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On the topic of psalms, you can 
turn there to the psalms, to Psalm 2, which we consider a 
wonderful coronation psalm this morning for our morning's meditation. In Psalm 2, we have words fitly 
rendered not only for God's enemies, but also for God's people. For 
God's people, certainly a comfort, comforted by divine realities, 
but for God's people, terror, and horror over the one who stands 
as judge and king over them. We'll read all of Psalm 2 and 
then we will open it up, Lord willing, to the benefit of all 
of you. Why do the nations rage and the 
people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, 
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against 
His Christ, saying, Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast 
away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens shall 
laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in 
His wrath and distress them in His deep displeasure. Yet I have 
set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, you 
are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you 
the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for 
your possession. You shall break them with a rod 
of iron. You shall dash them to pieces 
like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, be wise, O kings, 
Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with 
fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, 
and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. 
Blessed are all those who put their trust in him. Amen. Well, let's open in prayer. God, 
we thank You again for the fact that we can gather now in this 
aspect of worship, the preaching of Your Word. We pray, Lord God, 
that You would be both with speaker and with hearer. We pray, Lord 
God, for the speaker that You would grant strength from on 
high and all that is required to do justice to Your holy Word 
though fallibly. And we pray, Lord God, that You'd 
grant to the hearer the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that saints 
would be lifted up and sinners would be saved to the praise 
of Your name. And we pray that whenever we 
do this, Father, All that we do and all that is spoken would 
be done unto the praise of Your name. And we would ask, Father, 
that we would gain much insight and much instruction and much 
comfort from the pages of Holy Scripture this morning. Help 
us to leave this place, Lord God, rejoicing in Your most holy 
name. And it's in Christ's name that 
we plead and pray. Amen. For those of you who don't know, 
Pastor Butler is traveling home tomorrow, I believe, so we can 
remember to be in prayer for Pastor Butler, and he will return 
to preach from this pulpit next Lord's Day. Well, Psalm 2 that 
we just read, is a coronation psalm. It is a kingship psalm. We should note right from the 
outset that this psalm is about Jesus Christ. The pages of the 
New Testament bear this out. This passage of scripture is 
alluded to many places in the gospel accounts, in the book 
of Acts, in the book of Revelation, and elsewhere. So this is a psalm 
about the Lord Jesus Christ, about that promise son of David 
who would come according to the lineage of David and be the king 
who would be installed never to be deposed. The king that 
would be installed never to be taken off his throne, but would 
rule with justice and equity for eternity. That's what this 
psalm is generally about, specifically who the psalm is about. Now, 
the flow of the psalm is such that it introduces the rebellion 
of humanity, the response from the throne room and then the 
recommendation, to put it lightly, from that self-same throne room. 
We're going to look at the psalm under three particular headings. 
First off, the arrogant rebellion, verses 1-3. Secondly, the awesome 
response, verses 4-9. And thirdly, the sobering instruction, 
verses 10-11. But it's important to note, again, 
that this psalm is speaking concerning Christ Jesus. We when when we 
come to the pages of the Old Testament, we do it injustice 
if we do not make at least the general observation of what Christ 
makes in Luke 24, that all the Psalms, the prophets and the 
law spoke concerning me. And, of course, when the New 
Testament bears out the fact that this Psalm 2, this Psalm 
of David, though it doesn't say a Psalm of David here, it does 
in the New Testament, this Psalm of David is speaking concerning 
Christ. The verse, you are my son, today 
I have begotten you, is referenced or alluded to the most in the 
pages of the New Testament. But also, you shall break them 
with a rod of iron. You shall dash them to pieces 
like a potter's vessel is spoken of concerning Christ in the book 
of Revelation. But we're going to look first 
off at the arrogant rebellion, verses 1 to 3. Notice how the 
psalmist begins the psalm. Why do the nations rage? And 
the people plot a vain thing. We have to ask ourselves, in 
understanding that, why is the psalmist asking that question? 
