The World is Coming to an End - But we Have a King part 2

I want to point out something that maybe some of you did notice. That was kind of a Christmas song, was it not? That is one of the Sovereign Grace songs that we sing sometimes. Brother Keith uses lots of Sovereign Grace music. It's a very good resource. I would encourage you to be familiar with their ministry. They have great, great music that is good for our personal worship time. We use their music in our home. But the name of that song was "He Who Is Mighty." It really sounds like a Christmas song. And it is a Christmas song, but it's more of a Psalm 2 song than you know. So with that in your mind, hold on to that song.

Hold on to what we've just sung. And I want you to see and notice a little later how that really fits into where we're going this morning. Well, I would ask you to please take your Bible and turn back to Psalm 2. Psalm 2. Last Sunday evening we covered verses 1-6. And like I said earlier in our scripture reading, we're going to finish up the chapter. We just needed to divide this message into a part 1 and a part 2 because of time. I want to be good stewards with our time. And I want us to be able to take our time. We're not in a hurry. We want to be able to divide these verses and take in all that the Lord wants to give us.

Now, I want to remind you of how Psalm 2 and Psalm 1 relate to one another. Remember, our first message in the series was in Psalm 1. And then we stepped immediately over into Psalm 2. I mentioned this last week. In the Hebrew Old Testament, Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 are 1. They are 1. And I said last week that Psalm 1 was really an indication of what is to come. Now, what is that? Psalm 1 was very devotional. It is. It's very personal. It's very practical. One commentator said, "It's really just word-centered. It's all about our personal relationship to the word." Now, why do I bring that back up?

I want you to see that we should expect to see more practical and personal teaching. We should expect to see some very deep and devotional teaching centered around the word and our relationship to God and the word. Now, why do I bring that up? I'm already studying for the next Psalm. And the next Psalm will be Psalm 3. And what you're going to see is when we get into Psalm 3, it's going to sound a lot like Psalm 1. It's not going to sound very much like Psalm 2. And I'm showing you that as we progress, we're going to have lots of material that's very deep and very devotional, very personal, very practical.

But then I also said last week that Psalm 2 is an indication of what is to come in the book also. Psalm 2 is very, very big. It deals with the world and world events. It really deals with the bigness of God. We see into eternity and how God is dealing with peoples and nations and kings. And we should expect to see more teaching like Psalm 2 as well. We will see a side of God that many of us need to see certain character traits and attributes. I have a list that I've been using in my study time. Not only will we see the mercy of God and the graciousness of God, but we'll see the greatness of God, the holiness of God.

We'll see God as the most high God, a sovereign God, a wise God, and even a wrathful God. Those are not some attributes that some of you have studied in your life. And see, I want us to see that both of these, both of these types of Psalms have a purpose for us. We need that devotional time. We need that practical teaching that relates to us personally. But we also need to see things like Psalm 2 to see some things about God in the world and how God interacts with the world. Now I want to give you some background here that will help you. Psalm 1 and 2, they are attributed to King David. I think we know who King David was.

They are attributed to King David. As a matter of fact, in Acts 4, verse 25, we see that the early church attributed this Psalm, Psalm 2 to David. And it is important to see that David wrote many, many of the Psalms. Now this is good. I want to guide you in an area of study in your own life. And I want you to see that this is good. Because if we study King David's life, we can see his great successes and even his great failures. Remember our message this morning on lust and adultery and what that meant? David needed that message, did he not? Because of his great failure.

But what we can do is study the life of David and study the Psalms of David. And we can see God working in the life of an individual that we really do know a whole lot about. And that is King David. But notice what we can do. We can be very, very disciplined to go from a book like Psalms and then go into Old Testament Scriptures and study the life of David. And we can see the heart of this great man. We can see David pouring out his heart to God in the Psalms. And then we can see God working out in his life historically in other Old Testament books. And listen, this can be very devotional.

