Sermon Tone Analysis

Jesus of Nazareth on the week He died rode into the City of Jerusalem amidst great pomp, it was the coronation day of the King of the nation of Isreal.

The nation responded correctly to the Lord and King this day but they never imagined how great this King is.

This Kingship stems from a promise made many years before and this King, Jesus was foretold long before Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey and this morning we are going to a Psalm that is definitely considered a Royal Psalm and can even be thought to be a coronation psalm for the coronation of a King.

The King rode in on the Sunday just prior to the events of His crucifixion on Friday night but the promise of His coming to take His throne stems from a promise made by God to King David.

As we look this morning at Psalm 2 which is considered to be an anonymous meaning no one is sure who wrote this Psalm but it is believed it has a Davidic style especially since it goes from an earthly King to a Heavenly Davidic King.

Also in Acts 4:25 we have verse 1 of psalm 2 quoted.

Peter and John had just been released from being before the council and told not to teach in Jesus’ name any longer and once they came together with their companions this is what they said.

Notice how they attribute this to David as being a David Psalm.

It also makes sense this Psalm would be written my David because of his own attributing God’s selection of a King and if you read through 1 and 2 Samuel David has the deepest understanding of the Kings Anointed, more so then any of the other Kings who reign after Him.

Now I understand the Psalms have a divine author but the characteristics and the language is very Davidic.

What the Apostles understood the deep truth of what the Holy Spirit was saying through this psalm.

The deep truth is this psalm pointed to the True King of Isreal who rode into His Holy City on Palm Sunday knowing full well that in order to sit on His Throne victoriously He will have to die in less then a weeks time.

This King is Jesus Christ and Psalm 2 will paint a wonderful picture of the attitudes of man and the demeanor of God when it comes to installing His King.

We will learn this morning from Psalm 2, that we are To Rightly Worship the Son who Reigns Over All.

With all that said lets go ahead and take a closer look at this psalm and how it points to the King who deserves all glory and praise this day because He has been established on His Throne.

Psalm 2 reads;

As we look at this psalm we see right away there is a pointing to the attitude of man, they way the nations look to God and to the nation of Isreal.

The attitude is a negative attitude it is an attitude of Pride.

Man’s Pride

Verses 1-3 we find the psalmist presents a rhetorical question, he writes “Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed.

So here we have the psalmist who as I have said it is believed to be David.

The Psalmist observes the nations of the earth are against God and not only God but God’s Anointed, the term here in the Hebrew is the word for Messiah which means very simply God’s chosen One.

By God’s divine decree through the work of the Holy Spirit the Psalmist is pointing to Jesus Christ, Christ being the Greek translation of Cristos which is the Greek form of Messiah which means God’s chosen One.

The Psalmist, however didn’t have this in mind when he wrote it.

This is a common word used throughout the History books of the Old Testament which can mean a general selection of God to do a work.

David the King of Isreal understood this very well.

If you read through 1 Samuel you find the first King of Isreal is Saul and he was chosen by God and he was also anointed with oil, which was a means of consecrating or dedicating this man in to the service of King and ruling under God’s authority.

Now David understood this selection very well because God chosen Saul to lead the people as King because God was appeasing the peoples cry for a King.

They had refused God as their King and chose a man like all the other nations.

Saul was given this position but Saul was not a faithful man.

Saul chose to do things his own way instead of God’s way and refused to listen to God so God chose a young man, a teenager to be king.

This teenager was David.

He was also anointed by Samuel, consecrated with oil with the promise of one day ruling Isreal.

David waited patiently for his opportunity to the reign as King because Saul was King at the time.

Saul was threatened by David and wanted David dead.

So Saul would hunt David down.

David spent many years running and hide from Saul.

David even had two opportunities to kill Saul and take the throne.

David refused to kill Saul himself.

Do you know why?

Because David understood God had chosen Saul and David was not about to take out God anointed, God’s chosen one.

David trusted God was in control and God would take Saul out in God’s timing not David’s.

