Does it ever feel like the world is falling apart to you? For our two young people who are going off to college in the fall, they’re entering a world that seems worse off than it was when you were their age. Today, there’s still conflict going on in Iran (despite assurances that it wouldn’t be long), Ebola has returned in the Democratic Republic of Congo/Uganda, and gas prices continue to climb higher and higher.

Those are real challenges but as a chronic overthinker like myself, I always like to ask: why are those things happening? What is the source of the world’s problems? Why does it seem to be falling apart? Today, we’ll be reading from Psalm 2 which will show us that the World Rages Yet Jesus Reigns. We’ll be walking through this Psalm to see why the world rages, how God responds, and who his king is. This is part of our Summer in the Psalms series where we are learning to pray and sing for all of life’s seasons.

So if you’re able, will you stand with me as we read Psalm 2 this morning?   

The World Rages

At the start of Psalm 2, you get a list of nations, kings, and rulers. It may be easy to write this Psalm off and think yourself: well, that doesn’t include me – I don’t rule. But, Psalm 2 does include you – it indicts anyone who wields power and influence. Because although political leaders boast in their military capabilities, GDPs, or voter base. You and I boast in our abilities/work ethic, good moral deeds/behavior, and our salaries. So, you have power and influence in your workplace, families, neighborhoods, and many other places. So, what does Psalm 2 indict us of?

Psalm 2:3 tells us: “let us break off our chains and throw off our shackles.” What do they mean? They want to throw off the supposed chains and shackles that God and his king have placed on them. In other words, the guilty folks in Psalm 2:3 are saying: I am my own and I get to decide how to live my life. Now, does that sound familiar? It should because it’s what we often tell ourselves.

The beginning of Psalm 2 is inviting us to ask a profound question: why do we resist being ruled by God? Instead of being ruled by God, we allow ourselves to be ruled by something else. I think most people are okay with the concept of God but just a God who doesn’t require anything of you, who doesn’t disagree with everything you believe, and who doesn’t say anything mean. But, we don’t get to decide that and the way we are wired is we are all ruled by something. The question is: what are we ruled by?

If you throw off God’s supposed chains like folks want to do in Psalm 2, guess what? You just place new chains on. Why? We aren’t truly free. We’re all slaves to something and if Jesus isn’t in your life, you’re a slave to sin. And my friends, sin is destructive and doesn’t stay contained – it spreads and multiplies. In the past, I’ve compared sin to black mold in a basement– it may be hidden deep in your heart but it grows, it spreads, and it’s deadly. But like black mold, we may convince ourselves it’s not a huge deal and not deal with it but unchecked, it spreads. Just like times where you’ve told one lie only to have to tell another lie to compensate for it. Or adultery often doesn’t just happen randomly – it begins with mini betrayals of your spouse with pornography consumption, in appropriate texts, phone usage secrecy, only to erupt. Sin is ruthless and it’s this ruthlessness that is destroying our world and we’ve caused it. Trafficking and slave labor. But why does sin do that?

Here’s the thing: you and I are made to worship or to give our hearts to something. The question is: what is it that you worship? What do you spend your money on, think about constantly, or spend obsessive time on? In your hearts of hearts, what is that thing or person that you say: “When I finally have this, I’ll be happy” or “Once this happens, I’ll be happy.” Then, do you end up being happy?  

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ most famous teaching, he knows the power of worship and our hearts. That’s why he said: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.” So, what is your treasure? Or to ask the question that Psalm 2 is asking: what is the thing ruling you.? What is it that you’re looking towards to give you freedom, meaning, and wholeness?

The Need to Fit In / Gain Approval

For some of you, you’ll do whatever it takes for others to see you as funny, cool, or intelligent. You’ll live for the approval of others but you will die and flounder when they criticize you. When this starts to happen, you start to make choices and decisions that are genuinely bad for you – all for the sake of other’s approval. You head down a path where you lose the fundamental reality of who you are in your quest for others to like you.  

Your Relationships

For some of you, your spouse, your kids, or your friends are the center of your universe. When they do something you approve of, you’re riding high with them. But when they hurt you or disappoint you, you’re crushed and in despair. Relationships are a good thing but they can never be the main thing, my friends. When they become the main thing, you become unable to speak the truth in love to them because you’re worried it’ll destroy the relationship. You become unable to make decisions that are for their ultimate good because you’re worried they’ll get mad at you.

