Psalm 2

Psalm 2

Psalm 2 is hinged with Psalm 1 as the introduction to what Psalms is all about. Psalm 1 introduced meditating on Torah (teaching) through prayer. So part of the purpose of Psalms is for God’s people to reflect on God’s teaching and meditate and pray about it as they go through life. Psalm 2 then introduces another theme seen all throughout Psalms, that is, the theme of the Messianic kingship. 

Psalm 2 can best be described as a poetic version of 2 Samuel 7. In 2 Samuel 7, God promises to David that one of his descendants would reign forever over God’s kingdom. This descendant would be the anointed one, or the Messiah. Those that seek this descendant would be “blessed” just as those who meditate on the Torah are blessed. 

The Psalm describes all the kings of the earth that become ruthless and promote injustice and evil in their lands. God says there will be a day when this will be no more. God reminds us here that even though this is happening and will continue to happen, God is in control and is still reigning from his heavenly throne. His anointed one, Jesus, sits in the position of authority and the nations have a choice: fear God and serve him or reject Jesus which leads to destruction. 

This Psalm sets us up for further Psalms where the authors are struggling with all human emotions and the injustices of ruling authorities and enemies. How will we respond? Will we serve Jesus and accept him, or will we rebel too? This Psalm presents Jesus as the Messiah and our choice to reject or accept him.