I found another sermon on the pulpit, so I guess this is the one you all want me to preach, right? Is that the one?
I don't know whose notes those are. I'm sorry, I just threw them on the floor. Oh, what a joy it is to be in this building. Love this church. This is my church that I grew up in.
I now have a new church. This is my church I grew up in. I grew up with Neil. So if you want to know who I grew up with, I grew up with Neil and all the other gray hairs in the building as well. Derek, our lead pastor in Tucson, asked me to communicate what a joy it is for them to be able to send me here.
But also he said in a text, and also expressed our gratitude to that church. Well, I could give you my personal gratitude because you all, this church, the men in this church, the women in this church, particularly one woman who's gonna be in our next service, my mom, faithfully preached the gospel to me, helped me see my need for the Savior.
But it would be awkward for me to say thank you for sending me to Tucson. That would feel weird. "But I know what Derek is getting after. There has been an encouragement by adding another guy to the staff for Derek. It has released Derek to pour his energy all the more into preparing the gospel preaching every Sunday instead of all the other things that Derek would have to do as the sole full-time guy.
It's great to have another guy. He can unload some of those efforts too." So in that case, thank you, and that's what Derek is after. If Derek was here, he would look you in the eye, those that have served faithfully in this year and released us and sent Lisa and I on as we relocated out there for family and another church that's part of this church. Thank you on behalf of our church in Tucson, Sovereign Grace Tucson. It's on West Ina Road.
Feel free to relocate and join us. I've been hitting all my friends up today.
All our kids say hi, of course. Scotty, the youngest, and Alex and Lauren, the eldest. I'm sure she loves that we call Lauren the matriarch of the family because we love her dearly. They all say hi. And our 3 grandsons that are with us, little Nolan— we call them No Joja— Nolan and Joel and Jack.
They would say hi as well if you could capture their attention just for a minute. They would have no idea who you are, but you would know them right away. They are definitely little Wilkins.
Last year in particular with Scotty and Melody, we walked through, I can honestly say in our family, what I thought we had walked through a number of dark periods of time, we walked through one of the darkest periods of time again with another child and his wife. As little Everett was born.
We had him for 3 months, and then we lost Everett. And we also buried Everett twice last year. We buried him in California. I stood and led the graveside service for my son, my hurting son, and his wife as we buried little Everett. Suffered from a horrible heart deformity, and he survived an amazing surgery, but a complication hit.
The doctors have no idea what happened, and we lost him. At 3 months. So we buried him in California. Scotty and Melody, in God's providence, relocated back to Tucson, and they moved Everett to Tucson, and we reburied that little boy. And it was a hard time.
We're going to be preaching. I'll be preaching. You don't preach, but that's okay. You preach to yourself. But I'll be preaching out of 2 Psalm.
But I want to introduce the Psalms to you just briefly. You are well fed in this church by the preaching diet. I know that because I've sat under it for more than a decade as Ricky faithfully preached the gospel, as the other men that have shared this pulpit faithfully preached God's Word to me, a desperate, needy guy in this church. So you may know these things about Psalms already. Psalms themselves as a unit serve numbers of purposes, but by and large, it's to serve us in great and seemingly insane difficulty.
The heights of joy and the depths of difficulty, the Psalms come and they speak to our lives and they speak clearly and hopefully.
So if you take me back just to a moment. To a gravesite that we drove by actually on our way here. We drive by little Calvin, we drive by little Everett, and they're about 75 feet from one another in the same graveyard.
As we drive by, this psalm stands true in our family.
I can say this wholeheartedly, the psalms have served us this way. My soul, in Psalm 63:8, my soul clings to you.
How we have needed God so bad, but My soul, our soul as family, has clung to God. This is the only way it was possible. Your right hand, O Lord, upholds me. Your right hand upholds me. It is true, isn't it?
I'm looking at my wife. You're wondering why I keep looking at her. She's my wife. This is Lisa, for those of you that are new. We together have clung to the Lord, but his right hand has held us.
6 · The pastor concludes the introductory testimony and moves the congregation to stand for the scripture reading
Well, let that serve as an introduction as you turn with me, as if you would stand as we read God's Word out of Psalm chapter 2.
7 · The pastor frames the sermon's trajectory before reading the text
You may have arrived this morning and the world is wonderful for you. You may have arrived this morning and you barely got here because of how dark it may be. Psalm 2 has encouragement for you. I think you and I will be surprised by what is in Psalm 2. We may be surprised that things are actually worse than we thought.