Well, there's a couple reasons, or there's a couple things that 
are not behind the asking of the question. First off, the 
psalmist is not without an answer to the question. David here, 
the psalmist, knows the facts and the reality of sin. David 
is, of course, aware of the ethical reality that resides behind the 
nation's rage. and the reason why they plot 
a vain thing. David knows this concerning his 
own heart. I was brought forth. Behold, I was brought forth in 
iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. He knows that it's 
not only the case with him, but it's the case with every human 
under heaven. Every man and woman, boy and 
girl, has that ethical reality from their birth by virtue of 
Adam, their first parent. They are brought forth from the 
womb speaking lies. They are brought forth from the 
womb and they are brought forth devising wickedness, even as 
babies, as it's been said before. It's not too quickly after birth 
that they learn no, that they learn mine, that they learn rebellion. 
against their parents and ultimately against the living and true God. So it's not the case that David 
is asking this question. Why? As if he doesn't know a 
reason. Why are the nations raging? Why 
are the peoples plotting a vain thing? He knows the ethical reality 
of sin, the grave reality that people everywhere rebel against 
the living and true God and all of his perfections. He's not 
asking this question out of some sort of sinful anxiety. We're 
charged in the pages of Holy Scripture to be anxious in nothing. David is not somehow nervous 
and anxious. Why do the nations rage and the 
people plot a vain thing? He has the certainty and the 
confidence that God will deal, that God is enthroned on high. 
In fact, he says that in the verses that follow. He who sits 
in heaven shall laugh. We know that David has confidence. 
But also in Psalm 3, if it's on the same page or the next 
page of your Bible, verse 6, I will not be afraid of ten thousands 
of people who have set themselves against me all around. Why? Because God is his God. The triune 
Jehovah is His God. And so this is not the case that 
He's anxious or He does not know the reason for their raging and 
for their planning of vain things. So what is the reason? Well, 
I think it's twofold. First off, Psalm 2 follows Psalm 
1. If you can turn back to Psalm 
1 for a moment and verse 4. Psalm 1 and verse 4. The ungodly 
are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly shall 
not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of 
the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of 
the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. David 
reveals these realities that the ungodly will perish. God 
will judge them. They'll be driven away like wind 
drives away the chaff. So then, verse 1 of Psalm 2, 
why do the nations rage and the people's plot a vain thing? The 
reality has been introduced in Psalm 1. God will deal with you. The ungodly will not prosper. 
They will perish. They will find the bad side of 
judgment. So then why would you rage? Why 
would you plot a vain thing when this is the certain reality? And secondly, David knows God. David knows God and he knows 
His perfections, His character, His nature, and all of those 
blessed attributes. Because of verse 4, He who sits 
in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall hold them in derision. 
The implication, His sovereignty. Why in light of the sovereignty 
of God would you rail against this one? It's the insanity of 
the pots trying to mount a rebellion against the potter. It's ridiculous. Why would you try to engage in 
mutiny against the creator, the sustainer, the provider, the 
one who put you into this earth and gave you breath, who can 
take away your breath in an instant? Why would you engage in vain 
things and why would you rage against this one? But also an 
aspect of his character that David knows intimately, that 
God of Psalm 32, the one who covers sin, the one who will 
not impute iniquity. Why would you rage against the 
One who can heal you? Why would you rage against the 
One who provides such eternal loving kindness and mercy? Why 
would you do that? I know this same God. I know 
this King who is righteous and who blesses all those who put 
their trust in Him. I was the ungodly King. I was 
the ungodly king who sent Uriah to the forefront of the hottest 
battle. I was the one who sent him there and had him be killed. 
I was the one who used that to cover up adultery with his wife. And yet Jesus, yet the Lord God 
rested upon me His eternal mercy and His loving kindness. He covered 
me. He covered my sin and He did 
not impute me with iniquity. Jesus, or sorry, David knows 
the character of God. And so he asks the question, 
why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? I think 
more clearly and more specifically in the context, though, this 
reflects the nature of God as sovereign judge and unmovable 
king. over these rulers and over these 
people plotting vain things. It is a ridiculous thing. It 
is absolute vanity to rebel against the sovereign creator and sustainer 
of the universe. Notice the objects of their rebellion. We have the facts stated, most 
certainly by way of a question. Why do the nations rage and the 
people plot a vain thing? Notice the objects of their rebellion, 
of course, and this is something of a reiteration. But the text 
brings this out. The kings of the earth set themselves 
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against 
his Christ. Rebellion isn't just some, you 
know, some ethereal, mysterious rebellion that does not terminate 
upon objects of that rebellion. Clearly, they are anti-God and 
anti-Christ. They will get to it in a moment, 
but they will not have this triune Jehovah to rule over them. They 
will not have the Creator, the Sustainer, the Redeemer to be 
the sovereign over them. They want autonomy. They want 
self-rule. They will not have anything. 
