Psalm 2

 

⁰⁷          I will proclaim the decree of the LORD.

                        The Lord has said to me:

            “You are my Son,

                        today I have become Your Father

⁰⁸          Ask of me,

                        I will make the nations Your inheritance

                        [even] the ends of earth - Your possession.

⁰⁹          You shall rule them with a rod of iron,

                        and shatter them like pottery.”

 

TEXTUAL RESOURCES

 

English Standard Version                                   Interlinear NIV Hebrew-English Old Testament

New Geneva Study Bible (NKJV)    Bratcher & Reyburn. Translator’s Handbook on the Psalms

Authorized (King James) Version     Barthelemy.  Pre & Int Rpt on the Hebrew OT Text Project

New American Standard Bible                                         Dahood.  The Anchor Bible: Psalms 1-50

The Jerusalem Bible

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You are My Son

Christ – the Son begotten

For the Lord’s Day:  the 12^th of January 2003

 

Introduction:  A few years ago, when we first began using Spiritual Songs, we ran across a number which read: “[Christ] became the Son of God”.  Not being comfortable with that phrasing at all, several members of the session edited the lesser heretical implication to more correctly read:  “[Christ] was revealed as the Son of God.”  It just barely worked with the tune and meter, but how much better did the theology represent the real person and place of Jesus Christ.  That story from the history of the growth of our church and session is indicative of our careful consideration of the intention in the text before us. 

 

The sermon here is given a dual title since it must stand within the context of two ongoing series: that on Hebrews and another on the Sacred Songs of the Psalter.  The text shared by both passages is bold in its declaration:  “You are my Son, today I have become Your Father.”  And even though the double covenantal emphasis is part and parcel of the original text – each covenantal text must always inform the other, if we are to cherish our Lord arightly, given the subtle complexity of the text.

 

Spurgeon emphasizes the simplicity of the text:  “The dispute concerning the eternal filiation of our Lord betrays more of presumptuous curiosity than of reverent faith.  It is an attempt to explain where it is far better to adore.”

 

Calvin encourages us to accept the interpretation of Paul, who in Acts 13: 33 “calls our attention to the manifestation of the heavenly glory of Christ … This expression, to be begotten, does not therefore imply that he then began to be the Son of God, but that his being so was then made manifest to the world.”  Owen also tells us “it is also certain that the Jews always applied this psalm to the Messiah, which they do to this day.”

 

Therefore, it is all the more reasonable for the author of Hebrews to quote this passage as one which proves the superiority of The Son of God to the lesser angelic spirits – spiritual beings, who do not enjoy the same preciseness of being directly and pointedly the only Son of the Father.

 

Development:  And yet all the more we sense something greater here than the kingship of David alone and that greater greatness comes from the context of the proof text so aptly used by the Apostle to the Hebrews. 

 

Let us go back to the beginning of verse seven to sense the awesome greatness of the moment inscribed in the heart of David the King. “I will proclaim the decree of the LORD.  The Lord has said to me:”  Here David identifies what is to follow as being prophetic, prophetic in the sense that the words have come straight from the Lord, and having been laid upon his heart, he is compelled to state them plainly before the congregation of Israel.  Only in the brevity of the passing moment may the claim here be referenced to David’s claim to the earthly throne of Israel.  While it was obvious to David that his kingship was founded and established by the providential ordering of God in heaven, the all too common man and worldly sons might suppose that kingship were something to be grasped instead of a providential gift to be received.

 

The worldly social dumicrats [sic] in our day, little realize that the apparent greatness of the present man in the White House would be much diminished if his predecessor had not, created so many great and enthralling problems that now demand immediate attention.  Certainly the Clintonian posture was enhanced by the former Reagenesque social and economic policies – but William the Least:  was unable to fabricate a legacy of anything like a similar kind.  So always is the fading glory of mankind.