We'll be surprised, God willing, we have a hope that is better than we thought as well.
8 · The pastor reads Psalm 2:1-12 in its entirety
So let's read God's Word. Together. Psalm 2, verse 1: Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers 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, and 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 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 into 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.
9 · The pastor prays for God's presence in the preaching, for encouragement for the suffering, for deeper worship for the joyful, and for salvation for the lost
Let's pray together.
Oh Lord, how I need you. I might as well close my Bible and go home if you will not meet us this morning. So my prayer is that you would meet us. I pray that the congregation, including myself in this congregation, that your smile would be on us as the word is preached.
I pray that every heart that has been bowed low through suffering and difficulty and bewilderment would be encouraged.
And that through this word, they would have hope in you again. God, I pray for any person present, which may be many, things are going great. They feel and know they're close to you and they sense it. I pray that their hearts would soar all the more to the heights of heaven and glorify you. Take no glory.
For themselves. Lord, we all need you. God, in a room this size with this number of people, there are those present who are without you and do not know you.
Rescue them.
Rescue them from your wrath. Save them. Let them experience the smile of the good news of Jesus Christ.
Jesus, receive all the glory and be exalted. And it's in your name we pray. Amen. You may be seated.
10 · The pastor identifies the Christological center of the Psalms—Jesus as the Messiah King is the recurring theme
At the center and revealed throughout the whole book of Psalms is this overriding theme. Just read the Psalms at length and you'll discover the Son of God, Jesus, the Messiah King keeps emerging again and again and again.
11 · The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his community group studying Hebrews, which repeatedly references the Psalms
And just on a little personal note, the men in my community group out there are going through the Crossway book series. It's a study series of the ESV and we're going through Hebrews. And so while we're in this book study, we're finding out the book of Hebrews keeps taking us back and
12 · The pastor makes an explicit hermeneutical claim: the New Testament is the interpretive lens through which we read the Old Testament
And as the filter, which is what we believe, and our hermeneutics should always be our study and knowledge of the Word, should always be informed by this, the New Testament, the new covenant informs the Old Testament, not the other way around.
We see through a grid, we see the filter of the New Testament on the Old Testament.
13 · The pastor demonstrates his hermeneutical method by pointing to Hebrews' repeated use of Psalm 2:7
And you'll see that in Hebrews as it takes us back again and again, and one that is repeated again and again in Hebrews is what we would find here in Psalm 2. In particular, it would be down there in verse 7, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you." That emerges again and again throughout the Psalms.
14 · The pastor identifies the universal human condition described in Psalm 2:1-3—every generation, regardless of geography or time period, faces trauma, fear, evil, and the dilemma of war
And here in this Psalm, Psalm 2, the first 3 verses reveal that— reveals what every generation faces. You and I in this generation right now, America or not, third world country or not, every generation faces faces this trauma, fear, distress, evil, and hate, and destruction, paralyzing dilemma of war.
15 · The pastor reframes the war described in Psalm 2—what appears to be horizontal conflict (human against human) is actually vertical rebellion (humanity against God)
And that war, by the way, at first seems to be against one another, and it's absolutely horrible. Men and women in this room are scarred by real physical war.
But there is a worse war that's been raging from the beginning, and it is the war against God, against His holiness, against anything that comes from Him that is pure.
16 · The pastor explains the representative function of 'kings' in Psalm 2—they stand for all humanity, not just political rulers
We have right here repeated or stated 3 different ways in verse 1 and 2, the nations, the peoples, the kings.
Commentators are super helpful on this one. This is a kingly psalm. It is going to talk about the kings, but every time it references the kings, it doesn't mean like them. It means them as representatives of us, the people, you and I. Them meaning our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers.
17 · The pastor establishes the dual reference of Psalm 2—it speaks of King David historically, but also prophetically of the greater King to come
The first 3 verses reveal an amazing thing, though, that they're raging against God himself.
We have close to the amount of time to describe what's happening. Well, in this royal song, this kingly song, it heralds the greatness of God our King, the greatness of the King that God has placed over his people. God's king. We find that actually occurring in this text. And here in particular, we know this is referring— at first, it's referring to King David.
And found in this royal psalm, if we could call it that, is also the grander prophetic proclamation of a promised coming king, a King of Kings that will rule God's people on the throne.