of the Lord and of his Christ. Jim made a reference to this 
in his sermon last Sunday, that the nations of the earth are 
usually always at odds with one another. Yeah, there's various 
alliances and that sort of thing, but you look at the Canadian 
Parliament and you can nary get two people to agree on anything. 
You look at, if you ever, I don't watch a whole lot of it, but 
C-SPAN and those sorts of things where they have all these people 
arguing for hours over sometimes the silliest things. They can 
never, ever agree on anything. Pastor Butler mentioned last 
time, but they will agree on this, that we will not have this 
Lord and this Christ to rule over us. Those previously at 
odds come together and mount their rebellion against God and 
Christ. against the Lord God and against 
his Christ saying, let us break their bonds in pieces and cast 
away their cords from us. The specific target of their 
attack is the law of God. That's what this language is. 
Let us break their bonds. in pieces and cast away their 
cords from us. We do not want to be bound to 
the righteous precepts of a triune Jehovah. We do not want to have 
cords connecting them to us for us to bear out righteousness 
in the earth. We want autonomy. We want self-rule. We will not have this man to 
rule over us. The parable in Luke 19. And so 
the specific target of their rebellion, of their vanity, is 
the law of the living and true God. And it perplexes us. It ought to perplex us as Christians 
as to why they would rebel against the law of God. The Scriptures 
call it the law of liberty. That's what the writers of Holy 
Scripture call the law of God. It's not the imposition of a 
tyrannical iron-fisted God. It's the law of liberty. When 
did God give the law? You've heard this many times 
from the pulpit. When did God give the law? After he redeemed 
people from out of the land of Egypt. He didn't give the Ten 
Commandments and then say, if you obey these, Then I will redeem 
you out of the land of Egypt. No, in his mercy and in his eternal 
condescending loving kindness, he visited them with redemption, 
bringing them out of bondage. And then he says, I am the Lord, 
your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And then 
he gives them the 10 words, not as some harsh imposition, but 
as mandates and precepts from a loving God to hedge them in, 
to guard them, to protect their hearts, and to cause them to 
walk in righteousness. It's a beautiful thing, the law 
of God. And it is rebellion against God. It is sin that is a corpus of 
bondage. Or those things that men, those 
in rebellion, the nations who are raging, the people plotting 
vain things, their own man-made precepts and their laws of autonomy 
that they set up, those are the things that keep them in bondage. 
Sin is a terrible and a horrific mistress, but the liberty and 
fidelity to the lamb, the bridegroom, there is great liberty in that. 
Great liberty. So why would the nations rage? 
Why would they plot a vain thing? Why is their specific target 
the law of God? Because they don't like it. They 
don't want to be tied to men, do not want to be tied to the 
law of God. They will have nothing of it. 
You turn to Romans for a moment just to see that by nature, the 
ethical reality of people everywhere. unless they are touched by the 
amazing and sovereign and free grace of God unto salvation, 
is such that they rebel time and again, time immemorial, against 
the Lord and against His Christ. Romans 8, verse 7, Because the 
carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to 
the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in 
the flesh cannot please God. They're not subject to the law 
of God, nor indeed can be. They are constantly in rebellion. 
It is their custom to devise wickedness, to cut the cords 
from the divine throne room and to break their bonds in pieces. 
