Psalm Chapter 02

INTRODUCTION 

Text and Textual Variants

1          Why do the nations rage, and the people plot 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, saying,

3          “Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.”

4          He who sits enthroned in the heavens laughs; the Lord  holds them in derision.

5          Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them with his anger, saying,

6          “Yet I have set  my king on Zion, my holy hill.”

7          “I will declare the decree: The LORD said to me, ‘You are my son; today I have begotten you.

8          Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.

9          You shall smash them  with an iron rod; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”

10        Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth.

11        Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.

12        Kiss the son,  lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,  for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

Composition and Context

Psalm 2 is a royal psalm focusing on the coronation of the Davidic king in the holy city on Mount Zion.  It was included in the collection to be sung by the choirs at any appropriate time—certainly at coronations of kings, but also in times of national crises when people needed to be reminded that God had installed their king and the threats from the nations would fail.  There is no indication of authorship in the tradition of superscriptions, but since the psalm makes clear use of the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7, it likely came from the time of the monarchy, and perhaps fairly early in that period. Along with Psalm 1, Psalm 2 forms an introduction to the collection. As a royal psalm it was placed here as part of the final structuring of the entire collection (see Introduction); when the final editing took place there was no Davidic king, and so this introduction served as a reminder of God’s plan. Thus at the outset of the book we have one psalm focusing on the way of the righteous, and another psalm focusing on the victory of the LORD’S anointed king over the nations.  The psalm reflects a crisis as its original occasion, a crisis that probably occurred frequently in Israel’s history. The coronation of a new king was a particularly vulnerable time, for the surrounding nations would have seen it as an opportunity to raid across the borders, capture cities, and in general, try to end Israelite control over them. Accordingly, one of the first tasks of a new king would have been to solidify the borders by defeating the enemies.

The poem is well-crafted, having four stanzas of three verses each. The first stanza reports the plan of the nations to rebel against the LORD and his anointed king; stanza two reveals the response of God to their ridiculous plan; stanza three recounts the king’s claims to the throne in spite of opposition; and the last stanza records the sage advice to those foolish nations. 

The theology of the psalm portrays the LORD as the sovereign king of the universe who reigns from heaven. It is his prerogative to control nations (Isa. 40:15-17), establish borders (Deut. 32:8), and set up or remove kings (Dan. 2:21). It was he who put his king on the throne. No matter how well-planned or powerful the opposition was, it was doomed to fail if God was against it.

Because this royal psalm would have applied to every Davidic king, it ultimately applies to David’s greatest son, Jesus Christ. The apostles saw that it was to be fulfilled in the coronation of the Messiah at his exaltation (Heb. 1:5) and then in the establishment of his reign on earth at his second coming (Rev. 2:27; 12:5); and since Messiah’s reign will be eternal, the psalm would apply to no other king again.

Exegetical Analysis

Summary

The psalmist exhorts the pagan leaders to abandon their rebellious plans against the LORD and his anointed king and submit to the authority of this king whom God has ordained to rule all the nations with crushing power.

Outline

I.          The psalmist reveals how the pagan leaders foolishly desire to rebel against the LORD and his anointed king (1-3).

            A.        He is indignant at the tumultuous and vain resolves of the nations (1).

            B.        He explains that the nations united to throw off the authority of the LORD and his anointed king (2-3).

II.        The psalmist reveals the resolution of the LORD to install his king (4-6).

            A.        The sovereign God of heaven holds their feeble plan in contempt (4).

            B.        The LORD will end their efforts by declaring his plan to install his king (5-6).

III.       The psalmist reveals the decree of the anointed king to show by what right he rules (7-9).

            A.        The king resolves to declare the statute of the covenant (7a).

            B.        The king reiterates the divine promises of the covenant (7b—9).

                        1.         He is on this day crowned as God’s chosen king (7b).

                        2.         He will receive from God dominion over all the rebellious people (8-9).

IV.       The psalmist exhorts the foolish nations to trust God and to submit to this enthroned “son” in order to escape destruction (10-12).