18 · The pastor reveals the sermon's core proclamation: God has already placed His King—Jesus, the Son of God—on the throne, and this accomplished reality cannot be undone
We're going to discover in the text actually that king has already been placed on that throne? That king is God's Son. I'm cluing you in. If you're wondering where the message is going to go, it's here.
God has placed his king on the throne. It's already done and it cannot be undone, and that king is the Son of God. Jesus, the Son of God, is this king, and the people and the kings of this world rage against him.
19 · The pastor connects Psalm 2 to Jesus' teaching that hatred of Christians is rooted in hatred of Christ Himself
Now we begin to understand when the New Testament says, when Jesus says, "They will hate you because they hate me." It's not the other way around. It's like, "You Christians," or, "You people." It's like, "No, you, Lord." Well, then of course I would hate you.
20 · The pastor announces the sermon's two-point structure and jokes about time constraints
We're going to consider this in two points. The first one Is the kingdoms of this world rage. The second point, the sovereign King responds. Kingdoms of this world rage, and the second one, the sovereign King responds. Oh dear Lord, someone reset the clock back 20 minutes.
Can we do that? Does that work? It kills the second service when we do that, right? Point 1, 15 minutes into the message. Oh Lord, we're going to move quick.
I remember Derek saying in the pulpit recently, I just edited out 2 pages. I think I have 17 I've got to edit out.
21 · The pastor begins exposition of Psalm 2:1-3, emphasizing the active, aggressive nature of humanity's rebellion
Point 1, verses 1 through 3, they describe these people, these nations, these kings in particular, as being opposed to the Lord. And by the way, they're not passive in their disregard for God, like they don't pay attention to him, or they just kind of do their own thing without this consideration of God. No, they are on the move against him.
They are advancing against him.
22 · The pastor quotes Psalm 2:1-2 and highlights the key verbs: rage, set themselves, take counsel
Look with me in verse 1, if you would.
Why do the nations rage? They rage. We'll look at that in just a second. The kings of this world set themselves and they take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed. They rage against the Lord.
23 · The pastor introduces Charles Spurgeon as a credible interpreter to help illuminate the text
And Charles Spurgeon, I love this 19th century preacher. If you're not familiar with him, look him up.
24 · The pastor draws on Spurgeon and Calvin to explain that the raging nations may not consciously acknowledge their rebellion against God, but given time, their opposition becomes clear
Charles Spurgeon, I think it's John Calvin— made this comment: they may not realize that they're doing this against him as well. So it's one of those things that they have got up with a will against God, but they're unaware that they're actually against him. Give them a little bit of time, get to know them a little bit, you're gonna find out, oh no, they have actually set themselves against God. This is why I personally believe there is no such thing as a complete or ultimate atheist. No, they rage.
They rage against the one that they do not want to regard.
25 · The pastor exposits Psalm 2:2, emphasizing that the rebellion is not just individual but coordinated—the nations form alliances against God and His anointed
Well, verse 2, they are allied against God's king. So not only do they rage, this roaring and this coming against and this constant wave against God, they actually go out and find partners in this. They set themselves and they form alliances with each other in verse 2. They set themselves and are allied together against the Lord and against this king, his anointed.
Beginning that prophetic language. Certainly David the anointed, the anointed one Jesus.
26 · The pastor uses modern military and technological language to make the ancient imagery of Psalm 2 concrete for a contemporary audience
They are assembling their troops in our vernacular, setting up lines of communication, plotting out their attacks.
Getting all their IP configurations figured out so they can securely communicate with one another. It's all real, and it's all raging, and it's all got an aim, and it's against God himself.
27 · The pastor introduces Psalm 2:3 as the explanation for the raging—the nations want to be free from God's rule
And then verse 3 helps us understand why they're doing this. Read with me verse 3.
So all this plotting All of this raging, all of this alliance against the Lord, this is what the reason is. Let us burst their bonds apart, cast away their cords from us.
28 · The pastor identifies the motive behind the rebellion: the desire to be free from God's rule, rooted in the original sin of wanting to be like God
They desire, and this is what underlines all their motives and intentions and scheming, the age-old problem that is seated back in the garden.
They rage against God because they themselves want to be God, but it starts with they want to be free from the Lord they already know they are, in a sense, captive to. They feel the boundary of God, if I could say it that way. They feel his cords wrapping around them. They can only go so far, and they sense it and they know it. They know their limitation.