They want self-rule. They want autonomy. They will 
not have this one to rule over them. So the specific target 
of the attack is the law of God. Now moving on, and we'll make 
references to this arrogant rebellion as we move through now the awesome 
response. Notice the awesome response beginning 
in verse four. He who sits in the heavens shall 
laugh. The Lord shall hold them in derision. Notice, first off, the one responding. It would have been OK. It would 
have been reasonable. Would have been acceptable for 
the psalmist to say, God shall laugh. They're rebelling against 
God and against his Christ. They're saying, let us break 
their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. Would 
have been legitimate to say in their awesome response, God shall 
laugh. But there is a reason why God 
is described this way. He who sits in the heavens shall 
laugh. Psalm 115, why should the Gentiles 
say, so where is their God? Our God is in the heavens. He 
does whatever He pleases. You see, they're setting the 
God, the only living and true God, against anything else, against 
anyone else who would argue for supremacy, who would argue for 
sovereignty, who would argue for mastery in their kingship. He who sits in the heavens shall 
laugh. That description of God is always 
rendered as a means of mocking the heathen and the pagan deities 
and the nations. Your gods have eyes, but they 
see not. Your gods have ears, but they 
hear not. Your gods can do nothing, and 
you are like your gods. But our God is the triune Jehovah, 
and he sits in the heavens, and he does whatever he pleases. 
And so this awesome response uses as ammunition the sovereignty 
and the universal mastery of God. He who sits in the heavens 
shall laugh. He'll have nothing of your rebellion. 
He'll have nothing of your attempts at mutiny. In fact, he laughs 
at you. And this laughter isn't to be 
something like we would equate to a child up in a tree fort 
laughing and tackling at other kids on the ground trying to 
throw rocks at him. This sort of laughter is rendered 
or is given to us in the context of the Lord holding them in derision. This is what Matthew Henry says, 
Matthew Henry, with regards to this language of holding them 
in derision. The attempts of Christ's enemies 
are easily ridiculed. God laughs at them as a company 
of fools. Now, this is to give us as the 
church great comfort. Because we can very often fail 
with regards to Paul's admonition, Paul's command, really, be anxious 
in nothing. But with prayer and supplication, 
mingled with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to 
God. We can fail there, and when we look upon the world, when 
we see, you know, the growth of Islam and nations softening 
their stance against Muslim and Sharia law, we can tremble and 
we can become anxious and nervous when we see enemies prevailing, 
when we see the tents of robbers prosper, but the righteous affected 
and suffering. And we can take our eyes away 
from the fact that he who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The 
Lord shall hold them in derision. God's eyes are in every place 
beholding, and we ought never to fear. Turn to Psalm 37 for 
a moment, because this language is clear there also and grants 
some meaning to what the psalmist is saying here. Psalm 37. Psalm 37, beginning in verse 
12. Same language as Psalm 2. The 
wicked plots against the just and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for he 
sees that his day is coming. Isn't that great for the people 
of God? That our Lord God is not up in 
heaven trembling over His inability to punctuate time and history 
and affect things. It is a horrible blasphemy when 
disasters come into the world. Natural disasters or things of 
great calamity. And so-called Christians go on 
TV shows and say, well, you know, the Lord is crying with you. You can put your head on His 
shoulder because He's right there with you. He can't do anything. 
If He could, He would. But He's set earth upon the shelf. 
He's twisted the little thing there, the little gears. And 
time and history are moving forward. And you just have to pray to 
Him. Pray that things will go well. Note, God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. 
The psalmist issues not a warning, but a wake-up call to the mariners 
who travel the seas in Psalm 107. Those merchant mariners 
that travel the seas, and they know the sovereignty of God. 
For He is the one who sends the winds and He lifts up the waves 
of the sea. He calms the storm so that its 
waves are still. Our God is the sovereign master 
of his universe, of his creation, and he, in response to the rebelling 
of the nations, shall laugh. He shall hold them as a company 
of fools, hold them in derision, hold them in scorn, hold them 
in contempt of court for their mutiny, for their madness against 
him. And again, this is to shine the 
light more on the vanity the vain rebellion of the people 
who are raging. Kids, when we use the term vanity, 
we simply mean something that is, I don't want to use that 
word, something that's mad. Something that, given the reality 
of a situation, is just madness to try and engage in. For example, 
and sort of related to this, it would be vanity for me to 
try and body check a Sherman tank. In a war, if I was to try 
and body check a Sherman tank, that would be vanity, because 
it weighs 7 billion times more than me, and I'm just going to 
bounce off it and break my shoulder. It would be vanity to try and 
put out a fire with a barrel of turpentine. Why? Well, don't try it to find 
out. It would be vanity to try and 
file out of prison bars with a spaghetti noodle. Wouldn't 
it? If you're in prison, and I hope 
you never are for criminal activity, but if you're in prison, never 
waste your time trying to file out of a prison bar with a spaghetti 
noodle. I think that makes sense to you. 
