Taken by itself, this thunderous psalm comes out of the blue. No author is cited, no information is given concerning the circumstances in which it arose. It’s a psalm made all the more memorable by Handel’s great oratorio, Messiah, with the bursting forth of its insistently turbulent allegro, “Why do the heathen so furiously rage together?” What a question! But before looking for an answer to it, let’s take a couple of steps back.

Authorship

Firstly, who wrote the psalm? Traditionally, it is viewed as Davidic, simply from its position within the book. However, we have apostolic authority for this in several places. Following their first arrest, trial, and ban by the Sanhedrin from teaching in the name of Jesus, Peter and John prayed with the congregation for boldness to continue preaching, quoting the opening verse of this psalm as being spoken by God via “the mouth of your servant David” (Acts 4:25). Interestingly, the Nestle-Aland Greek text renders this as “through the Holy Spirit, said by the mouth of our forefather David”¹ (my emphasis). It is well worth remembering, as we noted in our study of Psalm 1, that the Lord Jesus declared David to have spoken by the Holy Spirit (Matt.22:43). Furthermore, on the Day of Pentecost, Peter declared David to be a prophet (Acts 2:29-31). Paul also affirmed David’s authorship of this psalm in the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch, when quoting verse 7 (Acts 13:33).

Setting

Secondly, what is the setting of this psalm? Its second verse sees the raging of the nations being “against the Lord and His anointed”, whilst its sixth verse speaks of the king who is on the “holy hill of Zion”. Taken together, these point unquestionably to David himself, and thus bring us to ponder David’s circumstances. It is clear that there were events in his life that severely threatened his position as the anointed king of a united Israel in Jerusalem.

Where is our confidence when faced by deeply troubling circumstances? Let’s learn a lesson from David!

In the first part of 2 Samuel chapter 5 we read of his coronation in Hebron and the establishment of Jerusalem as his capital being rapidly followed by an invasion by the Philistines, whom he defeated and drove out as far as Gezer. In the eighth chapter we read of his further battles with the Philistines, with Moab, Zobah (southern Syria), Damascus (northern Syria), Amalek and Edom, some of them at times in alliance. Chapter 10 describes further attacks by the Ammonites and Syrians. Maybe it’s no wonder David seems to cry out in exasperation, “Why do the heathen rage?” And yet, in verses 4 and 5, he also declares his confidence that God himself will deal with them, because it is he who has set David upon his “holy hill of Zion”. Where is our confidence when faced by deeply troubling circumstances? Let’s learn a lesson from David!

A psalm about the Messiah

Yet for all the ways in which the psalm resonates with David’s personal experience, we can easily see that there are elements that transcend him. This psalm is one in which we encounter an example of the ‘law of double reference’, the fact that a particular part of Scripture may speak of two different persons and/or events that are separated by a considerable period of time.2 That Psalm 2 speaks of Messiah also is attested not only by many preachers and commentators,3 but most significantly by the Apostle Paul: “And we declare to you glad tidings – that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us, their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you” (Acts 13:32-33). Paul had no hesitation in using this verse (Ps.2:7), which would have been very familiar to his Jewish audience, in proclaiming the good news of Jesus to them. And his Greek expression behind “we declare …. good tidings” is just a single verb, the one that gives us ‘evangel’ and ‘evangelise’.

Here, in verse 7 of the psalm, is the mystery of the incarnation, intimated some 1,000 years before its fulfilment.

The word ‘begotten’ is most familiar to us through the writings of the Apostle John, who presents Jesus to us as “the only begotten” in five different verses. On each occasion he uses the identical word that appears in the Septuagint translation of the seventh Hebrew verse from Psalm 2 quoted by Paul (as indeed, does Paul also). Notice that in the prophetic word given to David, it is the pre-incarnate Christ himself who speaks, “The Lord said to me, ‘Today I have begotten thee’”. The Hebrew word is ‘yalad’, whilst the Greek is ‘gennao’, both meaning ‘to bear, bring forth’. In Psalm 2, therefore, we have a foreshadowing of the later prophecy of Isaiah, “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear (yalad) a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Is.7:14). Here, in verse 7 of the psalm, is the mystery of the incarnation, intimated some 1,000 years before its fulfilment. The mystery of the incarnation

It also foreshadows the prophecy given through Gabriel to Mary, “He will be called the Son of the Highest” (Lk.1:32). Luke’s account is in Greek, but it seems to me more likely that Mary would have heard the words in Hebrew, ‘the Highest’ being ‘Elyon’, one of God’s prominent titles in the Hebrew Scriptures, appearing 31 times. Additionally, we also have a foreshadowing of the assurance given to Joseph, “that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” (Matt.1:20, my emphasis). And all fulfilled in the person of Jesus. How amazing is the sovereignty of Almighty God!