And we can see how God is working in the heart of a man. And we can see a man being very honest before God as God is working in his life in very difficult circumstances. I won't read them because of time. We see David's heart in Psalm 3, verses 1 to 4. Psalm 5, verses 1 and 2. And Psalm 6, verses 1, 2 and 3. What am I showing you? These are the personal Psalms of David where he is crying out to God. And listen, learning that the mighty King David wrote many of these Psalms helps us see the personal side of the Christian life. And this is all very, very good. Now I want to get back to our Psalm for tonight. Psalm chapter 2.

Last week we saw that Psalm 2 is what the Old Bible commentator J. Vernon McGee, he called the drama for the ages. I've just held on to that in my own study. I like that. This is the drama for the ages. It almost sounds like a very good book or a very good movie. He said that in Psalm 2 that we have one camera on earth and then one camera in heaven. That is a very good way to visualize the Psalm. But you know, for me, I've shared this last week. I have imagined these verses as beautiful, beautiful windows. I guess the imagery comes from the stained glass windows here in the life of our church. That's where I got that visual from.

This church building that we have been able to rent, we're very thankful. Most of you know that we've moved our church worship. We moved to a new facility and we're in the heart of Brookhaven and we were able to acquire the old first Presbyterian church. I'm very thankful. I was looking up earlier at two of the great windows here. The one facing the east in the middle. It has the Word of God, the Bible. And so what is they saying through that beautiful stained glass window? They're saying the supremacy of the Word, the authority of the Word. We submit to the Word. And then in the great window facing to the west.

In the middle is a crown and that would speak to King Jesus. Now what am I showing you? In these Psalms we have four beautiful stained glass windows. And we see these windows. They tell the story of human history and God's interaction in human history. But more specifically, we have the window of man's rebellion against God in verses 1, 2, and 3. We have the window of God's reaction to man's rebellion in verses 4 to 6. That was what we studied last week. And tonight we will examine the second two windows. The window of God's reign in verse 7, 8, and 9. And then the window of man's responsibility in verses 10 to 12.

So with all of that said, let's read our verses and then we'll get into the body of the message. Let's go back to verse 7. Here we see God speaking because this is all in quotations. God says, "I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, 'Thy art my son; today I have a cotton thee. Ask of me, and I will surely give the nations as thy inheritance, in the very ends of the earth as thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron." Some translations say scepter. "And thou shalt shadow them like earthenware," or clay pods. Now therefore, O kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth.

Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the sun. Some say, "Kiss the king lest he become angry, and you perish in the way. For his wrath may soon be kindled." And then the last phrase, "How blessed are all who take refuge in him." So let's start off with window number 3 because we covered window number 1 and number 2 last week. Let's look at window number 3 and that is in verses 7, 8, and 9. And this is what I'm calling God's reign. God's reign. Now here we see this drama. It just is continuing to unfold. Just like in verses 4, 5, and 6, here in these verses 7, 8, and 9, we see God's activity.

And just like in verses 4, 5, and 6, here we see God and I use this imagery. He is cracking the door and he is allowing us to see in the heaven and in eternity. Now notice an important detail here. God is speaking. God is speaking. In verses 7, 8, and 9, they are all in quotations. And I'm reading from the New American Standard and they have these verses in quotations. I said last week that in verse 6, it was God's response to the question in verse 3. Remember I said that John MacArthur, he just kind of captures it because he says verse 3 is really the puny challenge. The puny challenge from mankind.

And then in verse 6, he says that this is God's powerful pronouncement. So here in verses 7, 8, and 9, we see God speaking. And I would say that verses 7, 8, and 9 are still a part of God's powerful pronouncement. Still in response to that puny, puny pronouncement of the nations. Now in verses 7, 8, and 9, I want us to see a few details. There's really a lot here. So follow along with me very well. First, I want us to see, first I want us to notice we see the identity of the king. We see this in verse 7. We see the identity of the king. Look back at verse 7. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord.

