The King Is Coming

Beautiful song, David. My David back there. Is it is this the first song you played on the trombone in church? Yeah. It is.

I figured. I thought I remember that being the first solo he played. So should we have him come up? No, I'm just kidding. Alright.

Yeah. Yeah. Another time. Another time. Alright.

He has to get his trombone warmed up. It's cold. He doesn't play it when it's cold. Alright. Psalm two We sang mainly in that song about the first coming of Christ and what he did in purchasing salvation for us on the cross.

We're gonna look at mainly his second coming from Psalm two, this evening. Psalm Psalm two. The king is coming. Psalm two. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us break their bands asunder, cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure? Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said unto me. Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee, the heathen for thine inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron.

Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, o ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little.

Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. This is a psalm written by David. My note here in my yeah. Written by David. We don't know when exactly he wrote this.

It is considered a messianic psalm. In other words, this psalm is not just about what was going on in David's life, but it it points to who? It points to Jesus, the, the son who is mentioned here. It is a it's not a psalm of that sounds rather merciful. It is a psalm of warning.

It is a psalm reminding humanity that we are not in charge. We may think we're in charge. We may think we can do whatever we want. We may think we can just do it our way. But there is a way that God has set forth, the creator of all that is, the sovereign Lord of the earth and the universe, the one who established the laws that keeps the earth revolving around the sun and the stars in their place, The one who made the laws that are to guide humanity that he has created, that reflect his holy nature.

He is an almighty God, an omnipotent God. He is king of kings and Lord of lords. And although there are many that refuse to acknowledge his authority, his very existence, There are those that rebel against his sovereignty and seek to come out from under his authority. He is God and he is on the throne and he is in charge. And this is something that David knew quite well.

If you remember, we go back to the life of David. When David was just a shepherd boy, Samuel came to his home in first Samuel 16 on a mission sent by who? By God. To anoint the next king of Israel. Now, Jesse called all of his sons together except for the youngest one, David, because certainly it wasn't David.

And Samuel started with the oldest that looked quite kingly, and God said no. Then he went to the next one. God said no. The next one. God said no.

God said don't just look on the outward appearance because man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the God looks on the heart. I haven't chosen any of these. There's another one. So they went and they got David. And, yes, David was the one that was chosen of God.

Now, he become king the next day? No, he did not. It was many years later before he became king even in Judah and then later on in all of Israel. However, no matter who tried to stop, mainly Saul, tried to stop that eventuality from happening, David saw time and time and time again, even despite David's blunders and sometimes sinful ways, God had chosen and that king would be David. And despite the years of running, exiled, and as a fugitive in his own own land, despite the attempts of king Saul to take his life, God still put him on the throne because that was God's will.

And there was nothing that man can do to truly stop the plans of almighty God. Regardless of whatever happens in the election this week, it will not change the plans of God. Plans to redeem those who will hear the good news of the gospel and come to Christ for salvation. Plans to return, to establish his throne. Plans to create a new heaven and a new earth in which all the redeemed in Christ shall live with him forever where no sin will ever find a place, nor sorrow, nor death, nor pain.

All those things that we suffer from because back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve decided that they couldn't trust God. Yet, is that going to stop from humanity from trying? No. Is that going to start the prince and power of the air, the God, little g, of this world from trying to dethrone God and establish his kingdom here? The answer to that is no.

He is going to keep trying, but he is going to what? He is going to fail. David's enemies who opposed him, as long as he was walking with the Lord, we're going to what? We're going to fail. He had seen God do it again and again and again.

And God has bigger things on his calendar than just David and his little kingdom. There is another anointed, appointed one. He calls him here son and he will rule, not just Israel, but he will rule the world for a thousand years and eternity to follow. This psalm is not just about David, though it is written by David from his point of view. It is about Jesus Christ.

It is about the God who holds the world in his hands and also holds you in his hands. It's about the God who cannot be defeated and will never let us down. So let's look at Psalm two for just a few minutes. Let's read verses one through three again. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. This psalm can easily be divided into four four sections, each one divided up into three verses here in our text. So this is our first section. And in this first section, he begins with a question emphasizing the futility of man's rebellion. We start off with the attitude of the kings of the earth.

What is the attitude of the kings of the earth? Those who get their authority from God and yet refuse to acknowledge the authority of God. How ironic is that? And yet they do. What is their attitude?

