TEXT: Psalm 2

SUBJECT: Christ in the Old Testament #17: Jesus is Lord

Today, with God’s blessing, we’ll continue our study of Christ in the Old Testament. Thus far, we’ve spent our time in the historical parts of the Bible. Starting in the Garden of Eden, we’ve worked our way up to the Kingdom of Israel under its two greatest leaders, David and Solomon.

Their histories are found in the Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Their own writings, however, are elsewhere. David and Solomon are the two main authors of The Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and The Song of Solomon.

These Books—like the rest of the Old Testament—are full of Christ. There is no better example than Psalm 2.

The author is David. He wrote it about himself, it seems, the opposition he faced and the wars he won for Israel. But as devout men read it over the years, it occurred to them that it wasn’t only about David. Chiefly, they thought, it was about David’s Son, the Messiah. That’s how the Apostles understood it too. Quoted five times in the New Testament, Psalm 2 is applied every time to Jesus Christ and the victory He won for us.

Psalm 2 opens with the world at war. The nations are raging, the people are plotting, kings are bracing themselves, rulers are conspiring. The whole world has come together to fight. They’ve laid aside their petty differences to wage war on a common enemy.

And who’s that? It is God. David knows the world would like nothing better than to destroy the God of Israel. Most people have already done that in their minds. Psalm 10:4 says,

"God is in none of their thoughts".

Now they want to impose their nightmare on the rest of us. They want to evict God from His creation. But, of course, they can’t do that. God is a Spirit, an Infinite Spirit who cannot be controlled by men.

So they go to Plan B. If they can’t make war on God directly, they attack His Anointed. David knew the fury of men, but not all of it. That was reserved for Christ.

Think of His sufferings!

Of body. Punched, whipped, beaten, crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross, hung up for three hours.

Of soul. His friends forsake Him. Peter denies Him. Judas sells Him. The Rulers charge Him with blasphemy. The mob prefers a killer. The Romans crucify Him. The thief mocks Him. The soldiers gamble for His coat. The crowd gawks and laughs and quotes the Bible at Him!

The crucifixion proves the intense and universal hatred of man for God.

Christians feel the guilt. But unbelievers don’t. They say they weren’t there and if they had been, they wouldn’t have joined the mob in crucifying Christ.

But is that true? Let’s think about it. What if a Man told you you were a sinner and would burn in hell forever? And what if He went on to say the only way you could escape hell fire was by renouncing your own goodness and trusting Him alone for salvation?

What would you do with that Man? You’d ignore Him. But what if He wouldn’t be ignored? You’d run away from Him. But what if He caught up? You’d laugh at Him or call Him a fool. But what if He shrugged off the mockery and kept making His point? You’d punch Him in the nose. But what if He got up, wiped the blood off His face and said the same thing again? What would you do then? You’d call the cops or get a restraining order. But what if that didn’t work? You’d change your name and move to a new city. But what if He found you?

What would you do then? You’d either repent or crucify Him! Have you repented? If you haven’t, you crucified the Lord.

Jesus Christ will not be ignored or patronized or put alongside other gods. You either seat Him on the Throne or hang Him on the Cross. You bow the knee or drive the nail. There is no middle ground!

The world is mad at God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I could cite many verses to that effect, but I don’t need to. The next time you’re with a group of unbelievers say something like, "I believe in a Higher Power". Most of them will agree and those who don’t will smile at your superstition. But say, "I believe Jesus Christ" and watch the smiling faces turn ugly. The more specific you are about Christ, the uglier the faces will become!

Paul was right.

The world is dead-set

Do you know why?

It’s because God and His Christ intend to rule them. That’s what they’re worked up about. They say,

To them, the laws of God are chains that keep them from doing what they want to do.

It never occurs to them that the Laws might be for their good. The whole idea of being ruled by anyone—even God—offends them. John Milton said they’d

It’s not the existence of God or Christ that angers them so much. It’s the Sovereignty of God and the Lordship of Christ that makes them mad.

If I say "Jesus Christ is my Lord and Master", they shrug it off. But if I say, "He’s your Lord and Master too", they fly into a rage.

Jesus Christ is opposed.

What does God think of this rage? Not much. When man has done everything he can to spite the Lord,

God is laughing at them!

Why? Because the efforts to break His rule are so pathetic. It’s like the goldfish trying to swallow the blue whale. He thought he could, he said he could, he wrote a book proving he could, everyone agreed he could…but he couldn’t do it.

Neither can you resist the power of God. After you’ve done everything you can,

This is true, in general, of course, but especially when it comes to Christ and His Lordship.

Sinners cannot unseat Jesus Christ. No matter what they believe or say or do or how many people agree with them. It cannot be done. When they try, it only makes God laugh. The fact remains,

Mount Zion was David’s fort. Having it’s own water supply, with sheer cliffs on every side, and a castle on top, it stood for strength and security. You couldn’t storm it or starve it out. As long as the king was on Mount Zion, he was safe. Nobody could overthrow him there.

That’s what God says about His Son. Jesus Christ is on the Throne. And nobody’s knocking Him off it!

Believers confess the Lordship of Christ. Unbelievers don’t. But that doesn’t mean He is any less their Lord. Paul says God has

Jesus Christ is everyone’s Master! Believer, unbeliever, angel, devil, animal, you name it. He’s Lord of the living, of the dead of the unborn, of the inanimate. He’s Lord of all.

Whether you like it or not! Whether you believe it or not! Resistance is Futile! Jesus is Lord!

If you can’t fight His Lordship, why don’t surrender to it? Why don’t you quit serving yourself and the stupid people all around you and say to Christ,

He exercises His Lordship in two ways.

In salvation,

In judgment,

This means you can come under the Lordship of Christ as either His friend or His enemy. Which will it be? You will be saved or shattered. There is no third option!

You will make the choice. And you’ll live with it. Forever. God cares which way you choose. He urges you to

This simply means repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ. That’s what God would have you do. He

In short,

If you believe in Christ, you will be "blessed" the last verse promises. That means "happy". Both now and forever.

But what if you don’t? What if you say No to God? What if you want no part of His rule? If you will not have this Man rule over you?

It says you will,

Do you have any idea what this means? Think of the worst punishment man ever meted out. Multiply it by infinity. And you get some idea, some inkling of

Jesus is Lord!

Not because I say so, but because He is.

Now its time we act like it. Believers, "Rejoice, the Lord is king". Unbelievers, submit to His rule. Right now.

The Love of God be with you. For Christ’s sake. Amen.