Psalm 2:1-4 (ESV)
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.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
Russia. Syria. Iraq. China. North Korea. Japan. India. Germany. Australia. Great Britain. Canada. America. Etc., etc., etc.
There are 195 countries in the world today and virtually every one of them fits the description laid out in the opening verses of Psalm 2…even America. All “the kings of the earth” reject the sovereign rule of the King of Kings in one way or another. Some, like America, still pay a considerable amount of lip service to God’s rule and law, but in the end their laws and practices reflect self-rule far more than they reflect Sovereign Rule. We may have “In God We Trust” on our money, but most Americans and American leaders do not have Him in their hearts.
Every nation and every person that plots against the rule of God and the Lordship of His Son…plots in vain. God established his family line beginning with Abraham and then through David, David’s son, and numerous other people until it culminated in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The family line cannot be broken and God’s Kingship cannot be thwarted so despite the fact that nations, kings, and individuals think they “rule the roost,” the reality is that God always has been and always will be in total control…thus the hearty laugh that emanates from Heaven as God considers our declarations of independence and rule.
Jesus himself, the “son of David”, experienced the very resistance that Psalm 2 speaks of. The people plotted and thought they won when His body was put in a grave, but in a classic Psalm 2 Mic Drop moment, Jesus walked out three days later, verifying the reality that the plotting of the people and their kings was totally in vain. If Jesus is your Messiah, then take refuge in the reality of Psalm 2 and live out of the victory. Pastor John Piper’s website captures this well and I’ll end today’s devotional with that exhortation:
“The kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever (Rev. 11:15). Therefore, we should speak and act toward that end. This will look differently for each of us, but may God fill us with confidence in the everlasting dominion of his Messiah, so that we turn from fear and call the nations to take refuge in Christ.”
Amen and Amen!
