life I don't want to. But you know what? Here's a good thing. We're more than halfway through Re Engage and we are beginning to see. My wife and I are beginning to see blessing flow into those areas. Stuff's getting uprooted, stuff's getting taken out, but blessing of God is flowing into those areas. And here's what I found. Invariably, the way that God says I should do it is always better than the way I decided to do it. The rule and reign of God leads to more flourishing for me and for my wife and for our family than what I think should be going on.

12 · Alcantar applies the renovation metaphor directly to the congregation, calling them to stop resisting God's work and hand over the keys to Christ

So, friend, where today might. You need to stop resisting the Lord as he's trying to pull stuff out of your life. Like, had just had this sense that there may be folks that have real specific areas of their life that. That you've just been fighting the Lord on. And he's going, we're going to have to do some renovations there. And you're like, nope, it's good. It's fine. We'll just Put a pot there, little flower. It'll be great. And the Lord's going, it's got to come out, friend. Maybe this morning is the morning where you go, okay, I'm going to hand my keys to the contractor, Jesus Christ. And here's the challenge. Maybe for you. You're like, but can I trust him? Can I really, really trust that he has my best interest at heart? Can I really, really trust that he's not going to destroy me, but he's going to take this out for my good? Do you know where you can see whether you can trust the Lord by looking to. To the man Jesus Christ on the cross. On the cross, this King of kings, this anointed one, humbles himself into human form and then humbles himself to the point of death on a cross to pay for your sins in order that your sin might be removed and his blessing might flow into your life, not just today, but for eternity. He does this so that anyone who will receive him as king, who will welcome him into their lives, would find their life turned upside down in the best of ways and renewed from the inside out. And do you wonder if he really loves you? Look no further than the cross. He went to the cross for you, into that area of your life you're trying to hide and say, don't look over here, it's fine. I just got a pot in front of it, got a little flower in front of it. Just don't look over here. He's like, let me take it. I will go to the cross for that. I will pay for that, and then I will help you pull it out. Brother, sister, trust the Lord when His reign and rule differs from your desires. And maybe today you're not even a Christian and you're like, I just thought Jesus was just a happy guy that kind of went around like Bono in a bathrobe and just did good. Like, I. I never. I never knew this Jesus. Look, this Jesus is far bigger, far scarier, far more intimidating, but far better than any that you've probably ever encountered because he cared about you so much that he was willing to go to the cross for you. And he cared about you so much, he's not going to leave you where you are. He's going to turn your life upside down. And you can come to him today. He will come in. There's this great passage at the end of Revelation. Behold, I stand at the door and kn. Knock. Maybe for you. Jesus is knocking on the outside and you're, like, trying to hide all the stuff in the house. You know how every time, like, somebody drops by your house unexpectedly, you didn't expect, you're like, oh, hello. Don't look over here. It's just because there was the dishes and this happened and. Yeah. And you're, like, trying to hide stuff. Maybe this is the Sunday that you stop trying to hide stuff. Maybe you open the door and allow Jesus to go to work. He loves you. He loves you so much he went to the cross for you. Will you not trust the one who died for you with the keys to your life? You're like, but he's got a sledgehammer. I don't like the looks of that. It's for your good.

13 · Alcantar signals the final movement of the sermon, transitioning from the work of the King to the congregation's required response

All right, that's third. Fourth. Just briefly, our response. Our response.

14 · Alcantar expounds verses 10-12, identifying the two diverging paths: resist and perish, or embrace and find refuge

Now, therefore, O Kings, be wise, be warned. O rulers of the earth. Verse 11. Verse 11 says, Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Just like in Psalm 1. You see these two diverging paths at the end of the psalm. The first path is that you're going to resist, you're going to reject, you're going to rage, and then you're going to bow down anyway. Right? It's just. It's. Remember, it's. This isn't a fair fight. This is like an ant in my garden raging against me. You know, that guy's here again. We're gonna get him this time. He's like, no, I don't think you are, bud. Right. It's just the. The rule and reign of God will prevail in the end. So all your rage, all your resisting, will only end to sadness and perishing. Or the second path is this. You rejoice with trembling and you take refuge in the King. Remember the Johnson quote? Right? It's. It. I got to read this one more time. I want to get the phrasing right. Okay. There is no refuge from him, but there is refuge in Him. So which side of that sentence are you on? Are you on the. I'm fighting, I'm fighting. Well, if you are, there's no refuge from him. Or are you on the side of Amen, King Jesus. Here's the keys. I'll take a sledgehammer, too. Let's go to work. Because if that's you, there is all the refuge of the world in him.

