Tidings of Discomfort and Joy ~ Psalm 2 December 15, 2013 ~ New City Church of Calgary ~ Pastor John Ferguson

Intro: O Come, Let Us Adore Him, Christ The Lord. What do people mean when they sing that? You? NT Wright, Simply Jesus, We want a religious leader, not a king! We want someone to save our souls, not rule our world. But Jesus is not a guru whose purpose is to inspire you; he is the King who comes with healing in his hands: one who offers forgiveness, reconciliation, and a life lived under His kind rule. The Season of Advent is not a season for sentimentality: Christmas is a divine line in the sand; it is a call for everyone to choose this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15).

Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The initial Why? sets the tone for the entire psalm. o We were made to live under Gods kind rule. Hosea 11:4, I led them with cords of kindness, with bands of love

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. 1. The natural heart sees God as restrictive. (1) Thomas Nagel, NYU: I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isnt just that I dont believe in God and, naturally, hope that Im right in my belief. Its that I hope there is no God! I dont want there to be a God; I dont want the universe to be like that. (2) Aldous Huxley, Ends & Means: For myself as, no doubt, for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation. The liberation we desired wasliberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. (3) Jeremiah 2:20: Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, I will not serve you. 2. RC Sproul, The Holiness of God, The slightest sin is an act of defiance against cosmic authority. It is a revolutionary act, a rebellious act where we are setting ourselves in opposition to the One to whom we owe everything. Do you see Gods rule as suffocating or as life giving? Chains of slavery, or bonds of love?

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 1. Note the unexpected answer from Heavens throne: a scoffing laughter. Maybe this is an aspect of God that we need to recover: a God who doesnt take seriously the futile attempts of earthbound humanseven kings of the earthto usurp his throne.

Van Til: story of girl on a train who was rebelling against her father: he picked her up & she slapped him. She was only able to do that because he picked her up and supported her.

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. 1. Obj: Isnt it a bit unsophisticated to think of God as being wrathful? God is love. Ans: Do you get angry at injustice in the world? If you do & you should, why cannot & should not God get angry? 2. Without knowing what verse 6 says, what do you imagine would come after verse 5? 2. Surprised? Gods anger at a world gone astray is not fire and brimstone, but establishing a King? Yes, Gods answer to the strife of nations and the raging insanity of human hearts is to establish a King. Thats what Christmas is all about! 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Gods covenant with King David promised a special Father-Son relationship b/t God & the king. o o 2 Sam. 7:14, I will be to him a father, and he will be to me a son. Acts 13:32-33, And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, You are my Son, today I have begotten you. Rom. 1:1, 4, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus[who] was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. Context: the whole story of the Bible in which God desires to bless every nation on the planet with salvation in his Son, Jesus Christ (cf. Gen. 12:1-3; 22:18). Simply ask of me and yet no king of Israel took God up on these promisesexcept for Jesus! o Matthew 28:18-20, All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potters vessel. 1. You shall break them is perhaps better translated you shall shepherd them Revelation alludes to 2:9 3x and translates it as rule (2:27; 12:5; 19:15). NIV, You will rule them with an iron scepter.

2. iron scepter or rod of iron = unbreakable strength. 3. Dash them in pieces like a potters vessel. Imagery of the fragility of mighty kingdoms lying on the trash heap of history.

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.

1. Notice the solemn warning: there is mercy to be had, but there is also justice if you do not want the terms of peace. Kiss the Son = a sign of loyalty and respect.

2. The Son died in the place of rebels and for his enemies. John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. JM Boice, The hands he holds forth for you to kiss are the hands that were pierced by nails when he was crucified in your place.

12 Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Kidner, There is no refuge from him; only in him. John Bunyans, The Jerusalem Sinner Saved. Main Idea: In response to the striving of nations & the evil of human hearts, God crowns His Son, Jesus Christ, as the worlds true King.

Application: 1. Kiss the Son in submission. O Come, Let Us Adore Him, Christ the Lord. // Jesus, to Thee be all glory given.

2. Join the Son in mission. Those of us who have kissed the Son in submission are called to join the Son in mission. The Gospel is the declaration that there is another King, one named Jesus, who even Today offers to forgive even the greatest of sins and the greatest of sinners. o 2 Cor. 5:20, NIV, We are Christs ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christs behalf: Be reconciled to God. o Joy to the world, the Lord is come / Let earth receive her King / Let every heart prepare him room / and heaven and nature sing!