The Futility of Rebellion
Psalms 2
June 24, 2018
You may not have noticed,
But we are living in a day when political tensions run high.
People are as opinionated as ever regarding their thoughts of political leaders,
Certainly culminating in the President.
Perhaps people have always had an opinion regarding their leaders,
But with each day there seems to be
A growing willingness to voice those opinions publicly.
I remember as a kid, you just didn’t hear people (at least as the norm)
Disrespect the office of the President.
When I noticed the most major shift was during the presidency of Bill Clinton.
• It was then for the first time that I became familiar with a man named Rush Limbaugh who not only disagreed with the president, but who also had no qualms about mocking him and vehemently attacking him.
And honestly, what started there has only escalated.
• Regardless of the man…
• Regardless of his policies…
• Every president is attacked and not just politically, but even personally and certainly relentlessly.
And this despite the clear warning of Scripture.
Romans 13:1-2 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.”
What Paul teaches us is that all authority
Is merely an extension of God’s authority.
And therefore insubordination on any level
Is actually a rebellion against God.
And that has grown to fit our world to a “T”.
I’ve often said it, but in our culture
THERE IS NO MORE UNACCEPTABLE WORD THAN “SUBMISSION”.
Our world hates it.
• They hate the notion of children submitting to their parents.
• They hate the notion of workers submitting to their boss.
• They hate the notion of wives submitting to their husbands.
• They hate the notion of submitting to the governing authorities.
And they hate all those things
Because they hate the idea of submitting to God.
And that is certainly the sentiment that is revealed in the 2nd Psalm.
In Acts 4 we learn that David is the one who wrote this Psalm,
• And it is a Psalm about how much David is hated by his enemies.
• It is also a Psalm about futile it is to disregard the authority that God is established.
• And then ultimately it is a Psalm of how futile it is to disregard God’s ultimate King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That’s why we call this Psalm the futility of rebellion.
It is a Psalm revealing to us the utter stupidity of rejecting submission.
Let’s work our way through it and see what we can learn about God.
4 points
#1 A FUTILE PLAN
Psalms 2:1-3
It is a Psalm that begins with a question.
(1) “Why are the nations in an uproar..?
That’s not a question like it seems.
David is NOT asking, “Why would they do it?”
That is obvious: They are in an uproar because they hate God.
What David is asking is, “Why would they do something that is so stupid?”
“Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing?”
From David’s perspective we have the nations here
Planning something that cannot possibly work.
To be more specific:
(2) “The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed…”
It is basically equivalent of a United Nations meeting
Getting together and deciding that they are going to
Overthrow God and any leader whom God ordains.
It’s a planned mutiny about how they’re going to overthrow God and His appointed government.
In an immediate sense
• We’re talking about the enemies of Israel and those who would wage war with David.
• Take the Philistines or any of the other neighboring nations who sought to attack Israel and overthrow David and remove God’s people from the land of Canaan.
David pictures them all getting together and plotting
How they can attack Israel and annihilate them.
Their desire: “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!”
• They are tired of being under Israel’s thumb
• They are tired of having to yield to Israel’s king
• They don’t want to put up with Israel’s God
And David bluntly asks, “Who would plan something so stupid?”
Who would really have the audacity to try and thwart
The sovereign God and His sovereign plan?
And would could certainly ask questions like that even in our day.
Who is really dumb enough to shake their fist at God and say, “I’ll do it my way and I’m not going to listen to you”?
It’s absurd when you think about it even in a general sense.
But of course, you are certainly familiar that
This Psalm is more than just a song of David,
It is also a prophetic picture of the hatred the world has for Christ.
When you read Acts 4
• You read of how Peter healed a crippled man
• The excitement of the people eventually caused Peter and John to be called before the Sanhedrin
• And threatened that they should no longer do anything in the name of Jesus.
After releasing the men, they went to the church and this is how the church prayed:
Acts 4:23-31 “When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM, who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS? ‘THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.’ “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.”
The early church saw the hostility of the rulers toward Christ
And saw it as a fulfillment of Psalms 2.
Furthermore they took encouragement from the fact that
Despite their raging they could not thwart the plan of God.