He said to me, thou art my son, and today I have begotten thee. Really verse 7 is a continuation of what we see in verse 6. Back in verse 6, we saw the introduction of the king. Well here in verse 7, we see the identification of the king. But here we see some important details which help us see this identification of the king. Notice we see a decree. We see a decree. This speaks to what God had previously said of King David's heir. This goes back to 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 8 to 16. These verses describe the basis for David's, King David's kingdom. This speaks to the promised Messiah as coming from David's family line.

So simply this is messianic. This speaks of the coming Messiah. Then notice we see the son. We see in verse 7 the son. This title the son speaks to three important facts concerning the son. As the son, he does have an intimate relationship with the father. But also as the son, he is subordinate to the father. But remember, he is the king. This son is the king. As the son, the kingship and rule is divinely prescribed by God to him. And as the son, the king represents God the father and therefore is the mediator of his authority and reign. Simply this is the unique relationship between God the father and God the son as God.

And then notice that we see the begotten of God. We see the begotten of God. Go back to the verse. "I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, "Thou art my son. Today I have begotten thee." This is prophetic in nature. This verse is quoted all throughout the New Testament in relation to who? Jesus as the Messiah. Especially concerning his birth. So we see that this king is the begotten of God. And we see him made known at the incarnation, the birth of Christ. This is what we sung about earlier in that Christmas song. So first what do we see? We see the identity of this king.

In verse 6 we see that he was introduced and now in verse 7 we see his identity. So let's continue. Second, we see the destiny of the king. In verses 8 and 9 we see the destiny of the king. I want to go back and read those verses. "Ask of me and I will surely give the nations as thine inheritance. And the very ends of the earth as thy possession, thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, and thou shalt shatter them like earthenware or clay pots." The anointed king is installed in the capital city. The capital city of Zion. We saw that in verse 6 last week. He is God's son who is bearing God's kingdom.

That is what we are seeing here in verses 7 or verses 8 and 9. God's kingdom ruled through his son the king. Now most of you know that I love to ask questions when I preach. And I do that purposefully. I do that to engage our minds. And I want to ask you a few questions here. Two questions, what and how. What and how. So what does this destiny, what does this destiny to rule look like? In verse 8 God promises to give the nations to the son. All the nations. All their possessions. All their lands. Now the how. How does this work out? In verse 9 it says that the nations will be judged with a rod of iron.

This means he will have the power to exercise judgment over the nations as king. Verse 9 shows the nations will be like mere clay pots. Smashed with the righteous judgment of God's king which is Jesus. Now this is prophetic in nature. We see this played out in the future. We see it in the book of Revelation. So we see the destiny of the king and that is to judge the nations. So in summary notice what we see here. Going all the way back even into verse 6. We see that God installed his king in Zion. That is Jerusalem the capital city of God. God then continues to by identifying his king as his son. The only begotten of God.

We also see the divine destiny of this king. He will judge all the nations. His judgment will be thorough because he will judge every corner of the earth. His judgment will be final in that he will smash these rebellious nations like simple clay pots. Now just imagine. Just imagine with me God the son judging all the nations with his rod of perfect justice. Bashing them just like simple clay pots. Why? For their rebellion. Their rebellion that we studied in verses 1, 2, and 3. And not only their rebellion more. We will see them more as we continue. Now at this point I want us to take a step back here. I do that from time to time.

Sometimes we dig deep into the verses and then we step back and we get a broader picture. We can have a tendency to see Jesus only on earth. Think about it. Or maybe sitting at the right hand of the father. We know the Christmas story and the Easter story. Yes he was the begotten of God while he was on earth. Yes he was the suffering servant who went to the cross. We know the story. Mankind and nations reviled him while he was on earth. They abused him and ultimately they murdered him. And we know the Easter story. He ascended back to heaven and is seated on the right hand at the right hand of God the father. We know that picture of Jesus.

We do. But we need to see King. We need to see Jesus as the King in future glory. You see? We need to see Jesus as King in the future. For us these are future events. We see all peoples, all nations, even mighty kings who have rebelled against him being judged and destroyed. This is the righteous judgment of God. And again he is cracking the door and we're looking into eternity. Now an application. What must we see here? I've already touched on this a little. We need to see Jesus in his fullness. Now what I mean by that is we see Jesus at creation. Hopefully you know that Jesus was there at the creation.

