Bible Commentary - Psalms 2

Psalm 2 is clearly related to Psalm 1 in terms of composition and organization.  The closing verse, v. 12, ends with “Blessed are all who take refuge in him”.  The opening verse of Psalm 1 is “blessed is the one who does not…”.   These two verses enclose both psalms into a single coherent thought, which serves as the introduction to Psalms.  Furthermore, they are both untitled psalms which is uncommon in the first book, so that also sets them apart from the psalms that immediately follow.

The content feels starkly different, however.  Psalm 1 was very individualistic; it focused on the path of a righteous person and a wicked person, contrasting those distinct lifestyles.  Psalm 2 is quite different to say the least.

This psalm has four distinct sections, that carry it through a logical progression from beginning to end.  The first section is verses 1-3.  This describes the attitude of earthly rulers and nations.  More to the point, these are people who are “conspiring” to overthrow the LORD “and his anointed”.  We are supposed to imagine all the people of the world plotting to overthrow the LORD and perhaps more to the point, the LORD’s earthly representative who is the “anointed”.

In context, the most reasonable interpretation is that the “anointed” refers to the king of Israel (like David, who was anointed) and that this conspiring refers to Israel’s neighbors plotting to destroy them.

The second section is God’s response in verses 4-6.  God responds with five verbs: he laughs, he scoffs, he rebukes, he terrifies and lastly he says.  The most important part is what he says, because it tells us about God’s sovereign plan for the earth: “I have installed my king on Zion”.  It is clear that the “king” here is the same as the anointed from the first section.  God is laughing, rebuking and terrifying the nations because they are hopelessly standing against his divine authority, which is now manifest in the “king on Zion”.  I don’t remember if we’ve discussed Zion before but the summary is that it’s another name for Jerusalem or perhaps a specific hill in Jerusalem.  In the Psalms, as here, it is used as a poetic name to refer to Jerusalem.

Anyway, what’ clear from this second section is that the rebellious, conspiring nations have no chance of success because they are resisting God’s authority, God is enthroned in heaven, and God is in turn planting the king of Israel on his throne in Zion, respectively.

The third section is the LORD’s proclamation, in verses 7-9.  From verse 7 we can see that the psalmist himself is the king of Israel, because he writes “[The LORD] said to me”.  At this point it becomes first person about the author himself.  I would be willing to bet this was written by David, though of course I cannot prove it.  In any case, it is clearly written as though it were written by some king of Israel, and clearly the same person as the “anointed” “king in Zion” described in verses 2 and 6 respectively.  The decree is God’s decree about this same king, who is also writing the psalm.

The decree says, “you are my son, today I have become your father”.  This reminds me of Solomon though I can’t think of what passage talks about this.  It’s a statement of relationship between the king and God, but also informally it is another statement of God’s strong support for the king.

Verses 8-9 go back to the topic of the nations, which is the subject for most of this psalm, establishing that the king must only ask, and God would grant the king authority over all the nations of the world to rule them, inherit them and if he chooses to smash them into pieces.  Not only does God have power and authority over the nations, that power flows down to God’s chosen king.

Finally, in verses 10-12 the psalmist speaks directly to the hostile nations, warning them to cease from their dissent and to serve the LORD rather than rebel.  Furthermore, the nations should “kiss the son” and show deference and fealty to God’s chosen king, or else they will be risking destruction.

Overall, this psalm has many layers.  There is a strong nationalistic layer, contrasting Israel’s favor and protection under God with the rebellion and hostility of the surrounding nations.  We see Israel bound together with her God in the midst of a sea of anger and wrath against them.  Yet in spite of her isolation, we know that Israel will inherit the land of the nations and smash them to pieces because of God’s strong support.

This psalm, more than many others, is based on a theology of Israel’s greatness on the earth.  In that sense it is more reminiscent of Deuteronomy and some of the early Pentateuch.  A primary theme of the Pentateuch is that Israel would be blessed with material prosperity and dominate all their neighbors as a direct consequence of their covenant with God.  Much of that theology predated the emergence of a king in Israel, however.  This psalm appears to combine that earlier doctrine of Israelite greatness with the later king-centric political views.

We also see a strong royalist layer, with God’s deep relationship not to Israel writ large but to the king directly and only through the king does God support the rest of the nation.  This is definitely a psalm about “the anointed” of God, who is God’s earthly representative.

Lastly, modern readings tend to focus on the messianic expectations of this psalm.  Many people interpret “the anointed” or the “king in Zion” to refer to a future savior-king.  Verse 8 encourages this interpretation because we can read this as predicting a future king in Israel who will conquer the entire world, making all the nations “his inheritance” and ushering in world peace under God’s sovereignty and the savior-king’s leadership.  Verse 8 is commonly seen as an unfulfilled promise or prophecy and that is how it fits into messianic expectations.  In this messianic vision, both the earlier “great Israel” doctrine and the later significance of the Davidic line are combined into a single theology, where the “son of David” brings about a resurgence in Israel as a political power and in their religion.  This resurgence is supposed to bring about the fulfillment of the original covenantal promises, but under the leadership of the Davidic line.  This psalm combines both, promising Israel a future greatness but under the leadership of their anointed and chosen king.