But the point is that this isn’t just a Psalm about
The hostility David faced
This is about the hostility that Christ faced.
We saw “the kings of the earth take their stand”
Luke 23:12 “Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.”
We saw “the rulers take counsel together”
Luke 6:11 “But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.”
Their sole objective was the keep this Christ from ruling over them.
Jesus gave a parable about this very thing in Luke 19.
• It tells of a nobleman who was traveling and called ten slaves to himself and
gave them each 10 minas with which to do business while he was away.
However the sentiment toward the nobleman was hostile.
Luke 19:14 “But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’”
By the end of the parable we find the Lord’s response to those wayward citizens.
Luke 19:27 “But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”
The point is: YOU WON’T WIN
Why would you even devise such a dumb plan?
And of course it’s not just that they did this to David
Or even to Christ when He came.
THEY’LL DO IT AGAIN.
Revelation 19:11 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.”
That of course is the second coming.
But the Bible also speaks of how the wicked will receive Him.
Revelation 19:19 “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.”
And it will be a stupid decision.
Why would you think you have the ability to reject what the sovereign God has determined?
It’s just a futile and foolish plan.
But it’s the plan, and you can see David’s confusion with it.
But beyond David’s response, look at God’s response.
#2 THE DIVINE RESPONSE
Psalms 2:4-6
“He who sits in the heavens laughs”
Psalms 37:12-13 “The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.”
Psalms 59:8 “But You, O LORD, laugh at them; You scoff at all the nations.”
And this isn’t a humorous laugh, this is a mocking laugh.
“The Lord scoffs at them.”
Maybe you remember Goliath’s response when this little shepherd boy approached him with a slingshot…
1 Samuel 17:41-44 “Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.”
Of course we know that the Philistine’s confidence was sorely misplaced, but you do understand the disdain and the scorn and the mocking.
That is what God does to the wicked who have the audacity
To think they can overthrow His anointed.
And after God is finished mocking them, He will terrify them.
(5-6) “Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
That is to say that
• God will declare His decision a done deal
• And God will also announce to them their defeat.
The point is that God isn’t the least bit concerned.
• He is not gathering His council in heaven hoping for a solution to the growing unrest of the wicked…
• He is not seeking generations of old to find out the best way to nullify the threat…
• He is not looking for some type of negotiation where they can all just coexist and get along…
All the plans of the wicked, and all the threats of the wicked
Are less than nothing before Him.
He NEVER makes His decisions based upon
The fear of some sort of uprising.
Our God is in the heaven’s He does whatever He pleases.
He is not concerned, He laughs
He does not negotiate, He declares His decision
Not only is this the response of God to the adversity David faced,
But it also the response of God to the adversity Jesus faced.
Even on the day when
• The Sanhedrin got together and conspired with Pilate
• And determined to kill Jesus and overthrow Him totally,
• God was never concerned in the least that they might somehow thwart His plan.
In fact, we read:
Acts 2:22-23 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know — this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”
All they ended up doing is what God had already planned.
It was no threat to Him.
He laughs and mocks at the reasoning of rebellious humanity.
And David knew that.
In fact, listen to David recount God’s sovereign decree
#3 THE SOVEREIGN DECREE
Psalms 2:7-9
David says, “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:”
That is David’s answer to all the wicked who are plotting the mutiny.
David says, “Before you go and make some dumb plan to try and overthrow God’s King, perhaps you should know what the sovereign God of the universe has decided.”
Here is what God already decided is going to happen.
“He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”
What is David referring to?
It was God’s promise to David to make his line endure forever.
2 Samuel 7:12-16 “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”‘”
Psalms 89:34-37 “My covenant I will not violate, Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. “Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. “His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me. “It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful.” Selah.”
Psalms 132:11 “The LORD has sworn to David A truth from which He will not turn back: “Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.”
David knew that God had already determined
To cause his line to endure forever.
And because God had decreed that, no earthly conspiracy could undo it.
In fact, any attempts to try and overthrow David’s line
Would be utter futility and foolishness.
And of course again we see in this the fulfillment of the reign of Christ.
In fact Paul quotes from this Psalm as he preached in Pisidian Antioch
Acts 13:32-33 “And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.’”