And they know it's God that has placed this limitation against them, and so they rage against it to be set free.
29 · The pastor tells a story of evangelizing a young man who explicitly admitted he doesn't believe because he wants to be free to do whatever he wants
I had the opportunity to evangelize and talk to a young man that has grown up. I mean, I remember this little guy playing cars with him when Lauren and Brett got married. This was 10 years ago. Great young man, but he is at that age, and he admits he's not a believer.
So we're digging in my son's backyard. It's the best way to evangelize. Make them sweat and then talk to them about Jesus. So we're digging, and I mentioned, and I said, I just asked him a question. I said, "What?
You know these things. Do you believe that they're true?" He quickly would say yes. He believes in God. He believes God sent his Son. He believes Jesus is the Savior.
I said, "Why would you say you're a non-believer?" And his words was, Because I feel captive in it and I want to be free. I want to be free to do whatever I want to do. Now you got to know this young man, he's super honest. I thought, wow, I would have never told anybody that. But I thought, oh, that was me, but I can't tell anybody that.
I got good Christian, you know, folks at home. I can't go home and tell them, hey, I want to be free to do whatever I want to do. No, actually I'm privately trying to do whatever I want to do. This young man is like, no, I want to be free.
30 · The pastor makes a sweeping theological assertion: all earthly rulers and influencers—from presidents to warlords—are in cosmic rebellion against God when they refuse to acknowledge and glorify Him
This is the age-old problem. Ask Adam and Eve. It goes back to the beginning. The kingdoms of this world, the governments and administrations and governors and judges and congressmen and senators and directors and chancellors and magistrates and prime ministers and monarchs and warlords and drug lords and mayors and superintendents and emperors, on and on and on, all the rulers, if you wanna call them that, all the influencers of this world, They are in constant cosmic rebellion against God when they refuse to acknowledge Him and glorify Him.
31 · The pastor catalogs the evidence of humanity's depravity—policies, persecution, tyranny, debauchery—and identifies all of it as rebellion against God
Their depravity is revealed in their policies, their unrepentant heart, and their slaughter of the innocent, their persecutions, their tyranny, their robbery, their bribery, their debauchery, their evil alliances, all ultimately directed at the sovereign King of heaven. We cannot ignore the weight of the first 3 verses in this.
32 · The pastor highlights the key phrase 'in vain' from Psalm 2:1 and poses the central tension: if the rebellion is in vain, why does it look so successful? This frames the transition to point 2—God's response
But there is a phrase that we'll briefly look at. We're going to move on to point 2, and it's here in verse 1. Why do the nations rage? Why do the peoples plot in vain?
The question isn't what is their motive. The ultimate question isn't what is their motive, which points to they burst their bonds. This is a surprise in the text. This is what they want, but the opening statement is taking us somewhere. Why is all this going on?
And the Word reveals it's in vain.
So yes, it is super rebellion. It is immeasurable cosmic rebellion against God. It is in vain. They rage and they plot, but they do so in vain. And how can this be in vain?
It seems like the people and nations can do whatever they want. Does it seem that way? Just consider whatever news source you've got, whatever feed you've got, you're just thumbing through them until you get the one you want.
The nations are raging and plotting against God constantly. People are shaking off any kind of self-control and again, only doing what seems right in their eyes. Wickedness and depravity. Seem to just continue to be the rule of the day. Why?
How is this possible?
This all looks like it's winning the day. They look now like they're getting everything that they want, operating completely free regardless of any repercussion or accountability. How can we say that's in vain? It seems like it's successful.
And what will bring it to an end? If it is in vain, what will bring it to an end? How will their plans come to nothing if they're in vain?
33 · The pastor applies the text personally, implicating himself and the congregation in the rebellion of Psalm 2
You know what, before you and I go on, I think it's right for you and I to ask ourselves, is this not also me? Before Christ, certainly.
And at times still tempted. Sin right at my elbow. What is dogging me every day? It's this: I want to war against those cords and bonds of God so that I am free to live however I want to live.
Go and read James. That's the targeted argument. Those that say, "Hey, I can believe in God, but I can live however I want to live." This is our ongoing dilemma. And is that not you and I doing this? We war and set ourselves up and we plot.
Sometimes we even gather friends around us.
34 · The pastor applies Psalm 51:4 to reinforce that all sin—even horizontal sins like lust or tyranny toward children—are ultimately sins against God
We are right to join the psalmist when David declares in Psalm 51:4, "Against you and you alone have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment." It is against you, Lord, all my sins. Are directed. It's not just my wife when I look at someone else. It's not just my kids when I demand of them like a tyrant.