It's vanity for the nations to rage, for the peoples to plot 
a vain thing, to be anti-God and anti-Christ, to try and break 
the bonds of Christ, to try and break the cords of the triune 
Jehovah. It doesn't make sense. Why would 
you do such things? You are a company of fools. And again, the nature of the 
response, we've looked at that. God laughs. God holds them in 
derision. The insurmountable counterattack. It's the language I'm applying 
to verse 6. You see, we need to read verse 
6, if we can, immediately after verse 3 in thinking about how 
this psalm is flowing. The rebellious nations and those 
raging say, let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away 
their cords from us. But God says, yet I have set 
my king on my holy hill of Zion. You see, they're trying to mount 
this mutinous attack against God. And this is his emphatic 
answer. Yet I have set my king on my 
holy hill of Zion. This is the insurmountable counterattack 
from the divine throne room. OK, you're going to bring that. 
But I am the one who sits in the heavens and laughs and I'm 
going to bring this. And there's nothing you can do 
about it. So God sets forth his answer, 
his awesome response from the throne room in rendering This 
verbal answer to their verbal rebellion. Yet I have set my 
king on my holy hill of Zion. And I often try and fit this 
text into every sermon that I preach. So I'm going to do it again. 
David knows something about this one upmanship in his life and 
in his goings forth of defending God and country. David knows 
what it is to answer a silly and a vain threatening. Remember 
in his discourse, we can call it that, with Goliath. Goliath 
says, today I'm going to take your head from you and feed you 
to the beasts of the field. David responds, though, because 
he knows that the living and true Jehovah is on his side. 
And he says, no, Goliath. I'm paraphrasing. No, Goliath. 
Today, I'm going to take your head from you, but I'm also going 
to deliver the entirety of the army of the Philistines to the 
birds of the air and to the beasts of the field. You don't mess 
with the armies of the living and true God. Who is this uncircumcised 
Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? 
And God, Jesus Christ, the greater than David, renders this declaration. God the Father, in this case, 
renders this greater declaration against the rebels and against 
those who engage in vanity. I have set my king on my holy 
hill of Zion. It continues here, and we need 
to see this. We need to see this in relation 
to time and history. And we'll actually look more 
at this tonight. The historical fulfillment of this particular 
psalm in Acts chapter 4. But God installs His King. There is a coronation ceremony 
that takes place. I will declare the decree. The 
Lord has said to me, this is Jesus speaking, The Lord has 
said to me, you are my son today. I have begotten you. Ask of me 
and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the 
ends of the earth for your possession. This is fulfilled. peculiarly 
in the ascension, the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. You remember in the prophecy of the ascension in Daniel 7, 
13 and 14, Daniel sees the vision in the night visions. He sees 
one like the Son of Man coming to the Ancient of Days. And what 
happens? The Ancient of Days bestows upon 
him glory and dominion and a kingdom. This took place with that resurrection 
and ascension complex where Jesus Christ is given that official 
declaration of king of the universe. That's what he declares to his 
disciples in Matthew 28, 18. All authority in heaven and on 
earth has been given to me. We ought to notice here, by way 
of a brief aside, that this is not a text that argues for the 
creaturehood or creatureship, whatever the language should 
be, of Jesus Christ. You are my son. Today I have 
begotten you. This water doesn't seem to be 
working. I'm going to have to bear with me for a few more minutes 
while I try and struggle through talking. If Steve's ready to 
preach tonight, that would be. Good, I'll be calling you at 
415. But just to continue, here we have again, this isn't God, 
the father, creating Jesus Christ by an act, by a creative act. Today, I have begotten you creatively 
speaking. This speaks to the language of 
unique installation of a ruling monarch. Today I have begotten 
you. In the context, obviously, that's 
what's going on. Yet I have set my king on my 
holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The 
Lord has said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten 
you. And notice, the scope of the 
king's rule is not just Jerusalem. Of course it isn't. Notice the 
language of the psalm. Ask of me and I will give you 
the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for 
your possession. Jesus Christ is not a local ruling 
monarch. He is a universal ruling monarch. If there are people plotting 
vain things and Nations raging in North America. It's not as 
if Jesus is saying, well, that's outside the scope of my rule. 