If we go back to that Genesis account in the original language that was all pluralistic language. It wasn't singular God. It was pluralistic language. We know that that speaks of Jesus. But John chapter 1 verse 3 says that all things came into being by him. Who is him? Jesus. And apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being. So Jesus is the creator God. But also we need to see Jesus in a manger. Jesus in the manger. He was the incarnation of God. He came as God, the God-man. And we know the Christmas story. That is the incarnation of God. And then we must see Jesus after the resurrection.

What happened after the resurrection? He ascended to be with God the Father. And he is seated at the right hand of the Father. Some of you may know Jesus at the creation. Most of you know Jesus in the manger. And the Jesus of the resurrection. And even Jesus at the right hand of the Father. But you need to see Jesus at the judgment. That's what Psalm 2 is. You see? God is peeking the door into heaven, into glory, into eternity. And we see Jesus as judge. And he will judge the nations. Well the righteous judgment. You know I go back to what J. Vernon McGee he called this, the drama for the ages. Remember now we're peeking into glory.

We're peeking into eternity. This is the drama for the ages. Not some cheap dime store Bible play. Not some expensive elaborate program that we could put on to try to communicate who Jesus is. God himself has cracked open the door in the glory. And yes we see Jesus as creator. Jesus in the manger. Jesus resurrected to the right hand of the Father. But now we see Jesus as judge. But let's continue. Let's look at window number 4. And that is man's responsibility. Window number 4 verses 10 to 12. This is man's responsibility. Let's go back to the verses. "Now therefore, O kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth.

Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the sun." Some translations say kiss the king. "Least he become angry and you perish in the way. For his wrath may soon be kindled. And how blessed are all who take refuge in him." Now with verses 10 to 12 we see a shift back to man. But not totally. Not like we saw in verses 1, 2, and 3. In verses 1, 2, and 3 they were all about man's rebellion. Man's great rebellion. Verses 4 to 9 were all about God's interaction. His reaction and his reign. But here in verses 10, 11, and 12 we see a call. A call. One commentator that I studied this week.

He called verses 10 to 12 the concluding call. And that is what we have here. A call to the kings and peoples and nations who have rebelled against God. Now at this point I want you to hold on to this call in your minds. A call from the king. Within this call we have some specifics. And I want us to take some time here in the verses. First we see that we have a call to the wise. A call to be wise. First we have a call to be wise. Look at verse 10. "Therefore, O kings, show discernment." Here in verse 10, God is calling the kings of the earth to wisdom. The new American that I'm reading from uses the word discernment.

But this is a serious call. This is a sober call. The psalmist goes on to issue a warning, does he not? Look back at the verse. "Now therefore, O kings, show discernment." Take warning, O judges of the earth. So he is calling the nations to wisdom. And he's calling them to heed that warning to take wisdom. And then second, we have a call to serve. We see this in verse 11. What does he say?

"Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling." Here the English Standard verse reads, version it reads, "Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling." This word serves speaks to the surrender of one's will and the submission of one's heart. Here is a call for the kings and the nations of the peoples of the earth to come under the true king's authority, and that would be King Jesus. The picture here is of a slave willingly surrendering to his master. But a very important question, how? How? How should the kings and nations surrender with joy? What does the verse say? "With joy and fear." We see that in verse 11.

This is joy and fear out of respect and reverence in all. So he is calling the nations and the kings to surrender and serve the one true king, to surrender to and serve the one true king. And then third, we have a call to worship. Notice how it's progressing. We have a call to be wise, we have a call to serve, and then third, we have a call to worship. Verse 12, "Do homage to the Son, lest he become angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath may soon be kindled." Now we go to the next step. From a heart of service, now we move to the heart of worship. You see? From a heart of surrender, we move to a heart of worship.