Well, often their attitude is, as is explained here, we don't want you to rule over us. Similar attitude to Satan himself. I will ascend up. I will be like the most high. I will rule.

He begins with the question emphasized futility of man's rebellion. To what end, he says, do the nations plot hostility? To what end do they ponder vanity, come up with vain plans and schemes? To what end do they do this? Well, that's what we're getting to.

It's a futile end. The kings of the earth station themselves. They set themselves. They take up positions. They take up positions particularly against who?

Against the Lord. This battle is not with flesh and blood. This battle is not with this nation and that nation. This battle is between God and and man in his in his rebellion that one day God will end. The rulers of this world, they take up positions like you might on a chessboard.

Or have you ever played Risk? Anybody in here ever played the game called Risk? Only a few. Oh, wow. Okay.

A few of you have played Risk. I know David has, but he won't lift his hand up. Alright. But in Risk, you put these little armies down everywhere and and you try to to conquest this conquer this area, and it's divided up in the continent. You try to conquer this continent, you get more armies if you conquer a continent.

And then you try to find ways to to work your way in to conquer this continent until finally somebody conquers the whole what? The whole map. Okay? Now, it's a fun little game. Has it been tried in reality?

The answer is, well, it has been tried actually by several dictators throughout time who have tried to conquer the world. How has that worked out for them? In the end, not so well. Okay? Not so well.

But, again, their their, enemy, their foe is not men so much as it is God. They take up their positions on the board. They come up with their scheme. They make their their plots and their plans against the Lord and against his anointed, as we'll read here. That anointed one is not just David, that is who?

That is Jesus. Anointed one is also translated Messiah. So when you see anointed one, think Messiah. He is the promised king of Israel. He is our promised savior, Jesus Christ.

So they they make their plots and their plans. They deliberate, together. They take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. To a certain degree, that does also include the redeemed in Christ Jesus for we're on the side of the anointed Messiah and our savior Jesus Christ. So in a manner of speaking, they pawn and plan against his kingdom of which we are a what?

We are a part of. They blindly seek to break their bands asunder, their shackles to throw off the restraints of the authority of God. Like a dog pulling at the leash. Now, I know that some of you have dogs that you just, you know, hold the leash and the dog just walks around nicely beside you. I've never had a dog like that.

I had a when we lived in Georgia, I had a his name was Buster. He was part lab, black lab, and something else. I think he was part chow because he had a black tongue. So but anyway, he was he was a nice dog, but he was huge. He was stocky.

If you went in the backyard, he wouldn't hurt you intentionally, but he might trample you just trying to lick your face. But But if you put him on a leash, he he he never did what you wanted him to do. He'd drag you around the yard, pull at the leash, try to dig under the fence, you know. And that's the way mankind, humanity is in many regards to the authority of God. Not content with all that God has given.

Not content to live bountifully, abundantly in his care and under his authority. No. We have to jerk at the leash. We have to try to get away. We have to dig out from under the fence, never looking back to see all the beautiful things that are there that we have.

We just got to have what's on the other side of the other side of the fence. And this, in many ways, describes fallen humanity. Always having to get to the other side of the fence, never content, always fighting against the Lord who made them. To what end? It's not going to end well is the point we're getting to here.

In verses four through six, David writes, despite all your plots and plans, your powers, your armies, he that sitteth in the heavens shall what? Shall laugh. Now this isn't laugh as though, you know, it's hilariously funny, but it's it's a laugh of of scorn. It's okay. Yeah.

Yeah. You try that. It isn't going to work. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision, scorn.

Then he shall speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. So we have the attitudes of the kings followed by the response of the Lord. The Lord shall laugh, ridicule, and deride them. Why?

Because it is futility. It is futility for the clay to think that it has power over the what? The potter. Remember, he is the potter and we are the the clay. The clay has no power over the potter.

It is the potter that has power over the clay. Paul points this out in Romans chapter nine. Who do we think we are? We are privileged to be the apple of God's eye. We are the climax of his creation.

We're created in his what? Image, but we are not God. And we are not gods, but we can be the children of God if we will embrace or kiss the sun as we see later in the passage. But yet, humanity has a history, particularly the rulers of humanity of bucking at the authority of God. What did Jesus say to Paul?

Why do you kick against the the pricks? How how how is it kicking against the pricks, Paul? Those were things that put behind the cattle. So if they got up at Ian decided to do what they weren't supposed to do, they got jabbed. Excuse me.

