In Psalm 2 we read, “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed” – that is, His Christ (v2). And how often rulers have taken counsel together against God and Christ in the course of history! The supreme fulfilment of these words in Psalm 2 took place when the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was crucified. Yet on the Day of Pentecost, Peter pointed out to those listening to his address that Jesus of Nazareth was “delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). Peter told them of their sin: they had taken Him, “and by wicked hands [had] crucified and slain” Him. Yet God was in control of all that was happening then; it took place according to His “counsel and foreknowledge”, His eternal purpose. The One who was suffering the most awful agonies in His human body and soul was in control of what was happening. It was according to the eternal purpose of Christ, who was enduring the most extreme weakness.
The Lord’s enemies were trying to destroy Christ. But the Lord “laughed” (Ps 2:4); He acted in some way as human beings would act in view of the absurdity of a situation, as the next clause, “the Lord shall have them in derision”, indicates – derision implying a reaction to the absurdity of what others say or do. Here is the absurdity of human rulers taking counsel to rebel against God and the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God has appointed as supreme Ruler over all things in this world, and especially all the affairs of His Church. How absurd to think of destroying the Lord of glory and putting to an end His activities in this world!
W S Plumer, in commenting on Psalm 2:2, explains: “The reasons why wicked men oppose God and Christ are, first, they by nature have carnal minds, which are at enmity against God (Rom 8:7). Men naturally hate God and His Son. Being destitute of love to Him, and the mind having an active nature, enmity is inevitable. Then men soon find that the restraints of divine law thwart their selfish schemes and sinful purposes, and so they oppose the Bible because the Bible opposes them, and reject God’s authority because it is contrary to them.”
J A Alexander remarks on God’s laughter, in Psalm 2:4: beneath such bold figurative language, “there is hidden a profound truth, namely, that to all superior beings, and above all, to God Himself, there is something in sin not only odious but absurd, something which cannot possibly escape the contempt of higher, much less of the highest, intelligence”. And W S Plumer, commenting on the same verse, refers to several other scriptures to bring out the absurdity of the creature seeking to shake off the authority of the infinite God, “who puts no trust in His servants, who charges His angels with folly, before whom the moon shineth not, and in His sight the stars are not pure, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balances. All nations are before Him as nothing, and they are counted to Him less than nothing and vanity. He sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers.”
Men tried to destroy Jesus; yet the very idea was absurd. They were His creatures, though they wilfully rejected Him. But Peter went on to speak of Jesus’ resurrection: “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it”. Their efforts to do away with Jesus were absurd. And at a later time, when they were persecuted, the Apostles particularly noticed the fulfilment of the words of Psalm 2 as they committed themselves to God in prayer: “The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ. For of a truth against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together” (Acts 4:26,27). Yet Herod and Pilate were instruments in God’s hand, as Peter pointed out. And the Apostles could take refuge in God as they came before Him. They were instruments in the hand of God to spread the gospel, the good news of what Jesus Christ had done to make possible the salvation of sinners.
In one degree or another, throughout history, rulers and other individuals, and society in general, have persecuted God’s people and tried to weaken His Church and even to put it out of existence. The Roman Empire did so, under various emperors such as Nero. Let the strongest empire of ancient times focus all its energies on the suppression of the true religion, yet the Lord has them in derision. Yes, the Roman Empire was powerful, but if we compare its might with that of God, the Creator of all things, what we see – no matter how many legions of soldiers might be involved – is human weakness ranged against almighty power. Their policy was not only evil but foolish. While the Lord permitted many godly Christians to be thrown to the lions and devoured, He still had in derision the Roman authorities and those who are carrying out their wicked directions. For, while the Church of the
time was weakened by the loss of these sincere followers of Christ, their faithful witness was no doubt often blessed to those who watched.
But it could be said of those faithful men and women: “It shall be well with them that fear God” (Ecc 8:12). How great a blessing it was for them when their souls were brought into the presence of God and of the Lamb, in heaven. But how absurd to act against the weak followers of the all-powerful God! The persecutors may have survived in this world for many a year but, if they did not repent and believe sincerely in Christ, the One they were persecuting, through His followers, they were lost at last. Their sins would have sent them to endure eternally the fearful consequences of their rebellion against the One who rules over all things, for “it shall not be well with the wicked” (Ecc 8:13).
In our time, the Lord’s enemies, with Satan at their head, are attempting to destroy the Christian Church and biblical morality, and thereby bring down the Lord and His Anointed. The Lord’s enemies in the late nineteenth century were busy undermining the authority of God’s Word. Again, no matter how far human beings went in their rebellion, the Lord laughed. He saw the absurdity of men with finite intelligence and knowledge – though they may be highly intelligent and knowledgeable in comparison with other human beings – coming to negative conclusions about the revelation that has come from the infinite mind of the eternal God. Every time even a single individual is brought to look to Christ as revealed in the gospel, it is an assertion by the Creator that He still has the right to rescue sinners from Satan’s kingdom and to deliver them from being deceived by the false religions and the secularism of present-day society.
The purpose of the Lord’s enemies, as Psalm 2 indicates, is to break asunder His bands, and those of His Anointed One, and to cast away Their cords – every method by which the all-powerful God may restrain them from sin. Their desire is to get away from, in particular, the authority of the Ten Commandments – indeed from all the demands to be found in God’s Word. This desire is exemplified in the United Kingdom at present by efforts to pass legislation that would allow “assisted dying” (see p 25).
However long the Most High will allow the secular thinking of this generation to prevail, He will yet extend His kingdom to a far greater degree than He has ever done in the whole of the earth’s history thus far. He will yet cause that “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Is 11:9) – that is, completely. He will yet be trusted in, worshipped and obeyed to a vast extent, in all parts of the world. Whatever attempts will yet be made to throw off God’s cords – in this generation or beyond – He sees the absurdity of them all. We too should see that absurdity, especially in the light of His future purposes to build up His Church.