The first Psalm ends with a categorical statement: Defy God and “perish.” Yet here, the Nations seek to do just that. It is clear from the outset that the Psalmist does not understand the rage of the nations. Why? The gravity of the question is important. Why do you question God?
Let’s take a moment to understand the position of the Psalmist. If we are to understand it is Kind David who is speaking here, then his question resonates all the more as he is in a position to understand the weight and role of kingship. Without The Lord he, David, would not be king. Everything he has is the result of the actions of God. His relationship with God, his heart, his thoughts, his frustrations, his prayers are on the page for us to read, so that we may feel a deep empathy for this man, who came from such humble beginnings.
It is no wonder then that the question has extra weight. Why? It is asked by a king who understands the full weight of earthly sovereignty, a king who had rivals who wanted to depose him, a king who was hated by the increasingly unstable Saul whom God had removed. The un-named nations rage for very human reasons.
However, I suspect there is more to it than that.
There is a hint that the “nations” here refers to a much grander picture. If we move into verse 2 we see that the kings of the earth have set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together. Their’s is a jealous community, an alliance with the same motives as the wicked who perish in Psalm 1. They are locked into a course of selfish action which is by it’s very nature against not just God but God’s Anointed!
It is a rejection not just of God the Father but also of Jesus the Son. The simple fact that both have been rallied against, by those rulers and kings of the earth suggest that a higher battle line has been drawn. Yes, King David can view it as purely temporal in meaning, but the Psalm reaches higher than this.
Turn to Ephesians 6:12. According to the Apostle Paul, our struggle isn’t just against flesh and blood, not just a king against those who want to take his throne, but “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Who else is going to want to reject not just God the Father, but Jesus as Son? Who else is going to want to maintain that savage anger against the God who created and the God who is and always will be Sovereign over that Creation?
Who indeed?
Let’s take a moment to understand the position of the Psalmist. If we are to understand it is Kind David who is speaking here, then his question resonates all the more as he is in a position to understand the weight and role of kingship. Without The Lord he, David, would not be king. Everything he has is the result of the actions of God. His relationship with God, his heart, his thoughts, his frustrations, his prayers are on the page for us to read, so that we may feel a deep empathy for this man, who came from such humble beginnings.
It is no wonder then that the question has extra weight. Why? It is asked by a king who understands the full weight of earthly sovereignty, a king who had rivals who wanted to depose him, a king who was hated by the increasingly unstable Saul whom God had removed. The un-named nations rage for very human reasons.
However, I suspect there is more to it than that.
There is a hint that the “nations” here refers to a much grander picture. If we move into verse 2 we see that the kings of the earth have set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together. Their’s is a jealous community, an alliance with the same motives as the wicked who perish in Psalm 1. They are locked into a course of selfish action which is by it’s very nature against not just God but God’s Anointed!
It is a rejection not just of God the Father but also of Jesus the Son. The simple fact that both have been rallied against, by those rulers and kings of the earth suggest that a higher battle line has been drawn. Yes, King David can view it as purely temporal in meaning, but the Psalm reaches higher than this.
Turn to Ephesians 6:12. According to the Apostle Paul, our struggle isn’t just against flesh and blood, not just a king against those who want to take his throne, but “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Who else is going to want to reject not just God the Father, but Jesus as Son? Who else is going to want to maintain that savage anger against the God who created and the God who is and always will be Sovereign over that Creation?
Who indeed?