SERMON TITLE: What in the World is Going On?
TEXT: Psalm 2:1-12 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Mike Norman
DATE: 1/31/21
You can watch the sermon here.
You can find the sermon notes here.
Good evening, it is once again, a “frightening and terrible” pleasure to be here with you. We began a non-series / series this morning in the Psalms, which will be preached by Gateway staff and guest speakers in the upcoming months. Cody led off this morning with Psalm 1 and walked us through a path of “Blessed” statements. I have the awesome privilege of preaching on Psalm 2 tonight as we gather for the Lord’s Supper.
These two Psalms are together considered the introduction to the Book of Psalms. They are introductory, not only to the first book of five in the Psalms but to the whole collection. There are, if you did not know, five “books” in the book of Psalms. This must at least in part be necessary because of the limitation of the length of a scroll. The entire collection of the Psalms is quite lengthy as I’m sure you can see there in your Bible. Perhaps it took five scrolls to include them all. (https://www.douglasdouma.com/2020/08/08/sermon-on-psalm-21-12-is-the-world-out-of-control/)And scrolls were anywhere from 15 to 24 feet long. That’s a lot of scroll! Imagine carrying that to school back in the day.
Tonight, as we look at Psalm 2, we don’t have to go very far in before we get to the meat of this sermon’s title, which is a question. “What in the World is going On?” The first 3 verses of Psalm 2 paint a picture that to some, could be very familiar when looking at today's world scene.
If you have your Bible with you, please turn with me to Psalm 2, we’ll begin in verse one. And while you’re finding that, I want to let you know that these are the three points that will frame our study tonight:
1. The World Around Us 2. The God Above Us and 3. The Path Before Us Repeat...
First, Let’s read our passage, and then we’ll take a look at the first point.
[Psa 2:1-12 ESV] 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.” 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, 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.” 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.
Whoa, that was heavy! Ok so, our first point is “The World Around Us”.
Do you ever just sit and think to yourself or even ask others, “what in the world is going on?” For some of us, 2020 was the longest decade of our lives. I love that new Match.com commercial where Satan and 2020 find a love connection and are matched up together. What a clever and accurate depiction.
If we just take a quick look back at the last year we can see a …-Global pandemic, coupled with a -Quarantine, a catastrophic cycle of hurricanes, political and civil unrest, election drama, bombings, and for so many, the heartbreaking loss of loved ones. That was a tough, tough year.
I’m sure there have been bad years in our recent past, but 2020 just seems to take the cake. And I certainly don’t think that just because we are now in a new calendar year that everything’s going to magically get better. We really only made it about 6 days into 2021 before the first controversial event erupted in our Nation's Capital. And here we now sit with even more drama brewing.
And there seems to no longer be news in the traditional sense like in the days of old, where human interest drove the story. Now it all seems to be just political propaganda. So what do you think??? Is the world truly out of control?
Maybe you’re out there saying one of two things, “I disagree, Mike, we had a great 2020!” I know there were marriages performed, babies born, and celebrations of life, but maybe, just maybe, you didn’t have that experience and you’re one who would say...
“If there is a God, he certainly isn’t good, or if He is good, then He certainly isn’t powerful. “ “If He was, why would we have years like 2020?”
Well, have you ever seen the movie Bruce Almighty? I can’t help but think of that movie when talking about this subject. If you haven't seen it… spoiler alert… there's a guy named Bruce and he thinks he can do a better job of being God than God. So in a light-hearted interaction with who else but Morgan Freeman, playing God, Bruce is granted the role of and responsibility for being “god” for a week. As things unfold, he of course does what we all would do and uses his authority for personal gain and of course, things unravel and fall into chaos. “God”, (Morgan Freeman) pulls back the curtain for Bruce and reveals that he really only gave him “limited” sovereign control over a couple of blocks of his immediate neighborhood, not the entire world.