So the Bible tells us there is no fear of God in Romans three before their eyes. In Luke chapter 19, Jesus gives a parable about a king ruler that left and gave certain things to his citizens as stewards. But his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying, we will not have this man to reign over us. Now in the parable, how did that end for the ones who rebelled against the king? Well, it did not end well for them.

It ended well for those who appreciated what the king had what? Had given them and took that and used it wisely for their good and for his glory. But for those who rebelled, it didn't end well. Now who was Jesus who was this parable pointed at? Was pointed mostly at the religious leaders of the day who basically had said, we will not have you to reign over us.

He came unto his own and his own, what? Received him not. But this isn't just this isn't just localized to a particular time and place in Israel when Jesus was upon the earth. This has been a problem for humanity since the fall of man into sin. In Noah's day in Noah's day, people lived to be nearly 1,000 years old.

There were at least two thousand years between creation and the flood. The earth would have been populated by millions of people by that time. And yet, we read in Genesis six that the thoughts of their hearts were only evil, what, continually. And there was only one man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord who put his faith in God and could be trusted to build an ark to the saving of his house and all humanity. What a sad testimony to the sinfulness of man when they decide that they will not fear the Lord.

The Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and and wisdom. There's much more to our relationship with God than fear. But if you do not fear God, then you do not know who he is because he is worthy of our fear. He is our creator. He is the one who holds the elements together.

And at his command one day, what will happen to the elements? They will burn up with a fervent heat, the Bible tells us. Scientists tell us this. There is a a strong force that holds the nucleus of atoms together that make up every material thing in this universe. You see, there's there's particles inside that nucleus called protons.

And the protons have the same polarity. And they don't want to stay together, they want to what? Repel one another. And somehow, and they don't know how exactly, something holds those atoms together. What happens when just a few of the bonds of those atoms break apart?

Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that's what happens. That just shows you the power of the force that holds all of the atoms that make up all of this universe together. And one day, God will let those bonds go when it is time to make a new heaven and a new earth. He is in control. God shall speak.

It says here, the one who sits in the heaven shall speak unto them, verse five, in his wrath and vex them, induce panic and fear in his sore displeasure. Mankind at times may think that we have it all under control and that we don't need God and there is no need to fear God. But that will always end in the end with panic and fear. Every knee shall, what? Bow and every tongue shall confess the Lord.

On Revelation 19, it tells us about the picture, the scene as the son of man, the anointed one, comes from heaven who is also the son of God. And in verse 11, we read, and I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no man knew but he himself.

He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God. That vesture dipped in blood when I was younger, I thought, oh, well, you know, that's that's about his his sacrifice for sin. But that's not the picture here. Christ is not returning in this picture to the world to save them. He's coming to what?

To destroy and to conquer them. The Bible says the blood will flow in the valley up to the horse's what? Bridle. Verse 14, the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in white linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth goeth forth a sharp sword that with it he shall smite the nations.

He shall rule them with a rod of iron. He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of almighty God. He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written king of kings and Lord of lords. And it continues on. We'll stop there for the moment, but you get the picture.

No matter what man devises against God, it will what? It will fail. The king is coming. And though he is coming as a conquering king, he's also coming for his people. He is coming to establish his throne.

And he will rule, yes, with a rod of iron, but for a thousand years on this earth, there will be a peace that this world has never seen. Because who is reigning? Jesus is reigning. He says, I have set my anointed, my king, upon my holy hill, his king. Now, you might think at first this is maybe talking about David, but David really doesn't fit all of the picture that's that's here in this passage.

David is looking to somebody more than just David, Somebody he calls the anointed one. Somebody who is called the son here twice in this passage. And he will set him upon his holy hill. Holy means the appointed place, the sacred place. And that hill is Zion.

And what is Zion another name for? Zion is another name for Jerusalem. Jerusalem. On Palm Sunday, Jesus sat down on the foal of a donkey and he rode into where? Jerusalem.

To the applause and the praise of a crowd that was there, who called him the son of David. That's a reference to this song and others. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the of the Lord. They acknowledged, at least a few that day, as they laid palm branches down in the streets, the fulfillment of this promise. But the complete fulfillment is yet to come.