            A.        He calls for the leaders to act prudently (10).

            B.        He instructs them to serve God and submit to the king or be destroyed when God’s wrath is poured out (11-12).

COMMENTARY IN EXPOSITORY FORM

I. Folly: It is futile for humans to try to throw off God’s authority (1-3).

            A. Rebellion against God is futile (1).

The first stanza focuses on the rebellious plot of the nations. It begins with a rhetorical question, “Why do the nations rage?” This is not an inquiry into the reason for their activity but an expression of amazement and even indignation at their rage. The verb “rage” can be used to describe something like the raging of the sea, but here it refers to the tumultuous meeting of rebels to plan an attack, a meeting going on at the time of the coronation (and so the verb is put in the present tense, a characteristic perfect). The parallel verb, “plot, devise” (a progressive imperfect), clarifies this raging. The word is often used in a religious sense of medi­tating (1:2), but here it means that they were plotting a rebellion.

The rebels are called “nations” and “peoples,” terms that often refer to the tribes around Israel, such as Aramaeans, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, Phoenicians, and Philistines all perennial enemies of Israel. These surrounding people were constantly fighting with Israel so that Israel’s kings regularly had to drive them back into their territory.

What they plan is said to be “a vain thing” (an empty thing). This is an interpretive substitution by the writer for the actual object, which would have been something like a “strategy” that they were planning; but because what they were planning was futile, the psalmist put this description in the place of the expected object (so “vain thing” is a metonymy of adjunct).

This line was used by Peter in Acts 4:25—26 with a broader application. After the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus, Peter included the Jews who opposed Jesus with those nations that rage against God and his Messiah.

            B. The futile effort pits mortals against deity (2-3).

Verse 2 clarifies that the leaders of this plot were the “kings of the earth”  and the “rulers” of these peoples. The genitive “earth” limits their sphere of influence; and this limita­tion will be put in the strongest light in the next section where the LORD is described as sitting enthroned “in the heavens.”

The verbs in the first two parallel units of verse 2 have the same classifications as those in verse 1, except now the order of tenses is reversed—first the progressive imperfect is used for “take their stand” and then the characteristic perfect, “take counsel together.” The verb “take a stand” has an an­tagonistic meaning with the preposition “against” following it; the parallel verb would then continue this negative connotation.

The idea of kings taking counsel together, or even taking their stand against someone, would be of some concern if it were not for the third unit of the verse, “against the LORD and against his anointed.” They may have thought they were merely fighting an Israelite king, but their plot was actually against the LORD and his anointed. This term “anointed”, a passive adjective, re­fers to the chosen king. The Anglicized pronunciation is “messiah” or when referring to the greatest and final one, “the Messiah.” For the surrounding nations to attempt to throw off the authority of the anointed king would be to try to overthrow the plan of God.

The rebellious plot is put into words in verse three. Since these words form the content (real, or imagined) of their resolution, they are so represented in the translation: “saying, ‘Let’s break their bonds and cast their cords from us.’” The two cohortatives have the force of exhortation: “let’s break” and “let’s cast off’. The objects of these two verbs are “bonds [chains]” and “ropes [fet­ters].” They were not actually tied up or chained in some prison (if they were they could not have been meeting to plan a rebellion). Rather, they saw their domination by the king in Jerusalem as bondage (so the words form an implied comparison). To them to be under Israelite control was like being in bonds and ropes; thus they came rushing together to plot their strategy of breaking free.

II. Divine Decree: God’s sovereign authority estab­lishes his king’s rule (4—6).

            A. The LORD regards their plan as ludicrous (4).

The psalm now makes a sudden shift from the plotting of the nations to the response of the LORD. The structure of this stanza parallels the first: verses 1 and 2 describe the actions of the earthly kings, verse 3 records their speech, verses 4 and 5 describe the response of the heavenly king, and then verse 6 gives his speech.

With bold figures the psalmist portrays the sovereign God’s reaction to this ridiculous plan. In the first colon we have the general description “He who sits in the heavens laughs”; and in the second half the clarification that “the Lord mocks them” (“holds them in derision”).

The designations of God here are significant. The substantival participle “[He who] sits” (an anthropomorphism) means that he sits enthroned or reigns. Then the prepositional phrase “in the heavens” makes the description even more powerful; for in contrast to the limited earthly realm of the rebellious kings, the LORD reigns over them all in the heavens. The second designa­tion is “Lord.” This is not the holy name “Yahweh” (represented by LORD) but the title “Lord,” even though the spelling was de­signed to assure the connection. The use of this title indicates that he is the sovereign master, and everyone else is a servant.

