Post by The Ambassador on Jun 18, 2019 21:46:24 GMT
Let Us Cast Their Bonds Asunder
Benson Commentary on Psalm 2: 1-6
Most people today give little regard to God's law. Whereas, in times past, the Bible served as the backbone and inspiration for most democracies, in recent times people seem to have lost their faith in the wisdom of obedience to God—any god! What does this say about the future of democracies? What does it say about the future of mankind, for that matter? The following is God's answer to that question. No, I am not trying to speak for God, but I believe the Bible does. Here is a commentary on the second Psalm, vss. 1 - 6 which describes how Jehovah God handled rebellion in times past—and will handle it in the future. God does not change His policy down through time like so many human governments do:
Numbers 23: 19
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? |
Psalm 2:1
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Psalm 2:1. Why do the heathen rage? — Hebrew, גוים, goim, the nations, namely, 1st, Those bordering on Judea in David’s time, who raged against him, when exalted to the throne of Judah and Israel, 2 Samuel 5:6; 2 Samuel 5:17; 1 Chronicles 14:8; 1 Chronicles , 2 d, The Greeks and Romans, and other heathen nations, who raged against and persecuted Christ and his cause and people, Luke 18:32; Acts 4:25. Upon what provocation, and to what end or purpose, do they do so? And the people — Namely, the Jews or Israelites, who also combined against David, 2 Samuel 2:8, and against Christ, Acts 4:27; imagine a vain thing? — A thing which they shall never be able to effect, and which, if they could accomplish it, would produce consequences to themselves and others very different from those they expect.
Psalm 2:2
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Psalm 2:2. The kings of the earth — So called by way of contempt, and to show their madness in opposing the God of heaven. Herod the Great, Herod the Tetrarch, Pilate and other princes and magistrates, with or after them, are chiefly intended; set themselves — Hebrew, יתיצבו, jithjatzebu, set themselves in opposition, as Chandler renders it. The word expresses their firm purpose and professed hostility, together with the combination of their counsels and forces. And the rulers take counsel together — Or assemble together, and instigate each other, according to Waterland and Chandler. David’s enemies urged and instigated each other in their opposition to him; and the Jewish priests, elders, and council instigated false witnesses to accuse the Messiah, Pilate to condemn him, and the people to clamour for his crucifixion; the people also instigated Pilate to release Barabbas, and crucify Jesus; and the devil instigated them all to perpetrate this impious murder: as he afterward instigated kings and nations to persecute, imprison, torture, and put to death, in a variety of ways, his apostles, evangelists, and other followers. See the apostolic exposition of these verses, Acts 4:25.
“Persecution,” says Dr. Horne, “may be carried on by the people, but it is raised and fomented by kings and rulers. After the ascension of Christ, and the effusion of the Spirit, the whole power of the Roman empire was employed in the same cause by those who, from time to time, swayed the sceptre of the world. But still, they who intended to extirpate the faith, and destroy the church, how many and how mighty soever they might be, were found only to ‘imagine a vain thing.’ And equally vain will every imagination be that exalteth itself against the counsels of God for the salvation of his people.” Against the Lord — Hebrew, Jehovah, either directly and professedly, or indirectly and by consequence, because against his counsel and command; and against his Anointed — Against the king whom he hath chosen and exalted: that is, in fact, against all religion in general, and against the Christian religion in particular. And it is certain, all that are enemies to Christ, whatever they may pretend, are enemies to God himself. Thus our Lord, They have hated both me and my Father. The great Author of our holy religion is here termed the Lord’s Anointed, or Messiah, or Christ, in allusion to the anointing of David to be king. He is both authorized and qualified to be the church’s head and king; is duly invested with the office, and every way fitted for it, and yet he is opposed by many; nay, is therefore opposed, because his opposers are impatient of God’s authority, envious at this king’s advancement, and have a rooted enmity to the Spirit of holiness.
