Psalm 2:1-12 Study Guide: God's Good and Gracious King

Community Group Study Guide — God’s Good and Gracious King
Psalm 2:1-12

Study Information:
Most images of kings and rulers in our culture and media are negative. Usually the focus is on the unjust rule or abuse of authority. Think King George in Hamilton, Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars and of course the classic Lord Farquaad from Shrek. More often than not, we’re conditioned to think that kings are bad and in many cases they are. But, what if you’d be better off living under a king? The answer to that question would depend on who the king is, right? The story of scripture tells us there is a perfectly just, holy and loving king.  The bible begins and ends with a picture of God’s loving rule and as followers of Jesus, we do not just follow a loving savior, we follow a good and gracious king. This Sunday is Palm Sunday and a time when the church pauses to reflect on the kingship of Jesus before we look to Good Friday and Easter. We’re going to turn to Psalm 2 and learn about the good and gracious rule of Jesus as our king. 

Rebellion Against God’s Rule
Psalm 2:1-3
Modern day coronations have songs and prayers associated with them and there’s evidence that songs like Psalm 2 were sung or prayed over the installation of kings in Israel. This Psalm was written by King David and focused on the enthronement of God’s king (Acts 4:25). However, it does not take long to realize that this Psalm was focused on more than an earthly king; the reader’s attention is drawn God’s anointed son. 

First, the psalmist focused on the resistance to God’s rule. The Kings of the earth raged and the nations plotted in vain. The word “rage” points to an instinctual reaction to throw off God’s rule, it is the same word for a horse that has been worked up before battle (Psalm 2:1, 3). The nations also “plot” which is a word similar to the word “grumbling” used in Exodus. This implies a proactive murmuring or conspiring against God and his authority. The default status of the human heart is to resist the authority of God, and that is magnified among kings and rulers and peoples because they perceive God’s rule as slavery, rather than freedom. The default state of the human heart is to resist God and God’s anointed (Psalm 2:2). 

The Certainty of God’s Rule
Psalm 2:4-6
God’s response to the nation and rebellion was calm and certain, and that gives the people of God hope. In response to the chaos and conspiring of the nations, God sits, laughs and speaks. God sits on his throne, unchallenged by the raging and conspiring. God is never caught up in frantic action or concern about what is going on in the world and how he should respond. God sits and God laughs from his throne and holds the nations and kings in derision. We’re not used to verses talking about God laughing, but this not the laughter of a well timed joke, it is laughter that communicates that God is unfazed by human opposition. Finally God speaks from his throne, this speaking is from God’s wrath and it is his declaration that his king will rule! 

We should take to heart that even in a chaotic world that opposes God, God is never frantic, anxious or wondering what he will do in response to human opposition. We should find comfort int his and put our faith in what God is doing’s even when we don’t understand. Psalm 2:6 gives us a hint of God’s plan, in response to opposition and resistance, he promised to set his king on Zion.

God’s Good and Gracious King
Psalm 2:7-9
The decree from God was to install his begotten Son on the throne forever. God installed human kings during the time of the kings of Israel, but he also promised a forever king (2 Samuel 7:16). The language of son was often applied to a human king of Israel, but the Psalmist used the word “begotten,” which was a term most often applied to Jesus (John 3:16). Imagery around Jesus’s kingship fills the gospels. The gospel of Mark begins with the announcement of the gospel, specifically that the Kingdom of God has arrived in Christ (Mark 1:14-15). Jesus is repeatedly called the “son of David” which pointed to how he fulfilled God’s promise of being the forever king. Even the title of “Christ” meant “anointed, messiah.” Finally, Jesus kicked off the last week of his earthly life, with proclamations of his kingship as he rode into Jerusalem on a colt to crowds shouting “hosanna!” in an event we call Palm Sunday. 

Jesus’s kingship includes a ministry of reconciliation and judgement. The gospel includes Jesus reconciling the nations and people back to God, an event that gets magnified in the book of revelation as crowds of people from every tongue, tribe and nation are gathered around God’s throne waving palm branches (Psalm 2:8, Revelation 7:9). And the gospel includes a ministry of justice which means judgment on evil and wicked nations, the promised king will break them with a rod of iron and dash them into pieces (Psalm 2:9). There will be many wrongs done, this side of eternity, that God will make right in his timing by his power. 

Psalm 2 teaches us about the goodness of God to work through his peel and their flawed kings. Each king whether good or evil made the people of God long for the true and better king that was promised to come. 

Blessed Refuge
Psalm 2:10-12
We can either run to the king or run from the king and that those who take refuge in him are blessed (Psalm 2:12). In light of God’s wrath and judgment on the evil nations and our own rebellious hearts we can find refuge in God, not refuge from God. This seems counter to how we normally think, but we find safety from God’s wrath in the arms of God the son. The actions commanded in Psalm 2:10-12 are all centered on giving God your life and your heart. We are to serve the Lord with fear and trembling, kiss the son, and take refuge in the promised king. God desires more than the bare minimum or your begrudging submission, God desires your whole life and your whole heart. Consider again the question, would you be better off under a king? Are you better off with yourself as the king of your life or with Christ being the one you serve and worship?

At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:
Psalm 2:1-12

How does Psalm 2 point to an earthly king and how does it point to Jesus as the forever king?

Psalm 2 opened with a picture of nations and kingdoms rebelling against God’s rule. How did they view God’s rule (see Psalm 2:3), do you think this is universal to the human experience before someone comes to faith in Christ?

How does God respond to human rebellion? What does this response teach us about God? Look at Psalm 2:4-6, 9.

We can either take refuge in God’s anointed king or refuge from God’s anointed king. What does it mean to give God lordship over your whole life? What are some action steps you can take this week to follow and obey him more closely?