Because Jesus came into Jerusalem that day to the applause of a crowd who didn't realize that in this case, was coming, what, to die on that holy mountain. But when he went back to heaven, we're told one day he'll, what, return as Zechariah also foretold. One day not to die, but to conquer and to rule. I was reading commentary by Adam Clark, a theologian from days gone by. He wrote concerning this verse, here, meaning in Jerusalem, the gospel shall be first preached.

Here in Jerusalem, the kingdom of Christ shall be founded, and from thence shall the doctrine of the Lord go out into all the earth. It has been decreed. Yet, as this verse six starts, yet, despite the plans and plots of man, yet God is going to fulfill his promise. He is going to send his son, the king, to Jerusalem from whence the gospel from where he will die, from whence the gospel will go forth to whence one day he shall return, and he will rule for a thousand years. And it has already been decided.

The matter is already settled. Man cannot alter it. Man is trying to alter that plan right now. It won't be. Satan has tried time and time again and has ever failed in that attempt.

We studied in Sunday school the book of Esther. Who do you think was behind Haman? Who do you think was prodding him along to decree the destruction of all the Jews? Satan. And as usual, Satan failed.

Who do you think was behind Hitler and his attempt to annihilate the Jews from the face of the earth? Satan. And, of course, again, he failed. It has been settled. Satan will lose.

Christ will win. No matter how many kings and kingdoms turn on Israel, no matter how many ups and downs it goes through, no matter how many battles won or how many battles lost, one day Jesus will return. One day Jesus will rule from Mount Zion. And the people of the world will flock to Jerusalem to worship and bow before the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Someone once said, if you stand in front of the freight train, you will not alter its course, but it will alter your character.

You won't alter it, but it will alter you. We think if we ignore God's authority that he'll just leave us alone. We think that humanity, that we can just do it our way and it'll all work out, but it won't. God is still on the throne. Jesus did come to Jerusalem.

He did ride in Jerusalem that day as the Messiah as was foretold. And he did die on that cross so that we might become part of his kingdom. He did rise again for he is the living savior who ascended up into heaven and one day he will return. And man's attempts to change that cannot alter it in the least. The choice is, do you stand in front of the train or do you get on the train?

That is the question, which brings us to verse seven. Will declare the decree upon my holy verse seven. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Thou shall break them with a rod of iron. Thou shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. This is a the declaration of the Messiah. Now, David is not the Messiah. He is a type of the Messiah.

He is an ancestor of the Messiah. It is upon his throne that Jesus will rule and reign for a thousand years. But this is not David. This is the declaration of the Messiah. He says, I will declare thee I will declare the decree, the Lord has said unto me.

Me is the Messiah who is speaking and telling us what the Lord, his father, has said to him. And this is what the father has said unto the son, thou art my son. Thou art my son. Only begotten son. This day have I begotten thee.

For God so loved the world that he gave his, what? Only begotten son. That's Jesus. Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. The Messiah speaks.

Acts thirteen thirty three, God has fulfilled the same as unto unto us their children in that he hath raised up Jesus again. As it also is written in the second Psalm, thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was proof positive that Jesus is the only begotten son of of God. The one that is speaking in Psalm two through the mouth and the pen of David.

The rightful heir of the throne of David and the rightful king of the earth. Satan is the wrongful king of the earth. He has attempted now for thousands of years to wrest it away from God. But in the end, he will fail. You are my son.

It's an announcement. For this day, this purpose I have begotten thee. Purpose, to redeem a fallen world. Not just to rule it, but to what? To redeem it.

To buy it back, to purchase it back from the enemy that robbed God. Galatians four and five, but when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. Matthew three seventeen at Jesus' baptism, we read this, and low a voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well, please. No doubt this psalm is talking about who? Jesus.

And no doubt Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God for God spoke with his own, what? Voice from heaven. Three times in the New Testament audibly to men that this is mine. This is my son that I have appointed to rule and to redeem this fallen world. At his request, the nation shall be given as his inheritance and yours because if you are in Christ, if we are the redeemed in Christ, his inheritance is whose inheritance?

It's ours. It's ours. The rich, the wealthy, the plotters, the planters behind the scenes, the rulers and the kings, the mighty, the proud think that they will inherit the earth, but Jesus said, who shall inherit the earth? The meek. The meek shall inherit the earth.

