HAVING A LAUGH
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Opening Prayer
As I come to reflect on a Scripture passage today, Father, thank you that I can come expecting you to speak truth to me, to teach and encourage me through it. Thank you for the miracle of your Word.
Read PSALM 2
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations conspire[a]
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 “I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:
He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
8 Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with a rod of iron[b];
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
12 Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘… your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’1
I’m a sucker for satirical comedy. I enjoy the way that pertinent comments can puncture the self-opinionated, the pseudo-intellectual, the purveyor of contradictory political statements. I often laugh out loud and am reassured that truth will triumph. God laughs (v. 4) at the pathetic attempts by rulers throughout the world to throw off his just, true, and wise structures (v. 3). God’s laughter, his derision, builds into rebuke (v. 5a) and terrifying anger (v. 5b). His divinely appointed king will show the world’s rulers the true way: God’s king in God’s city (v. 6).
This psalm works two ways. On the one hand, it inaugurates the rule of King David, one of the world’s greatest kings. His reign was a reign of godly relationship (v. 7) and of power (v. 9). It was the start of a dynasty (v. 8). Christians see the dynasty reaching its fulfillment in Jesus. The Father-son relationship between God and King David (v. 7) is fulfilled in Jesus; this is illustrated by Mark at Jesus’ baptism2 and his transfiguration,3 and echoed by Peter.4 Paul outlines the same relationship5 and it’s brought together twice by the writer to the Hebrews.6 Jesus the Christ is King in a dynasty that stretches right back to King David.
So how should a ruler, a politician, in the time of King David and today, respond to this inauguration? The wise thing to do is to run with it, with some amount of trepidation but celebrating the inherent security (vv. 11, 12). Would that more politicians of our generation had the good sense to do so!
Apply
‘Blessed are all who take refuge in him’ (v. 12). Pray this benediction on family, friends, and all whom God brings to mind.
Closing prayer
Jesus, thank you for all that is mine because you are my King. May all of my thoughts, affections, and actions proclaim the reality of your reign.
1 Matt 6:10 2 Mark 1:11 3 Mark 9:7 4 2 Pet 1:17 5 Acts 13:33 6 Heb 1:5; 5:5
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