The Bible Bloke

Psalm 2:4 - He who sits in the heavens. THE BIBLE BLOKE · MONDAY, 21 OCTOBER 2019 · READING TIME: 3 MINUTES The voices of men heeding their own counsel give way to the voice of God. His immanence becomes manifest. Seated in heaven, yes, but watching as men go about their business of sin and of disobedience, and indeed, yes, also of righteousness. But we do not find that here. As we move into verse 4 of Psalm 2, we have a change not just in the voice, but in the rule that holds. The kings of the earth must give way to the Sovereign Lord of Heaven. He who has created everything we see cannot be ignored. The lack of acknowledgment of the rulers of the earth leave them blind to God’s True and Awesome majesty. The words of the song sing out: “O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout the universe displayed.“ How then do we view the leaders ...

Psalm 2:3 - Rebellion THE BIBLE BLOKE · MONDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2019 · 4 MINUTES The key idea in these, the first three verses of Psalm 2, is that of rebellion. Reaching for the trusty dictionary reveals that a rebellion is an organised resistance against an established authority. In the first Psalm we saw that the delight of the Lord happens as a result of our contemplation of His Word. This deep meditation is satisfying. We are fulfilled by God and His Love for us. His guidance manifests in those laws and statutes He gave to Moses on Mt Sinai. God’s authority is clear. It has been shown to us. As the second Psalm opens, it becomes plain that not everyone is happy with God’s authority. The contrast between good and evil, between the blessed man and the wicked that formed the basis of the first Psalm, expands to outright conflict between the good of The Lord and His Anointed and the evil of the Nations, and by inference the leaders of those Nations. ...

Have you ever been in on a completely pointless discussion, or a pointless activity? I’m sure if I thought about it I might come up with a personal example, however, I decided to Google it and see what I came up with. Top of the list was pre-peeled bananas in plastic wrappers, followed closely by the goldfish walker, or perhaps even the treadmill bicycle or my favourite “The most annoying box in the world.” (I have give the link to the page below.) The interesting part of the exercise was the realisation that someone somewhere thought it was a good idea. Why? Now, I will be honest and say these things aren’t quite in the same league as the nations raging and planning a pointless thing. I can view these with a certain wry amusement, or laugh at the better ones, but the difference here is that in someway, the person who invented each item thought they were doing something good, something that might be useful. That’s very different from the attitude of the Nations in Psalm 2. Certai...

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 ...

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 judgm...

Charles Wesley wrote: “Thy faithfulness, Lord, each moment we find, So true to Thy word, so loving and kind; Thy mercy so tender to all the lost race, The vilest offender may turn and find grace.”  I have been struck this week by the faithfulness of God. Even though I may wobble in my orbit, He is there to make any correction necessary. To keep me turning around His axis. When we are on our own we are lost, we have no direction do we? Every sideways glance is a slight against us. At least that’s how we might perceive it. But it’s not. Not when God is in charge. And it’s never too late to look for that course correction! “The vilest offender may turn and find grace.” I am reminded here of the story of Nicky Cruz, who came to Christ from the worst situation. He was a murderer, a drug taker, a gang leader, his mother and father were Satanists. And yet The Lord embraced him, showing Love and Grace. God’s great mercy was the catalyst that took Nicky Cruz from the very gates...

Before we move on to the next Psalm which will expand our vision to more distant horizons, it seems fitting to come back to the very first verse of the first Psalm and ask the question who is this "blessed man."1 First impressions would tell us that he is a symbol of universality, a representation of the generic believer, whatever that might be. Relying on first impressions the idea of, the meaning of the word “blessed.” This is the ‘man’s’ clear state of being. Is this the same man that David is referring to in Psalm 32 verse 1? Here the man’s transgression is forgiven, whose “sin is covered.” Surely this can happen only through Christ? This is where I get caught on thorns for I have to read this in terms of my 21st century context. I have to ask: Don't the Psalms predate Jesus? So my question is how can I hope to find Christ here? To find an answer to this point of tension we need to think about the nature of Scripture: God breathed, inspired by the Holy Spirit, ...