But all of this was to reveal that we make horrible “Self Sovereigns”. It never goes well for us when we take on the role of “God” in our lives. When we rely on ourselves for wisdom and guidance, as if we know what's ultimately better for us. We can’t even decide which restaurant we want to eat at most times, let alone the BEST path forward for our lives. Like Bruce, we would ultimately fall into a self-serving mentality and only arbitrate situations based on our own wellbeing. Additionally, like Bruce, we would become overwhelmed with our own little sphere of chaos and start to crumble under the pressure of sovereign rule before we ever even consider someone else's circumstances.
So how do we go about resolving the problems in the world? In what do we trust? In whom should we seek counsel?
We find in our text that the kings of the earth set themselves as sovereigns, and the rulers take counsel together. What it’s saying is that people seek counsel in other people, but they never seem to seek counsel with God.
It says,
“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… Psalm 2:1-2 (ESV)
The nation’s rage. The nations seek tothrow off the rule of God. Today, many people are advocating throwing off any rule of law altogether. There’s tremendous pushback against authority, the submission to authority in particular. Especially when it’s viewed as lacking or untrustworthy. That’s been a huge theme for us, not just as Americans in 2020, but as humans and in the story of the Bible. We simply have not outgrown this narrative.
They plot in Vain it says. It’s in vain because they don’t seek the counsel of God, right? The “blessed man” of Psalm 1 meditates day and night on the law of the Lord. But the unbelievers meditate only on their own evil thoughts.
When we look at the world around us, at people in general, we find that society doesn’t seek the Lord, but seek for answers from within themselves.
Simply Ignoring God, and asking one another for advice, is like asking Satan whether or not you should sin. Or it is like on the Appalachian Trail forums where people often ask “Should I hike the trail.” Well, the audience is hikers. And you can imagine what their response might be. When you surround yourself with hikers the counsel you receive is going to be in favor of hiking. And when you surround yourself with ungodly counselors the counsel you receive is going to be in favor of… anyone? Class? Evil. (https://www.douglasdouma.com/2020/08/08/sermon-on-psalm-21-12-is-the-world-out-of-control/)
The world around us doesn’t know how to resolve the chaos. The world around us rejects biblical answers and only looks deeper into the heart of darkness for the light. It simply isn’t there. You’re not going to find sunlight, by going deeper into a dark cave. And so it’s the same when we don’t go to the Word of God for counsel and wisdom.
Rather than seeking counsel in the world around us, we ought to seek counsel in the God above us. So let’s do that ...
I want to take a quick look at the last verse in our passage and talk about what we see there.
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.
“For His wrath is quickly kindled” is where I want us to zoom in. In Hebrew, this is literally translated, “It takes little for His nose to burn.” What we are reading about here is the anger of the Lord, and his anger is directed at the corrupt rulers we read about in the opening verses of Psalm 2. So these guys are getting called out at both the beginning and the end of the Psalm. And the anger we see coming from God is a just anger, against oppressive rulers who have their nations raging in opposition to the Messianic King, or God’s Anointed One. So that’s a little insight into what “burns God’s nose”, what “kindles His anger”. It’s rebellion against His plan, against His anointed.
Maybe you're wondering, “hey what’s the deal? Aren’t we and isn’t God supposed to be slow to anger?” The answer to that is yes, but only God has the ability to express anger in a righteous way. And this is one example of that, another would be Jesus overturning the tables in the temple courts. This shouldn’t give us license to justify our moments of “anger” as righteous, because we are most likely reacting in sinful anger to something, even though it may seem right at the time.
While the nations plot against God, He laughs. Did you hear that? He laughs, does that surprise you? It surprised me, it seems like such a flawed human trait. To the parents out there, do you ever do this with your kids? They’re full go in rage-out mode, and you can barely keep it together as you fight back (maybe for some of us), but fight back the urge to just laugh at them in their moment of rebellion. Now that is not really what God is doing here, but it’s more the rebuke of our rebellion against His plan and our fight to be our own God. He doesn’t take lightly the “raging” and the “plotting”.
The Psalm should help us to see that God’s wrath is a big deal, and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Jesus is the true king, not the evil rulers, and not us. This Psalm is one of a number of messianic Psalms. That is, it looks forward to the coming of the messiah, God’s anointed. We heard Cody mention that this morning.