 

It is only in the providential blessing of the Creator God that something good and better is handed down to children, grandchildren and generations yet unborn.  And that something special from the Lord God Creator is obviously present in the text before us. Of course, the reach of David’s Kingdom was limited geographically and the high sounding phrases of the Lord’s guarantee are obviously something more as we see in verse eight:  “Ask of me, I will make the nations Your inheritance [even] the ends of earth - Your possession.”

 

The House of David was given but one kingdom to rule, and as we see in our text, David’s greater Son shall inherit every nation, even to the ends of the earth – once the greater Son commissions his agents to go and witness to every man, woman and child who shall inhabit the farthest seas.  In the providence of God’s time, the great missionary movements began just as the world’s population began to expand and multiply.  And while there are a few places where Satan’s minions would hold back the work of evangelism – the reign of Christ is indeed spreading from shore to shore and into the remotest regions.  It all belongs to Christ and within the Lord’s providence and will – it will all be His!

 

Application:  How symbolic is the ninth verse.  One of the most impressive archaeological finds of the last century was a buried army – set to guard the tomb of a great king.  The whole of the Army, men, and horses were cast of clay.  The real weapons and chariots in their possession were as nothing because the power of the Army was symbolic only.

 

In a day and age when the majority of the world’s armies, navies and air forces are symbolic only because of advanced technology which makes them totally worthless and obsolete – we can better appreciate the phrasing of verse nine:  “You shall rule them with a rod of iron, and shatter them like pottery.”  You are about to see something like that happen in the Mid-East!  And we should be praying thankfully that the current and material “rod of iron” is not in the hands of petty tyrants and dictators but in the restrained hands of a country once informed by Western Civilization!

 

And yet, we should not presume that we are the be all and end all of every culture.  Our own culture is becoming just as corrupt and depraved as every other and like the character flaws reported by scripture in the life of David the King; we realize our own inadequacies and potential failure.  And if in our time we hold the power of the world reluctantly in our hands, may it ever be that we retain it only to keep it from lesser thugs and tyrants.

 

And let us never suppose that we – as mere humans are gifted to humanize the world with our best thoughts, but rather that prayerfully we bow our hearts and minds before the greater glory of God’s one and only Son.  You see, if we misread the text in verse seven wrongly we are only becoming gods and goddesses in our own right just as the Jonathan Livingston Seagull parody proclaims.  We have only to remember the tawdry misdemeanors and malfeasance manifested by the most moral generation ever to inhabit the White House to remind us all of who we really are and want to be – were it not for the gracious Spirit of the Living God calling us to something better.

 

On Thursday evenings, I am working up a two-quarter study on the books of Chronicles in the Old Covenant.  I am not certain why and how I overlooked such an important treasure trove these last thirty-some years.  The excellent commentators that I am using emphasize the place of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible.  It is their last comment on the Old Covenant church and world.  And a very significant mention is the contrast between the humanistic ordering of kings in Northern Israel where no single dynasty lasted more than five generations before being rubbed out.  By graceful contrast, the Kings of Judah are surveyed, good and poor alike – however the promised line of David is carefully protected and the ageless throne that was given to him preserved for the future glory of his own greater Son: who we know as our own Lord and King Jesus Christ.

 

The books of Chronicles, the book of Hebrews, the books of Psalms are all united in their profound historical spiritual emphasis – Jesus Christ, the greatest Son of David is even as He was revealed by David: the very Son of the Father.  And David if we understand the text before us simply wrote the birth announcement for every generation to ponder, understand and accept – as the Holy Spirit allows.

 

May the Holy Spirit make Christ your King, your Lord and if you will have Him:  your savior.  Amen.

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PREACHING RESOURCES

 

Brown, John.  A Geneva Series Commentary: Hebrews.

Bruce, F.F.  New International Commentary on the New Testament: Hebrews.

Calvin, John:  Commentary on Book of Psalms.

Owen, John.  The Crossway Classic Commentaries: Hebrews.

Spurgeon, C.H:  Treasury of David.

The Westminster Confession & Catechisms.

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