The New American, it reads, "Do homage to the Son." The English standard that I study as well says, "Kiss the Son." For the Psalmist to call the nations to kiss the Son, it is a call to worship. This kiss is symbolic. This speaks of submission. One commentator called this, "The concrete sign of surrender." Now we see this kiss all throughout the Old Testament. I'll read you one example. In 1 Kings chapter 19, we see that there were 7,000 in Israel that did not bow down to the pagan god of Baal. Verse 18 says that they did not kiss Baal, meaning they had not worship Baal.

So here we see this call to kiss the true king, to surrender to and worship the true king. So in summary, notice we see, this is man's responsibility. The responsibility of the kings and nations to be wise. God is calling the peoples and nations and kings to serve and worship the one true king who is Jesus. God's king who is installed on his throne in his capital city of Jerusalem. Now again, I want to take a step back here. In your mind and heart, take a step back here. Let's look at a bigger picture. I want us to see what else is going here. We must see this warning and call. God gives a warning in verse 10.

The New American reads, "Take warning." God is giving a serious warning to the peoples, kings and nations. Also, he's giving a call in verse 11 that there is a call to worship, a call to worship God's king who is Jesus. So God warns the nations and he calls the nations. I like that. He warns the nations and he calls the nations. But there's more consequences, ramifications. There are consequences to their actions. Oh, if they refuse, the nations will experience God's anger and God's wrath we see in verse 12. Oh, but if they surrender, if they surrender and worship, they will experience blessing and security. You see the consequences?

Go back to the verse. "Do homage to the Son, kiss the king. Least he become angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath may soon be kindled." How blessed are all who take refuge in him. But there's more. This is a broader observation. Again, I'm stepping back some more. We must see that Psalm 2 is evangelistic. That might surprise you. This is addressed to the nations who are in rebellion against God. Go back to verses 1, 2, and 3. Why are the nations in an uproar? And then verse 3, what are the nations saying? "Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us." They're breaking away from God's sovereign rule and reign.

So what do we see? Psalm 2 points the nations to the king and he warns them of judgment if they do not surrender to the king. Psalm 2 points the nations to the king who promises to bless them if they will obey this call. One commentator, I don't remember who said it. He said that Psalm 2 beats with a missionary heart. Do you hear that? He says that Psalm 2 beats with a missionary heart. I'll add to that. Psalm 2 beats with the missionary heart of God. You see that? This is the missionary heart of God. And this call from the heart of God to the nations, to the peoples, and to the kings, what do we see? And they have a responsibility to God.

So in summary, notice what we see. This is a lot. The evangelistic heart of God calling the peoples of the earth to the sun for blessing and security. And if they do not, they will receive what? Judgment, anger, and wrath. Now, application, I want you to see. This is far more personal than you know. I want you to see our responsibility, your responsibility. But notice, you and I cannot be held accountable for the rebellion of government leaders and kings and nations. No. But you and I will be held accountable for our personal rebellion. I need to say that again. You and I will be held accountable for our personal rebellion.

You will be accountable for your rebellion in your life. And listen, friend, Psalm 2 reveals the problem of your rebellion against God. Isn't that what we see in Psalm 2? It's a problem of the nations rebelling against God. But it reveals your problem because you're a part of that rebellion. And Psalm 2 shares the solution which is found in God's Son. Jesus. And Psalm 2 warns you of God's judgment unless you surrender and serve Him. And you know what's sad? In all of my years of ministry, I've seen far more people. I've seen lots of individuals do exactly what the nations did. Do exactly what we see in the nations. What did verse 3 say?

The nations wanted to tear their fetters away from God. Break away from those bonds of love. I've seen teenagers reject God. I've seen teenagers hear the gospel. I've poured in my heart and soul into the lives of young people through the years. And I've watched them rebel and rebel and go the way of the world. I've counseled with people. I've counseled with people involved in grievous sin, marriages that were on the rocks. And I've put out the gospel. I've shared the word. And I've watched men and women rebel against God. And all along, God was doing what we see in Psalm 2.