And you might ask, “who is it talking about when it says, ‘His anointed’? Who is God’s anointed? Is it the people of God? Is it a king?
Well, thankfully in Acts chapter 4, Luke sheds some light on who this anointed one is...
23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, (he’s throwing back the Psalm here) your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, (Now listen to this, does this sound familiar?) “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’– 27 for truly in this city 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, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. Acts 4:23-28 (ESV)
This passage from Acts quotes from Psalm 2 and then explains further that it’s fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The “Anointed” one is Jesus.
So this provides a specific historical circumstance. Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the Jews all were opposed to Jesus. 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’ Acts 4:26 is referencing back to our passage in Psalm 2.
The Gospel of Luke shows that the rulers of the world were plotting together.
66 When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, 67 “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, 68 and if I ask you, you will not answer. 69 But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.” Luke 22:66-71 (ESV)
So there they are, all plotting together to kill God’s anointed one, but note that they — even these evil men — accomplished “whatever God’s hand and God’s plan had predestined to take place”, as it says in our Acts passage.
GOD IS IN CONTROL. He was in control even in that most heinous sin the world has ever known – the murder of His own Son.
Thus we see how futile it is to fight against the Lord. His will is done. The plotting of the peoples is in vain because God is in control. How foolish it is to oppose the Sovereign Lord.
EVEN IN MIDST OF THE VERY WORST THING IMAGINABLE, THE LORD REMAINS IN CONTROL. And that's a hard reality to keep in focus. Especially in our day, when there are so many media portals painting so many different pictures of the world. Our emotions get stirred up and our heart begins to burn with anger, let’s be careful to not become a people who rage and plot in vain.
Here is what we need to remember...the world is ultimately not chaotic because GOD REMAINS IN CONTROL. And He always will remain in control. We don’t need to pull a ”Bruce Almighty” role reversal which will only make things worse and “burn God’s nose.”
Now, the passage from Acts allows us briefly to consider an important point in Biblical interpretation. The New Testament interpretations of the Old are definitive interpretations! When Jesus, or Paul, or Peter, or any other NT writer explains an Old Testament passage, they do so correctly because they are being guided by the Holy Spirit. And so when Luke says that Psalm 2 is about Jesus, we must agree. In fact, from New Testament references like this, we see that the Psalms are all about Jesus. Jesus is everywhere in the Psalms. (https://www.douglasdouma.com/2020/08/08/sermon-on-psalm-21-12-is-the-world-out-of-control/)
I hope that we’ll come to appreciate this fact better as we continue in our series on the book of Psalms.
Ok so, we saw the trouble in the world around us, and the wrath and sovereign control of the God above us. So now let’s look to the path before us.
The passage is clear — Blessed are all who take refuge in him. And we must indeed take refuge in the Lord. In the Lord we find stability. He is steadfast. We find assurance of our salvation in Him. Nowhere else, in no other religion do we find such assurance of salvation. Every other faith puts the burden of salvation on the individual. Only in Christianity do we see a God who lovingly reaches out to the lost and makes the way back to righteousness possible.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, the Bible tells us, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (I tell my kids that all the time...LOL)
Those who don’t seek counsel in the Lord, but seek counsel among men shall be broken 9...with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel”. The wrath of the Lord is upon them. The nations are rushing to the slaughter.
Thus the Psalmist warns 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. Psalm 2:10-12 (ESV)
The path before us then is to serve the Lord. And we are to take refuge in him.
Let me ask you this, did anybody just completely rage out in the last year? Like I said earlier, it was a tough year, anyone in here just totally lose it and rage out? Anyone just lose your mind over nothing? I can’t be alone on this. In the last year of craziness, haven’t there just been triggers for us that in hindsight were probably nothing… but it felt like “Something” at the time didn’t it? Anyone experience some disappointment?
So when everything seems chaotic, and we have our little rage-out tantrum, are we believing that God is in control?
