Go ahead and open your Bibles with me to Psalm 2. Psalm 2, at this time kids can be dismissed at Children's Church. Psalm 2, if you're using one of the Pew Bibles, that's page 448. Psalm 2. We'll begin today by reading the entire Psalm. But before we read God's Word, let's pray for help. Let's pray. Father, our desire is to hear you address us through this passage of Scripture. And Lord, we recognize that without your Spirit's help, we can't do that. We are naturally blind and deaf. So please, by your Spirit, Convict us of sin, lead us to repentance. Use this time to renew our minds. We do pray that you would give us hearts of faith that respond, being doers of your word, not hearers only. Help me, Lord, to preach as one preaching the very oracles of God, and we do pray that you would now be glorified in this time. In Jesus we pray, amen. Psalm 2, this is God's word. Why do the nations rage and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers of the earth to counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me, You are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. 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. God give us ears to hear his word. It's open today. I've got a question for you. What feelings do you most associate with Christmas? What feelings, what emotions do you most associate with this holiday we call Christmas? If you've lived in the United States for any length of time, chances are you have very warm, happy, delightful feelings when you think about Christmas time. Am I right? I mean, you might imagine reindeer and snowmen. There's glitter and starlight, evergreen trees. We imagine elves and Santa Claus, roaring fires in the fireplace, chestnuts roasting over the open fire. You know what I'm talking about? These are very warm, happy, comforting feelings that we delight in. And this is sort of the way that most Americans think of Christmas. Am I right? Now, all of that is fun and appropriate. Don't hear me criticizing any of those long, cherished Christmas traditions. In my own family, we observe many of those ourselves. But what I do want us to think about this morning is the way in which much of that way of thinking and feeling is actually quite contrary to the way that the Bible looks at the coming of the Son of God into the world. Some of that thinking is actually, if people really got what Christmas is all about, they'd have the opposite response to feeling warm and comforted. For instead of being this delightful event that everybody loved, that everybody rejoiced in, Jesus' birth was actually a confrontation. It was a confrontation of human pride and rebellion by the king of the universe. And at the end of the day, that's what we need to think about Christmas. It is this, in a way, rebuke of human rebellion. And in those terms, it could not be more different from the way that most Americans think of Christmas. We're gonna see this idea of Jesus' birth being a confrontation of human pride and a rebellion clearly here in Psalm 2. Well, again, many of us love to imagine Jesus as this little baby who's meek and mild, who's been born to bring us peace on earth, goodwill toward men. There is so much more to Jesus' coming than that. This little baby that we're celebrating, he is God's once and future king of the universe. He is the one who's gonna one day rule the entire world with a rod of iron. Therefore, the only wise thing to do, the only smart thing to do, is to embrace him as your king as soon as possible. For anything else is utter foolishness. Well, it's with this that we introduce our second of four Advent sermons. Like we do every year, we've taken a break from our consecutive studies through books of the Bible to carefully consider the birth and coming of our Savior, Christ the Lord. Last week, we looked at a first prophecy of Jesus' birth. Like Stu mentioned, we studied Isaiah 11, and we saw the way in which that baby born in Bethlehem was born in fulfillment of the promises made to King David. Additionally, Isaiah 11 prophesied that during his life, the Messiah would be uniquely endowed with the Holy Spirit. And again, one day, like we're going to see in all of these different passages, he will rule the world in perfect righteousness. That was last week. This week, like I said, we're going to study Psalm 2, another prophecy of Jesus' coming. Lord willing, the following weeks, the 17th and then the 24th, we're going to look at New Testament passages explaining the coming of Jesus. It's just a quick sneak preview of where we're going during these Advent sermons. I'd encourage you to be here, be praying for these sermons, and also think of an unbelieving family member, friend that you might invite along to hear God's word on this topic. Well, turning now to Psalm 2. Psalm 2 really has one big point, and this is going to be the point of our sermon today. It should be up on the wall behind me. This is the point of Psalm 2. You will either bow to the Christmas child and be blessed, or you will rebel against the Christmas child and be broken. I have to show you that this is in fact what this passage is teaching. You will either bow to the Christmas child and be blessed, or you will rebel against the Christmas child and be broken. I realize this sounds so harsh, especially at Christmas time. But hopefully, as we go, you'll see the way in which there is blessing here. The abundant life comes through embracing Jesus