15 · Alcantar brings the sermon to a close by connecting Psalm 1 and Psalm 2—God's Word is the means by which His rule extends into our lives

And here's where I want to leave you. Psalm 1 and 2 connect beautifully in this way. Psalm 1 encourages us to make God's words our constant companion. And Psalm 2 talks about the. The. The dangerous and beautiful warrior king who comes in and extends God's rule and reign. And I want you to see that these two are very intentionally placed next to each other. Because the primary way God's rule and reign extends into the corners of your life is through the word of God. And. And if you want your home to be renovated, your life to be renovated, your. Your. Your life to be renewed for blessing to flow in all those hidden corners. If you want that, you gotta be in the word of God, allowing him, embracing him, to go to work on all those areas. Look, I gotta be honest. Week three or four of re. Engage. I'm like, look, I'm done. I'm tired of reading the Bible about my marriage because every time I read it, I just find something I'm doing wrong again. And so my solution is I'm just gonna stop reading it, you know, But I can't. Cause I agreed to the course and I'm one of the pastors here, so I just had to keep. I've had to keep going. And I'm really glad that I have, because here's the reality. Often at first, it feels painful. It feels like Shasta getting chased by that lion behind him. And you're like, I don't like this. I don't like getting chased by a lion. But the lion is pushing you, taking you where you need to go. Do you know where the lion drives him in the end? He drives him home. He drives him back to his family. He drives him to a place of blessing he could never have imagined. And so, friend, here's what I want to encourage you with. When in your life you hear the lion roaring, you can do one of two things. You can run and resist, or you can open the door and embrace him and say, that's our lion. That's our king. He's going to extend his blessing to every corner of the nations and his blessing every corner of my life. So I'm going to embrace this. Psalm 2 is an invitation to embrace and rejoice in the rule and reign of God. So won't you do that today?

16 · Alcantar closes the sermon in prayer, addressing both non-Christians confronted with the choice to submit to Christ and Christians confronted with the need to stop resisting God's renovating work in hidden areas of their lives

Would you stand? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we. We need your word, Lord. We want to be those who are blessed. According to Psalm 1, verse 1. We want to be the blessed men and women. But the way that we find that blessing is through embracing your rule and your reign. And so, Lord, I pray for a couple groups. First. I pray for anyone who maybe is not a Christian, is not sure they're a Christian. But maybe today Psalm 2 is confronting them with this choice. How are you going to respond to the rule and reign of Jesus? Are you going to decide to live your own life the way you want to live it? You're going to listen to nobody but yourself? Or are you going to listen to the one who made you, who shaped you, who's writing your story, who holds eternity? Lord, I pray that you would see. You would help them see. Your gracious invitation is from the crucified king, a king who loved him so much he was willing to lay down his life for them, that they could be made whole. And Lord, I pray for all of us who call ourselves Christians. Lord, I pray that right now, as we end, we would embrace you. In that corner of our life, we so often hide from others, so often we make excuses about. About why it can't change, about why it needs to be the way it is. I pray that this morning, Lord, we would sing and rejoice as we see your renovating, shaping, smashing and recreating work going on in that corner. For our good and for your glory, we pray this morning.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Apr 13, 2025

The Last Mile

Christians should have realistic expectations of others in the long road of life but great expectations of God, who stands by, strengthens, and rescues his people until bringing them safely into his heavenly kingdom.

2 Timothy 4:9-18

Apr 13, 2025

Grace For All Life

Jesus is the King whose rule brings restoration, and we should rejoice to surrender every area of our lives to him because where he rules, he restores.

Luke 19:28-40

Apr 27, 2025

Choose Your Own Adventure

If you choose to make the words of God your constant companion through consistent meditation, you will flourish both in this life and in eternity because you will know and be known by God Himself.

