The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed.
2 Why are the [a]nations in an uproar
And the peoples devising a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His [b]Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”4 He who [c]sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 “But as for Me, I have [d]installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”7 “I will surely tell of the [e]decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the [f]nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 ‘You shall [g]break them with a [h]rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like [i]earthenware.’”10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O [j]judges of the earth.
11 [k]Worship the Lord with [l]reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
12 [m]Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may [n]soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
This Psalm reminds us that there is “nothing new under the sun”. 3,000 years ago, the rulers of the world were trying to figure out how to escape the constraints that God put on the world, and on them. And now today we see people devising all sorts of crooked schemes to gain power, to control people, and to distort (or abandon) the truth.
I’m sure it’s a mixed bag for God. On one hand, it must look terribly foolish and amusing to see someone trying to fight their way out of something unbreakable. Yet at the same time, I know it breaks his heart to see his creation “exchange the truth for a lie”.
As the psalmist tells us in verse 6, there is only one King, and that is the Son of God. No matter what the leaders and rulers of this world may scheme next, we have a the same choice as they. Will we submit to the wisdom of our Creator? Or will we chafe at the bonds of this world and chase after shadows and illusions of control?
While it may seem terribly unfair that certain things are out of our control, God has still left that choice in our hands. Because He loves us so much, God cannot force which path we choose, but choose we must, for that is our destiny on this earth… and beyond. The lie tells us that this life is all there is to live for, but we are no mere mortal creatures. While our bodies will grow sick or old and die, God created us for eternity–for an eternity with Him in all his glory.