The Voice of God’s Wrath
Psalm 2:4-6
“He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion."
In verses 1-3 we heard the voice of the nations. It was the voice of rebellion. These verses remind me of Psalm 53:1-3, where we read: “The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good. God looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. Every one of them has turned aside; They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.”
In my Bible next to these verses, I wrote down, “Why? Because…” Why do they claim there is no God? Because they are corrupt and are living in abominable iniquity. They don’t want to be accountable to a Holy God one day! If they are going to enjoy their sin and wicked ways, they can’t have God even in their thoughts or mind. But my friend, to deny something or someone does not take them out of existence! God is still where He always was, in Heaven!
The peaceful scene in heaven is quite a contrast to the noisy scene on earth, for God is neither worried nor afraid as puny man rages against Him. He merely laughs in derision (37:8-13; 59:1-9). After all, to God, the greatest rulers are but grass to be cut down, and the strongest nations are only drops in the bucket (Isa. 40:6-8, 12-17). How does God respond to the threats of men? He laughs! It is the holy voice of derision, for God is greater than man and need not fear the proud attacks of puny kings.
Today, God does not speak today in judgment; but instead He is speaking to the nations in His grace and calling them to trust His Son, but the day will come when God will speak to them in His wrath and send terrible judgment to the world (Rev. 6-19). If people will not accept God's judgment of sin at the cross and trust Christ, they will have to accept God's judgment of themselves and their sins.
The day is coming when God will have "the last laugh" (Ps. 37:1-15; 59:1-8). Remember how proud Sennacherib defied God and the Jews and then was suddenly wiped out? (2 Kings 19) This will happen again when God decides to deal in judgment with the nations of the world.
There is also the voice of displeasure in verse 5. The word "displeasure" means "fiery anger". This is the tribulation, described in detail in Rev. 6-19. It will be a time of awful judgment upon the land and sea, the heavens, the world of nature, and people and nations. Millions of people will die in plagues and heaven-sent disasters. During the tribulation period, the nation of Israel will be "purged" to prepare a believing remnant for the return of Christ to establish His kingdom from Jerusalem. Multitudes will be saved during this time, but many of them will seal their decision with their own lives.
Finally, God's voice is a voice of declaration (v. 6); God has set ("His anointed"), His King upon His holy hill. This is Christ (Isa. 9:6-7; Dan. 7:13-14). It was God who gave David his throne on Zion, and it was God who gave David victory after victory as he defeated the enemies of Israel. But this was only a picture of an even greater coronation: God declares that there is but one legitimate King, and that is His Son who is now seated on the throne of glory (Mark 16:19; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:19-23).
Though Christ is not yet seated on His own throne of glory, or upon the throne of David, He is seated at the Father's right hand; and His throne is as certain as the Father's word! Today, Christ is a priest-king like Melchizedek (Heb. 6:20-7:17). He intercedes for His own. One day He will return in glory and sit upon the throne to judge and rule the nations (Matt. 25:31-46).
If we fail to see Jesus Christ in this Psalm, we miss its message completely: His death (vv. 1-3, Acts 4:23-28), resurrection (v. 7, Acts 13:33), ascension and enthronement in glory (v. 6), and His return and righteous rule on earth (vv. 8-9, Rev. 2:9, 27; 12:5).
Today, in this age of grace, we can bow in humility and repentance, and we will find hope and mercy!
God bless!