Lord, I have set myself and plotted against you. This is our sinful dilemma.
35 · The pastor provides a litany of concrete examples of human rebellion against God's commands—sexuality, relationships, love, purity, governance
He defines our sexuality, but we want something different. He defines our relationships, but we say no. And we go after what we want.
He says love and we hate. He commands purity and holiness, and we run as fast as we can at times straight into depravity. He rules over the nations in peace, and we seize our moment during these times and become tyrants.
36 · The pastor announces the shift from diagnosis to hope, from the rebellion of verses 1-3 to God's response in verses 4-6
There is, there is a great truth and shift in the text right now. All of this is in vain. The hope is it will come to an end finally. All of their plans, all of these sinful plans will utterly fail. And how is this possible?
37 · The pastor reads Psalm 2:4-6, positioning these verses as the answer to the question of how the rebellion can be in vain
Verses 1 through 3, they paint such a bleak, all too true picture of this world. The kingdoms of this world do rage on and on and on, but verse 4, He who sits in heaven 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. It answers the question, how is this— how is it possible that this is all in vain? That's the answer.
38 · The pastor contrasts human anxiety with divine sovereignty
The sovereign King responds. But look at his response. God is not wringing his hands. He's not in heaven as if all the nations on the planet are raging against him. He's not sitting in heaven like, "Oh my gosh, what in the world am I going to do?
Every effort I make, they just turn against me. Every time I try to reach in and save, they just keep turning back. They ignore. They move on." What is it? What is it that I'm going to need to do?
Actually, what we find out is his will and his rule and his creation and his design, his kingdom over all of it, it will remain, and none of it has been ripped from his hands. None of it, not for a moment.
39 · The pastor uses a vivid analogy—the kings of the earth standing on a dust particle in a shaft of light—to illustrate the vast disproportion between God's immensity and human power
God holds all he holds in an open hand as if he could say— Neil, I'm sorry I keep looking at you like you're the crazy world. Take it, take it, you kings of the earth. See how long your rage will last.
Take it. There is a sense we're gonna get in the text that God reveals to them very clearly. Give it a try. Try.
Imagine just for a moment a shaft of light coming through the blinds, and in El Paso, a lot of dust flurrying around in that shaft of light. You all have seen it. Once I realized it was dust in the air, I didn't want to breathe anymore. And on one of those particles of dust, on one of them, you and I are standing there, and illustratively, please, illustration will break down, but it's as if the Lord stands, and in the shaft of light, on one of those specks of dust are all the kings of the world. Just, you know, whatever it looks like.
I mean, imagine in your mind. I know it's weird. I'm not trying to attach some physical aspect to God's immensity, but if we did, that sounds blasphemous, but if we did, imagine the size of their swords, their communication lines are on a dust. I honestly, God could breathe in and they would just all disappear into his respiratory system. That's what's happening in this raging.
Why is it in vain? It's because the sovereign one of the universe holds it all together and you will not thwart him. That's the feel and sense of the text. Now you and I should in that hit the dust.
40 · The pastor exposits the image of God sitting in heaven from Psalm 2:4, emphasizing that God's posture reveals His complete sovereignty—He doesn't even need to stand to address the rebellion
He sits in heaven. He sits in heaven. In heaven on his throne in that verse. He who sits in the heavens laughs. I love what the commentators helped on this one.
No earthly king and no worldly kingdom has power enough to even concern him enough to stand up. Oh, he's attentive. God is not unattentive. Remember, we're not functional deists, or we can't be functional deists, that God is out there somewhere and it's like, oh hey, they're raging over here, and he like turns and Finally, no, it's in his face this is happening. He doesn't even have to stand to address the matter.
He does not stand. He sits and he laughs at their raging.
41 · The pastor unpacks the progression of God's response in Psalm 2:4—sitting, laughing, holding in derision
There's a progression. He laughs at their raging, the sitting and the laughing. He holds them in derision.
And all of this is to paint this picture revealing God's despising scorn, his despising scorn on man's sinful and limited reign. This war, this coming against God in his mind is laughable.
His contemptuous mockery of all their pitiful plans and arrogant declarations of freedom against his rule.
