Psa 2:4-5 | KingComments | STEP | It is ridiculous to defy and reject God’s authority, to rebel against Him and to try to be independent of Him. The response of “the Lord” – that is, Adonai or the Commander, the Ruler – to this is a mocking laughter ( ; cf. ; ). God does not laugh at people who bow down to Him, but at people who rebel against Him. He cannot take their attempts seriously. After all, He sits, or is enthroned, in heaven, untouchable from the rebellion of the nations. That He cannot be affected by it does not mean that He is indifferent to it. That which He is far exalted above does not mean that He is indifferent to it. He knows exactly what people want and do. He will respond to that in His time in an appropriate, completely righteous way. His throne is in heaven, which means that He has supreme authority over the universe. He rules and not the kings and rulers. Then He acts by speaking ( ). When He speaks, He acts. God acts through His Word. He only has to speak a word, and it happens. He will therefore wage war with the sword that comes from His mouth: His Word. He announces what He is going to do. The tone in which He speaks is terrifying. The content of what He says means the end of all rebellion. God does not look lovingly on people who ball their fist at Him in conscious rebellion against Him and who roar at Him with muscular language. He speaks to them in His anger about what He intends. “His fury” indicates a consuming judgment. The anger of Adonai is like a fire that consumes everything. His fury will be executed by His King, His Anointed, His Messiah ( ). The Messiah is Adonai Himself. He is none other than the Lord Jesus, the glorified Lord. Almost every word of this verse indicates why the resistance of the nations is so foolish and the installing or appointment of God’s King is so obvious. God says: “But as for Me, I have.” If God has done something, what will any man do to change it? The very idea is ridiculous, utter madness. And what has God done? He says: “I have installed [or: consecrated, or: anointed] My King.” With that, everything is determined and the future is fixed. Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. His authority is fixed, as is the submission to it of everyone and everything, whether voluntarily or forced. Before Him every knee will bow ( ). No one escapes this. When God has installed or anointed His King, that is the end of all rebellion. Now we don’t see that yet, but we see Him to Whom all things are submitted, and He is the guarantee that it will happen ( ). That it is about the government of God’s Messiah – “Anointed” is the translation of the Hebrew word Messiah and of the Greek word Christ – is evident from the center of His government: Zion, which is Jerusalem, and the holy mountain, which is the temple-mountain. This also makes it obvious that that government is yet to come, for His throne is not yet in Jerusalem.

‏ Psalms 2:4-5

God’s Response

It is ridiculous to defy and reject God’s authority, to rebel against Him and to try to be independent of Him. The response of “the Lord” – that is, Adonai or the Commander, the Ruler – to this is a mocking laughter (Psa 2:4; cf. Psa 37:12-13 ; Psa 59:7-8; Pro 1:24-27). God does not laugh at people who bow down to Him, but at people who rebel against Him. He cannot take their attempts seriously. After all, He sits, or is enthroned, in heaven, untouchable from the rebellion of the nations.

That He cannot be affected by it does not mean that He is indifferent to it. That which He is far exalted above does not mean that He is indifferent to it. He knows exactly what people want and do. He will respond to that in His time in an appropriate, completely righteous way. His throne is in heaven, which means that He has supreme authority over the universe. He rules and not the kings and rulers.

Then He acts by speaking (Psa 2:5). When He speaks, He acts. God acts through His Word. He only has to speak a word, and it happens. He will therefore wage war with the sword that comes from His mouth: His Word. He announces what He is going to do.

The tone in which He speaks is terrifying. The content of what He says means the end of all rebellion. God does not look lovingly on people who ball their fist at Him in conscious rebellion against Him and who roar at Him with muscular language. He speaks to them in His anger about what He intends. “His fury” indicates a consuming judgment. The anger of Adonai is like a fire that consumes everything.

His fury will be executed by His King, His Anointed, His Messiah (Psa 2:6). The Messiah is Adonai Himself. He is none other than the Lord Jesus, the glorified Lord. Almost every word of this verse indicates why the resistance of the nations is so foolish and the installing or appointment of God’s King is so obvious. God says: “But as for Me, I have.” If God has done something, what will any man do to change it? The very idea is ridiculous, utter madness.

And what has God done? He says: “I have installed [or: consecrated, or: anointed] My King.” With that, everything is determined and the future is fixed. Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. His authority is fixed, as is the submission to it of everyone and everything, whether voluntarily or forced. Before Him every knee will bow (Phil 2:10). No one escapes this. When God has installed or anointed His King, that is the end of all rebellion. Now we don’t see that yet, but we see Him to Whom all things are submitted, and He is the guarantee that it will happen (Heb 2:8b-9).

That it is about the government of God’s Messiah – “Anointed” is the translation of the Hebrew word Messiah and of the Greek word Christ – is evident from the center of His government: Zion, which is Jerusalem, and the holy mountain, which is the temple-mountain. This also makes it obvious that that government is yet to come, for His throne is not yet in Jerusalem.