as quickly as possible. You either bow to the Christmas child and be blessed, or you rebel against the Christmas child and be broken. Now, to quickly put Psalm 2 in context, Psalm 2 was written by King David roughly 1000 BC. So 1,000 years before that first Christmas where the Virgin Mary gave birth to baby Jesus, David writes this song, probably to be sung in temple worship. Now, how do we know that King David wrote this psalm? The psalm itself actually doesn't tell us this. If you look, there's no title of this psalm. But we do know from the New Testament that David is the author. Listen to Acts 4.25. Peter says, you spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant David. Why do the nations rage and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed. Did you catch that? So when it's quoted in the New Testament, and since we think the New Testament's the word of God, they clearly identify David as the author of this psalm. Now I interpret Psalm 2 as a truly messianic psalm, a truly messianic psalm. Now what does that mean? Well, what I think this psalm is, it's a clear prophecy and prediction about Jesus, about who he is and what he's going to accomplish. Now, I should be clear to emphasize that the entire book of psalms prepares us for and points us to Jesus. And nearly all of the psalms can be tangentially applied to Jesus in one way or another. And yet there are these prophecies, these messianic psalms that are about nobody other than Jesus. And I put psalm two in that category. Psalm 2 is Psalm 2. Realize the Psalms are not just thrown in the book of Psalms all willy-nilly. There's actually an order here, and they're carefully chosen and placed intentionally. And there are a couple of reasons for that. Let me share them with you. First, Psalm 2 provides us with the remedy since we've all failed to live up to Psalm 1. It's part of the reason why it's the second Psalm. Psalm 2 provides us with the remedy since we've all fallen short of Psalm 1. Do you remember what Psalm 1 is talking about? We haven't cited it in a while, but it's all about that blessed man who meditates on the word of God day and night. His life's going to be rich like this tree that's just overflowing with fruit. You remember reading that? That's great and all, but what about all of us who have fallen short? All of us who have failed to meditate on God's Word day and night. You know, really, what about all of us who have, instead of meditating on Scripture, just continued scrolling through our phone, or continued Netflix going on to the next show, and the Bible collects dust on our shelves? Is there no hope for me? Well, that's exactly why Psalm 2 is right here after Psalm 1. All of us need a Redeemer. We need a Savior, and Psalm 2 is all about that Savior. There's another reason why Psalm 2 is Psalm 2. And that's because Psalm 1 and Psalm 2, they extol the most basic virtues of the Christian life. I mean, these are the two most fundamentals, God's Word and God's Messiah. I mean, again, think about these themes. Psalm 1, how great the Bible is and how we need to meditate on it day and night. What would be more important to teach a brand new Christian, or even somebody that's not a Christian yet, the importance of meditating on God's Word? Additionally, Psalm 2, the promised Messiah, I fix my mind on him, my heart on him. You put these together and you've got the two most basic fundamentals of the Christian life. You can think about it this way, your attitude toward the word of God and your attitude toward Jesus are the most important thing about you. And again, that's why Psalm 2 is right here at the beginning of the book of Psalms. Well, keeping that in mind, let's dig into Psalm 2. And the first thing I want you to consider with me is the nation's hatred of Christmas. We'll see this in verses 1 through 3. I recognize even saying that now, that feels odd. It feels shocking. You know, doesn't everybody love Christmas? Well, when rightly understood, the nations will actually hate the true meaning of Christmas. Pick up in verse 1. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. Pause there. Now, as you can see in this psalm, David is describing a continual problem, a perennial problem. This is the problem that has characterized our world since Adam's fall, people rebelling against the Lord. Now, a couple of things I want to point out to you. First, you notice Lord there. The kings set themselves against the Lord. Now, I know that I've explained this about a bazillion times, but take careful note when Lord is in all capitals. You know, if you're looking at your Bible right now, which I hope you're doing, Lord there, it's capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. You all see that? Realize that whenever that occurs in the Old Testament, this is the proper name of God. God is God. That's what he is. But he has a name, and his name is the Lord. It's sometimes pronounced Jehovah. Realize that's the case whenever you've got Lord in all capitals. This is the God who created the universe out of nothing. The God who chose Abraham and gave him those precious promises about the promised land, the seed, and the blessing. This is the God who redeemed Israel out of Egypt. The God who speaks to us in the Bible. That is the Lord, the Jehovah, against whom these nations are rebelling. But then look at that term anointed. So they rebel against the Lord and his anointed. Now