42 · The pastor shifts to personal application, describing his own anxiety when scrolling through news feeds
Sometimes when I— I don't know what your feed is like on my phone. Sometimes I'm like, and I only follow like 3 people, Ricky, Todd and Neil. Do you have something I can follow? You don't.
Okay, well, I can't follow Neil.
But there's enough in there to make me begin to privately panic. Oh my goodness, the world's going to hell in a handbasket. I'm just scrolling through the Lord in this sense.
This should be hopeful to us that he has a mockery mockery towards that attempt. That hope begins to build actually at this most— this should be the moment that lays us in the dust, but those that belong to Christ should marvel and worship and be grounded in hope. None of it— scroll— none of it, none of it will ever finally stand. It will end. You and I can be at rest and at peace in God's kingdom as these kingdoms rule.
Kingdoms of this world will not be able to rage on and on because God responds, and their wickedness will finally come to an end.
43 · The pastor signals a shift in the text from God's mockery to His declaration about the King
But here's another change in the text. So he who sits on the throne and/or sits in the heavens laughs, and the Lord holds him in derision, verse 4. But here is where now it gets even more pointed.
I love the centrality of the gospel of this church. I love the centrality of the gospel. I love the central object of the gospel, Jesus Christ, because then now he is about to emerge in the text.
44 · The pastor exposits Psalm 2:5-6, emphasizing that what terrifies the raging kings is not merely God's wrath but His declaration: 'I have set my king on Zion
Making a beeline for the good news or making a beeline to the Savior in the text, God in verse 5 speaks, and he speaks to them in his wrath and in his fury, in his wrath, and he terrifies them in his fury. That would be enough.
You could put a period at the end of that, but that's not what the text says. He speaks to them in his wrath and they're terrified. He terrifies them in his fury with what he says.
I think if God spoke to the kingdoms of this world and said, "This is not gonna last, this is not gonna last, this is not gonna last," they'd be like, "Yeah, whatever, it's gonna last." But this statement gets their attention. He says, "I have set my king on Zion." My. Holy Hill. Verse 6: As for me— remember the dust particle, and then the Lord saying, and as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.
45 · The pastor uses Spurgeon's commentary to reinforce that God has already accomplished what the enemy seeks to prevent—His King is enthroned
In his fury, God says this, and this terrifies them. Charles Spurgeon says this: He has already done that which the enemy seeks to prevent. That raging, we're ruling, we're going to win, we're taking over, not you, only us. Spurgeon says he has already done what the enemy seeks to prevent. While they are proposing, he has disposed the matter.
Jehovah— Jehovah, new word for the Lord. Don't quote me on that. Jehovah's will is done, and man's will frets and raves in vain. I love this. This is where Shailene should grab Spurgeon's word and write this song.
Spurgeon says, God's anointed is appointed and shall not be disappointed. He is telling the kings of this world, I have put my anointed I have already put a king on the throne, on that hill that is overall, that hill that you want to break your bonds against. My people, my righteousness, my holiness, all that is about me, you've set yourself against that. I have already put a king over you. This terrifies them.
In a way, there's a sense as if the nations and the kings are all just like a wave, like the scenes that we have in Lord of the Rings, where they're just coming over like a sea of evil, pouring in, like, what hope in the world do we have? And they arrive and they seem like they're gonna slaughter everything.
And they look up and they realize, oh my gosh, God was here before us, and it's all over. That's why they're terrified. He has disposed the matter. Spurgeon is right. Nothing is going to stop God, and now they begin to see it.
46 · The pastor exposits Psalm 2:7, identifying the King as God's Son
Look with me, if you will, at the beauty of this text. Verse 7, "I will tell you the decree. The Lord said to me, 'You are my son.'" "Son, today I have begotten you." So not only does he speak and he speaks to them, "I've already set my king," now he turns to his king and he says, "You're my son." And that's an announcement to them as well. The king that I have put over you, it's my son. The Son King that comes from God.
The Son of God, Jesus the Messiah, is God's King.
He is announcing to them, "Not only is my rule over you and has always been established over you, and you cannot thwart my rule. I've gone ahead of you. All of what you're doing is in vain." "But I want you to know this king is my king, and my king is my Son. My Son, today I have begotten you." Hebrews 1, Hebrews 5. To any of the angels did he ever say these words, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"?
To any of the priests did he ever say, "You're my Son"? "Today I've begotten you." The answer in Hebrews is clear. No. No, I've never said that to any of you. I've said that to one, my Son.
