Psalm 2: Tolerating chaos
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.
Psalm 2
Psalm 2 is a companion to Psalm 1, in that they both set up themes to expect throughout the rest of the book. Psalm 2 tells us that, as we read the rest of the Psalms, we’ll find the mega themes of chaos and kingship.
If you’ve read the Psalms, you know this is true. So many of the Psalms are about kings, or written by a king, or written about bad kings and the damage they do (like we find in Psalm 2:2). And much of the Psalms are poems written by someone experiencing chaos either externally (in the world around them) or internally (in their own little world). “The nations rage” and so do their negative emotions.
What we hope the Psalms would provide, in our naivety, is an answer that magically makes the chaos of the world (and our world) disappear. What we find instead is the good news. Specifically, something called, “Messianic Psalms,” that promise a coming king who will dispel the chaos forever one day in the future. Not just a king who will make it all disappear, but one who will judge the chaos (Psalm 2:9) and rule over our chaotic hearts with grace and truth.
Who is this promised king?
Well, it certainly isn’t King David. He did not clear the world, or his own life, of chaos. And it wasn’t Solomon, who was king after David. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. That’s about as chaotic as it gets.
After Solomon, there came a slew of kings. Almost all of them led lives beset with chaos until finally the raging nation of Babylon really did “set themselves against” Israel (Psalm 2:2) and took them captive.
After the exile, when God’s people returned to Israel, they went centuries without a king at all. They were ruled by other nations such as Persia and Rome. Then one day a man came on the scene, in places like “the holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:6) saying, “Repent, for the KINGDOM of God is at hand.” This man was then baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist to the tune of a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved son…” (Psalm 2:7).
The messianic king is JESUS. He went out and dispelled all of the chaos around him. Wherever he went storms were stilled, blind eyes were opened, hungry stomachs were fed, sinners were forgiven, the marginalized were included, demons were cast out, and the dead were raised to life.
Then, Jesus’ enemies raged against him (Psalm 2:1). The kings of the earth conspired to overthrow him (Psalm 2:2). So they put him in cords and bound him to a cross. (Psalm 2:3).
Yet even there he overcame chaos. On the cross, he loved us. He loved us so much that he took the wrath of God for our sins. (Psalm 2:5)
Jesus took all of our chaos onto, and into, himself and then died to begin the process of dispelling it forever and ever!
His enemies thought that they had overtaken him. But THIS was laughable (Psalm 2:4). As if you could kill God’s kingly son! He did lay down his life, but after 3 days he overcame even the chaos of death and rose again from the grave, ascending to his throne in heaven shortly after! Truly he is God’s anointed, who will dispel chaos once and for all.
Where are we on the timeline?
This is happening in two phases. Phase 2 is yet to come, where he will judge the world with a final judgment (Psalm 2:9). All those who would not repent of their chaos or believe in the midst of it will be eternally punished.
Jesus came the first time as a servant but he is coming back as a king and his wrath is kindled towards those who will choose chaos over Christ.
But for those who will choose Christ over the chaos, he will make all things new and death will be no more, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor pain. He will wipe away all tears from our eyes and we will live in a new heavens and a new earth, where there is finally no more chaos and never will be (Revelation 21). That’s phase 2.
For now, we’re in phase 1. We’re in the middle of Psalm 2:8 where God says to his kingly son, “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession.”
After Jesus rose again, he sent out his disciples to preach the good news all over the world. It started in the book of Acts and continues to this day. The gospel is going out to the ends of the earth and people everywhere are repenting of sin, believing the gospel, and putting down their rage. Instead of seeing God’s commandments as bonds and cords (Psalm 2:3), they’re finding freedom in Jesus - the king who sets us free.
Will you join the people who call Jesus king? Will you be part of the fulfillment of Psalm 2:8 which is happening globally, right now, before our very eyes?
If the answer is yes, or has been yes for any length of time, you can start learning a new relationship with the chaos around you and inside of you.
A New Relationship with Chaos
It’s a relationship based on wisdom, not worry.
Psalm 2:10 tells us "Now therefore, be wise…”. This starts with repentance. Acknowledge the futility of your OWN sin and the chaos IT causes. Strive to venture away from your sin and begin to serve the king.
Psalm 2:11 says, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”
To serve the Lord with fear means to recognize Jesus as our king and to diligently follow His teachings. Jesus has made it clear what he desires from us: to love God wholeheartedly, love our neighbors as ourselves, care for the vulnerable, and proclaim the good news.
God has promised his son worshippers from all nations of the earth. We get the privilege to bring him some of those worshippers through sharing our stuff, our service, and our faith with others.
Is this hard? Absolutely. But serving begins to give us a new relationship with hard things. In sin, we’re experiencing chaos for selfish reasons. Through serving, we’re experiencing chaos for the best reason of all, the salvation of the people around us.
From there, we “Rejoice with trembling” which is an act of worship and allegiance to a new king. We begin to practice gratitude and celebration for all that our new king gives to us - from our next breath to our next milestone. However, It’s not just rejoicing when things are good, it’s rejoicing because he is good.
Psalm 2:12 sums it up: "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.”
In ancient times, a kiss symbolized submission. For us, it means putting ourselves under Jesus' kingship. In other words, trust in his goodness and authority. That’s the core message of Psalm 2 - trust. Trust the Son.
Trusting in Jesus brings a blessing. What is that blessing?
Something Appears
Well, it’s something we can see in the Psalmists when they’re writing these Messianic Psalms. As you read them, something curious happens.
As they focus on the coming king, their chaos doesn’t just magically disappear. Rather, something new in them begins to appear; A tolerance for the chaos.
Take Psalm 16, for example. It’s a Messianic Psalm. In verse 8 we read, “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” Essentially, David says, “I am in the midst of chaos, but I can accept that…because I’m also in the midst of my King.”
Can we really accept it? Is that really possible? What if the chaos is really bad? What if it’s death itself?
The very next verses, Psalm 16:9-10 address just that.
“Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.”
If you’ve been through the scriptures before, you know that these verses are prophesying Jesus’ resurrection from death.
He accepted death, knowing he would experience God’s resurrecting power. And after Jesus’ resurrection, his disciples believed like this too. We see this very clearly in the book of Acts where guys like Peter accept even the worst persecutions.
No matter how bad they were treated by the government or their fellow Jews, they walked in wisdom, served Jesus, and rejoiced in him! Their problems didn’t go away, but what came over them was an awareness that even when they were in the midst of chaos, they were also in the midst of of Christ.
They could see God “laughing” (Psalm 2:3). God, who sent the messiah king, is totally in charge, even when the chaos seems to be. They knew this. And when they, or the Psalmists, focused on this they found the chaos to be much more tolerable.
Here’s the gist, the goal of the believer should not be the fool’s errand of escaping all chaos, but worshipping the right king. Which will have the byproduct of making the chaos much more tolerable.
Sometimes, we too may be able to laugh at it.