If you move over to the realm of the southeast Mediterranean, 
then I'll be able to deal with your comforts and with your issues. 
No, Jesus Christ is the ruler over the heavens and the earth. 
The nations are given to him. The ends of the earth are given 
to him. And notice the activity and the 
judgment rendered by this great king. You shall break them with 
a rod of iron. You shall dash them to pieces 
like a potter's vessel. You know, it's unfortunate. Evangelism in our modern era 
certainly has lost something, hasn't it? What a what a shame and a mistreatment 
and an injudicious use of how the scripture evangelizes. Is it to come to come to the 
nations and those the nations raging and the people's plotting 
a vain thing and saying Jesus has a wonderful plan for your 
life? Isn't that the verbiage of some 
of modern day evangelism? Not to cast a lifted-nose snobbish 
indictment of them, but would you go to the nations raging 
and the peoples plotting a vain thing and say, you just need 
to fill that Jesus-shaped hole in your heart? This Jesus stands 
not as one who is meek and feeble, carrying sheep and drinking tea, 
but the sovereign monarch who shall break them with a rod of 
iron and dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel, unless 
they kiss the sun, unless they bend a knee and call him King 
of Kings and Lord of Lords. Evangelism has lost something 
when we come to these and we don't say, now, therefore, be 
wise, O kings. Be instructed, you judges of 
the earth. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry and you perish in 
the way. We need to bring to bear the reality that they are 
in an active and consistent and perpetual rebellion against the 
living and true Christ, who has been set upon the holy hill of 
Zion, who has all rule and all authority. They don't need to 
fill a Jesus-shaped hole in their heart. They need to bend a knee 
in worship and revere the King of kings and Lord of lords and 
find mercy and blessing in putting their trust in Him. Beware those 
who are at the last day and before the judge of heaven and earth 
have not kissed the Son and have not bent the knee to Him. Let's 
move then, since we're there already, to the sobering instruction. See, this is the practical application of what David has 
already written concerning this God and his Christ. The scripture 
does this all over the place, giving us theological and grand 
truths regarding God and his Christ, and then bringing it 
to bear upon the audience now, therefore. Very important now. These people, whoever is reading 
this, whoever is considering these things, it is time now 
to pay attention. We're bringing to bear this God 
who sits in the heavens and laughs against those company of fools. 
We're bringing this to bear now upon your soul, upon your conscience. 
So now pay attention. Be wise, O kings. Be instructed, 
you judges of the earth. Bear to exercise wisdom. They are to be instructed. The 
Bible brings it back very often, not to some ethereal principle 
or some ambiguous spiritualism, but to wisdom and instruction. 
Wisdom and instruction. Come, let us reason together, 
God says. Come, let us reason together. 
I've given you a mind. I've created you in my own image. Now, be wise, O kings. Be instructed, 
you judges of the earth. And not only are they to be wise, 
not only are they to be instructed, but they are to render allegiance. 