I've said that to one, Jesus of Nazareth.
Hebrews 1:3 says, "After making purification for sins," there's now a change that begins to occur that's pointing us back to what is being said here.
47 · The pastor exposits Psalm 2:8, emphasizing the Father's unconditional offer to the Son: 'Ask of me and I will give you the nations
"Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage." Between 7 and 8, there is this king. This king is God's Son. This king is God's Son, and the Son is Jesus. And there's this beautiful kingly statement to his king, his Son.
Son, ask me for anything and it is yours. What a great statement of God's favor on his Son. But it's also the fact that it is established. It's just beautiful. It's already done.
Just ask me. It's already given to you. You've already done it because all you have to do is ask. It's all yours.
48 · The pastor connects Psalm 2:8 to Satan's temptation of Jesus, highlighting Satan's futile attempt to offer what the Father had already promised
And what an evil attempt it is on Satan to come to Jesus in the temptation and say, "Hey, just bow down to me and I'll make you a king over all these kingdoms." What an evil pushback in God's face on that little speck of dust.
Son. Name it. Verse 8, the Son of God, King Jesus, inherits the nations.
God's Son Jesus is the sovereign King over all, over all the people of the earth, over all the kingdoms of the earth, over all the nations of the earth. Hear that the Son of God is the King of kings, the King of these kings in particular, the kings that plot and rage against the Lord. Jesus is their King. He rules over them.
49 · The pastor exposits Psalm 2:9, describing the coming day of judgment when Jesus will shatter the rebellious kingdoms with an iron rod
There is a day coming, also in verse 9. Look at verse 9 with me. In verse 9, that this King will break them with a rod of iron and dash them into pieces like a potter's vessel. Oh, one of my favorite things as a kid was to take my BB gun and to shoot a light bulb, because like that, light bulb just ceased to exist. Shattered. Well, this King, he arrives in the face of all this war and with one wield of his iron rod of judgment, no kingdoms.
Gone. Destroyed. That day is coming. He will break them with a rod of iron. In Psalm 1:4, the wicked will be like chaff that the wind drives away, taking the wheat and tossing it in the air And God just blowing them away like the dry leaves of the chaff, the hulls of the sea, just carried away like everything in your backyard in an El Paso wind.
The Lord just wipes them away.
50 · The pastor makes an eschatological claim: a day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord, when He will wield the final rod of judgment
The rebellious nations and kings have set themselves against God, and a day is coming that they will see that they are ruled by him. On that day, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. The day that is coming on which King Jesus rides in on His horse, swings that rod, and immediately dashes all of this sinfulness into pieces. On that day, He will wield that final rod of judgment. On that day, hear this, all of you present on that day, it will be too late for some.
51 · The pastor transitions from judgment to salvation, identifying the 'already-but-not-yet' tension in Psalm 2
Because between verses 7 and 8, verse 7 says, "You're my son. Today I've begotten you." And in a sense, On that day, the nations are going to be given to you as a heritage. Well, we know from that filter of the New Testament something amazing has occurred.
Before all of what happens beginning in verse 8, King Jesus, instead of coming in judgment, he will come to save.
52 · The pastor describes the first coming of Jesus in stark contrast to the enthroned King of Psalm 2—He came robed in blood, crowned with thorns, mocked, tortured, and crucified
This King, he will shed his blood on a cursed man's cross. God's King, His only begotten Son, will give His body to be broken for this world that rages against Him. God's King, to be set on Zion, His holy hill, Jesus the Son of God was made to be robed and crowned first in a very different robe, a robe draped over His bloodied body, a very different crown one of thorns jammed on his head as heaven's only true King would first be spit upon as a blasphemer, punched in the face by the kings of this world. King Jesus would be handed over to be tortured by another raging king of this world who mocked him and put the placard over his head, "Jesus, the King of the Jews." Jesus would not ascend up first the holy hill.
To Zion, first he would ascend the hill of Golgotha and be nailed to a criminal's cross.
53 · The pastor exposits the atonement: instead of defending His Son, God pours out on Jesus the full force of His wrath—the wrath that should have fallen on us
Instead of God standing in fury and defending his beloved Son, he, his holiness, perfect, right, his holy, perfect, and righteous Son bears the sins of sinners and receives upon himself the full force of God's wrath The full force of God's fury, all of God's derision that should be on us is on his Son. And in that sense, the King of Heaven in that moment stands, looks at his Son, the sin bearer, mocking and contemptuous over all our sin.