Control or Safety

For some of you, you need to be in control. If work is going great, your grades are solid, your kids are doing great, and everyone is healthy, you’re praising God. You conspire and plan to ensure that life remains stable. Life hardly remains stable, friends. Because here’s what happens: you face a crisis at work or you get let go. Or you fail an exam or someone gets sick. Next, your entire life feels like it’s falling apart and you work extremely hard to get it back on track – compromising other areas of your life in the process.

So that’s how the world rages and conspires. Do you see the futility behind it all? If we throw off God’s chains, we end up taking up new ones and being ruled by something else. So, how does God respond to us doing that then?

How The King Responds (4-6)

As the empires rise, kings and presidents boast in military ability, and as human beings put their hopes and ambitions into folks like Elon Musk or ChatGPT (which is an amazing tool but not a savior or friend), what’s God’s response? Is he shaking in his boots? No, he laughs.

First, that should strike us because God is capable of great joy and humor. But, it also tells us that God is not threatened by the world’s vain efforts to reject his rule. Like I’ve said already, we end up allowing ourself to be ruled by something else. We believe those other things will give us true meaning, satisfaction, and purpose apart from our creator. We put so much trust and faith in all sorts of things and God laughs because he knows better.  

It’s like when a parent is playing at the playground with their kids. A kid gets to the monkey bars and most definitely cannot handle the monkey bars but they reject their parent’s help, trusting instead in their own ability to figure it out on their own. What does the parent do? They laugh to themselves and think: well, good luck, kid. Because, the parent knows how this is going to end: total failure.

God is saying: think you can rule better than I can? Ha! Good luck to you. But, he’s not just going to passively let you fail.

He laughs, yes, but he also takes action. God does something that we all may get a little uncomfortable with: God rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath. For those feeling uneasy, it’s good to remember that wrath is actually a good thing. It’s a byproduct of God’s love – what do I mean? As a parent, I love my children so much. As a result of my love, I’ll become righteously angry or full of wrath at something that will harm them – it’s natural. It’s the same way for God’s Wrath – he loves his creation and because of that, he hates seeing his creatures be ruled by something that is going to betray them. He hates seeing us choose sin over him because it destroys us and destroys others. God hates sin because of its effect on all that he loves which is why he’s moved to wrath. God’s wrath is directed towards those things that rule our hearts.

So, what’s the outcome of God’s wrath in Psalm 2? He doesn’t just stay angry. Out of love and mercy, He anoints or appoint a special king (Hebrew Word is Messiah) to rule instead – he’s going to be a true ruler. But, who is this ruler?

The Son Reigns (7 – 9)

This ruler is God’s special ruler: he’s hand-picked by the creator of the universe himself. This isn’t a person who was elected in. They were specially picked by God, the true ruler of Israel.

In Israel’s time, this verse was meant as a fulfillment to the House of David that 2 Samuel 7:16 speaks about where God promises: “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” But if you know the Old Testament well, you know David’s house became a train wreck: his son, Solomon, became King but was a womanizer. After Solomon, Rehoboam became king and the kingdom of Israel was split in two due to rebellion. And eventually, the Kingdom of Israel was seemingly destroyed by the Babylonians and then the Romans. But, Psalm 2 tells us that God’s appointed King would inherit the nations and rule the ends of the earth. None of Israel’s Kings in the Old Testament did that nor has any king in the world done that. But Psalm 2 points to a time of a truer king, one who would not falter and fall into sin like the Kings of old.

In the New Testament, we see just who that King is: Jesus Christ. In two specific moments tied into Psalm 2, God the Father demonstrates that Jesus is the King that was promised:

1.      In Jesus’ baptism, God the Father, speaks from Heaven saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!

2.    In Jesus’ transfiguration, God the Father speaks from Heaven saying: This is my son, whom I love, listen to him!

This is the Father’s way of saying: Jesus is the king, he’s the one I sent – the one I promised David and Israel hundreds of years ago. If you want to know what God is like, you don’t need to guess: you just look at Jesus.

And lastly throughout Jesus’s last few days, he becomes a true king: he is given a crown to wear – not a crown of gold and jewels but a crown of thorns. He is given a royal robe to wear – not out of heartfelt worship from his subjects but out of hatred. And he is raised up on a throne but it’s not a chair, it’s a cross.

Jesus is established as the King of Psalm 2. If you’re here today, this is one thing I don’t want you to miss: Jesus was dead and he came back to life. If you’re going to wrestle with anything from today, that’s what I want you to wrestle with. Because if it is true, that means we have to view what he taught and what the Scriptures (that he respected and read) say. If he didn’t come back to life, we’re all free to go home.

