Psalm 2

May 3, 2022

"How blessed are those who take refuge in Him (Jesus Christ)!"

- King David, Psalm 2:12

"God has already won the battle you're fighting."

- A Pastor

I'll bet that every single one of you, like me, scrolls through your Yahoo News and finds yourself wondering, "Man oh man… Is the world completely out of control?” How are you and I supposed to view the present world chaos? A wife said to her husband one evening,

"Shall we watch the 6:00 News and get indigestion or shall we watch the 11:00 News and have insomnia?"

The poet Robert Browning wrote, "God's in His heaven / All's right with the world." But, when I look at the horror that's happening in Ukraine or the random violence, the racial tensions, the rising crime rate, and the moral laxness that's occurring in my own world, I find myself questioning Browning's words. Really? God may be in His Heaven… but all is NOT right with the world! I'm more inclined to agree with the guy who said:

God's plan made a hopeful beginning,

But man spoiled his chances by sinning,

We trust that the story

Will end in God's Glory,

But at present the other side seems to be winning!

- Orlando Sentinel

I mean, what are we supposed to do? Sink into depression and despair? Or white-knuckle a naive optimism by doing what a friend of mine does… He totally refuses to watch the news and ignores the world and its events, ostrich-style. What should we do? Psalm 2 gives us the answer!

Psalm 2 is the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament (see Acts 4:23-35). That's because the first followers of Jesus found themselves, like King David, 2800 years earlier, facing a world of hostility and persecution. It seemed as if all the world powers were in rebellion against God and His people. In verse 1, David looked at the chaos in His world and cried out:

Why do the heathens rage...Why do the kings of the earth prepare for battle, and plot together against the Lord and His Anointed One?

- Psalm 2:1-2 (NLT, paraphrased)

Even though, David says, it looks as if God has been on an extended vacation, He is in sovereign control, and His plans will ultimately triumph in His ordained time.

But the One who rules in heaven laughs.

The LORD scoffs at them.

Then in anger He rebukes them,

terrifying them with His fierce fury.

For the LORD declares, “I have placed my

Chosen King on the throne

in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain."

- Psalm 2:4-6

On March 3, 2022, a young Ukrainian soldier called his father and said, "Dad, you have to pray right now. We're in a situation. We're surrounded by Russian tanks." His father called other members of the church to start praying. They prayed that “the enemy would resist the enemy." Suddenly, the tank commanders became confused and, for whatever reason, began shooting at each other. In the chaos, the Ukrainians were able to escape unharmed.

Apparently, what happened is that, earlier in the day, some of those Russian tanks took over a small town and took the flags from that town and decorated their tanks with them in an arrogant display of victory. When they later went into battle, the other Russian tanks mistook them for the enemy, and fired on their own (see 1 Samuel 14:20).

What do you think? Good luck? Fortunate coincidence? Random chance? Or a sovereign God's divine intervention on the battlefield? David ended Psalm 2 with this: "Blessed is the one who takes refuge in the LORD!"