Now God is portrayed as if laughing at their plan and mocking it, just as humans would mock something ridiculous. The two verbs “laughs” and “mocks” are also bold anthropomorphic expressions; they are used to enable us to un­derstand how foolish this plan is. The point of the figure is that the plan was utterly ridiculous.

            B. The LORD will end their rebellion by installing his king over them (5-6).

The announcement of God’s plan to end their rebellion is in­troduced with the adverb “then”, which forms a transition to the future: “he will speak” and “he will terrify them” (s.v. Ps. 83:16). The two verbs taken together cover the full action: the first colon gives the cause, “he will speak” (a metonymy of cause), and the second gives the effect, “he will terrify them” (a metonymy of effect). This balance is also evident in the chiastic word order: speak + wrath // anger + terrify. This arrangement throws the emphasis upon the wrath of God because in the text the two words for it are placed back-to-back, while “speak” and “terrify” bracket the whole verse.

Both words “wrath” (s.v. Ps. 30:5) and “anger” (s.v. Ps. 37:1) have to do with heat, i.e., a burning anger and a heated rage. Here again the writer uses anthropomorphic language (idioms) to describe God’s wrath in terms of flaring nostrils and burning rage. The point is that the declaration from God will be angry condemnation, and they will be terrified.

But what exactly will he say to them? Unless the expositor thinks the decree is missing and needs to be supplied, verse 6 would provide the content of the divine speech. The psalmist was portraying the divine decision to install the Israelite king as condemnation of their plot. In other words, if people tried to throw off this king, and then God declared that he was putting this king on the throne, that would mean that God was against them and they would be terrified. Not only would they be de­feated by the new king, they would be judged by God as well. So what he will say to them is that he, the God in heaven, has chosen this king they oppose.

The speech begins with a strong contrast: “But as for Me.” God is in effect saying, “they may do such and so, but as for me, I will do this...” The verb that follows is the perfect tense “set, install”. Since this is the coronation psalm, the tense might best be classified as an instantaneous perfect, meaning “Here and now I set my king.” This fits well with the king’s designation “today” (v. 7).

The announcement also states that the coronation is on Mount Zion, meaning the palace on the mountain (a metonymy of subject). Zion was a unique mountain, “set apart” for the wor­ship and service of the LORD, which is why it is designated “holy.” This designation made it even more explicit that God was behind this Israelite king.

III. The Claims of the King: As God’s chosen king he will rule the world with absolute power (7-9).

            A. The king will rule by divine decree (7).

In the third stanza we read how the king declares by what right he rules. His right to rule was based on the decree from the LORD, a reference most likely to the Davidic covenant that prom­ised the king sovereignty over the nations and declared that the king would be a son to God and God would be a father to the king (2 Sam. 7:14). The verse begins with the cohortative, ex­pressing the king’s resolve to recite the decree (s.v. Ps. 119:5). 

At best the Davidic king might claim to be an ad­opted son with all the rights and privileges of sonship. In this line “you are my son”) is a pure metaphor until we come to Christ. The statement makes a comparison between what a son is to a father and what the king is to God to describe the special relationship between them. The immediate significance of this special relationship concerns the in­heritance of the kingdom, beginning on the coronation day.

This initial metaphor is extended in the parallel line, “today I have begotten you.” This is also a figure of speech (an implied comparison), assuming a comparison between the coronation of the king and the idea of begetting a son. Since “today” the king is designated God’s son, today is also his begetting, his coronation. He was already grown, even if a youth, but was being crowned as king, that is, the “today” on which he is “being begotten.”

The psalm is quoted in the New Testament with reference to Jesus, the Messiah (“the Christ”), in Hebrews 1 with exactly the same sense that the psalm has in using this language about the coronation of the king. After the writer of Hebrews told how the Son of God ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on High, he then quoted this psalm: “Today I have begotten you,” along with the lines from the Davidic covenant. The psalm in its context of a coronation decree is therefore used properly for the exaltation and coronation of Jesus.