Psalm 2:3
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
Psalm 2:3. Let us break their bands asunder—That is, the laws of the Lord and his Anointed; the bands or yokes which they design to put upon our necks, that they may bring us into subjection. The laws of God and Christ, though easy and pleasant in themselves, and to all good men, Matthew 11:29-30; 1 John 5:3; yet are very grievous and burdensome to corrupt nature, and carnal, wicked men. And cast away their cords from us — The same thing expressed with more emphasis. Let us not only break off their yoke, and the cords by which it is fastened upon us, but let us cast them far away. “These words, supposed to be spoken by the powers in arms against the Messiah, discover to us the true ground of opposition, namely, the unwillingness of rebellious nature to submit to the obligations of divine laws, which cross the interests, and lay a restraint upon the desires of men. Corrupt affections are the most inveterate enemies of Christ; and their language is, We will not have this man to reign over us. Doctrines would be readily believed if they involved in them no precepts; and the Church may be tolerated by the world, if she will only give up her discipline.” — Horne.
Psalm 2:4
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Psalm 2:4. He that sitteth in the heavens — As the judge upon his tribunal, weighing the actions of men, and as the king of the whole earth upon his royal throne; who, without moving from his place, can with one word or look destroy all his enemies. His sitting (or dwelling, as Dr. Waterland renders ושׁב, josheb, here) in the heavens is opposed to their being and reigning on the earth, (Psalm 2:2,) and is mentioned here, as in other places of Scripture, as an evidence both of God’s clear and certain knowledge of all things that are done below, and of his sovereign and irresistible power. Shall laugh — Shall despise them and all their crafty devices. “This is spoken of God,” says Dr. Dodd, “after the manner of men, to denote his utter contempt of the opposition of his enemies; the perfect ease with which he was able to disappoint all their measures, and crush them for their impiety and folly; together with his absolute security, that his counsels should stand and his measures be finally accomplished; as men laugh at, and hold in utter contempt, those whose malice and power they know to be utterly vain and impotent. The introducing God as thus laughing at, and deriding his enemies, is in the true spirit of poetry, and with the utmost propriety and dignity. The whole description is grand: Jehovah is he who is seated in the heavens, far beyond the effects of their rage and malice: from thence he sees their secret counsels, confederate armies, and united obstinate endeavors to oppose what he had solemnly decreed.”
Psalm 2:5
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Psalm 2:5. Then—In the midst of all their plots and confidence of success; shall he speak unto them in his wrath—That is, severely rebuke them, not only by his prophets and other messengers in words, but by dreadful judgments, the effects of his wrath, which he will execute upon them. He shall make them know, to their full conviction, by the disappointment of their schemes and the vengeance taken on them, 1st, That David is established king in Jerusalem; and, 2d, That the Messiah, his son, shall reign throughout all generations. In other words, by pouring out his indignation on the adversaries of his anointed king, he shall no less evidently convict and reprove their folly and impiety than if he had actually spoken to them in terrible majesty from his eternal throne.
The word יבהלמו, jebahaleemo, in the next clause, rendered vex, and in the margin, trouble them, has a very strong meaning, implying “that God would put them into the utmost terror and consternation of mind, and deprive them of all power and ability of soul and body, to save themselves from the vengeance which should be executed upon them:” a prediction most awfully verified in the terrible destruction which came upon the murderers of Christ and the persecutors of his church and people.
Psalm 2:6
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psalm 2:6. Yet—Notwithstanding all their artifices and powerful combinations, have I set—Hebrew, נסכתי, nasachti, I have anointed, that is, designed, appointed, or constituted, as the word is frequently used in the Scriptures; my king—Mine in a singular sense, who has not his kingdom by succession from former kings, or by election of the people, but by my special and extraordinary designation; and who rules in my stead, and according to my will, and for my service and glory; upon my holy hill of Zion—Over my church and people. Zion, strictly taken, was a hill on the north part of Jerusalem, Psalm 84:2, where there was a strong fort, called the city of David; but in a more large sense it is put for the city Jerusalem; for the temple of Jerusalem, built upon the hill of Moriah, which was either a part of mount Sion, or adjoining to it; for the church of the Jews, and for the Christian church. David was advanced to the throne, and became master of the strong hold of Sion, notwithstanding the disturbance given him by the malcontents in his kingdom; and particularly the affronts he received from the garrison of Sion, who taunted him with their blind and their lame, their maimed soldiers, 2 Samuel 5:6. And the Lord Jesus is exalted to the right hand of the Father, has all power both in heaven and in earth, and is head over all things to the church, notwithstanding the restless endeavors of his enemies to hinder his advancement.
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