Psalm 2 Devotional

The King God Has Installed

“Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”Psalm 2:12 (BSB)

Psalm 2 opens on a scene of rebellion. Nations rage, and rulers plot to throw off the LORD and his Anointed One as if they were chains (2:1-3). Then the scene moves to heaven, and the mood changes completely. The One enthroned there laughs (2:4). Their plotting does not threaten him. He has already set his King on Zion (2:6), and he names that King his Son, promising him the nations as his inheritance (2:7-8).

The early church heard this psalm fulfilled in Jesus. Paul preached that God kept his promise by raising Jesus from the dead, and he pointed to this very psalm (Acts 13:33). Yet the psalm ends not in threat but in invitation. The rulers are urged to be wise, to serve the LORD with reverent joy, and to honor the Son, and the final line blesses all who take refuge in him (2:10-12). The world's noise against God is real, but it is not the last word. Safety is never found in standing against this King, only in running to him.

To think about: What noise in the world around you feels most threatening right now, and what difference does it make that God's King already reigns?