The use of the word “today” also helps in the classification of the tense of the verb “begotten.” It may be interpreted as a very recent past, “I have [just now] begotten you.” This fits very well with “today” and the declaration “You are my Son.”

            B. The king will establish dominion throughout the world (8-9).

The words of the decree continue, expressing the significance of “sonship” as inheritance. As the sovereign King’s “son,” the anointed king will inherit the kingdom, including sovereignty over the very people who attempt to throw off his dominion. The sequence of the volitional moods shows the process: the impera­tive “ask,” and the conjunction with the cohortative, “and then,” or, “so that I may give.” In this sequence the use of the cohorta­tive adds the note of certainty that comes from the divine resolu­tion to fulfill the promise to give him the kingdom.

The two parallel objects are “the nations” and “the ends of the earth.” The latter expression is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who live in the ends of the earth. The kingdom will ex­tend through all the lands to the most remote regions. Each of these objects is also joined by a clarifying noun that functions adverbially: “the nations [for or as] your inheritance” and “the ends of the earth [for or as] your possession.” In the text the two words in each pair are simply juxtaposed, and so a word like “for” is needed to make the adverbial connection clear. When God gives his “son” the kingdom, these nations will be his “inheritance.” Ultimately this will take place when the anointed king receives the kingdom.

When the king receives this dominion, he will first put down all rebellion (v. 10). The two verbs (imperfect tenses) have been translated as specific futures in view of the context that promises future dominion. The two verbs seem to be well-matched in the parallelism and clear in the reference to establishing the dominion with power: “you will smash” and “you will dash them.”

The means by which the king will establish his reign is ex­pressed in the two prepositional phrases. The first is “with an iron rod.” The “rod” most likely refers to the scepter of the king, which represented authority. Here, as a metonymy of ad­junct, it signifies that he will rule with sovereign authority, but the word is modified with “iron” (a genitive of material), an indi­cation of the strength of the dominion.

The parallel figure is the simile “like a potter’s vessel.” This figure may be based on the Egyptian custom in which the name of each city under the king’s dominion was written on a little votive jar and placed in the temple of his god. Then, if the people in a city rebelled, the pharaoh could smash that city’s little jar in the presence of the deity. Such a symbolic act would terrify the re­bellious—not that the city had much of a chance of withstanding the pharaoh in the first place. The psalmist may be drawing on that imagery to stress how easily the king, with all the authority of heaven behind him, will crush the rebellion swiftly.

IV. Wisdom: It is wise for people to find refuge from God’s wrath by submitting to his king (10-12).

            A. People must act prudently (10).

In the last stanza the psalmist now draws his conclusions from this meditation on the coronation liturgy, and his attention focuses on giving advice to the disruptive kings and rulers who tried to rebel. Verse 10 is the general statement of warning to the rebels: “Be wise.” The irony is that one expects kings and judges to pos­sess wisdom already, but in this case they are woefully deficient.

The verb “be wise, act prudently” (s.v. Ps. 36:4) in­structs the kings to make correct choices, choices that will lead to their success with God and not to their destruction. The main choice will be to submit to the LORD’S chosen king, for that will bring life. The second verb is “receive instruction,” or “be instructed” (s.v. Ps. 6:1); it has the idea of discipline, in­struction, even child training, any of which carries a good deal of irony when addressed to the judges of the earth.

            B. It is wise to become worshipers of the LORD (11).

Now the psalmist makes it clear that being wise means to become a true worshiper of the living God. Such a call to worship the LORD, that is Yahweh of biblical revelation, would be stag­gering, for these nations had their own deities. The holy name is emphasized here, being the only word not paralleled.

The call for them to submit to the LORD is expressed in terms of serving. The verb “serve” (s.v. Ps. 134:1) has the religious sense of worshiping God and obeying his commands. For these pagan leaders, to serve him would mean changing loy­alties from their gods to the one true God, but it would also mean accepting God’s king and serving him. This service was to be performed “with fear”, a term that includes fear, rever­ence, and adoration. One who fears God is drawn to him in love, adoration, and amazement because of his power and glory, but because of his power and glory one also shrinks back in rever­ence and even fear. Evidence of fearing God includes obedience, worship, and service.