that word anointed is actually a very important word. I virtually never bring up Greek and Hebrew terms, but this is a Hebrew term that's worth knowing. It's the term Messiah. You ever heard of that before? Messiah is actually a Hebrew word and it means anointed and the especially anointed one, the king that God has chosen to one day rule the world. And what I want you to notice here is the relationship between the Lord and his anointed, or his Messiah. There's a wonderful relationship here. There's such a relationship between the Lord and his Messiah that to rebel against the one is to rebel against the other, and to embrace the one is to embrace the other. You see? Now this is so vital in our day. You hear all the time that Americans believe in God. You know, even as much as America's gone the direction that it's gone in the last 20 years, still something like 80, 90% of Americans claim to believe in God. We've got, in God we trust, on our currency. There's a phrase about God in the Pledge of Allegiance. You know, we really think we're the people that trust in God. And what I want to emphasize is that obviously that's good. We don't want to turn to atheism. But until your hope is in Jesus, a vague belief in some big man upstairs really has very little Value. Until your hope is in his son, the Lord Jesus, God's Messiah, you're not yet right with God. This is exactly what Jesus taught us during his life in ministry. Listen to John 5.22. For the father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the son, that all may honor the son just as they honor the father. Now get this next sentence. Whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. Your attitude toward Jesus is your attitude toward God. Think about that. Your attitude toward Jesus is your attitude toward God, and if you don't honor Jesus, his Messiah, you're not honoring the Lord. This is why Jesus said in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. If you're here today and you're not a Christian, you don't consider yourself a follower of Jesus, we're honored you're here. Sincerely, thank you for coming. You're always welcome to be with us. But maybe you're thinking, you know, I think me and God are on good terms. I believe that there is a God, and you know, I haven't murdered anybody, so we must be good, God and me. I need to communicate to you in love that God is not okay with that. You might be okay with that, but God is not okay with that. He is saying your attitude toward my Messiah, toward Jesus, is your attitude toward me. And if you're rejecting Jesus, do not think we are on good terms. A few more things to ponder here. Notice the way in which the folks in this verse, they view service to God as just this miserable tyranny. They look at God as just this cruel dictator. Who would want to ever serve him? Realize this is our attitude toward God in our flesh. This is how we all tend to think of God, is this harsh taskmaster, and that serving him, doing things his way, that that's just the most miserable life conceivable. Realize that is a lie of the devil, that the devil is used thousands of times to deceive people. Underlying all of this is the reality that humanity's proper role is as God's servant. Did you know that? This is who I have been made to be. This is who you have been made to be, to live gladly under God's loving leadership. That's actually the way life always functions best. And yet the problem is, due to our sin, we don't want God telling us what to do. I mean, just be honest with yourself. Do you like it when God says you can't do something you really want to do, or that you need to do something that you really don't want to do? We don't like that, do we? And that's why by nature in our hearts we say, let us burst their bonds and cast away their cords from us. Let's throw off God's tyrannical yoke. We do this individually, but as this Psalm indicates, entire nations do this as nations. Did you know that? This is something that we really need to grapple with. Not only do individuals rebel against the Lord, but nations, like people groups, rebel against the Lord. This is actually all over the Bible. Think about the Tower of Babel, the Egyptians, Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, Nineveh, Edom, Assyria, even the nation of Israel toward the latter half of the Old Testament. Nations rebel against God as nations. And do we see this taking place today? Absolutely. Nations continue to rebel against God and his Messiah. I think you can interpret what Hamas did, killing those 1,200 innocent men, women, and children, as raging against God and his Messiah. You think about North Korea, always threatening to blow everybody up and firing missiles into the ocean, raging against God and his Messiah. Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, a whole list of countries persecuting Christians. It's raging against the Messiah. But let's be honest here, the United States is just as guilty as any nation, aren't we? I mean, the good old U.S. of A., in God we trust and our currency, we rage against the Lord and against his anointed. I mean, think about it. Our most popular music celebrates immorality. Our movies are characterized by perversity. I mean, what can we say about our politicians? Do I need to say anything? Public schools are teaching boys can become girls and girls can become boys. Doctors are performing these radical gender mutilation surgeries and saying it's a good thing. Through abortion, we've executed over 60 million innocent babies. What is this? Humans, our nation, the United States, rebelling against God and against His anointed. Realize, I know that our nation has a rich heritage of believing in God and of Christian influence, and all of that is true, and I appreciate that. But nonetheless, as we look at the nation today, we are saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. We're not going to do things in God's way. We're going to do things our way. And realize whenever any nation does that, tries to cast God's laws aside and do things as is right in their own eyes, they fall under the condemnation of Psalm 2. I actually think we see an illustration of the nation's hatred of Christmas in one of the nativity stories. It's one of the lesser known nativity stories in the New Testament, but it's actually the one that Jay read earlier. Remember what Herod did when he heard about Jesus? Matthew 2, 12. Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem, and all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men." I won't for the sake of time pursue this, but do realize that Satan is behind every effort to kill babies. But thinking about that account, what is that other than the nations raging against the Lord and against his anointed? That's what the nations will naturally do in the flesh once they really get the true meaning of Christmas. And the fact that America doesn't respond this way to Christmas, I tend to think it's because we haven't communicated clearly enough in our preaching and our teaching what Christmas is actually all about. One more thing from these particular verses. Notice the connection between the kings and their nations and the Messiah and his people. I realize we're kind of reading between the lines here, but I do think that this is implied. And the idea is that if the nations hate the Messiah, inevitably they'll hate the Messiah's people as well. Pastor Del Ralph Davis has a very helpful little commentary on Psalms 1 through 12. It's called The Way of the Righteous and the Mock of Life. It's in our church library. I'd encourage you to check it out. But he says this, Psalm 2 implies the Messiah's people will pay a huge price for belonging to him. This enmity will vary in intensity from time to time. But on the whole, history runs red with the blood of the Messiah's members. Isn't this what Jesus promised us? John 15, 18. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hates you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, this is something you simply need to prepare yourself for. As time goes on and as American culture continues to turn against Christianity, I believe this is going to intensify. Of course, I'm no prophet and who knows what the future holds. But based on the current trajectory of our culture, I don't see how something like violent hatred toward Christians is not really right around the corner. So for those of us who are followers of Jesus, begin preparing yourself mentally, spiritually for this, maybe even financially. Prepare yourself for harassment at work for being a Christian. for being attacked online, prepare yourself for possibly losing your job because you won't put the LGBT ribbon on your vest or whatever. Anticipate this, prepare yourself for it, for to not do so is simply foolish. And if and when this happens, realize this will simply increase all the more your need for a good local church. As the world turns against Christianity, you're gonna need all the more brothers and sisters who will pray for you, encourage you, hold you up in the faith, Or again, this is the nation's hatred of Christmas. Moving on, consider with me next the Christmas confrontation of the nations. We'll see this in verses four through six, the Christmas confrontation of the nations. In verse four, we read, he who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Now pause there. This is so unexpected in a way. And we hear about the nations raging and about all that's going on, and we kind of start shaking in our boots. But what is the almighty maker of heaven and earth doing? Is God up there wringing his hands thinking, oh no, what am I going to do? What am I going to do, these countries rebelling against me? No, it says, he who sits in the heavens laughs. And it's a laughter of scorn, scoffing. It's almost as if the Lord is saying, what were they thinking, rebelling against me? The kind of laughter portrayed here, it's kind of like, you ever seen say this NBA player on a basketball court and there's like a kindergartner trying to like really play it up with him. And you know the kindergartner is taking it seriously but the basketball player might be holding the ball above his head like gripping the ball. You know it's almost hilarious. What's this kid thinking? Or here's another way to imagine it. Imagine there's a platoon of Marines all decked out in their gear and you've got this guy, this crazy guy charging him with a squirt gun. You're like, what is that guy thinking? That's the kind of attitude God takes toward human rebellion. These great nations that are blowing up buildings and killing babies and redefining marriage, God is sitting in heaven scoffing at them. What are you thinking? How could you be so foolish as to think that you could rebel against me, I who created this universe out of nothing? You're really going to take me on? You really