It’s All The Rage
Psalms For The Bride
Psalm 2
David wrote this Psalm after he had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites. When the Philistines heard about it they camped around the city and were joined by Syria, Phoenicia and a host of other warring people. David consulted the Lord and went to battle, overthrowing all of them. But David had a question: “Why do they rage.” The answer he received from God is the same answer we need to hear today.
Ps 2:1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Why, David asks, do those opposed to God “make noise” or are “violently agitated?” Why do they “form a notion or idea in their minds” and meditate and plot on it? It’s a vain thing, something they can’t accomplish. They can’t overthrow God, no matter how hard they try to believe it.
It doesn’t sound quite like the situation in America today does it; but it is. The world is still trying to “go its own way” and those of the world have formed that notion in their heads… “I did in my way.” We see it in America’s leaders today—they are doing the same as those who surrounded David. They want no part of God’s plan for America, they have their own agenda—their own “vain thing.”
Ps 2:2-3 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
The world is in the hands of the god of this world and its leaders have “set themselves” (are standing fast) in their own counsel. They have their own agenda and it doesn’t involve the Lord. This notion of following their own counsel has resulted in their taking action to directly oppose God. Think about what elected leaders in America have done in just the past few decades. Ever since prayer was removed from the school room in 1962 man has continued to challenge more and more of God’s moral principles; the very principles upon which our country was founded. It has progressed so far that here in the 21st century we have leaders in the world, in America, that are acting as if they were gods.
So what about the bride, where does she fit in all of this?
Ps 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
All that is going on down here doesn’t surprise or alarm God. His answer to those who rage against Him is that He has set His Son on His throne. Nothing more need be said—our bridegroom is in charge. The world’s battle against Him is only a temporary one. How can creation hope to win in a war against the creator?
Ps 2:9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Today our bridegroom is enthroned on Mount Zion. He resides in the New Jerusalem and He rules over the nations that rage against Him. And that means that He rules over those who rage against His bride. The Father has promised Him the nations and the continents of this world and He will break them with an iron rod. I want to come back to that in a moment as it has significant meaning for the bride of Christ. But for here, it’s clear that there will come a day when all those who rage will be called to account for their actions. God has warned them:
Ps 2:10-12a Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little…
With this warning God reaches out to them and in verses 10-12 He instructs them how to avoid being broken and crushed. In the face of their raging against Him, God still reaches out in His grace. While there is yet time there is still a chance to embrace the Son; to serve Him. He tells them to “kiss the Son,” which represents the act of worship; a sign of complete surrender. In fact the Greek word for worship—proskuneō—means “come toward to kiss.”
Now let’s come back to what this means for the bride.
Ps 2:12b … Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Psalm 1 was “moral” in nature and Psalm 2 is “evangelical.” As the Holy Spirit inspired the Word of God through David it was certainly with a missionary heart. In spite of all that is going on in the world, God is not the least bit intimidated. He has not been swayed from His plan that all mankind should be saved. And with His warning He always provides the answer, and it’s always the same one; repentance.
As the bride of Christ, we can’t accept the responsibility for the rebellion of America. We can only accept the responsibility for our own rebellion, our desire for “freedom” and our quest for material security. But at the same time we have been given a mission, a command to reach out to those who rage, to those who are lost and those who are hopeless until Jesus returns. God has opened up the road back to His house and He has thrown the door wide open; yet still the “heathen rage.”
Israel was a unique and separate people among the nations and they were not to be contaminated by them. So it is with the bride of Christ. We are “in” the world but we are not to be “of” the world (John 17:11-17). We need to be very wary of friendship with the world as it will smother the light we carry and destroy our mission. If we aren’t careful we can easily be conformed to the world (Rom 12:1-2).
As we learned in Psalm 1, we can’t afford to follow the wrong counsel, for if we do we will stand with the wrong companions and wind up sitting with the wrong crowd. Remember Lot, He didn’t start out that way but in end we find him sitting with them at the city gate.
The unbelieving leaders and the unsaved here in America are responsible to God for their actions. We can’t afford to take on that responsibility; our calling is much higher. As God is calling out to them we need to be ready to share the message of hope that we carry. The unbelievers in our world are enraged against God because they are following their own selfish nature and those who lead them down the world’s path. They follow the world’s wisdom because they are ignorant of God’s wisdom.
As Jesus’ bride we have the responsibility and blessing to lead the unsaved down that path and through the open door. As we are being groomed to reign with Him we also have the responsibility to serve Him. J.I. Packer put it this way:
“Serve the Lord … Kiss the Son. There is no real evangelism without both. We must tell the people what God has done, and we must tell them what they must do in response.”
God has set up His kingdom in the midst of the world—in the midst of America—and that is the very thing that causes them to rage against Him. It’s our mission to dispel that “vain notion,” and if we do there is a great reward awaiting us upon His return. Let’s look at that blessing in verse 9:
Ps 2:9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
The word used for “rod” is also used in Rev 2:27, but with a totally different meaning.
Rev 2:26-27 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
In Revelation the message is to the church of Thyatira and it’s a great word for the bride today. While in Psalm 2 the ungodly will be “broken” with a rod of iron, when Jesus returns He will “rule” with a rod of iron. Then His “rod of iron” will be His royal scepter; it’s His shepherd’s staff with which He will shepherd His flock. And note to whom He gives that right… he that overcometh and keepeth my works to the end.
That’s us!
If we continue in our faithful service to our bridegroom—our works—during our betrothal, we will be the overcomers and be rewarded with the blessing of shepherding with His royal scepter as we rule and reign with Him. That’s the blessing folks. If we step up now and reach out to the raging heathen with His love and His message—continuing to the end—we will receive the reward. And in the process we will be blessed with the fruit of our labor, the salvation of the heathen. As Jesus promised the church at Philadelphia (the bride today), if we will step through the door He opens for us He promises that He will reward us with more open doors; all the while setting aside incredible blessings for us when He returns. In our weakness all we need to do is trust in His Spirit and honor His name, He will do all the rest (Rev 3:7-8).
Let’s make Jesus “All The Rage.”