They are to be obedient to this ruling potentate. Now, therefore, 
be wise, O kings, be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve 
the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. See, the proper 
response to this one who sits in the heavens and laughs at 
the company of fools is to serve with fear. to tremble before 
Him. Fear and trembling is always 
becoming the saint of Christ. We are to be marked by fear and 
we are to be marked by trembling. Not the fear that causes us to 
run from Christ or to call upon the rocks and the trees to hide 
us from the wrath of the Lamb, but rather that fear that drives 
us to the foot of Christ, that drives us in obedience to the 
One who blesses us when we put our trust in Him. and we're to 
rejoice with trembling. What does that mean? What you've 
heard very often from this pulpit. That trembling is that reverential 
awe of God in His throne room. We don't kick our feet up on 
the coffee table when we read this. We don't cross our legs 
and grab a mocha latte, decaffeinated, and just sip and turn the pages 
without considering the God to whom the Scriptures point. When 
we read, ye who sits in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall hold 
them in derision, shall speak to them in his wrath, distress 
them in his deep displeasure. When he answers them with that 
insurmountable counterattack, you're going to do this, but 
I've got my king on my holy hill of Zion. That's when we need 
to uncross our legs and put down our tea and bow before this triune 
Jehovah of heaven and earth. Because we are to rejoice with 
trembling. We can rejoice this admonition, 
this exhortation, this command, this wholesome recommendation, 
to put it lightly, is so that they would become believers, 
so that they would become saints, so that they would be those who 
cast off the wickedness of vanity and rebellion and embrace the 
rule of Messiah under his loving kingship. You see, Christ's kingship 
comes in two ways. He subdues the hearts of the 
elect, brings them to himself, blesses them, or he crushes his 
enemies. He dashes them to pieces like 
a potter's vessel. So be wise, O kings, be instructed, 
you judges of the earth. Kiss the sun, lest he be angry, 
and you perish in the way. They are to render allegiance. 
The proper rendering of allegiance is unto Jesus Christ. proper 
pledge of allegiance is to say, now I am wise. Now I am instructed 
because of your grace. Now I kiss you, Lord Jesus Christ, 
and I am the one who puts my trust in you because of that 
same grace that I might be blessed. that I might be a member of the 
Messiah's kingdom, not outside of that kingdom of the Son of 
God's love and rebellion against it. Kiss the Son, render allegiance, 
bend the knee, call him King of Kings and Lord of Lords, not 
to your shame at the end of days, but as a loving saint, bending 
in humility to the one who sits upon the holy hill of Zion. This 
is what Spurgeon says, and this ought to be a wake-up call for 
people who think that they can make commands to God, that they 
can argue for their autonomy, for their self-rule. I often 
hear of conversion accounts. conversion accounts where people 
say, oh, before I was saved, I said to God that if He doesn't 
save me, if He saves me, I'm going to be the greatest Christian 
He ever had. But if He doesn't, I'm going 
to be the hardest atheist and I'm going to come up to heaven 
and blah, blah, blah. What blasphemy. What horror. 
Speaking like that. You're going to make the nasty 
God. You save me now or I'm going to be a rebel. I'm going to be 
vile. I'm going to be wicked. That's just wretched. See these, 
hear these conversion accounts or the unbelievers, unbelievers. When I, you know, when I die, 
I'm going to have some words to say. It just shocks me some 
of the things that unbelievers say against our Lord and against 
his Christ. But on that and on this language 
that you're to kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish 
in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Listen 
to these words of C.H. Spurgeon. Those who kiss not 
the scepter of silver shall be broken with the rod of iron. 
They who will not have Christ to reign over them in love shall 
have him rule over them in terror in the day when he puts on the 
garments of vengeance and dyes his vesture in the blood of his 
foes. Oh, acknowledge him as he is 
covered with his own blood, lest you have to acknowledge him when 
he is covered with yours. You see, they didn't play games 
back in the day. They said it as it was. David 
spoke it like it was the reality. You shall break them with a rod 
of iron. You shall dash them to pieces 
like a potter's vessel. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, 
and you perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. 
The Jesus Christ presented by Holy Scripture is not little 
Jesus, meek and mild, carrying sheep and riding always on a 
donkey into Jerusalem. a colt, the foal of a donkey. 
It's the Lord Jesus Christ, now ascended to the right hand of 
the majesty on high, now set as the installed sovereign over 
heaven and earth, who comes on the white horse, who treads the 
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And Spurgeon 
is bang on. Acknowledge him now as he is 
covered with his own blood. Acknowledge him as the atoning 
savior, as that blessed, sacrificial, substitutionary, curse-bearing 
redeemer. Acknowledge him as he is covered 
with his own blood, lest you have to acknowledge him when 
he is covered with yours, when he dashes you to pieces like 
a potter's vessel. You know what Jesus says in that 
parable, and I believe it's concerning himself as judge, as the king 
set upon the holy hill of Zion. In Luke 19, he says that there 
are some servants who will not do rightly with the talents that 
he gives them. And then at the end of the parable, 
and they actually say, they say, we will not have this one to 
rule over us. And at the end of the parable, 
he says, bring those men before me and slay them before Me." 
