Prophet, Priest, and King

Historically it has been understood that the Lord Jesus Christ has occupied three distinct and yet connected offices. The offices of Prophet, Priest, and King.

Jesus is our Prophet. He is a teacher.  Hebrews 1:1-2. Ministry, Sermon on the mount… 

Jesus is our Priest. Eternal priesthood. Atoned for sins by the one time sacrifice of Himself for our sins. And He intercedes (Hebrews 7:25). 

Jesus is our King - the King who leads us to victory and rules for our good. Psalm 2 is a passage about the enthronement of Jesus Christ as King. Of course, the Psalm is written by King David and in an immediate sense, it is about his enthronement as God’s anointed king of Israel. But in the Spirit of prophecy, David is announcing the eternal King, the One who would sit on the throne forever, which we know is the Lord Jesus Christ. It seems obvious with the universal language. All the nations will be his inheritance and the ends of the earth his possession. That’s not a promise to David, but to Christ the Lord. 

Furthermore, Jesus teaches us that all the Psalms are ultimately about him. And the NT affirms this Psalm is about Christ with clear references to it. Right now, it is so easy to see the greatness of troubles. The greatness of the devil. The greatness of evil men doing their thing. We need to have our eyes lifted to see the greatness of our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. This Psalm gives us a four-fold picture:

1. The nations raging (verses 1-3)
2. The Lord mocking (verses 4-5)
3. The Lord announces His King (v. 6-9)
4. How should we respond? (verses 10-12) 

The Nations Raging (v. 1-3)

1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us."

Verses 1-3 are indicative of man’s rebellion against God. Natural man despises the rule of God. Acts 4 quotes these verses and uses it to describe the raging and rebellion of both rulers and regulars, princes and paupers, the high and the low in society. David seems shocked: WHY???  Notice 3 things:

1) The futility of their effort (v. 1) - it is a vain plot. (NASB: “devising a vain thing”). Resistance is futile.

2) The target of their rebellion (v. 2) - against the LORD and his anointed. 

3) The motivation of their rebellion (v. 3). Why are the peoples raging? They don’t want to live under God’s rule. They think God is an enslaving taskmaster, not knowing that they are enslaved to their sins and only the Lord can set them free. Human autonomy - we want to do what we want to do. This is the continual cycle of the book of Judges. The people would turn away from the Lord, not wanting to live under his lordship. Then a marauding nation would come and whip their butts, they would cry out for help, and the Lord would send a judge to rescue them. Then the cycle would happen again. Judges 17:6 says something ominous. The last several chapters repeats a phrase: “There was no king in Israel” and then the very last verse of the book of Judges says, ‘In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (21:25)

Everyone just did what they wanted. Lovers of self, lovers of pleasure. But here is something we need to understand - this doing what is right in our own eyes, comes from enmity deep toward God. That’s the point of Psalm 2. The nations are raging. If there was ever a man who outwardly raged against God in the 20th century it was Frederick Neitzche. Neitzche is the man who infamously claimed, “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”. He simply spoke what so many would do if they could. In fact, we don’t even have to imagine what people would do if they could. When God came in the flesh, that’s exactly He was murdered. In fact, that is how the NT interprets Psalm 2:1-2. After quoting them, it says, 

For truly in this city (Jerusalem) there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate , along with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and plan predestined to take place. (Acts 4:25-28)

Do you see and hear the nations raging now? The entire world apart from Christ is raging… and they are raging against him. It seems to be getting louder and louder. The increasing celebration of sexual perversion (Pride, rainbow, the perversion of marriage with so-called homosexual unions, the promotion of transgendered confusion), abortion on demand for any reason or no reason. The degrading of certain people because of the color of their skin (black or white). So much raging. Just remember, it is futile. It is against the Lord ultimately and his good and just rule. Well, what does the Lord do?

The Lord Laughing (v. 4-5)

4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 

How does the Lord respond to this conspiracy against Him? He laughs. He holds them in derision or mocks them. This week, I found this so helpful! God is not wringing his hands at the evil plans of those who hate him. He is not wondering what on earth he will have to do to gain the upper hand again. Listen “he who sits in the heavens”... the One who is above… sitting! One of the names of God is El Elyon. Listen to Psalm 33:10-11:The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. 

Enemies of God conspire, they take counsel together… and He laughs. He mocks. And we too, by faith, may laugh. It is not going to work. Evil may seem as though it is on the ascendency, but our King will triumph in the end. Furthermore, he is sovereignly working in the midst of the raging accomplishing his will. In fact, that is exactly how the disciples applied the death of Jesus. The raging and conspiracy to kill him was actually according to God’s predetermined plan. God accomplishes his purposes through sinful, raging, acts of evil men. He did in the death of Christ and he does now. And therefore, we by faith may laugh. 

