Dublin, OH
Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
Psalm 2. When the people of God sing Psalm 2, they remind themselves of how God made David and his descendants to be kings in order to enable them to fulfill the very purpose for which Abraham was called (to bring blessing to all nations, Gen. 12:1-3). Thus it can be called a royal psalm. The pious Israelite realizes that his hope of blessing is now irrevocably tied to the house of David (cf. 2 Sam. 7:12-16), and so he prays that God will keep the king pure. At a time when the Gentile kingdoms that are part of the Davidic empire seek to throw off Israelite rule, this psalm recalls the promises made to the Davidic king at his coronation and notes that the Gentiles will find lasting joy only as subjects of this king. With its prospect of a worldwide rule for the house of David, the psalm also looks to the future, when the Davidic Messiah will indeed accomplish this; in fact, the scope of such an accomplishment calls for a ruler who is more than a mere man.
2:1-3 The Gentile Kings in Revolt. In vv. 1-2 several kings of Gentile peoples who are vassals of the Davidic king propose a revolt to throw off Israelite rule; in v. 3 they speak their goal.
2:2 Anointed. Samuel anointed both Saul (1 Sam. 10:1) and David (1 Sam. 16:13), setting them apart as king, whose task was to rule Israel and to embody covenant faithfulness. The word Messiah comes from transliterating the Hebrew word for "Anointed," and the word Christ comes from translating "Anointed" into Greek. For the Gentiles to rebel against the heir of David is to rebel against the Lord who installed him; it is also to cut themselves off from their only hope of knowing the one true God. In Acts 4:25-26, the early Christians saw the persecution they faced as the same kind of foolish rebellion.
