As I’ve memorized Psalms, I’ve spent time in deep thought as to the meaning. I plan to try to put into words some of those thought. This is my first attempt.

Psalm 2: All you see is not all there is …

This Psalm is interesting and somewhat obscure. There are hints on almost every line of something going on that you cannot quite see. Lines make you kind of want to read it again as if you didn't quite get the meaning. You might read it again, and then you will say something like this:,

- "What .... ?"
- "What is that saying?"
- "Is that about ...?"

I'm going to meditate on it as if it presents three different scenes.

Reading this type of poetic Psalm requires imagination. Try to imagine these scenes being played out. Close your eyes and "see" what is going on as you read the stanza. There is also something else. There is no connection; no transition between the stanzas (the scenes) that make up the Psalm. Sometimes a Psalm has the word Selah (probably indicating a musical interlude before the next stanza). This Psalm does not even have that musical notation between the stanzas. Just one scene, and when you start to ask what it is you are seeing, that scene has ended and the next scent has begun.

I think that this abrupt change is by design. It's an abrupt change from one scene to another (well before you have figured out what the previous scene was depicting). This gives a poetic feel of disjointedness. And in poetry, the Psalmist communicates as much by "feel" as he does by the meaning of the words.

Scene 1 -- The Scene from my point of view (verses 1-3)

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast their cords from us."

It's like an ordinary person asking a question. The question is about injustice or inequality. It could be that one notices and is disquieted about any societal corruption. Yet one notices that something is not right. The poor do not get the hand that they need, but the powerful get what they want. God has a natural conscience built into all people -- but why is that natural conscience not built into those with power? The kings set themselves. The rulers (those just below the king) conspire with other powerful people. Yet no one is able to do anything about the corruption all around.

Why does this happen? Who allows this?

Whatever guides or restrictions are placed upon those in power, they just don't seem to work. Those in power take more. Those with an ability to intimidate go on and intimidate more. Those with money take more. If there is a God, then why does he not have constraints on the powerful?

Those in power seem to be struggling against God Himself. They want as much power as God has. And the ordinary person who believes in God knows in his heart that God is not going to allow such corruption forever. It's as if the powerful corrupt rulers and kings are struggling against God's own constraints. They are fighting against the design God has placed upon the world he created.

And that disquieting scene comes to an abrupt conclusion.

Scene 2 -- The Cosmic World View (verses 4-6)

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”

The sudden or abrupt change gives us an instant sense of awe. We catch a glimpse of the All-Powerful God who made the Universe. Now we should be really scared. (Do you recall how Harry Potter felt when he used a portkey to magically travel from one place to another? It was described as feeling like a hook pulled you from behind your navel and whipped you through the air. Harry was dizzy. He was nauseous. All his insides felt upside down). So why are we not scared? Perhaps it is because we were transported here by the tender hand of the Son of God.

From our new vantage point, we realize that if we thought the rulers of the earth were powerful, we didn't know what real power was. The rulers of the earth were sprinkling sand upon their hopes and calling that sand pixie dust (Why were we so afraid of their power?). But the All-Powerful God of the Universe has just swept us up to view the Earth from above. We are shaking at the knees from the sudden and dizzying change of scene. And God Himself is amused. God looks are the rulers and their sense of 'power', and God shakes his head with ... he shakes his head, but contempt does not quite describe the emotion of God. It's not contempt, but it seems like God should have contempt for those puny rulers and kings of the earth. Yet, contempt is not quite the right word, because I see that God is amused (He is amused, but grieved that they impose inequality and they benefit at great cost to the weak and innocent.

And God speaks. God speaks to the rich and the powerful and the rulers of the earth. No. HE SHOUTS. He blows them over with volume turned up way past anything I've ever heard before (why can't or don't they hear him?). God speaking with fury. He is speaking with wrath; he is speaking with power.

We who are watching this play out (We are watching from a safe place. We are watching safely in the palm of God's gentle hand. We are watching gently wrapped and lovingly placed next to God's heart). And we who are watching from safety are trembling at the sound of his voice because he speaks with power. He speaks with awe. He speaks with fury.

And what does God say? It's curious. God simply says: "I have set my king on Zion; my holy hill."

And that disquieting scene comes to an abrupt conclusion.

Scene 3 -- The Coronation (verses 7-9)

And just as suddenly as we moved to the cosmic viewpoint, we are watching a King being coronated. And the newly anointed King speaks:

I will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Is this Ancient Israel? Is that King David? (No. It seems to be like David, but without David's sins. Without David's imperfections).

And that disquieting scene comes to an abrupt conclusion.

After Scene 3 -- The Great Instructional Wrap-up: "Now therefore ..." (v10-12)

We have been transported to a new place. I don't know where we are. Is this the end of the world? Listen. Is that the voice of God?(It is the same voice I heard before but the volume has been turned down. The fury in his voice has turned to stern warning).

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear; with trembling -- kiss the Son,
or he will be angry, and you will perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Some Interpretive Thoughts

This Psalms shows God’s Sovereignty. He is controlling all, and all that happens is under his watch.

He often controls the universe by delegating power to lesser gods and to human governments. Some of those lesser gods rebelled and some of the human governments are corrupt. God is still in control.

Since sin entered the creation and corrupted it, God has been working to bring the chaos back to its original design. He selected one nation, Israel, as his own to bring about his plan.

In that one nation were prophets, priests, and kings — all who were “anointed.“ anointed is < מָשִׁיחַ > (pronounced ma-shi-ach). In prophets, priests, and kings we eventually come to understand the Anointed as a coming one — a Messiah.

David comes closest to showing us the true leader — as he is one after God’s own heart. Yet David falls far short of the ideal. As does all of Israel. Thus Israel had to be wiped out (yet preserved in exile by the Sovereign God).

“If you want a job done right, do it yourself.” The true and the Ideal had to be fulfilled by God taking on human form. Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus fulfills Psalm 2. And all nations all peoples are blessed when the “kiss the Son“ and find refuge in Him.

Link to Qoheleth’s Psalm Site