KING OF KINGS
Psalm 2
In The Presidency Hugh Sidey writes about different Presidents who found that their faith took on new meaning when they sat in the Oval Office. One example he gave was of John F. Kennedy
whose regular attendance at Mass and his skillful use of Scripture
in his speeches seemed in his campaign and the early months of
his Presidency designed more to please the voters than himself.
But after the Bay of Pigs, the Berlin crunch and the Cuban missile crisis, anyone close to Kennedy could detect a change in his views of spiritual matters. He became less public in sharing them and more private about them.
On one of those quiet evenings in the Oval Office when the day’s clamor had faded, not long before he was killed, he sat behind his desk and for a few silent seconds gazed through the bullet-proof windows. Then he nodded an admission that God was more important in the scheme of things than he at one time had sensed.
But when asked to talk about it he refused. That, he said was something he intended to keep to himself.
God controls everything that happens in the world he created.
A. W. Pink – “The sovereignty of God may be defined as the exercise of His supremacy. He is subject to none, influenced by none, absolutely independent: God does as He pleases, only as He pleases always as He pleases. None can thwart (frustrate) Him, none can hinder Him.”
Since God is sovereign over everything that happens:
1. We should trust him alone – not the government or ourselves.
2. We should submit ourselves to do his will and not our own.
3. We should seek to see his hand controlling our circumstances.
Why do people refuse to accept that God is sovereign over them?
1. They want to be independent so they reject authority.
2. They desire to do what they without any restrictions.
3. They do not believe there is a God who is sovereign.
MAN’S REBELLION :1-3
Plot :1-2
The rhetorical question expresses astonishment at the foolishness that the people refuse to submit to the leader God has appointed.
Rage (NIV conspire, NAS uproar)– Heb.commotion(only here).
The verb does not express inward feelings, but outward agitation.
Plot – Heb. mediate (1:2) to think something over or through.
It is also translated: decide, ponder or weigh.
In other words a plot is something that has been thought through.
It is not something that you just do on the spur of the moment.
The rebellion is led by the leaders of the nations who will not submit themselves to the ruler who God has appointed over them.
Anointed – Heb. Messiah, Gk. Christ (the anointed one)
Being anointed symbolized that God was setting that person aside for a special service to him like OT prophets, priests and kings.
Rebellion :3
Their desire is to be free from the ruler who God has appointed.
Bonds . . . cords – refer to the laws or restraints of government.
During the turbulent summer of 1968 the singing group called The Rascals released a song which expressed the feelings of the times.
All the over, so easy to see!
People everywhere, just wanna be free.
Listen, please listen! That’s the way it should be
Peace in the valley, people got to be free.
Application
People want freedom from any restrictions to do what they want.
They resist authority which God has established because they are sinful which is seen in their selfish desires and rebellious heart.
1. Children do not want to be told what to do by their parents.
2. Teens do not want to be told what to do by their teachers.
3. Adults do not want to be told what to do by the government.
GOD’S DECREE :4-6
Scorn :4
The sovereignty of God is beautifully stated here in the opening phrase of :4. God whose throne is in the heaven is Lord over the whole earth as well as heaven. How absurd of the nations to reject the sovereign Creator who made them. Any opposition against God or his anointed ruler is hopeless and worthless.
Derision (NIV scoffs) – Heb. mock (Ps. 22:7 they mock me).
The leaders of the nations are nothing compared to God.
Isaiah 40:15 The nations are like a drop in the bucket.
Charles Spurgeon – “No doctrine in the whole Word of God
has more excited the hatred of mankind than the truth of the sovereignty of God. The fact that the Lord reigneth is indisputable, and it is this fact that arouses the utmost
opposition in the unrenewed human heart.”
Wrath :5
Because of their deliberate and willful rebellion against him, God will speak to them out of his great anger in pronouncing the one
who he has chosen as King over the earth.
Decree :6
I have – God has already been determined what will happen.
Set (NIV installed) – Heb. to establish so that it is permanent.
Proverbs 8:23I (wisdom) was set up from everlasting.
God in his sovereignty has determined this King will reign.
Whether men like it or not, God has made Jesus, the King.
Revelation 1:5 The ruler of the kings of the earth.
The – emphasizes his unique role as King over other Kings.
Zion – used in OT poetry of the whole city of Jerusalem.
My holy hill – where his presence dwelt in the temple.
Isaiah 64:11 I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass;
I have purposed it, I will also do it.