David was faithful to God in this respect.

So now when it comes to Psalm 2 and the psalmist, who I believe is David because of his deep understanding of the King being chosen by God, writes this here, “Against the Lord and against His Anointed,” The original meaning points to the king chosen by God.

Of course looking back in hind sight we see this Anointing or Anointed One points to the ultimate and perfect Anointed One Jesus Christ.

The King of Kings.

The nations are very proud here.

They are going up against the Lord, the God of Isreal which is a picture of their deep pride.

These people think they can take down God and take down God’s King.

Look at what they say in verse 3 which is an expression of this deep pride.

They say, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”

They see themselves as being in bondage to God.

They see themselves as being enslaved to the God of this world.

This is true arrogant pride.

Now anyone who has read through the Old Testament and most Christians know when I say the book of Leviticus they is always this sense of, “oh that book” I just skip that one it is full of rules and laws that aren’t for me.

Well that is what the nations would have thought too, even in this day.

Those rules and laws were hard to follow, they were designed that way to show the nation how much they needed a perfect Savior.

Now if they nation of Isreal allowed other nations to live after conquering them they would have had to become proselyte Jews.

That meant they would have to give up their own religion which involved all sorts of hedonistic practices that involved honoring their fertility gods.

I am sure I don’t need to tell you how they would honor their fertility gods.

Now they didn’t want to give these things up and they didn’t want to be controlled by God or by the nation of Isreal.

The saw themselves as being enslaved to them.

Man’s Pride caused them to want to fight against God and God’s anointed which when I thought about that it is no different then today.

Think about it, you are sharing the gospel with a friend, coworker or a family and they are fully tracking with you they are hanging on your every word and they are asking great question that seems as though they are getting it.

Then comes the end, the person you have just been talking to turns to you and says, “yeah that sounds great but I’m just not ready to give up the way I live just yet.”

Jaw hits the ground and your just like, “what just happened?”

Man’ Pride.

That’s what.

People see Christianity as just rules when it is more then just rules.

They see it as binding when it is actually liberating.

This is not true people are not free they are actually bond to sin.

It is in a sense Stockholm Syndrome.

Those who know what Stockholm Syndrome is know it is when a prisoner grows some attachment to their capture, well that is sin.

People have grown an attachment to their captor.

Jesus says this in John 8;

Do you see the bondage people have they are bond to sin, salves to sin.

It is only through Jesus that man can be set free.

Paul teaches exactly what this means to the Roman church in

This is truth, you are either obedient to sin or obedient to God there is no in between.

If you see God is being an oppressor then you don’t know God you are still trapped in your pride.

And look at what the psalmist says about those who are proud and don’t want to obey God.

The psalmist in psalm 10 writes this;

The “haughtiness of his countenance” is another way of saying “man’s pride.”

The proud do not turn to God they turn to themselves they believe they have liberty in doing things their own way but they don’t.

Man’s Pride keeps them from coming to God believing God is an oppressor not a liberator and this is man’s attitude but now let’s look at God’s Power.

God’s Power

Verses 3-6 read, He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. 5 The He will speak in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

Here are the nations coming up against God in their Pride thinking they can take God out and thinking they can be freed from oppression and God is sitting in heaven, high above all mankind laughing.

He is the One who created all things, He is the One who brought the nation of Isreal out of Egypt and brought the ten plagues on Egypt.

He is the One who has given the land to Isreal.

He is the All Powerful God who spoke the world and everything that exists in it in to being.

He is the One who breathed life into the nostrils of Adam.

And the nations believe they will defeat God and God sits in His throne room, heaven laughing at them and scoffing them.

Why because He is the One with the power and He knows all.

God will also judge these people, I mean seriously they think they can take on God, He is the creator of all things and He is the judge of all.

God is the One who has the power to create and the power to destroy.

Look at what God says through His prophet Isaiah;

There is no escape for the proud man who is an enemy to God.

There is no escape from the power of God who sits in heaven.

Look at what Jesus tells His disciples about whom to fear.