Paul saw the resurrection of Christ as God’s fulfillment of Psalms 2:7.
It was at the resurrection where God undeniably declared
That Jesus was in fact His chosen Son and King.
Even if you kill Him, I’ll just raise Him from the dead.
• Do you see why the plan to overthrow Him is so pointless?
• Do you see why it is so futile?
• What can man do to thwart the sovereign decision of God?
God has chosen Christ and there’s nothing you can about it.
The writer of Hebrews also quoted this verse when speaking about the preeminence of Christ:
Hebrews 1:5 “For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”?”
The point of the writer of Hebrews is that
Christ is more important than anyone.
God has done for Him what He has not done even for the angels.
He is God’s chosen and anointed king.
And according to the Messiah
“He made that very clear when He raised Me from the dead.”
Romans 1:4 “who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
And because Christ is God’s chosen King
He was also made a promise from God.
“Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.”
• God has already offered to Him the world.
• God has already promised Him total dominion.
• It is a done deal and it was proven at the resurrection of Christ.
And so there again you find the point of the Psalm.
• Why would you scheme against what God has already determined to do?
• Do you really think you have any chance of victory here?
• Talk about needlessly beating your head against a wall!
It reminds me of the statement made to Saul on the way to Damascus when the Lord confronted him.
Acts 26:14 “And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”
The goads were the spikes placed behind the oxen while they plowed to keep them from kicking the farmer.
• You’d like to think that sooner or later the ox would learn to quit kicking them.
• You’re not going to win.
It reminds of the advice of Gamaliel who counseled the Jews to stop trying to overthrow the church.
Acts 5:38-39 “So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”
I mean who wins when they fight against God?
YOU GET THE POINT.
• This rebellion against David…
• This rebellion against Christ…
• Is just about the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.
It puzzles David that they would make such a plan.
It actually causes God to laugh at their stupidity.
What kind of a fool seeks to overthrow the ordained ruler of God?
And based upon that comes the final point of the Psalm.
#4 THE SOUND ADVICE
Psalms 2:10-12
I really like this advice.
David looks to the counsel of men who are conspiring their rebellion and he says:
“Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;”
That’s a nice way of saying, “Don’t be stupid”
I mean if Leo came up to me tonight and said, “I’ve decided I’m going to become a professional wrestler”, I’d give him the same advice.
“What are you crazy? Don’t be stupid! They’ll kill you.”
David goes on to say:
“Take warning, O judges of the earth.”
That is to say, “Listen to reason”
And this is interesting here because
In this advice God is not asking for faith at all here.
• Many times God asks us to make decisions based on faith and not on sight.
• That’s not the type of decision being asked for here.
He is asking these men to make their decision based solely on sight;
Based solely on facts.
Just look at the situation.
It is you VS God…really?
Don’t do that.
Instead, here is the advice.
(11) Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling.”
• Instead of rebelling against God, why don’t you try submitting to Him?
• Instead of seeking to cast off His cords, why don’t you try going where He
leads?
Quit attacking Him and start worshiping Him.
And you should do it in a fearful way.
You should do it in a reverent way.
Don’t you come before Him like some sort of half-hearted angry performer.
• You totally give up all your plans of rebellion,
• Fall on your face before Him and pledge your undying loyalty.
That’s what you should do.
And then
(12) “Do homage to the Son”
That is to say, submit yourself to God’s king.
This was certainly David, and it is certainly a prophecy concerning Jesus.
Literally there it is “Kiss the Son”
• As in bow and kiss His ring and pledge all that you are to Him.
• Enter His service.
THAT’S THE ADVICE.
Quit planning rebellion, and start submitting; because you can’t win.
Not only are you in danger of losing should you try to rebel,
You are ALSO in danger of just being found outside of submission.
See, it’s not just that God is upset at all those who attack Him.
God has a propensity to be upset at all those who refuse to worship Him.
Jesus said:
Luke 11:23 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.”
A lack of submission is also an offense to Him,
And if you keep doing it you’re going to anger Him.
Consider Romans 1:
Romans 1:21 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
It’s not the presence of rebellion that has God angry,
It’s the absence of honor.
