Message

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KISS THE SON

Psalm 2:1-12

Key Verse:2:12 “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

  Psalm 2 is known as a royal psalm. This is because the psalmist wrote about the Davidic kingship and wrote a prophetic description of the Messiah which was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Thus, many parts of Psalm 2 were quoted and used by the Apostles in the gospel and in their testimonies in the book of Acts. (Mt 3:17, Mk 1:11, Lk 3:22, Ac 4:25-28, 13:32-33) Although Psalms 1 and 2 are the introductions to the Psalms, they have major differences in their contents. Psalm I reveals the righteousness of God through a personal dimension whereas Psalm 2 does through a prophetic and national dimension.

  Because we are studying Psalm 2, a spiritual poem, we can approach it with many different views and angles. However, I want here to focus on God’s almighty rules for the world and his divine love through his Son Jesus Christ. While meditating Psalm 2, I pray that we all may learn of God’s sovereign rule and his divine love, and renew our loyalty to our Lord and King Jesus Christ.  Amen.

First, the rebellious nations (1-3)  Look at verses 1,2. “Why do the nations conspire and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.” In these verses, the word “Why?” implies “How dare they?” This means how mere creatures dare to stand against the Creator God. Our God is the Almighty Creator God and we are his creatures. In Genesis 11:1-11, we learn how people gathered and plotted to stand against God. At that time, the whole world had one language and a common speech. Since God created man to live for the glory of God, they should have praised God and worshiped him with one voice and one heart. However, they became proud and conspired to stand against God. They wanted their names to reach to heaven. They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” (Ge 11:4) They wanted to build a big city like the city of New York and to develop an urban civilization with modern technology.  Their motivation for this city and the tower was not God’s glory, but themselves. They challenged the authority of God. How did God deal with these rebellious and ungrateful people? God confused their language so that they could not understand each other and were not able to build the city and the tower. Then God scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (Ge 11:9)

Our God is the Almighty Creator God. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed the mighty power and authority of the Creator God, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? (Is 40:12) …Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.” (Is 40:15) In human history, there have been many kingdoms and nations which rose and fell. Their splendor and glory seemed to last forever, like the Roman Empire. However, to God the Almighty, they were like a drop in a bucket and a handful of ashes on the scales. Our God, who created the heavens and the earth, should be the only one to be praised, worshipped, and honored. We must accept this and live for his glory. When we live for his glory, we are happy indeed.

Look at verse 3. “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” In human history, most kings and rulers of kingdom promised prosperity and security for their people. Their slogans and catchphrases were attractive. However, many of them, like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, deceived people in the name of prosperity and killed numerous people who didn’t follow them. False ideologies and doctrines have also deceived people in the name of liberty and prosperity, such as humanism, Darwinism, Relativism, communism, socialism, capitalism, pragmatism, and so on. While promising human freedom and wisdom, they misled people to rebel against God and the divine authority of the Creator. These days, relativism seems reasonable and attractive to young intellectuals.  Relativists oppose the absolute truth of God and want to break all traditional values and rules in the name of freedom.  They say, “Let us break the chains of religion and throw off all the clothes of tradition.” Their ideas are godless and their values are humanistic. They deceive many people in the name of ‘reason and science’, and lead them to confusion and rebellion against the Creator God. These humanistic and godless ideas challenge even Christians. Because of the influence of relativism, some believers lose their faith in the Bible as the absolute truth of God. They compromise with social consensus and degenerate into so-called nominal Christians. The yeast of relativism permeates even into our church, and some of us lose our spirit of Christian soldiers and become lukewarm cultural Christians.

Second, God’s decree (4-9) How did God respond to these people’s rebellion? Look at verse 4. “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.” The One enthroned in heaven indicates the Almighty God. He laughs at the nations’ conspiracy and scoffs at the people’s rebellion. Our God is omnipotent. To Him, peoples’ effort to build a godless utopia is ridiculous. Our God is also omniscient. To Him, their challenge against the truth of God for human knowledge is foolish. I know one young man who deliberately suppresses the truth of God. He thinks that he is smart and can find the truth with his wisdom without God. But he is foolish and wicked in the sight of God. 1 Corinthians 1:21 says, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” According to this verse, we meet God and come to know him through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 17:3. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

Look at verses 5,6. “Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” Our God is righteous. He gives grace to the humble and opposes the proud. In his nature of righteousness, God could have punished the rebels and eliminated them from the surface of the earth. He could have demonstrated his justice by punishing them. But he did not do so. Look at verse 6 again. “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” Instead of condemning the rebels and nations, God promised to send the Messianic King to Jerusalem. In other words, God promised to send the Messiah Jesus Christ from a descendant of King David.

God’s divine demonstration of justice started in the beginning in the Garden of Eden. Men disobeyed God’s commands and sinned against God. While cursing the serpent, God promised to send the Messiah, the Savior of the world through the offspring of a woman. (Ge 3:15) God renewed his promise with Abraham, confirmed it with King David, and fulfilled it through Jesus Christ. In 2 Samuel 7:12,13 God told King David through the prophet Nathan, “When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” Jesus Christ was born as a descendant of Abraham, and of King David. (Mt 1:1) He fulfilled his messianic mission in Jerusalem through his death on the cross and resurrection. In verse 6, ‘my King’ refers to Jesus Christ, and Zion and holy hill to Jerusalem, where the temple of God was. God promised to send the Messiah, the Savior of the world, through the descendant of King David, and fulfilled his promise through Jesus Christ.