We don’t mock people or laugh at them in an antagonistic way. That’s not the way of Christ. But through faith we can see as the Lord does. And ultimately, we understand that it is Satan who is the real enemy, and often he is the mastermind behind the futile attempts to thwart God’s purposes. But he is an abject failure! And we may, with the Lord laugh at and mock him. Listen to Luther: “I often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing that makes him so angry as when I attack him to his face, and tell him that through God I am more than a match for him.” ** The Lord doesn’t just laugh… He also announces His anointed King ** 

The LORD Announces His King (verses 6-9)

6 "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." 7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

What is the Lord’s answer to the raging? He announces that he has coronated His chosen King. And notice how this King is described. This is where we really need the NT to help us interpret this Psalm. 

1) This King has been enthroned (I have set My King… [past tense]) (v. 6) 

Verse 6: Installed in Zion, the holy hill. Of course, in the time of David, Zion was the city of David, Jerusalem, and Mount Zion was the hill just outside Old Jerusalem. Relating to Christ, this is describing the heavenly Mount Zion, the heavenly city, where Jesus reigns as the Father’s right hand; this happened at his ascension. Our text says that this King is conquering his enemies (v. 9). He is subduing enemies. This is not just future. He is taking down those who oppose Him now. Paul affirms this in 1 Corinthians 15:25-26. But we know that for his people, Jesus rules as a benevolent, gentle King, as John Newton said, “ruling not with a rod of iron, but with his golden scepter of love.” This is how Jesus rules as the enthroned King.

2) This King is a beloved Son (v. 7 - “You are my Son, toget I have begotten you.”)

Jesus was not begotten like he came into being at a certain time. The NT affirms the resurrection of Christ as this “begetting” - the sense that as God raised him up from the dead, giving him “birth” into new creation glory, the Father was powerfully declaring Jesus Christ—not merely his eternal Son, but his Son and reigning King. Acts 13:30-34.

3) This King will have universal dominion (v. 8): The Father speaks to the Son and says, “Ask, and the nations are yours… your heritage and the ends of the earth, your possession.” The nations - Jesus wants them all. Every people group. And he died to secure their salvation. Revelation 4:9. And the ends of the earth… the entire cosmos, every square inch of it. He wants it.

Abraham Kuyper, the Dutch theologian and Prime Minister famously said “There is not one square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’”  And when he comes again, he will lay claim to what belongs to him. It is so important we see Jesus for who he is. There is a tendency in American Christianity to put such an emphasis on having a personal relationship with Jesus in your heart. I’m certainly not calling for less than that. But we need the curtain pulled back to see Jesus as victorious, reigning, and sovereign, one who cannot be contained and will not be denied what has been promised him, namely the nations and the ends of the earth … and stunningly, we can know him personally. 

How should we respond? (verses 10-12)

10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Be wise, be warned. How should we respond to such a King? So much more could be said, but I will keep it brief - four phrases and there is overlap:

Kiss the Son. To kiss means to adore and submit. Adoration and submission. Embrace as precious and bow before as holy. Thomas Watson said, “Adoration is a crown jewel to Christ and to His crown.” Adore Him. Samuel, when he anointed Saul as king, kissed him, not because he adored Saul, but because Saul was king.  There’s a warning that goes along with this: “lest he be angry… for his wrath is quickly kindled.” That phrase “quickly kindled” does not mean that Jesus is quick-tempered. Rather it means that his wrath could break out at any time. Don’t play games with him. Kiss the Son and do so today.

Take refuge in Him. When a refugee seeks refuge in another country, they seek shelter from war, pestilence, genocide, and so forth. We are invited to find in King Jesus a rich and fortified refuge not only from the wrath to come (which is most important) but also from every danger of this life. It does not mean that we won’t face danger and even experience the pain of those dangers, but if Christ is our refuge, whatever touches us is allowed for our good. Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee. Hide yourself in Christ. 

Serve Him. The designation Paul gave himself by far more than any other was bondslave. He was a servant of Christ. When we adore and embrace and take refuge in Him, there will be a delight to serve Him in obedience. 

Rejoice with trembling in Him. It may seem like these two things do not go together. Joy and trembling? Well, they do. To know Jesus is to know JOY! But it is a joy mixed with reverence. Spurgeon put it this way: “There must ever be holy fear mixed with the Christian’s joy. This is a sacred compound, yielding a sweet smell, and we must see to it that we burn no other upon the altar. Fear without joy is torment. Joy without fear is presumption. “

Jesus is our King! Kiss Him, take refuge in Him, serve Him, and rejoice in Him with trembling. Let’s pray.