And that is the warning here too.
You need to worship God and submit to His King
And you need to do it QUICKLY because you’re about to anger Him.
Do it “that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled.”
Listen, you don’t want to mess with God.
You most certainly don’t want to make Him angry.
Do they not learn that in the final days?
Revelation 6:14-17 “The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
On that day when God peals back the sky and the world sees His fury,
They’re going to wish they would have submitted to Him.
They’re going to wish they would have honored the Son.
I mean David’s advice here to these rebels is obvious stuff.
• Stop your rebellion
• You can’t win
• And you don’t want to anger God
And then comes one final statement.
“How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
This is the second “How blessed” we’ve seen in the Psalms.
We found out in Psalms 1 that the man who rejects the counsel of the wicked and who delights in God’s Law is blessed.
Here we find out that the man who takes “refuge in Him!” is also blessed.
AND HERE ARE THE OPTIONS.
You either take refuge in Him,
Or you must take refuge from Him.
It just paints such a clear picture of the absurdity of rebellion against God.
• What is mankind thinking to resist the authority of God?
• What is mankind thinking to resist the Lordship of Christ?
• What is mankind thinking to resist the commands of the Lord?
You can’t win, and it’s absolutely stupid to rebel.
And because of that, this Psalm is also a tremendous statement of CONFIDENCE on the part of those who have submitted to Christ.
Can you feel David’s confidence in this Psalm?
• Right now David is being conspired against, but he doesn’t seem too
concerned does he?
That’s because he is resting in the sovereign prerogative of God.
The early church was persecuted but they also rested in this Psalm.
They also took refuge in the sovereign prerogative of God.
And that is the encouragement for us church.
• So what if the world rages against Christ…
• So what if the world rages against God…
• So what if the world declares war on God’s truth…
Are we really concerned that somehow Islam might win?
Are we really concerned that the ACLU might actually eliminate God?
Are we really concerned that the millennial generation might actually abolish Christ?
NO…NOT EVEN A LITTLE
God wins!
Christ reigns!
It’s a done deal.
We rest in it, the wicked should repent because of it.
That’s the point of David in this great song of the church.
• We sing the absolute and total victory of Christ
• We sing the absolute and total sovereignty of God
• We boast in the unfailing authority of God
And we find encouragement there to continue on
And to confront the wicked
And to unequivocally tell them to repent or else.
That is Psalms 2.
But I also want to ask, since our study is of God here.
What do you learn about God from this Psalm?
• Well, we learn that He laughs at rebellion. He’s not concerned about it in the least.
• We learn that He is also merciful to rebels if they will repent and submit and worship Him.
• We learn that He will not relent forever, but that His time of anger will come and the wicked will perish.
But probably more than anything we learn that GOD IS SOVEREIGN
We see that God’s expectation that you will submit to Him
Is not contingent upon whether or not
You approve of what He decides.
He DOESN’T ASK humanity to look over His plan and see if it’s something they can live with.
He is God, and He makes the plan.
Humanity simply submits to it because He is God and He makes the plan.
And boy had humanity better learn this.
I was blown away after the elections this year with the phrase that began to ring out, “Not my president”.
Ok, I get it, you don’t like President Trump.
Ok, you won’t vote for him again.
That’s fine, that’s the way democracy works.
But the sheer FOOLISHNESS in making the declaration
“Not my president” is what we see here.
Because the reality for all those claiming that is: YES HE IS.
• He is your president.
• He is your commander in chief.
• You are under his authority.
But it paints the picture of foolish sinful people
Who think that just because they don’t like something
It means they don’t have to submit to it.
THAT IS A HORRIBLE MINDSET TO ADOPT.
When the fact is that there are things that you do have to submit to
Whether you like them or not.
Chief on that list is Christ who is God’s chosen King and who will reign.
And you will either take refuge in Him,
Or you will try to take refuge from Him.
But either way, the promise of Scripture will be true.
Philippians 2:10-11 “so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
And again:
1 Corinthians 15:24-27a “then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.”
The point is if you are in rebellion against God…
STOP YOU ARE IN DANGER
But if you are taking refuge in Him…
REJOICE YOU ARE BLESSED