The ones who in faith and love bow the knee to their Lord in heaven shall rule the earth. Request, he says, in the extremities of the earth shall be yours. You shall smash them, break them with a club, a rod, and shatter them in pieces like a piece of pottery. Remember the freight train? The mightiest army that man can bring together, they will.

The battle of Armageddon. And with the words of his mouth, will slay the enemies. No weapon devised by man can threaten who and threaten God. Or even the mightiest of nuclear weapons is nothing in the hand of God. He can squelch them with just like that because he's God.

When we get in a panic and think, oh, I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. I don't know what's gonna happen. I don't know what's gonna happen with this election. What if they do this? What if they do that?

What if we go to war? No matter what happens, as David learned, what God has decreed cannot be what? Cannot be altered. And God said he'll never leave nor forsake his children. And what he has promised us, he will fulfill.

The worst thing that can happen to you is the best thing that can happen to you. Because the best thing best place for you to be is heaven. The Lord's gonna take care of his own. The Lord will fulfill his plans. No matter what man is up to, man's up to a lot.

Our hope is not in man. It's not in government. It's in the Lord. And isn't that a wonderful thing to know? Verses 10 through 12, God gives counsel.

Why do the heathen? For what reason do they, you know, attack the Lord? Surely, they're nothing in his sight. Nothing's going to stop his plans. He is going to establish his kingdom.

He's gonna set his king upon his holy hill. Now the psalm ends with some wise counsel as to what to do with that information. What should we do with that information? Verses 10 through 12. Be wise now therefore, all ye kings.

Stop and think. Don't don't rush into things. Be wise. Be circumspect, all ye kings, ye rulers, you proud, mighty. Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. And that psalm ends with this one little phrase. Blessed are all they that, what?

Put their trust in him. Yes. This is a warning. Yes. It is meant to grab man's attention and the rulers of this world that they aren't really in control.

Yes. There is judgment coming. Yes. God is a God of grace and mercy and also a God of wrath and righteousness. The question is not as to whether Christ has come, He has.

Not to whether he will return again, he will. Not to whether God's plan will be fulfilled. It's been in motion since God said in the Garden of Eden and before to the serpent that he would send the seed of the woman to crush or bruise the head of the what? The serpent. But which side will you be on If you will put your trust in the Lord, if you will kiss and love and reverence the son, then you will be what?

Then you'll be blessed. David knew of what he spoke, how blessed he was. Be spook of circumspect, be admonished those that were fighting against God and change your what? Change your change your direction. There's a word that kind of encompasses that in scripture.

It's the word what? Repentance. Have a change of direction. Have a change of of heart concerning who? The God of heaven and the son.

Serve Jehovah in fear and rejoice. It is possible. It is actually the way of the Lord. To serve the Lord with fear and yet to rejoice in him. I can serve him in reverence.

He is the Lord and master. But I can do it in rejoicing because he's my Lord and master. Because he's on my side. Because he loves me and died for me. Because he is making a place for me and he'll come again and receive me unto himself that where he is, there I will be also.

That he he invites me boldly before the throne of grace, that he's on my side. Yes, he is king and he is Lord, but he's my savior and my friend and my father. And he loves me, and he cares about me. Those rulers out there that are making their plots and making their plans, they're doing that even today while we're voting in elections. There there are other people.

They they think they've got it all under control. They think they've they've they've got it figured out, but they don't. Don't don't just throw up your hands and say, oh, it's you know, the world is just going. No. Trust in who?

The Lord. Vote and pray and witness. Serve the Lord knowing that you are on the winning side. And blessed are all those who repent and trust in the Lord, who recognize his loving authority, who accept his plan, his offer of redemption, and his salvation. Let's pray.

Dear Lord, thank you for reminder here that no matter what's going on around us, you're in control. Lord, thank you for the privilege of knowing you, serving you. And, Lord, we pray, Lord, for those that we know that do not know you, who have yet to receive you, help us to be the witness that we ought to be. Help us, Lord, to show them the truth, to show them compassion, to share with them the good news, and work in their hearts to bring them to you. Thank you, Lord, for being our wonderful creator, our risen Lord, our coming savior.

And help us, Lord, to honor you in all that we do this week, that others may see Jesus in us, that they might bow the knee now in faith and in blessing rather than later in judgment. Forgive us for our doubts. Forgive us for our panicking. Help us, Lord, to keep our eyes fixed on you. And you will help us to walk upon the waves that are before us.

In Jesus' name, we do pray. Amen.