You know, I have likened this call and this responsibility to a road sign. You know, in our day, we're quarantined. Isn't that right? We can't go to a nice restaurant and enjoy a meal. We enjoy a nice meal at home. But you know, I've said it like this. If we're going down that interstate, if we want to stop at the familiar Cracker Barrel, we just look up and see that road sign. Isn't that right? God tells us exactly what exit to get off on. It tells us right where to go, to go where? To the Cracker Barrel. And all of this is a road sign. This is God's road sign for you. And He's calling you out of your rebellion.

He's calling you to His Son, this Son, the one we see in Psalm 2. And listen, my friend, you have a responsibility to obey this call. Now, in conclusion, I want to call you to remember the title of the message. Remember, I said this was a part one and a part two. It's a rather negative or ominous title. The world is coming to an end. The world is coming to an end. Isn't that what we see? Remember, this is a crack in the door. We see into eternity. We see on into eternity future. And what do we see? God judging the nations through His Son. The world is coming to an end. All that we see and know. And Psalm 2 has given us four windows.

We see man's rebellion. Man's rebellion against God. Then we see God's reaction to that rebellion. And then we see God's reign. Listen, we're not out of control. God is reigning. And then we see man's responsibility. This is the drama for the ages. One camera on earth and one camera in heaven. And I close with the title of the message. The world is coming to an end. I know I've already given this to you. I'm bad about doing this. I'll add to a message title. I'll even change the message title. See, the second part of the message title is this. But we have a king. We have a king. But you know, you relate to this king in one of two ways.

And I want to ask you a question. How are you going to relate to this king? You see, if you're outside of Christ, if you've not been born of God, born of the Spirit, if you've not become a new creation in Christ Jesus, you're just like the nations. You're raging against God. You're rebelling against His word. You have just taken up the reins of your own life and you're going your way. Listen, you are destined to be judged just like the nations. And I don't care how strong you think you may be. You will stand before God. And with His rod of justice as a king, He will smash you to bits in judgment. And so listen to say, but we have a king.

It should be a fearful thing for some. It should be a fearful thought for you if you're outside of Christ. But for those of us who are in Christ, it's very comforting. As we look around the world, and it seems to be coming unhinged, rebellion and sin abounds, perversion is everywhere, and it seems like it's all out of control, but we see God is in control. And one day this world is coming to an end, we have a king, I have a king. If you're in Christ Jesus, He is your king. You've surrendered to Him. You've got a new heart and a new heart in Christ Jesus. And He is your Savior, your Lord, and your king.

And you surrender to Him, and you worship Him, and you serve Him. So when you hear the phrase, but you have a king, we have a king, I have a king, it's comforting. So here's how I want to close. We're in a time of crisis. Yes, global, worldwide pandemic. I was listening to the news as I was driving out to the worship center this afternoon, as I was coming from home, getting ready for church. There are government officials that predict that the next week or two will be even worse. And let that sober you. Let that open up your eyes spiritually.

Some of you out there, you're lost and you need Christ, and God has enabled me to bring you this message. God Himself, this God who wrote Psalm 2, is calling you to the Son. But listen, my friend, listen, brother and sister in Christ, don't fret. If you're born of God, don't worry. God's in control. He's in control of the pandemic. He's in control of every disease and every calamity. He is in control. We just serve Him and love Him, and we just be used of God in this world. He's in control. Why? Because we have a king and He's on the throne, the holy city of God. That is the Hamilton of Zion, as we see in the Scripture.

So what have we looked at tonight? Psalm 2. It's completely different than Psalm 1. Psalm 1 is very personal, very devotional. Go back into Psalm 1. And Psalm 2 is just that crack in the door to see into eternity. And I trust and I pray that both of these Psalms minister to you right where you are in this time. So just as we always do, let's pray over the message, pray over what we've looked at. We want to take it all in. We want the message and the Word of God to form us and mold us. We don't want to be just hearers. We want to be doers. So let's pray over what we've looked at, and then we'll end by looking at the week to come.

So let's pray.