Psalm 2:1-3 - Why do the Nations Rage?

Please read Psalm 2.

You may have noticed something incredible about this Psalm that differentiates it from the first Psalm—this Psalm is pointing toward Christ. It is the first of the Messianic Psalms which are actually prophecies about the coming Christ. As such, I want to spend the rest of the week examining it a little closer. Each day, I will ask you to read the entire Psalm, but we will only focus on a few verses of it. Today, we will focus on verses 1-3 (you might want to re-read them).

The Psalmist takes it as a fact that the nations will rage against Christ. The word for ‘rage’ is used elsewhere to describe the roaring of the sea, tossed by restless waves, like the ocean in a storm. The image is of kings lacking any foundation and raging about, wherever the wind may toss them. These nations have no basis for their raging; their plotting is ‘in vain.’

While they don’t have any basis, they have set themselves against the King of Kings. They are determined not to give in to God. Their raging is not temporary like a storm that tosses the sea for a time and then settles back down. They have a deep-seated hatred towards the King of Kings, and they will persist in raging against him. They will take counsel together, and unite in their hatred; it will not dissolve on its own.

The question that the psalmist asks is, “why?” Why do the nations rage?

As we will discuss in later blog posts, Jesus Christ is the King of Kings, His throne is set on God’s holy hill, He will defeat all nations who oppose Him, and anyone who surrenders to Him will be blessed. So why do the nations rage?

The answer is as true today as it was during David’s time. People do not want to surrender to God; they want to remain the lords of their own lives. God can freely offer us the most magnificent gifts (and He does!), but we treat them with suspicion and repulse the thought that we need to be given anything.

Each person believes that they are generally good, and despises anyone who tells them otherwise. “How dare God try to rule my life! I’m doing just fine, thanks.”

So, they bury the truth… or at least they try. Christ is the immovable rock—He is always true, has always been true, and will always be true. He can never be proven false and He can never be wrong. But still, the nations will rage against Him. They will latch on to any theories that will support their own fragile beliefs and ignore the clear teachings of Christ. They will worship false religions of all designs and even declare that there is no religion, just to ease their conscience. But they plot in vain.

Do not join with the world in its vendetta against Christ. They have determined not to surrender to God and are struggling to break His control over them. But God is Sovereign. No matter how long His enemies struggle against Him, they won’t gain one single foothold in His Kingdom. He is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. One day He will subject all the nations under His feet. Until then, the nations will continue to rage.