What was God’s decree about the Messiah? Here decree means promise. Look at verses 7-9. “I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” These verses are regarded as God’s coronation of the Kingship of Jesus, his Son. After Jesus came up out of the water after being baptized by John the Baptist, heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:17) This was the coronation ceremony of Jesus as the Messiah and King. God the Father gave Jesus the authority to rule the whole world and gave all nations as his inheritance. His inheritance will extend to the ends of the earth. His kingdom will never end. Jesus said in his prayer to God the Father in John 17:1,2 “…Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.” Jesus will rule the world as King with justice and love. Here, ‘iron scepter” is the symbol of Jesus’ strong kingship and his rule. Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures and rose again from the dead according to the Scriptures (1 Co 15:3,4) He ascended to heaven and promised to come again. When he comes again, he will judge the world, and judge between the living and the dead. At that time, those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil will be crushed to pieces like pottery (Ro 2:8). On the other hand, those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, will be given eternal life by Jesus. (Ro 2:7)

Third, kiss the Son (10-12)  What is the psalmist’s conclusive message to the world? Look at verses 10,11. “Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.” The kings and rulers of the world should pay attention to what God said to them. They should serve the Lord Jesus with holy fear and with trembling hearts. From a human point of view, Jesus was a mere carpenter who was born in the smallest town of the smallest country in the world. But from God’s point of view, he is the true object of our worship, devotion, and admiration. He is the Anointed One, Christ, the Savior of the world, who fulfilled all the promises of God in the Old Testament. Even though he was the Son of God, he gave up his heavenly glory and was born of the Virgin Mary. While living on this earth, Jesus served all kinds of sinners with the compassion of God. He healed lepers, opened the eyes of the blind, raised the crippled, drove out demons, and gave new life to the dead. Even though he deserved to be served as God, he served sinners like a servant. He said, “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mk 10:45) Jesus was so humble and gentle that he rode on a donkey when he entered Jerusalem to die on the cross. It was not easy for him to obey the will of God because it demanded his very life. In the garden of Gethsemane, he struggled to deny himself in order to obey God’s will, and then took up the cross for the sins of the world. Finally, he shed his precious blood in order to pay the penalty for our sins. Before he gave up his spirit on the cross, he prayed for forgiveness for those who had nailed him to the cross and opposed him. On the third day, God raised this Jesus from the dead and took him to His right hand. God exalted this Jesus to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. (Php 2:9-11) God also promised eternal life to those who receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

  Look at verse 12. “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” Here, in ancient terms, the words “Kiss the Son” mean show respect and loyalty to the King Jesus. In the past, vassals and subjects used to kiss the hand of their king as an expression of their submission and loyalty.  Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is worthy of our submission, devotion, and admiration. He deserves to be honored, worshiped, praised and glorified. Let us kiss the Son. Let us show our respect, loyalty, affection to our Lord and King Jesus. It is time for us to restore our love relationship with Jesus and to renew our loyalty to him. While living on this earth, knowingly and unknowingly, our affection for Jesus and our submission to his will become weak. When we confessed Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our hearts were burning with the love of God and the eagerness for Christ. We were willing to sacrifice our lives for Christ. However, as years go by, we become complacent and lukewarm, and our life of faith becomes superficial. We often rebel against God and are disobedient to him. Soon, we lose spiritual influence and power and become useless. Now it is time for us to kiss the Son. It is time for us to renew God’s calling and restore our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

  What will happen to those who reject Christ and follow their own way? They will be destroyed in their way. They will be objects of God’s divine and impending judgment. God’s judgment will be swift and thorough. There will be no shelter from God’s judgment. But those who trust in the Lord and take refuge in him will be saved. (12b)

  In today’s passage, we learned why we must believe in Jesus and follow him. Jesus is the Anointed One, Christ. He is the Son of God and the Promised Messiah. When we serve him with fear, we are truly happy. We are really blessed when we submit ourselves to Christ and give our lives for him. This year 2012 is the 200^th anniversary of sending the first American missionaries to other countries. In June 1812 , five young men and three women took two different ships and went to India with the gospel of Christ.

But when they arrived, their ships were rejected because of the war between Britain and the United States. So these missionaries had to find a proper place to land. Among these missionaries, there was a newly wedded woman named, Harriet Newell, who was for several months pregnant at that time. While her ship was being tossed by the storm, she delivered her premature baby girl on shipboard. This premature baby girl died soon because of the storm. Twenty days later after her baby girl died, Harriet also became very sick and died in the bosom of her husband Samuel. Before she breathed her last, she confessed to her husband saying that she never regretted becoming a missionary for Christ.  In doing so, Harriet kept her loyalty to Jesus to the end. What a heart-moving story about our American missionaries! Let us succeed this good spiritual heritage of our forefathers in this country. Let us kiss the Son Jesus and pray that America may continue to be the number one missionary sending country and become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, a shepherd nation for the whole world. Amen.

 

 

 

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• KISS THE SON (Psalm2)-message.doc

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