Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations plan evil together?
Why do they make useless plans?
2 The kings of the earth rise up against the Lord.
The rulers of the earth join together against his anointed king.
3 ‘Let us break free from their chains,’ they say.
‘Let us throw off their ropes.’
4 The God who sits on his throne in heaven laughs.
The Lord makes fun of those rulers and their plans.
5 When he is angry, he warns them.
When his anger blazes out, he terrifies them.
6 He says to them,
‘I have placed my king on my holy mountain of Zion.’
7 I will announce what the Lord has promised.
He said to me, ‘You are my son.
Today I have become your father.
8 Ask me, and I will give the nations to you.
All nations on earth will belong to you.
9 You will break them with an iron sceptre.
You will smash them to pieces like clay pots.’
10 Kings, be wise!
Rulers of the earth, be warned!
11 Serve the Lord and have respect for him.
Celebrate his rule with trembling.
12 Obey the son completely, or he will be angry.
Your way of life will lead to your death.
His anger can blaze out at any moment.
Blessed are all those who go to him for safety.
2:1–12 Psalm 2 is a poem for nations. It's about God's blessings and promises. It's also about the king God set apart to rule over the nations. Psalm 2 describes two ways that nations can choose to live. One way is to respect God and to serve him. This is the wise choice and is the way that nations live well. Choosing this way means that nations do what God wants done. Their leaders obey God and recognise that God is the ruler who has complete authority. They recognise that only God has the power to keep their nation safe. God wants all nations and all people groups to follow him. All nations who choose to follow him are blessed. The other way of living is to refuse to obey God. This leads to nations being judged and destroyed. Choosing this way means that the nations don't accept God's authority or follow his commands. Instead, they do evil things. This makes God angry. These nations don't obey the king that God appointed. God called himself the father of this king. In this way the king was considered to be the son of God. God gave this king authority over all nations. The Israelites understood that the psalm was talking about God's covenant with David. It was talking about kings from the family line of David. Psalm 72 described what kind of rulers these kings should be. They should judge fairly and do what was right. They should punish those who did evil. Kings from David's family line ruled in Jerusalem. Psalm 2 talks about God's holy mountain of Zion. Zion was another name for Jerusalem. It was holy because the temple was there. But the armies of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. After that, no more kings from David's family line ruled. So the Jews came to understand Psalm 2 as a promise for a future time. They were waiting for God to send a king who would rule as God's son. They called this king the messiah. New Testament writers understood that Psalm 2 was a prophecy about Jesus. This was talked about in Matthew 3:17, Acts 4:23–26 and Acts 13:32–33.