When the earth shakes, are we holding on to the Rock? Or are we relying on ourselves to stand firm? When you don’t know what to do, or what to say, or what to think, look to the Word of God for your answer. The news each day or the events in your life may be swirling chaos, anger, and death, but the Lord and His Word remains a comfort and guide. A sturdy foundation on which to stand.
We need to fuel our daily living from the Word of God. I spoke in November about recalibrating our conscience to God’s signal or His broadcast. That’s kind of what this passage is saying, right? Christian Joy is rooted in hope and when the text says, “Blessed are all who take refuge in him”, the refuge is where we can find some hope, right?
What does it mean to take refuge? When you take refuge in something physical, you are trusting it will take care of you or at least make you feel safe and secure. When we take refuge in God, we are offering that trust to him instead. (https://whatyoumakeitblog.com/what-does-it-mean-to-take-refuge-in-god/)
What would you say your ratio is when you look at how much news media you take in versus how much time you spend in the Bible? Does our time in the Word of God out way our time in social and news media? Listen, I’m guilty of it too. I’m not here to pretend I’m better than you in this. We both need to heed the words for scripture found here in Psalm 2. This is for all of us who claim Christ as our anointed King. Taking refuge in Him is where we find the hope that produces Christian joy. Which is a joy that cannot be extinguished permanently.
What happens when we search for refuge or joy in the things of this world? A lot of times we allow the things, the “fads”, of the world to become our refuge. It promises truth, but... the world changes its mind from day to day. You can’t rely on anything found in it. For decades now, culture has promoted the idea that there is no truth. Truth is relative to the individual, which is silly and self-defeating in a way. Because, if there is no truth, then that very statement is itself not true, and the one speaking it is shown to be a fool. Right??
And in a stunning act of irony, the same people who were promoting the idea that there is no truth, are now willing to stand boldly to promote the new “truths” of abortion, same-sex attraction, submission to authority, and justice for all people. But I thought they said there was no true truth?
So, while the nations plot in vain, we are called to rely on the Lord and Him alone. We are to live in such a way as Christians that the world will know us by our love. This is the path before us. Do not be violent. Love your neighbor as yourself. Follow the laws of God. Believe in His word. Walk-in His ways. Trust in His promises. Pray for your enemies. Be a light on the hill. Take refuge in the Lord.
We have seen in Luke’s Gospel that Christians are to expect persecution. Jesus was persecuted, so shall we be persecuted. Now in Psalm 2 we find that it is a persecuting world. The people hate the Law of God and hate His people. There is a rebellion against the greatest king of all, the Lord Jesus. So we should not be surprised when we find opposition not merely to ourselves as Christians, but to the church in general. This is all part of God’s plan. And the death of Jesus was in God’s plan. And while from one perspective this was the worst event in world history we know also that it was the most necessary and most gracious event in world history. God has arranged history for our sake and His glory. And he arranged for his son Jesus Christ to die for our sake. Praise be to God.
As we wrap up our time, I want us to think about where in our lives we are raging against God, plotting in vain against His will. Fighting against His plan for us, or being unwilling to submit to His authority over our lives. The “nations rage” because they don’t take refuge in Christ. We need to be a people who take refuge in Him, that is, to trust Him in all circumstances, believing Him when He says “Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”
This is the ultimate end of the path before us. We will no longer have this world around us, but a world renewed by the God above us. Let us take comfort in God’s plans, though we might not always understand the details. I assure you, He is in control. The Lord Above us guides the path before us. (https://www.douglasdouma.com/2020/08/08/sermon-on-psalm-21-12-is-the-world-out-of-control/)
God, the world around us can seem out of control and we can find ourselves questioning your goodness or sovereignty. Please help us to remember that you are not a far off, distant God who is disengaged. You are closer than a brother, and one in whom we can take refuge. You are a mighty fortress, you are trustworthy and in control. Jesus, we thank you for your faithfulness and obedience to the Father and it’s because of that obedience that we get to spend eternity in your presence. Holy Spirit, we ask for your comfort and protection to surround us when the nations rage. We love you God, and it’s in the powerful name of Jesus that we pray. Amen
May you go … with faith that the Lord Above us guides the path before us.
Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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