Jesus.
54 · The pastor summarizes the gospel in a single sentence: Jesus ruled first from the cross as the Lamb of God, taking away the sins of the world—including the very sins of rebellion against Him described in Psalm 2
God's Son, before he will rule as God's righteous King, he will rule from a cross as the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of this world. That includes all of these sins that have raged and plotted against him.
55 · The pastor issues an urgent gospel call: today is not the day of judgment—it is not too late
On that day when that judgment comes, it will be too late. But today is not that day.
It is not too late. Turn to Christ even now. Turn to this King of Heaven. God has already, in that sense, set him on the throne. Look to the King Jesus.
Repent of your sin. Why would you not come and repent of your sins? It is in vain for you to turn against Christ for the rest of your life. He is real. He is present, and he is coming back.
Believe in Christ and you will be saved.
56 · The pastor exposits Psalm 2:10-12, the climax and conclusion of the Psalm
The application of the message is what we have finally in verse 10. O kings, be wise then and be warned, rulers of the earth. Come, come, fear and rejoice with trembling. But hear this phrase: Kiss the Son.
The picture has been bleak.
It will all come to an end. But the hope is amazing. The last statement, the last statement in the Psalm is the first statement in Psalm 1. Which is really the other bookend of this section. "Blessed are all who take refuge in him." Who's him?
The Son, the one the Lord has called.
57 · The pastor defines 'kiss the Son' as paying homage, submitting, believing, and coming to Christ
And that word "kiss" means to pay homage to him, submit to him, believe in him, come to him. Turn away from all of these other kingdoms. Turn away from all of this other rule that you want. Turn to Christ.
Kiss the Son. Believe in him. All the words of wise, be wise, and be warned, Fear and rejoice and trembling are all found in believing in Christ, kissing the Son of God.
58 · The pastor introduces a hymn that will close the message, using humor about hymn numbering to maintain rapport while transitioning to the conclusion
I'm going to end as the band comes forward with a portion of a hymn out of the Lutheran hymnal. I think it's number 610, if you brought that with you today.
I'm just kidding. In the name of the hymn, I don't know why we name songs this. Well, I do. We don't anymore. We probably should.
The name of the song is "Will the Judge Descend?" Oh Lord.
59 · The pastor quotes verses 4 and 6 of the hymn 'Will the Judge Descend?' to reinforce the sermon's twin themes: the terror of judgment and the refuge available in the cross
Hear verses 4 and 6 together. How will my heart endure the terrors of that day when earth and heaven before His face astonished, shrank away. Ye sinner, seek His grace whose wrath ye cannot bear. Fly to the shelter of His cross and find salvation there.
60 · The pastor concludes with Psalm 2:12, emphasizing that 'blessed' means 'happy
Now we have— this is a summary statement out of verse 12: Blessed are those who take refuge in Him. That word blessed means happy. Happy is the man who takes refuge in Noah No other king but King Jesus. I'm telling you, if you put your trust in the kings of this world, the end is only destruction and it will be in vain. But happy, happy is the man, put your trust in Christ.
Believe in Jesus. You will be happy, happier than you ever have been. And the day is going to come finally when we see that King face to face, pure joy.
61 · The pastor closes with a prayer that reiterates the sermon's main themes: kissing the Son, the futility of raging against God, the beauty of Christ, the wrath to come, and the happiness found in Jesus
Stand with me. And let's pray.
Father, I pray that the last words of this portion of your word would point us to the word of Christ himself. Jesus, you, the word. May all our happiness be found in you because we have come and we have kissed you. We have come and we have submitted ourselves to you. We throw ourselves before you and we ask for your mercy.
God, I pray for anyone present that has never done this. God, by the power of your Spirit present, save them. Draw them to yourself. They cannot of their own will come to you, but you can in this moment. Help them see how vain it is for them to rage on and on and on against you.
Show them the beauty of your Son. Remind them of the wrath to come, but grant them happiness, happiness forever in your Son is my prayer. God, for your church, I pray that we'd be the happiest people on the planet when we remember that we raged along with this world. And you came. And before you came with an iron rod, you came with the sinner's cross, and you made a way.
God, I pray that all of our worship, all of our singing, all of our clapping of our hands, all of our hands would be raised to you in joy. Way, because you are our King. Jesus, thank you for making this possible. It's in your name we pray. Amen.