The second half of the verse intensifies what the first part has. “Rejoice” (V7; s.v. Ps. 13:6) means “to give a (cultic) shout of joy,” and so this may very well be part of the religious service en­joined in the verse. That it is to be done “with trembling” ensures it will be appropriate for God’s service. People could re­joice greatly in the sanctuary, but realizing that they were in the presence of the LORD God they would make sure that their cel­ebration was honoring to him. So the balance between rejoicing and fearing captures the true sense of proportion for worship of the holy God.

            C. Submission to the king is urgent (12).

The outward sign that people believe the warnings of God would be submission to his designated king. The call to submit to the king is actually a call to submit to God. The imperative “kiss [the] son” has the Aramaic word for “son” probably be­cause the psalmist was addressing pagan kings who would have likely spoken Aramaic. To “kiss [the] son” would be a symbolic act (a metonymy of adjunct): conquered and submissive kings would bow before the victor and give him homage in this way; but more is being enjoined here than a kiss—they are to give the homage that a kiss signifies.

The urgency of the call for submission is met by the warning that he may be angry. There is some question about the subject “he” of the verb “be angry”. The context might suggest that the “son” is the subject, but the terms for anger and wrath were used earlier in the psalm for the LORD. Moreover, this entire section, apart from the command to kiss the son, calls for sub­mission to the LORD God. The better interpretation would be to take God as the understood subject of “lest he be angry.” In either case, though, the result would be the same—the king will put down their rebellion, but it will be God giving him the victory. To rebel against the one is to rebel against both, and to submit to one is to submit to both. This point is stressed frequently in the teachings of Jesus; for example, he said, “You believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).

The psalm closes with a blessing for all who take refuge (s.v. Ps. 7:1) in him. The word is used figuratively (an implied comparison) throughout the psalms for trusting in the LORD for safety and security. Based on its usage the reference here is probably to trusting in the LORD, although it could be inter­preted to mean taking refuge in the LORD’S chosen king. Either way the meaning would ultimately be submitting to God. The expression supplies the balance to the negative warning: to rebel is to perish; to take refuge is to find blessing.

MESSAGE AND APPLICATION

The psalm is essentially prophetic. It applies first to any Davidic king who came to the throne, but ultimately to the King of Kings. It is therefore not directly prophetic, but typologically so. The LORD’S anointed who speaks in the middle of the psalm comes forward with the same power and glory with which the Messiah appears in the prophets.

The final stanza clearly forms the instruction of the psalm; everything builds to this point in the passage. So the wording of the expository idea should capture this flow: It is wise to submit to the authority of the Messiah because God has decreed that he will put down all rebellion and rule the world. The wording captures the main point of the psalm and reflects or assumes the other parts adequately. The word “Messiah” fits the Old Testament context but is also applicable to Christ. The New Testament shows that the psalm will be fulfilled ultimately by the exalted Savior, Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God (Heb. 1:5; Rev. 19:15). Just as with the Israelite kings of the Old Testament, so today people want to throw off the authority of the true God and his anointed Son. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us of the point of this psalm, that Christ Jesus will come again to put down all rebellion and establish his kingdom.

The psalm’s clear application is for people to believe the word of God and submit to the authority of his Son before he comes to judge the world and establish his reign. This application would not be for believers, for they have already submitted to Christ as their king and Lord. It is a warning for people in the world who foolishly try to throw off the authority of the LORD’S anointed king, for by doing so they are actually rebelling against God. Many claim to worship the one true God, but they cannot do so and reject the Son of God, the Messiah.

For believers the message is one of great comfort. The an­tagonism in the world to God in general and to Christianity spe­cifically will end. The outcome is not in question, even though it seems it is. Believers then can be strengthened in their faith in God’s plan that Christ shall come to put down all wickedness and rule the world. Related to this point is a second application for believers: just as the psalmist exhorted people to submit to the Messiah, so too Christians should warn the world not to act foolishly but to submit to the Christ and escape the wrath to come.

Ross, A., 2011. A Commentary on The Psalms: Volume 1 (1-41). 1st ed. United States of America: Kregel Publications. (Edited by Carl Hinton, 2020)