Having noted above the application of the phrase “the Lord and …. his anointed” to King David, in applying the ‘law of double reference’ we now see more clearly its application to Jesus also. The word ‘anointed’ in the Hebrew text of Psalm 2 is ‘mashiyach’, which gives us the English word ‘Messiah’, and in the Septuagint the word is ‘christos’, yielding ‘Christ’.

At the baptism of Jesus, God confirmed his ancient Word audibly: “This is my beloved Son” (Matt.3:17, cf Mk 1:11, Lk.3:22) and the very next day, one of the Baptist’s disciples, Andrew, excitedly declared to his brother, Peter, “We have found the Messiah” (Jn.1:41). Such application is confirmed by the writer to the Hebrews: “So also Christ did not glorify himself to become High Priest, but it was he [God] who said to him, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’” (Heb.5:5, see also Heb 1:5).

Attempts to thwart God’s purpose

And so we return to David’s question, “Why do the heathen rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?” Significantly, Peter applies it to the actions of Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, in securing the death of Christ (albeit according to God’s will) (Acts 4:25-27). Here Peter understands the psalm’s “peoples” as the tribes of Israel. Hence, just as David had enemies among the Gentiles and his own people (e.g. Absalom’s rebellion), so did Jesus. How then is the question to be answered? Surely it primarily lies in the actions of Satan in seeking to thwart God’s plan of salvation and the renewal of all things. Actions to kill David and his descendants can be seen as a long sequence of attempts to thwart the eventual arrival of Messiah. How can we understand this? Let’s return to an event in David’s life.

Once David had fully secured his kingdom, he informed Nathan the prophet of his desire to build a permanent temple to replace the tented tabernacle. Though Nathan initially gave him the ‘go-ahead’, that very night God spoke to Nathan, deferring the Temple project to Solomon, and revealing what has become known as the ‘Davidic Covenant’. In it, God made a promise in no uncertain terms: “…. your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam.7:16). Here there are three highly significant words: ‘house’, ‘kingdom’, and ‘throne’. In this royal context, ‘your house’ (i.e. the House of David) signifies a dynasty; ‘your throne’ signifies sovereign power, and ‘your kingdom’ the realm over which the dynasty exercises sovereign power. That these three are promised by God as everlasting must have been utterly staggering to Nathan, let alone to David, whose reaction was to cry out “Who am I, O Lord God ….. what more can David say to you?” (2 Sam.7:18-20).

David’s question also leads to a Divine answer within the psalm itself, revealing the utter futility of all attempts to thwart God’s sovereign purposes.

The everlasting kingdom is confirmed in Psalms 18:50, 89:20-36, and 132:10-12, in which the word ‘anointed’ (Hebrew, ‘mashiyach’) is applied to David, and thence to an eternal descendant, to Christ. The genealogies in Matthew and in Luke confirm this as fulfilled in detail, the Greek text of Matthew's forcefully concluding with “the Christ” (Matt.1:17).

David’s question also leads to a Divine answer within the psalm itself, revealing the utter futility of all attempts to thwart God’s sovereign purposes: “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision” (v.4). And the futility is fully demonstrated in Jesus, the Messiah who (in spite of all opposition) came, who conquered death, who lives “in the power of an endless life” (Heb.7:16), and is coming again to rule over redeemed sinners in a kingdom that shall never end. Praise God! Hallelujah!

Truly, the peoples imagined “a vain thing”!

Endnotes
1. Translation by Westcott & Hort
2. e.g. Fruchtenbaum, A.G. (2008) The Book of Revelation (Outline), Ariel Ministries. p.5
3. e.g. Spurgeon, C.H. (1885) The Treasury of David: “We shall not greatly err ….. if we call it ‘The Psalm of Messiah the Prince’"