want to do this? Brothers and sisters, when you find yourself worked up by what's going on in our country, remind yourself of this perspective. You've got to do this. I mean, you watch enough news, you read enough internet nonsense, and you can get pretty down, can't you? I mean, any of you been there? Get all worked up about what's going on in politics and in every culture? Here's what I encourage you to do. From time to time, turn the news off, turn the computer off, and instead, with the eyes of faith, look to heaven and see Him who is seated on the throne. See him laughing there, scoffing there, and remind yourself that while, yes, this is foolish and sinful and wicked and destructive, all that we're doing, the sufferings of this present life aren't worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. And one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, you see? This, by the way, is one of the most important things the Psalms do for us. The Psalms confront and change our perspective. We need this. The Psalms confront and change our perspective. We are getting bombarded 24-7 by this very earthly, temporal perspective, that the things that you can feel and touch and experience, that that's all there is to life. And if you're not careful, you breathe that perspective enough, and you'll get really, really down. You'll start despairing, thinking, man, this life is awful, just bottom of the barrel miserable. But again, what the Psalms help us to do, they help us to look to heaven and see Him who is seated on the throne. So train yourself to look with the eyes of faith at this world, and the Psalms are a great tool to help you do that. That way you can have joy even when it feels like the world is falling apart. Another thing to notice in verses five and six, notice what the Lord says to those rebelling against him. Verses five and six, he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. Now let's think through this. What is the Lord's response to human rebellion? Again, these nations raging against God. The response is this king. This king who would be born in a manger. This king laying in hay. This king who would grow up and die on a cross. This king who will one day be seated in Zion. That's the response of God to human rebellion. Spurgeon had a great quote on this verse. Listen to what he said. He said, is not verse six a grand exclamation? He has already done that which the enemy seeks to prevent. While they're proposing, he has disposed the matter. Jehovah's will is done and man's will frets and raves in vain. This next sentence is classic Spurgeon, by the way. God's anointed is appointed and shall not be disappointed. Look back through all the ages of infidelity, hearken to the high and hard things which men have spoken against the most high. Listen to the rolling thunder of earth's volleys against the majesty of heaven. and then think that God is saying, all the while, yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. Another way to look at this, America used to have this policy where we don't negotiate with terrorists. Remember hearing about that? We unfortunately kind of forgot about that a while ago, but we used to have this policy of unconditional surrender or death. Realize the Lord takes the exact same approach to rebels. It's unconditional surrender or be broken. Unconditional surrender or be a recipient of his wrath. Bow to the sun or you fall into terror. And again, look at the options there. His son, we're going to get to this later, would be broken in his wrath. I know that sounds so harsh, especially if we were raised with sort of a meek and mild Jesus who's just going around hugging lambs all the time. Now, is there, of course, a meek and mild side to Jesus? Of course. But to those who are his enemies, he is a terrifying warlord that will terrify us. What did Jesus himself say? John 3, 36. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. And look at the words that describe the feeling of those who rebel. Verse five, he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury. They'll be terrified. Again, these great leaders who think they're making decisions that influence millions of people, they will be shaking in their boots when they stand before God. What this passage reminds us of is that whatever you do, you do not want the Lord against you. Whatever you do, you do not want the Lord against you. And learn this lesson from the Bible. I mean, read about Sodom and Gomorrah, or Pharaoh, or Nebuchadnezzar, or Nineveh, or even Jerusalem. You do not want the Lord God Almighty coming to you as an enemy. But for those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus, the opposite is true. If your hope is in the Lord Jesus, God is your loving Heavenly Father. Let the world take their best shot. They can kill you, but they can't take your eternal joy. And again, in the words of Romans 8.31, if God is for us, who can be against us? Quickly, let's hit a third point. We've talked about the nation's hatred of Christmas. We've talked about the Lord's response in giving us this Christmas child. Notice with me third, the Christmas kingdom of God's son. Verses seven through nine. The Christmas kingdom of God's son. Verse seven. I will tell of the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Now pause there. Something very important to notice is that verses seven and eight, it's the Messiah speaking. So it was the