Joel M Bradshaw

1Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2The 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.”

4He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5Then 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.”

7I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

10Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.–Psalm 2

This is Psalm 2 in its entirety. Reading it this morning brought to mind the Jesus as presented in the New Testament. So it got me thinking…what if all we had was Psalm 2? What would it teach us about God? Here are 5 things that jumped out at me.

1. God has a Messiah (Hebrew of ‘Anointed’; the word ‘Christ’ is based on the Greek version of this) and people will one day reject this Messiah like they do God.
2. This Messiah is also the King that God has sovereignly placed in charge.
3. This King is called God’s Son and God has given this King the entire earth as his prize to judge and rule.
4. This Son would be called ‘begotten’ by God. This means that somehow he would have an earthly mother and God ultimately as Father. Thus this Messiah, this King, this Son will be both God and man. Here we have God the Father and God the Son.
5. Serving God the Father will mean that you embrace and serve the Son. Honor and obedience to the Father is also to be given to the Son.

If all you had was Psalm 2 as your foundation for the Gospels how would you view Jesus? Would you be prepared for the theology of the epistles unpacking faith in Jesus? Would you be shocked at all of the majesty of Jesus in the book of Revelation? I put forward that these 5 principles from Psalm 2 are an adequate beginning for your theological understanding of the New Testament. But that’s just what jumped off the page at me this morning. Time to refill my coffee cup!–JMB