Hot on the heels of Psalm 1, with the chaff hardly having settled, and the fate of the wicked stated plainly with the use of the word “perish,” the focus of Psalm 2 shifts from the condition of the individual to that of the national and perhaps even the global situation.
The word used for “nations” is goy. The meaning here is “a troop of animals” or “a flight of locusts.” In considering the word in this context I for one am reminded of the plagues of Egypt, firstly because what we have is a challenge against God’s authority, His Sovereignty, which is the crux of the confrontation between Pharaoh and Moses. God wins by such a display of power that nothing Pharaoh does or indeed can do has any hope of success. Of course not, he has set himself against the Creator, against God Almighty. The nations in Psalm 2 are in a very similar position.
Set against the Sovereignty of God it’s hardly a surprise that their efforts are “vain.”
At the end of Psalm 1 there is a solid atmosphere of judgment against the wicked and the eventual result of their actions. This trickles through into Psalm 2.
The Psalm begins with a question: Why? The ‘who’ is given to the reader. The nations. The turmoil is palpable. They are in an “uproar” - ragash - in tumult or commotion. This is no mild agitation. And this is not on an individual national level. The ‘nations’ are plural. Many. Aligned in some semblance of community against the Sovereign God.
Consider for a moment verse 1 in Psalm 1. Here is the establishment of a very real separation of the ‘righteous’ man who meditates on God’s Word night and day, and the ‘wicked,’ who do not. We should be alert to the movement from the almost lackadaisical attitude of the sinners, who seem very secure in their situation, to the point they think they can sway the ‘blessed man’ from his path, much as Satan was certain of his ability to corrupt Jesus in the wilderness. Yet, the sinners in this first Psalm, come to reflect just that turmoil we see opening Psalm 2. The wind doesn’t just blow the chaff, the wicked who have been judged, it ‘drives’ them away. Again, sub-text sneaks in here as I read this and I think of Jesus actions in the temple, driving out the money changers. They are as chaff, blown by the wind of Christ’s ultimate judgment! We are shown the futility of their actions and their attitudes.
They are akin to the nations in that their actions are deemed empty, vain, against God. We see this in Psalm 1 verse 5. The wicked have no future, driven away like chaff in the wind. Indeed, as one commentator suggests, they have no real ‘now’ either. Is it of any account, then, to wonder what ‘vain thing’ was being considered with such fervor? Does it really matter?
We must note here that the word used for this contemplation is ‘hagah,’ the same word we find in Psalm 1:2 in reference to ‘meditating’ on the Law of the Lord. However, even though the word might be the same the motivation behind it is very different. They are opposites, and therefore immediately in tension with each other.
When we take the time to think on the Sovereignty of God, then the conclusions reached by the writer of Ecclesiastes sobers our position on the Nations rage. Even though we don’t know the full condition and desired outcome of their plots, it is the same as Pharaoh: Of no consequence before the God who Judges. (Ecc 12:14)
The word used for “nations” is goy. The meaning here is “a troop of animals” or “a flight of locusts.” In considering the word in this context I for one am reminded of the plagues of Egypt, firstly because what we have is a challenge against God’s authority, His Sovereignty, which is the crux of the confrontation between Pharaoh and Moses. God wins by such a display of power that nothing Pharaoh does or indeed can do has any hope of success. Of course not, he has set himself against the Creator, against God Almighty. The nations in Psalm 2 are in a very similar position.
Set against the Sovereignty of God it’s hardly a surprise that their efforts are “vain.”
At the end of Psalm 1 there is a solid atmosphere of judgment against the wicked and the eventual result of their actions. This trickles through into Psalm 2.
The Psalm begins with a question: Why? The ‘who’ is given to the reader. The nations. The turmoil is palpable. They are in an “uproar” - ragash - in tumult or commotion. This is no mild agitation. And this is not on an individual national level. The ‘nations’ are plural. Many. Aligned in some semblance of community against the Sovereign God.
Consider for a moment verse 1 in Psalm 1. Here is the establishment of a very real separation of the ‘righteous’ man who meditates on God’s Word night and day, and the ‘wicked,’ who do not. We should be alert to the movement from the almost lackadaisical attitude of the sinners, who seem very secure in their situation, to the point they think they can sway the ‘blessed man’ from his path, much as Satan was certain of his ability to corrupt Jesus in the wilderness. Yet, the sinners in this first Psalm, come to reflect just that turmoil we see opening Psalm 2. The wind doesn’t just blow the chaff, the wicked who have been judged, it ‘drives’ them away. Again, sub-text sneaks in here as I read this and I think of Jesus actions in the temple, driving out the money changers. They are as chaff, blown by the wind of Christ’s ultimate judgment! We are shown the futility of their actions and their attitudes.
They are akin to the nations in that their actions are deemed empty, vain, against God. We see this in Psalm 1 verse 5. The wicked have no future, driven away like chaff in the wind. Indeed, as one commentator suggests, they have no real ‘now’ either. Is it of any account, then, to wonder what ‘vain thing’ was being considered with such fervor? Does it really matter?
We must note here that the word used for this contemplation is ‘hagah,’ the same word we find in Psalm 1:2 in reference to ‘meditating’ on the Law of the Lord. However, even though the word might be the same the motivation behind it is very different. They are opposites, and therefore immediately in tension with each other.
When we take the time to think on the Sovereignty of God, then the conclusions reached by the writer of Ecclesiastes sobers our position on the Nations rage. Even though we don’t know the full condition and desired outcome of their plots, it is the same as Pharaoh: Of no consequence before the God who Judges. (Ecc 12:14)