Psalm 1

May 11 · This sermon

Chased By a Lion

In Psalm 2, we find a King in whom there is no refuge from Him, but there is refuge in Him—and the way to blessing is to stop resisting His rule and embrace the renovating, smashing, recreating work He does in the hidden corners of our lives through His Word.

Psalm 2:1-12

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

When you read Psalm 2:1-3, what does it tell us about how the nations and peoples respond to God's rule? What are some ways you see that sam…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we move from the world's futile rage against God's reign, through the terror of His sovereignty, to the stunning revelation that the Lion chasing us is the Lion who loves us—and our blessing lies in embracing His rule rather than fleeing it.

Prayer

Prayer: Embrace the King Who Chases Us

Father, we come before You in awe of a truth that terrifies and comforts us at once—that You are a God in whom there is no refuge from You,…

Family table

The Lion Who Loves You

This sermon uses C.S. Lewis's image of Shasta being chased by a lion, only to discover the lion is Aslan—the one who loves him. Use this pro…

Couples

Embracing the Lion's Reign

When you heard that the terrifying King in Psalm 2 is the same King who died for us, what shifted in how you think about Jesus—or what quest…

Memorize

Psalm 2:11-12

This verse captures the sermon's entire arc: the terrifying God who demands our allegiance, the cross where Christ's wrath was satisfied on our behalf, and the binary choice at the heart of Psalm 2—resist and perish, or take refuge in Him and be blessed. It is the psalm's climax and the pivot from fear to blessing that defines the whole message.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

When you read Psalm 2:1-3, what does it tell us about how the nations and peoples respond to God's rule? What are some ways you see that same resistance to God's authority playing out in our world today—or even in your own heart?

Psalm 2:1-3

→ Can you think of a specific area of your life where you've felt that pull to resist God's reign rather than submit to it?
Ricky said that God 'laughs' at the rebellion of the nations (Psalm 2:4-6). What do you think that laughter means? Is it mocking, or is it something else—and how does that shape the way we should think about God's sovereignty?

Psalm 2:4-6
The sermon uses the image of Shasta being chased by a lion in *The Horse and His Boy*—fleeing in terror, only to discover the lion was Aslan all along, and Aslan loved him. How does that story help you understand what's happening in Psalm 2, where God appears wrathful and terrifying?

→ What would it mean for you to stop running from God and instead run *toward* Him?
Jesus is the King installed in Psalm 2—the one who will smash His enemies (Psalm 2:8-9). But according to the sermon, Jesus went to the cross instead. What does the cross tell us about what kind of King Jesus actually is, and how does that change the way we receive His rule in our lives?

Psalm 2:8-9
Ricky described Jesus as coming into our lives not to destroy us, but to 'smash' what should not be there—sin, idolatry, injustice—so that His blessing can flow in. What are some 'things' in your life right now that Jesus might be inviting Him to tear out? What makes that invitation feel more like renovation than destruction?

→ How have you experienced God's work of renovation in the past in a way that ultimately led to greater flourishing?
Psalm 2:10-12 calls us to 'kiss the Son' and 'take refuge in Him'—to embrace His reign rather than resist it. What does it look like, practically, to embrace Jesus's reign in a specific area of your life this week? What would change?

Psalm 2:10-12

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

Monday Psalm 1:1

Psalm 1 shows us the blessed man—the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord, whose life is planted by streams of water. This is the same blessing Psalm 2 promises to those who take refuge in the King. The contrast is not between a harsh God and a kind one, but between two paths: the way of the blessed (alignment with God's rule) and the way of the nations (futile rebellion). We are invited to choose blessing.

Tuesday Genesis 3:1-6

The serpent whispers to Eve: *God is holding out on you. His boundaries are prison walls, not protection.* And Eve believes the lie—that disobedience is freedom, that God's reign is oppression. But Genesis 3 shows us the wreckage that follows. Psalm 2 invites us to see that the nations raging against God's reign are falling for the same lie. The renovation work Jesus does in us begins when we stop believing the serpent and start believing the King.

Wednesday Ephesians 5:25-27

Paul describes Christ's work in the church as sanctification—a violent, tender act of renovation. He gave Himself up to *make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, to present her as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle.* Jesus is the Lion who tears out the idolatry, the sin, the injustice from our lives. Like Aslan with Shasta, He is terrifying precisely because He loves us enough to destroy what is destroying us. His smashing is His blessing.