Lord speaking, but now all of a sudden the Messiah starts speaking and he says, I will tell of the decree, the Lord said to me, the Messiah, you are my son today, I have begotten you. Now that phrase, you are my son today, I have begotten you, does that sound familiar at all? Interestingly, something like this is said a number of times in the New Testament about Jesus. God the Father spoke and said, this is my son. For instance, before Mary gave birth to Jesus that first Christmas morning, you'll remember, what did the angel say to her? Luke 135, the angel answered her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. You remember later at his baptism, Jesus is being baptized by John and the voice comes from heaven and what does the voice say? This is my beloved son, listen to him. Similar statements were made at the Transfiguration and then again after the Resurrection. Jesus, standing there, hears this voice from the Father, You are my Son. Just as a real quick aside, this Psalm, by the way, Psalm 2, is the only passage in the entire Bible that unites Son of God with God's King and Messiah all in one passage. You can find that in plenty of other, like one of these facets in plenty of other passages, but this is the only Psalm that brings all three together. God's Son is God's Messiah, is God's King. That's just extra credit. Let's talk then about that phrase, today I begot you. It's kind of confusing. What does that mean? Interestingly, many have misunderstood this, especially among the cults, to suggest the idea that Jesus becomes the Son of God at some point in history. If you ever talk to folks confused by cults, you'll encounter this, that Jesus was an ordinary man like us, but he was a really, really good man. And then say at his baptism, or at the cross, or at his resurrection, he became the Son of God there. What can we say about that? Well, there are enormous problems with that idea, not the least of which is that it contradicts a whole lot of other scriptures. But that does leave us with the question, what does it mean when he says, today I begotten you? Well, I think the simplest way to understand this is that at those particular turning points, I'm going to say his birth, at baptism, at the transfiguration, at his resurrection, God is simply declaring what's always been true. You know, I can say something, even though it's always been true, and it doesn't become true just at the point that I say it. You know, if I say I love my kids, I've obviously loved my kids for a long, long, long, long time, but I'm just proclaiming to you what's existed for a while. You follow me? So also, at his birth, at the transfiguration, at his resurrection, God is declaring something that's been true from all eternity, that this person, Jesus, has always been the Son of God, and I'm declaring that to you. We'll quickly notice a couple other things about the Messiah here. Look at verse eight. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." A couple of things to notice. First, you see the nations there? God's going to give the nations to them, verse 8. That word nations there is the identical word that was used early on of the nations that rebel against God. Remember, why do the nations rage? So this psalm envisions the very same people rebelling against God eventually coming under his lordship. The very same people who are trying to throw off his yoke will eventually be ruled by him. Now, to explain what's going on here, it's always been God's plan for a man to rule the world under his authority. Get this, because this will help you make sense of a lot of the Bible. It's always been God's plan for a man to rule the world under his authority. I mean, this is why God created Adam. Remember Genesis 1, 2, and 3? He's to take dominion over the world for the glory of God. He and Eve are supposed to have a whole bunch of children, fill the earth, all of that. That was his mission. But if you know the rest of the book of Genesis, he made an absolute mess of things. He ate from that forbidden fruit and really failed in his mission. But this is why God raises up individuals like Noah, Abraham, Moses, Samson, David. This is what God's doing in sort of a national way with the entire nation of Israel. These individuals were to rule God's world under His just authority for His glory. But time and time again, we make an utter failure of it. But then what happens? In the fullness of time, God sends forth His Son. That Son is born as a little baby, lying in hay in a manger. He grows up and He perfectly obeys God. He dies and by His blood redeems an innumerable multitude from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation. In a sort of spiritual sense, he's fruitful and multiplies and fills the earth, and then one day he's going to come again, and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he's Lord, ruling the entire world for the glory of God. So you see, that mission that God gave Adam, that Adam utterly failed to do, that all of us fail to accomplish, Jesus actually got it done and will get it done. Quickly, something else I want you to ponder, and this is... If you haven't been paying attention, tune in now. But there is a gap of at least 2,000 years between verse 8 and verse 9. We saw something similar last week in Isaiah 11, and the prophets do this regularly. They kind of put gaps in their prophecies, but there's a gap of at least 2,000 years between