Who Wins?
Psalm 2
1Why do the nations rage and the
peoples plot in vain?
2The kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against
his Anointed, saying,
3“Let us burst their bonds apart and
cast away their cords from us.”
4He who sits in the heavens
laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
5Then he will speak to them in
his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6“As for me, I have set my King on
Zion, my holy hill.”
7I will tell of the decree: The Lord
said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
8Ask of me, and I will make the
nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
9You shall break them with a rod
of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10Now therefore, O kings, be
wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11Serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling.
12Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,
and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all
who take refuge in him.
Christians across the globe were horrified and deeply saddened last
weekend when ISIS chose to behead 21 Coptic Christians in an act of terrorism.
Of course there were pictures and they are deeply troubling. Since the media
has chosen to splash those pictures across the internet and the news, I will
refrain. There’s no need. You already have the images in your mind. Those same images
rose in my own mind this morning as I read our Psalm for today.
There has never been a time since Jesus walked the earth when He and
His people were not persecuted. During His brief 3 year ministry the opposition
He faced was great, both from the governing Romans (who ultimately killed Him),
to the leadership of His own people, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Pilate
and Herod hated each other, but they cooperated in Jesus’ trial. The Pharisees
and Sadducees were bitter enemies, but they agreed on one thing—Jesus had to
die.
Acts 4:26-27
26The kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord
and against his Anointed’—27for 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.
As our continuing struggle with
forces such as ISIS proves, nothing has changed. We still face alarming
opposition. “Such futile efforts to overthrow God’s royal reign have
continued throughout history. The Roman Empire tried to crush Christianity. The
papacy suppresses the truth in the church. Communist governments work to
destroy the church in their lands. All these efforts have failed. In spite of
them, the Gospel marches on, gathering God’s elect from every nation.”
Brug, J. F. ©1989. Psalms 1–72 (2nd ed., p. 46). Milwaukee,
WI: Northwestern Pub. House.
The Good News is that this Psalm does not leave us with images of
beheaded bodies on the beach. Psalm 2 declares that there is already a victor
in this battle and it is Jesus Christ. “He
who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.” God
already has this well under His control. This Psalm speaks of the coming
Messiah who will take care of our every battle. We are never called to rain
down vengeance upon our enemies but instead to pray for them. The Cross of
Jesus gives us a place to run for refuge. “Blessed
are all who take refuge in Him.” This is where the Psalm leaves us; firmly
in the hands of an all-powerful and all-capable God. I pray that those men were
standing at His side in their spirits as hate ended their lives. I pray that their
families can find refuge in the Lord rather than in a desire to strike back
with vengeance. I pray that we can wisely rely upon God rather than our own
ideas and resources for retaliation. I pray.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
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