Psalm 2:2

Psalm 2:2

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

a. NLT: The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the LORD and against his anointed one.

b. NIV: The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,

c. Amplified Bible: The kings of the earth take their places; the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed One (the Messiah, the Christ). They say,

d. Septuagint: The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gathered themselves together, against the Lord, and against his Christ; 

e. Stone Edition Torah/Writings/Prophets:  The kings of the earth take their stand and the princes conspire secretly, against HASHEM and against His anointed:

1. “The kings of the earth set themselves…”

a. [The] kings [Strong: 4428 melek meh'-lek from 4427; a king:--king, royal.]

b. [of the] earth [Strong: 776 'erets eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):--X common, country, earth, field, ground, land, X natins, way, + wilderness, world.]

c. set [themselves] [Strong: 3320 yâtsab, yaw-tsab'; a primitive root; : To place anything so as to stay, to station, steadfast.]

1). The kings position themselves steadfastly. They position themselves.

2). Tehillim: Page 66. “The kings of the earth take their stand…is a more forceful term than ‘they stand’…[it] implies a firm erect stance in a challenging uncompromising position. The man so entrenched will not allow himself to be budged.”

2. “…and the rulers take counsel together…”

a. [and the] rulers [Strong: 7336 razan raw-zan';  a primitive root; probably to be heavy, i.e. (figuratively) honorable:--prince, ruler.]

b. take counsel [Strong: 3245 yacad yaw-sad';  a primitive root; to set (literally or figuratively); intensively, to found; reflexively, to sit down together, i.e. settle, consult:--appoint, take counsel, establish, (lay the, lay for a) found(-ation), instruct, lay, ordain, set, X sure.]

c. together [Strong: 3162 yachad yakh'-ad; from 3161; properly, a unit, i.e. (adverb) unitedly:--alike, at all (once), both, likewise, only, (al-)together, withal.]

1). The rulers do the same, i.e., position themselves.Then they sit down together and take counsel together and consult one another to lay a foundation or get a plan of action against the LORD and His Christ.

a). Psalm 33:10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

3. “…against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

a. against [Strong: 5921 `al al properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications (as follow):--above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, X as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, X both and, by (reason of), X had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-)on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, X with.]

b. [the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yehovah yeh-ho-vaw' ; from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:--Jehovah, the Lord.]

c. [and] against [Strong: 5921 `al al properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications (as follow):--above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, X as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, X both and, by (reason of), X had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-)on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, X with.]

d. [his] anointed [Strong: 4899 * mashiyach] [Strong’s: usually a consecrated person as a king, a priest, specifically the Messiah: anointed Messiah.]

1). Though we don’t know exactly who said it, Psalm 2:1 & 2 is quoted in Acts 4:25 & 26. No doubt it shows all of the believers present were in agreement, but the important part for this lesson is that it puts the context for the fulfillment for this Psalm in the Church age. This is the first of three Scriptural witnesses that verify it, the other two will be shown later in the Psalm. So it is prophetic in two ways, first, it was written by David about 1000 years before the first advent of Christ Jesus and over 3000 years before the second advent of Christ Jesus.   

a). Acts 4:24-31 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

4:25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

4:29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

4:30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

2). There is no doubt the “his anointed’ in verse 2 is referring to Christ Jesus. The above quote in Acts 4:26 clearly says it and not only that, the almost exact wording is found two other times in the New Testament and they all of course refer to Jesus.

a). Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

b). Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

3). The universal reign of the Messiah is clearly revealed in Scripture.

a). Zechariah 9:9-10 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

9:10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

4). Because the context for the Psalm is in the Church age, the warning is to the Gentile leaders during the Church age. The warning is this, The Almighty’s anointed King has been chosen and He is Christ Jesus His Son! You need to serve Him or be held accountable for your actions of rebellion in not serving Him. This includes the United States and all of her laws passed rejecting His sovereignty over her, including your “separation of church and state”, your laws outlawing prayer in public schools, outlawing Bible reading in public schools, outlawing posting Scripture in public schools, legalizing child sacrifice. The list goes on and on, and these decisions challenge the sovereignty of God over America as it is written in Psalm 2.

Psalm 2:4

Psalm 2:4

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.

a. Amplified Bible: He Who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].

1. “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:…”

a. sitteth [3427 * yashab] [Strongs: To sit down as judge, in ambish, quiet…]

b. laugh [7832 * sachaq] [Strongs: To laugh (in pleasure or detraction) by implication, to play:-- deride, have in derision, laugh make merry, mock, laugh to scorn…]

2. “…the LORD shall have them in derision.”

a. derision [3932 * laag] [Strongs: To deride, to laugh at in scorn.]

b. Five times in Scripture it mentions that God laughs. Four of those times God is laughing at the wicked: Psalm 2:4; 37:12, 13; 59:5-8; Proverbs 1:26. The most descriptive passage as to why God is laughing at the wicked is in Proverbs 1:24-33. Within these verses I will interject other verses that I believe will shed light on why God would laugh at an individual’s calamity.

c. Proverbs 1:24-28 “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;

But ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:

I also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.

Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:

1). Israel became so rebellious that God refused to even hear their prayers.

a). Jeremiah 11:14 “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.”

b). Isaiah 59:1, 2 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

2). Prayer is a Covenant privilege for the obedient.

a). Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

b). Jeremiah 29:13 says, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

c). In Matthew 7:8, Jesus said, “…he that seeketh findeth.”

c. (continued) Proverbs 1:29, 30 For they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:

They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.

1). 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof…”

2). In the Judicial branch of our government there are Supreme Court cases that declare within matters of constitutional policy, that it hates the knowledge of God, will have nothing to do with His counsel and despises the reproof of His word. A few have been mentioned above, but there are many more.

3). In the Executive branch

a). June 2^nd 2000 President Bill Clinton declared June the first ever Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.

b). April 10^th 1996 President Bill Clinton vetoed the first Partial-Birth abortion ban.

c). On October 10^th 1997 President Bill Clinton vetoed the second Partial-Birth abortion ban.

d). June 1^st 2009 President Barack Obama declared the month of June Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Pride Month.

e). Just last year [Oct. 2006] there was an open homosexual, Mark Dybul, appointed to be the Global AIDS coordinator for the United States by George W. Bush. While he raised his right hand to be sworn in at the White House by Secretary Condoleeza Rice, his homosexual partner held the Bible he rested his left hand on. President Bush’s wife Laura was also at the swearing in.

4). I tell you on the authority of the word of God that these violations would never have occurred if our nation would have continued to honor and strengthen “the bands” and the “cords” that our nation had with God.

c. (continued) Proverbs 1:31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

1). Romans 1:18, 24, 26, 28 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;…Wherefore God also gave them up…For this cause God gave them up…And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind…”

c. (continued) Proverbs 1:32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.”

d. The point I am making is that there comes a time after we have “set at naught all his counsel”, would have nothing to do with his reproof, hate his knowledge, refuse the fear of the Lord, have nothing to do with his counsel, and despise his reproof, there comes a time when, in a time of crying out to him, he will not hear, in fact he will laugh at us. I believe within many Supreme Court decisions our constitutional philosophy has done just that.

Psalm 2:3

Psalm 2:3

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast their cords from us.

1. “Let us break their bands asunder…”

a. The breaking of the bands and casting of the cords is the Gentiles raging and the vain things that the Gentile nations are imagining. We must remember that before these Gentile nations can break the bands and cast off the cords of the LORD and His Christ they must have been under them first. There had to be some sort of a relationship between these Gentile nations and the LORD and His Christ.

b. break [5423 * nataq] [Strongs: To tear down, break off, burst, draw away, lift up, pluck away, pluck off, pull out, root out.]

c. bands [4147 * mocerah] [Strongs: chastisement, i.e., a halter, restraint.]

d. The “raging” of the heathen, and the “vain thing” the people are imagining is breaking ties with the Almighty. If words mean anything they want to tear down, pluck off, root out the restraints that God would put on them.

2. “…and cast their cords from us.”

a. cast [7993 * shalak] [Strongs: To throw out, throw down or away, cast away.]

b. cords [5688 * abothah] [Strongs: Something entwinded, i.e., a string, wreath, foliage, band, cord, rope.]

c. In Psalm 2:3, the kings and rulers have stationed, positioned themselves with the sum of their counsel. They want to throw off the bands of restraint, the cords of control that God has in their lives.

1). Job 21:14, 15 “Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?”

2). Jeremiah 5:5 “I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.” [Compare “the yoke” to Matthew 11:29.]

3). Hosea 11:4 “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.”

d. Tehillim: page 67. “Technically speaking [the cord] refers to the bonds used to harness the oxen to the yoke… Hirsch stresses that the yoke of God’s anointed hangs heavily upon the necks of the gentile nations also. The cord of the Messiah is the moral self-discipline which he teaches, thus inhibiting the unbridled desires of mankind and saddling man with duties. These limitations are repugnant to the nations who yearn to free their conscience from any inhibition.”

1). Before the Gentile nations can “break the bands” and “cast the cords” of the LORD and Christ from them, they must have been under them. This happened during the Church Age, the period between the resurrection of Christ and his second coming. Though the Body of Christ failed to fulfill the obedience of the Great Commission, the dominant effect of Christianity upon Western culture is undeniable, particularly the continents of Europe, North and South America. The Apostle Paul in his last message to the Jewish leaders recorded in the Book of Acts warns them that the Jews for the most part would reject the Messiah but the Gentiles would accept Him. Note particularly the last verse.

a). Acts 28:23-28 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.

And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.

  And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,

Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:

For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

d. This study of Psalm 2, in particular verses 1 through 3, reminds me of the recent history of the U.S. Over the last 60 plus years the United States of America has made rejecting Scriptural truth a foundational part of their constitutional process. Numerous U.S. Supreme Court decisions fit this description. Hence we are fulfilling Psalm 2:1-3.