In this "second psalm"(Acts 13:33) David (Acts 4:25) exhorted the pagan nations surrounding Israel to forsake their efforts to oppose the Lord and His anointed king. He urged them to submit to the authority of the Son whom God has ordained to rule them (cf. 2 Sam. 10).
David expressed amazement that the nations would try to overthrow the Lord and the king He had placed on Israel's throne to serve as His vice-regent. If Israel's kings submitted to the throne in heaven, they enjoyed God's blessing and power. To the extent that they proved faithful to God they carried out the will and plan of God on earth.
2:1 David set forth his amazement in the form of a rhetorical question. He could not believe that the nations would try to do something that was sure to fail. It was senseless to reject God's rule and ruler.
2:2 When they opposed God's vice-regent they set themselves against the Lord Himself (cf. Acts 4:25-26). The term "Anointed"is really "Messiah"(Heb. masiah), which in Greek translates to "Christ"(christos). Every king anointed by a prophet was a messiah. Though we usually think of Jesus as the Messiah He was the most faithful of many messiahs in Israel's history. Since this psalm deals with Israel's king it is a royal psalm as are psalms 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 89, 101, 110, 132, and 144.
2:3 The nations did not want to continue to submit to the rule of God's vice-regent who was probably David himself. They wanted to be free of the restraints that bound their freedom, the taxes and limitations on them that David had imposed.
2:4 David envisioned God as ruler over all sitting on His royal throne in heaven not at all threatened or worried about the plan of the nations, but laughing at its futility. The figure of God sitting on His throne is a common one that the psalmists used (cf. 9:11; 22:3; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 113:5; Isa. 6:1).
2:5 God also spoke to the nations. What He said He spoke in anger because they had refused to submit to the authority of His king who was an extension of Himself.
2:6 Because God had installed His king on the throne of Israel any rebellion against him would be futile ultimately. God established the kings of Israel with greater or lesser stability on their earthly thrones depending on their submission to the throne in heaven. David was very faithful to represent God, though not completely faithful, so God established his throne quite solidly, which involved ability to control the nations around him. Jesus Christ was completely faithful to carry out God's will on earth. He will, therefore, completely dominate His enemies.
"Zion"is the name of the Canaanite city built on Mount Moriah that David conquered (2 Sam. 5:7). It became known as Jerusalem. Later "Zion"was the term used to refer to the top area of that mount where the temple stood.
Verses 6 and 7 are the climax of the psalm, the answer sought in verses 1-5 and expounded in verses 8-12.21
2:7 David's reference to the Lord's decree declaring David God's son goes back to the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam. 7:14). There the Lord described the relationship He would have with David and the kings that would succeed him as that of a father with a son. This communicated to David his legitimate right to rule over Israel. The figure connotes warm affection rather than a formal business relationship. In the ancient world a king's son usually succeeded his father on the throne. In Israel, God wanted the kings to regard Him as their Father. >From the giving of the Davidic Covenant onward the term "son"when used concerning one of the Davidic kings became a messianic title. It was in this sense that Jesus spoke of Himself as the Son of God. That was a claim to being the Messiah.22
The "today"in view then is not the day of David's birth but his coronation, the day he became God's "son"by becoming king. Since this psalm deals with a royal coronation, scholars often refer to it as a coronation psalm. God begot David in this metaphor not by creating him, though He did that too, but by setting him on the throne.
2:8 The Father invited His son, David, to ask for his inheritance. As the great universal King, God promised to give him all the nations of the earth for his inheritance (cf. v. 1). David personally never ruled the whole world, but David's Son who would be completely faithful to His heavenly Father will do so someday (i.e., in the Millennium).
2:9 God will deal with all rebellious peoples severely when He sets up the Messiah on His throne. It was customary for the Egyptian Pharaoh to smash votive pottery jars that represented rebellious cities or nations with his scepter.23Perhaps that practice was the source of the imagery used in this verse. "Rule"(NIV) really means "break"(Heb. ra'a'). The emphasis in this verse is on the putting down of rebels rather than the rule that will follow that subjugation. "Rod"describes a shepherd's staff, a fitting scepter for Him who is the Shepherd of all humankind (cf. 23:4; Gen. 49:10; Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15).
2:10 In view of the inevitability of judgment for rebellion David exhorted the nations to submit before the wrath of the great King led Him to smite them. The leaders of these nations would be wise to bow in submission not only to David, but what is more important to the King behind him in heaven.
2:11 They should respond like the righteous by worshipping (serving), reverencing (fearing), rejoicing, and trembling before Him.
2:12 "Kissing"the son (NIV) is an act of submissive homage to the king (cf. 1 Kings 19:10; Hos. 13:2).24The custom of kissing the Pope's ring pictures the same thing. The human king and the Lord enjoy close association in this whole psalm. Their wrath and their pleasure are different only in the spheres in which they operate, the local and the cosmic. The nations would serve the Lord as they served His son, the king of Israel. Only by taking refuge in His anointed, rather than rebelling against him, could they avoid the wrath of God.25
The Apostle Peter saw in the opposition of Israel's leaders to Jesus a parallel with the refusal of the nations' leaders in David's day to submit to David's authority (Acts 2:25-26). The writer to the Hebrews also saw a fulfillment of the coronation of God's "son"in Jesus' resurrection and ascension (Heb. 1:5; cf. Heb. 5:5). By that exaltation, he wrote, Jesus was declared to be the Son of God (cf. Rom. 1:4).26When God instructs His Son to ask for His inheritance He will then bring Jesus back into the world (i.e., back to earth; Heb. 1:6). Then the Anointed One will smash His enemies and rule over them with absolute control, but those who submit to Him will experience His protection and great joy.