Thursday Acts 4:25-26

Peter and John quote Psalm 2 after being arrested for preaching Christ. The rulers raged, but the council could not stop them. God's laughter in Psalm 2:4 is not mockery—it is the unshakeable confidence of a King whose reign cannot be opposed. When we embrace Christ as our King, we join that unshakeable reality. We stop raging against what cannot be resisted and start receiving what cannot be taken away.

Friday Revelation 3:20

After Psalm 2's thunder and wrath, Christ's gentle knock at the door may surprise us. But this is the same King—the one who came to the cross to pay for our rebellion and rose to enter our lives as Savior. He does not force His way in. He knocks. And those who hear His voice and open the door find that the Lion who chased them is the Lamb who loves them, and in His reign they feast with Him. This is where blessing lives.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Prayer: Embrace the King Who Chases Us

Father, we come before You in awe of a truth that terrifies and comforts us at once—that You are a God in whom there is no refuge from You, but there is refuge in You. We confess that we have spent so much of our lives running, like Shasta fleeing the lion, convinced that Your reign is a threat to our flourishing rather than the very foundation of it. We have resisted Your rule in the hidden corners of our lives—in our marriages, our work, our ambitions, our secret sins—believing that our way leads to blessing when all along it leads only to emptiness and death.

Yet here is the gospel that stops our flight: the terrifying King who chases us is the same King who ran to the cross. Jesus, Your anointed Son, did not come to destroy us but to renovate us, to smash what should not be in our lives so that Your blessing can flow in (Psalm 2:9). He paid the price for our rebellion. He bore the wrath we deserve. And now He stands at the door of our hearts, not as an enemy but as the Lover of our souls, asking us to stop running and to trust Him.

We ask You, Father, to give us the courage to stop resisting and the faith to embrace His reign. Tear out the sin, the idolatry, the injustice we have harbored. Renovate the spaces we have kept from Him—our relationships, our finances, our time, our very selves. Help us to see that His way, though it demands our surrender, always leads to more flourishing than our own way ever could. Make us a people who run *toward* the lion, not away from him, knowing that we belong to Him and that in His kingdom alone is blessing found (Psalm 2:12).

We commit ourselves this week to the smashing, renovating work of Your Word. Do in us what only You can do. To Your name be the glory.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

The Lion Who Loves You

For the parent

This sermon uses C.S. Lewis's image of Shasta being chased by a lion, only to discover the lion is Aslan—the one who loves him. Use this prompt to help your family explore the difference between running from God and running toward Him. Listen for where kids see themselves in the story.

In the sermon, Ricky told us about Shasta running away from a scary lion, thinking it was chasing him to hurt him—but it turned out to be Aslan, who loved him all along. When have you been scared of something that turned out to be good for you? And what changed when you realized the truth?

works for ages 7+ — younger kids can share simple examples; older kids can reflect on deeper fears and how trust in God shifts them

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Embracing the Lion's Reign

When you heard that the terrifying King in Psalm 2 is the same King who died for us, what shifted in how you think about Jesus—or what question did it raise?
Where in our marriage do we still resist God's reign instead of trusting His renovation of us—and what would it look like to stop fleeing and start embracing His rule together?
What is one hidden corner of your life (or of us as a couple) where you sense God wants to smash something that shouldn't be there—and how can we pray for courage to let Him?

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

Psalm 2:11-12

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Why this verse: This verse captures the sermon's entire arc: the terrifying God who demands our allegiance, the cross where Christ's wrath was satisfied on our behalf, and the binary choice at the heart of Psalm 2—resist and perish, or take refuge in Him and be blessed. It is the psalm's climax and the pivot from fear to blessing that defines the whole message.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Cross of Grace Church

About us · What we believe

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# Cross of Grace Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [The Last Mile (2 Timothy 4:9-18, 2025-04-13)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/04/the-last-mile)
- [Grace For All Life (Luke 19:28-40, 2025-04-13)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/04/grace-for-all-life)
- [Choose Your Own Adventure (Psalm 1, 2025-04-27)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/04/choose-your-own-adventure)
- [Chased By a Lion (Psalm 2:1-12, 2025-05-11)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/05/chased-by-a-lion)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

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