SON’S SOVEREIGNTY :7-9
Relationship :7
My Son – Jesus is called the Son of God which shows the eternal relationship which existed between him and God the Father.
This statement “my son” comes from the promise which God made to David that one member of his family would rein as king forever.
II Samuel 7:14 I will be his father and he shall be my son.
Jesus would be the one who would completely fulfill this promise.
God the Father called Jesus “my beloved Son” at his baptism
(Matt. 3:17) and then again at His transfiguration (Matt. 17:5).
God wanted the disciples to clearly understand that Jesus was not
just a prophet like Elijah, but that he was the divine Son of God.
M. Henry – “He is the Son of God, and therefore of the same nature with the Father, has in him all the fullness of the godhead,
infinite wisdom, power, and holiness.”
People have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God that lived
a perfect life and died as a perfect sacrifice for their sins to be
forgiven. Only a perfect sacrifice could forgive our sins.
If Jesus was only human then his death was not sufficient
enough for our sins to be forgiven so we are still condemned.
Begotten – Heb. lit. to bring forth used of giving birth.
Genesis 4:1 Eve conceived and gave birth to Cain.
Here it means that God declared him to be King or revealed
to mankind that he was the King appointed by God to rule.
Acknowledgment
On Palm Sunday March 26, 33AD Jesus rode a donkey into the city of Jerusalem and the crowds of people acknowledged him
as the Messiah from the family of David and their king.
Mark 11:9 Those who went before and those who followed Jesus were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
John 12:13Blessed is he who comes . . . even the King of Israel.
On that day the people acknowledge and celebrated Jesus as their king. Today God wants us to acknowledge Jesus as your king.
He wants us to humbleourself under his authority and obey him.
Reward :8
When a king was enthroned people from the nations around gave
him gifts to acknowledge him. Here the Messiah is appointed by God and therefore he is given all of the nations as his gift because
all of the nations belong to God. In other words, this king will be
King of Kings and rule over all the other kings of the world.
Response :9
The Lord has a golden scepter to rule the nations and a rod of iron to punish the wicked. Those who will not bow down to the golden scepter will be broken by the rod of iron.
This verse is quoted in Revelation 19:15 about Christ returning
as King of Kings to reign forever over all.
DIVINE WARNING :10-12
Warning :10
Now therefore – because God is sovereign (:4) and he has appointed his king to rule (:6) they should listen to this warning.
Be wise; be warned– is an appeal to the mind.
Now that they know God is sovereign and has determined Jesus will rule they should accept the fact even if they do not like it
Serve :11
Serve with fear – is an appeal to the will.
The result will be joy in doing what God wants you to do.
Submit :12
Kiss the Son – is an appeal to the heart.
This is a reference to the practice of showing honor to a new king by kissing his hand or even his feet showing submission to him.
Blessed – the happiness and joy of those who make the Son the object of their confidence and trust by obeying him.
APPLICATION
1. God is sovereign over all of the nations of the world.
Therefore even though they rebel against him he controls them.
2. God has appointed Jesus Christ to reign over the world.
Believers should take comfort that Christ is King of Kings.
He rules justly and will eventually punish all evil.
3. One day everyone will bow before him as King of Kings.
Have you bowed before him and trusted him as your Savior?
Those who will not bow now will bow to be judged later.
Philippians 2:10-11 At the name of Jesus every knee will bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
CONCLUSION
On the Lord’s Day as Robert Bruce (d. 1631) ascended the elevated pulpit at Saint Giles Kirk in Edinburgh, King James VI
was comfortably perched in his royal gallery overlooking the congregation from the rear. The relationship between Bruce and
King James, though once amicable had become strained as Bruce
refused to negotiate the truth of Scripture in light of King James
unscrupulous politics – especially as it concerned the newly established Presbyterian Church of Scotland (1560).
On this particular Sunday, after Bruce began his sermon, the king showed distain for him by carrying on a loud conversation with his courtiers. Bruce paused for a moment and the king quieted down.
When Bruce began preaching again, however, the king continued with his ill-mannered conversation.
After this took place for the third time, the fiery Scottish preacher looked up to the royal gallery and declared: “It is said to have been an expression of the wisest kings, when the lion roars, all the beasts of the field are quiet: the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is now
roaring in the voice of the Gospel and it becomes all the petty kings of the earth to be silent.”
Have I humbled myself under the Kingship of Jesus Christ?