verse 8 and verse 9, what we call the Church Age. Look at verse 8. It says, Now, that language ought to remind you of the Great Commission passages. The language is so similar that many think that the Great Commission passages are actually referring back to this. Remember Matthew 28, go make disciples of all nations. Acts 1.8, you'll be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. Very similar phraseology. Again, we have an illustration of this in the first Christmas story. While most of the Jews ignored Jesus' birth and while Herod positively wanted to murder him, Who were some of the first people who came to worship the baby Jesus? Remember? The wise men who came from far off nations from the ends of the earth. Those wise men were a partial fulfillment of verse eight, I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. Keeping that in mind, now look at verse nine. Verse nine is jumping forward to the second coming of Jesus when he'll rule them with a rod of iron. He'll come to judge the living and the dead and then every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he's Lord. So if you really get what's going on here, I find this fascinating. You've kind of got God explaining the entire course of a thousand years before Jesus is even born. So what this means, if you follow me, is that we live in this gracious window of opportunity between verse eight and verse nine. We live in this gracious opportunity where God is saying, yes, you're rebels. Yes, you've rebelled against me, but come now to my son. Embrace now my son. I will forgive you. I will be reconciled to you. But if you refuse, a day is coming when he will crush you with a rod of iron. Let me read Revelation 19.11 and see if you can hear some references back to Psalm 2. Revelation 19.11 and following. I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, the one sitting on it, is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood and the name by which he is called is the word of God. The armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp two-edged sword with which to strike down the nations. Now listen to this next part. He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Psalm 2 was written 1,000 years before the first Christmas. And those of us who know the rest of the Bible can see how clearly this is about King Jesus. David sees that 1,000 years before Jesus is born because David is writing the Word of God. Anyway, one last point from this passage. Notice with me, lastly, the gracious Christmas invitation. That's in verses 10 through 12. Gracious Christmas invitation. Verse 10, now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. A couple observations and we'll be done. The first look at verse 10, what's God say? Be wise, O kings. It's time for you guys to smarten up. And this is what God is saying to some of you here today. The time for playing games is over. The time for rebelling against me is over. Be wise, embrace my son before it's too late. You live in this period of a gracious window of opportunity, this gracious invitation. So be wise, come to Jesus now. You think about it, this is really the great application of everything that we've said up to this point. And realize God is not under obligation to give people the opportunity to repent. That's one of the things that most blows my mind. We rebel against God, throw off his yoke, tell God to get lost, tell him he's an awful dictator and that obeying him is miserable. God could have said, all right, that's what you want. I will just crush you and rule you with a rod of iron. But he doesn't. In his grace, he offers us forgiveness. He offers us pardon. Come to me now, be forgiven now, and be saved. And he does that, again, because he is gracious and merciful. Something I want you to notice from this verse is the way in which trusting in God's Messiah, it's not only good, but it's wise. It's not only for the glory of God, it's also what's good for you. And if you doubt that, just imagine how you'll feel on judgment day if your hope is not in Jesus. I mean, this is a terrifying thought, and rightfully so. But imagine standing before God, especially after hearing sermons like this. You stand there on judgment day, and what are you going to be thinking? You're going to be thinking, what a utter fool I have been. People begged me to put my hope in Jesus. My parents begged me to put my hope in Jesus. My Sunday school teachers begged me to put my hope in Jesus. Pastor Tim begged me to put my hope in Jesus. But I refused, I refused, I refused, and now here I am with no excuse, no second chance, no way out, and all I'm going to receive now is exactly what I deserve. Wouldn't that be a horrible thought? Look at verse 12. Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way. where his wrath is quickly kindled. Now, what does that mean, kiss the sun? Well, our culture's kind of lost the entire idea here, because we associate kissing entirely with romantic stuff. But this is that old-fashioned kiss of allegiance, the kiss of fealty. This is sometimes portrayed in, like, middle-aged movies, you know, movies from, like, Knights on the Round Table. But there was this idea that when a king conquered a nation, they'd show their allegiance by kissing his ring, kissing his hand, something like that. Y'all know what I'm talking about? That's the idea here. God is saying to those who have rebelled against him, kiss my son. Come to him and swear allegiance to him. Embrace his loving leadership and you will be forgiven. You will be embraced into my kingdom. You think about it in one sense, all Psalm 212 is, is sort of an Old Testament version of Romans 10.9. Romans 10.9 says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. The kissing, the confession, that's an outward sign of an internal commitment. And look at the outcome, verse 12, blessed are all who take refuge in him. Interestingly, this is the identical word blessed that was used in Psalm 1 for the man who meditates on the word day and night. I know that I'm kind of assuming you're familiar with that Psalm, but I think many of you probably are. That blessed, rich life, flourishing, full of fruit, full of sap, that's the result of embracing Jesus the Messiah. And again, think about how ironic this is. They thought it was just awful tyranny to be ruled by this God. They thought it was just miserable to have this God over them. But they didn't realize that it was actually the way to the abundant life, the fruitful life. Again, God is saying the exact same thing to some of you today. You're looking for the abundant life, the joyful life, the delightful life, living life the way it was designed to be lived. What you need to realize is that it comes as you embrace the Christmas child, Jesus, and as you increasingly submit more and more of your life to him. That's the path to the blessed life. Jesus is saying to you right now, Matthew 11, 28, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. This is the only path to the blessed life, embracing Jesus and increasingly submitting parts of your life to him. Well, to conclude our time this morning, this then is Psalm 2. And I hope you've seen that that big point is actually what the passage teaches. You will either bow to the Christmas child and be blessed, or you will rebel against the Christmas child and be broken. And that's true not only for these rebellious kings that lived thousands of years ago, but for you and me as well. You'll either embrace Jesus and kiss him in allegiance, or you'll be laughed at in scorn before you are sentenced to eternal wrath. Now to conclude our time, two quick applications and we'll be done. Two quick applications. First, for those of you who are not yet Christians, who have not yet put your hope in the Lord Jesus, please do so right now. Please do so right now. Like I've said, we live in this gracious window of opportunity where Jesus is inviting you. Come to me, embrace me. I will forgive you. I will be reconciled to you. But do realize that again, one day is coming when every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that he is Lord. And on a day, many knees will be shattered by this rod of iron. So come to Jesus today. And as always, if any of you like clarification on something that I've said, or would like somebody to pray with you, pray for you, please talk to me after the service. I'll be at the front door to greet people on the way out. But trust the Lord Jesus today. One last application, and this is for those of us who are believers. I think rightly understood, this psalm really ought to motivate us to prayer and to missionary activity to take Jesus to the nations. Prayer and missionary activity to take Jesus to the nations. Again, these nations that are currently in rebellion against God, They need to hear the Savior. They need to hear that terms of peace are being offered, that if they'll kiss the sun, they can be forgiven. I find it interesting that in the history of the church, Psalm 28 is a favorite missionary verse. You know, at missionary conferences, they got the big banner up on the wall, often Psalm 28 is there. On missionary letterhead, often Psalm 28 is there. And what the missionary understand is that they're helping fulfill this verse as they go into all the world to make disciples. So what that means, brothers and sisters, is this, what role will you play in helping take the gospel message to those nations that currently don't have access to the gospel message? I mean, doesn't it make sense that we who have the truth have a responsibility to take it to those who don't? So brothers and sisters, will you pray? Will you give? Will you send? Will you go to see all the nations bow to King Jesus? What role will you play in helping us fulfill? Verse 8, ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. That's how you and I who know the Lord Jesus, who are reconciled to him, can rightly celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Let's pray together. Our God and Father, we thank you for the privilege of studying your Word. We thank you for the way that you, by your Spirit, use the Word to wash us, to sanctify us, to make us more and more like your Son. Lord, we pray for those within the hearing of my voice who have not yet put their hope in the Lord Jesus. Move in their hearts now that they would gladly kiss the Son and believe that the blessed life comes through embracing him. Lord, for those of us who Know your son who have been reconciled to you through him. Move in us that we might be burdened for these nations that are currently rebelling against you. And move us to pray, give, go, that we might see more and more people embrace the Lord Jesus. Again, now, Lord, as we turn to the baptism part of our service, please bless, please work, please use this to encourage faith. Through Jesus we pray, amen.