Jesus Christ isn't playing games. All honor and all allegiance 
and all obedience is to be rendered to the Son. Kiss Him. And why 
would you not want to be under the rule of this sovereign Christ? 
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. What happens 
in Revelation 14? We'll read this and then we'll 
close in prayer in a moment. Turn there to Revelation 14. 
Why would you not want to be a follower of the Lamb? Why would 
you not want to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ? Why 
would you not want to follow the Lamb wherever He goes, loving 
His commandments, loving the testimony of Jesus Christ? Revelation 14, beginning. in 
verse beginning in verse nine. Then an angel followed them, 
saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast in 
his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 
he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 
which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire 
and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the 
presence of the lamb. And the smoke of their torment 
ascends forever and ever. And they have no rest day or 
night who worship the beast and his image and whoever receives 
the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints. 
Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven 
saying to me, right, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord 
from now on. Yes, says the spirit that they 
may rest from their labors and their works follow them. Jesus 
Christ isn't a harsh taskmaster for those who are his saints, 
for those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 
And I hope you saw a little bit of Psalm 2 in there. The wicked, 
their ultimate ending place is the wrath of God. Their ultimate 
comeuppance is the wrath of God and they being dashed to pieces 
like potter's vessels. But those who trust in the Lord 
are blessed that they may rest from their labors and their works 
follow them. And so if you're here this morning 
and you're an unbeliever, stop rebelling. Stop rebelling. The ungodly shall 
not prosper. If you're here today and you're 
an unbeliever, stop rebelling. Why would you rage and why would 
you plot a vain thing? Why would you continue to dangle, 
to tarry, to wait? Why would you continue? There's 
no third person that gets saved in the Bible or another type 
of individual that gets saved in the Bible. You've got the 
wicked. You've got the righteous that are saved. And then you've 
got this transitory individual who maybe will be given a chance 
on the last day. Where does that come from? You're 
either with Christ or you are against him. He who believes 
the Son has eternal life. He who does not believe the Son 
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. John 3.36. 
So if you're here today, stop rebelling. You're raging against 
the Lord and against His Christ. You're trying to body check a 
Sherman tank. It's much worse and it's much 
more difficult and it's a much more insurmountable battle than 
trying to body check a Sherman tank. You're railing against 
God, trying to break his bonds and cut away his cords. Yet he 
set his king on his holy hill of Zion, and he will dash you 
to pieces like a potter's vessel. Believe in him. Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. And you will have the 
blessings of being in him. Blessed are all those who put 
their trust in him. And believer, find great confidence 
in this song. Great confidence. While the world 
rages, while the enemies of the Gospel might rage, yet he who 
sits in the heavens shall laugh. He shall hold that company of 
fools in great derision. and there will be justice rendered 
on the last day. Well, let's pray. God, we thank 
you for our time and your word this morning. We just praise 
you that we can consider your holy scriptures and what you 
set forth in them concerning our blessed Savior and redeeming 
King, Jesus Christ. And we would just ask that you'd 
be with us as we consider these things, as we mull them over 
in our minds, We just pray, Lord God, that we would be glorying 
in the fact that we can be counted as those blessed, those who have 
put our trust in you, not because of anything good in us or done 
by us, not because of our ethical purity or that we were smarter 
than others, but solely and alone. We owe this to your great grace, 
your victorious grace, Lord God. And we would pray, Lord God, 
that those who do rage against you, those who are planning vain 
things against you, that they would kiss the sun, that they 
would gain wisdom by your grace, that they would gain instruction 
by your sovereign leading, and that they would bend the knee 
to our great king, and that they would sing along with us, hallelujah, 
what a savior. We just pray that you go with 
us now, God, help us not only to consider things concerning 
your holy word, but to bear them out in our lives, that we might 
conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of our great King. And 
it's in Christ's name that we pray, Amen.