In Acts 13, the Apostle Paul is preaching and he says the resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment of Psalm 2. When Jesus came back to life, he became the true King that was promised and he is redeeming people from every nation. He is sending his people out to every nation to redeem them for his own. And he’s doing that today.

Sailors test an anchor before a voyage — not in calm water but in rough seas. An anchor that holds in a storm is one you trust your life to. The resurrection is the anchor that has already been tested in the worst storm imaginable — death itself — and it held. The King you're being invited to follow has already faced the worst and won. Like Mr. Beaver says in The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe, “Safe? ‘Course he’s isn’t safe but he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

This then means Jesus is inviting us to a decision that every single person needs to make. Psalm 2 ends with inviting you into a serious reflection and that’s what I’d invite every single of you into as well. I’m going to re-read Psalm 2:10-12 so we can reflect on this together.

When the Psalm says “Kiss his son”, that really means to give allegiance or respect/honor to the son. In other words, that means accepting the Son’s kingship or accepting him as your ruler. We’ve already discussed that we all are guilty of allowing ourselves to be ruled by something else and we hate being told what to do. This leads into sin and running away from God which means we cause our own downfall and destruction. That’s how Psalm 2 ends with a warning.

I know it can be tempting to rationalize this away but you can’t. Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 15 names over 500 people who saw Jesus alive after his death — and he wrote that while many of them were still alive to be questioned. So if Jesus did really come back to life this becomes your reality. This is a warning for those who would hear this message today and not change anything because Jesus isn’t just gentle and lowly, he’s also strong and powerful. 

Why is Jesus worth following? Why should you give your allegiance to him? Those other things that you’re letting rule your life will fail you. They will betray you and let you down. They are not as strong as you think they are. But, Jesus Christ is God in the Flesh, he cannot fail you. Dr. Timothy Keller often quipped that: “The Gospel means that you are more flawed and sinful than you ever dared to imagine but, at the same time in Christ Jesus, you are more loved and known than you ever dared to hope.”

When you choose to follow Jesus, what does Psalm 2 say you will find? Blessing. Joy. Flourishing. There is no refuge or rest apart from God – you will continue to allow other things to rule your life and it’ll only lead to your destruction. But, you can find the refuge and rest that you desire by coming to faith in Christ and paying homage to him regardless of your life season.

I want you to imagine this whole congregation as a symphony orchestra. We each play an instrument. Now, if we value freedom above all and don’t listen to experts on how to play the instruments, we can play on our own but it’ll sound terrible. In our pride, we double down and try harder but we still sound awful. But, what if we start to learn how to play? What if we allow ourselves to be ruled by an expert conductor or instructor? Slowly, we begin to play and we sound not too bad. Over time, we start to sound pretty good. But, we only get to sounding like a real symphony orchestra when we allow ourselves to be ruled by that instructor. You can ignore that instructor but you’re going to flounder and never become the musician that you could have been.

In the same way, you can write off Jesus or say that you don’t need him but you’re going to miss out on the life that God has in store for you. You’re going to flounder and struggle with no confidence in this life. Your hopes are going to be dashed Into pieces of pottery because they’re not as strong as you thought they were.

So as interesting as all this is, what does that mean you should do today, in light of what we all just heard? Two practices, one for the Christian, one for the non-Christian.

If you’re a Christian today, this week, I’d invite you to reflect on the questions that are on your notes. They’ll help you see what’s been ruling you lately.

If you’re not a Christian, I’d invite you to become one today and become a part of this church or another gospel centered church. Tomorrow isn’t promised and the path apart from Jesus just means you destroy yourself. God’s heart isn’t for you to go down that path, God’s heart is for you to find refuge and blessing but it’s only found with Jesus as your king. So if that’s you, there will be folks at the back during our final song who would love to pray with you and lead you to Christ or you can come talk to me after service as well.

With Jesus as your King, you will find a sure and steady anchor amidst the storms of life. With Jesus as your King, you will find forgiveness for the sins and stumbles of your life. With Jesus as your King, you will live with resurrection hope because you know God can take the worst things in your life and bring good from them just like he did in Jesus’ death. With Jesus as your King, you can trust that every wrong and every injustice will one day be made right because Jesus is a good king.

As I said at the beginning, the nations rage yet Jesus reigns. So, is he reigning in your life today?

I’m going to invite you to stand for one final worship song and I’ll pray for us.