Psalm 2:10-12 - Blessed Refuge

Please read Psalm 2.

We have spent this week doing a deep dive into this wonderful Psalm, and I hope that you have gotten as much out of it as I have. Today, we will conclude this blessed Psalm by studying the final stanza. If you haven’t already read the previous blog posts on the earlier stanzas of this Psalm, let me encourage you to do that before continuing with this one.

This Psalm has questioned why the nations rage against God when their raging simply results in God laughing at their futile attempts. This Psalm has witnessed God’s declaration to His Son that He will break His enemies with a rod of iron and dash into pieces all those nations who rage against Him. But that’s not where this Psalm ends. It is not some nationalistic declaration of Israel’s victory over its enemies, or some blessing for the Christian to meditate upon. This Psalm was ultimately written as a plea for the nations to repent from raging against God’s Messiah and surrender to Him as Lord, which we see in the final stanza, verses 10-12 (you may want to reread them now, if you haven’t already).

The first stanza asked the general question “why” to whomever would listen; the second depicted God laughing and talking to the nations; the third depicted Jesus telling of the Lord’s decree to him. Now, in the fourth stanza, the Psalmist talks directly to the nations and gives them a warning: be wise!

It is foolish for the nations to rage against the Lord. Their warfare cannot succeed, so why would they continue to rage? Jesus Christ will ultimately prevail, and all those who rage against them will perish eternally. Why not surrender to Him now?

As Jesus counselled in Luke 14:31-32, “what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks them for terms of peace.”

All of God’s enemies have a chance right now to ask for terms of peace. The Psalmist urges them to serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling, and kiss the son. We would say that you must repent of your sin and believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. If you take refuge in the Lord in this way, you will be blessed. But, if you refuse, you will 'perish in the way' as God’s 'wrath is quickly kindled' against you.

The difference between this Psalm and Jesus’ words in Luke 14 is that this Psalm reminds us that the Lord is not “a great way off.” God declares that He has already set His King on the holy hill and the ends of the earth are already His possession. The Lord is near. He could be returning at any moment.

I pray that all you who are reading this have surrendered to Jesus as your Lord. If you have, then chances are that you still know someone who is foolishly raging like the nations in this Psalm. Do not neglect to tell them the truth: the Lord is not far off; He is near. They need to repent and trust in Christ now, before it is too late. Once they do, they too will celebrate with us that “blessed are all who take refuge in him.”