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Grace Baptist Church

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The King of Kings

The King of Kings

Mar 06, 2016

Passage: Psalms 2:1-12

Preacher: Jared Longshore

Category: Sunday Morning

Keywords: authority, judgment, king, power, sovereignty

Detail:

Pastor Jared Longshore teaches on Psalm 2 in a message entitled “The King of Kings.” There are several voices, or speakers, in this psalm but the overall thrust of them all gives God the Father’s testimony about Jesus Christ, the King of kings. Jesus is the King who both destroys and delivers, judges and saves.

The first three verses reveal David speaking of a vain rebellion plotted by the people and kings of the earth. He cannot understand the sense of or reason for this rebellion especially since rebellion against God has no chance of success. It is a hopeless rebellion. Yet the rebellion is premeditated, not accidental. The plotters seek to get out from under what they consider the oppressive rules of obedience to God. These verses leave us with the tough truth that outside of Christ, mankind is in rebellion against God for apart from God’s laws and ordinances all morality become subjective.

In vss. 4-6 God mocks and terrifies the rebellious. God does not look down with regret at the rebellion; He looks down in derision. He holds the rebellious in ridicule. This should be a terrifying thought for anyone in rebellion, for next God will speak in His wrath, a wrath that is both just and fixed. In the subsequent three verses, 7-9, the King speaks of His reign and conquest. We typically think of Jesus Christ as the suffering lamb upon a cross, dying a sacrificial death for those that are His. But Jesus is not only represented by a lamb. The Bible also speaks of a lion. Jesus will inherit the earth. He will rule not only in heaven but on earth. His conquest of His empire will be sure and just. Not only will he rule, but, as v. 9 tells us, God’s enemies, those in rebellion, will be utterly destroyed. If you have never bowed your knee to Christ, consider who He is, where He will reign, and what He will do to His enemies. Lay down your rebellion and come to Him who calls out and invites you.

This surrender is in perfect keeping with the final three verses of the psalm. Here there is a warning to bow down to the King of kings. God does not sneak up on those who will soon feel His wrath. In these closing verses He clearly, by sheer grace, gives a warning of His coming and judgment. Yet in His warning, God also gives the way of escape. The rebellious must lay down their arms and “Kiss the Son.” We see today this Son is Jesus Christ and the kiss directly implies the way to salvation is only through relying on the sacrificial work of that Son on the Cross of Calvary. Only by applying His shed blood to our sinful estate can we truly surrender from rebellion come to Him and kiss the Son. Having done this, but only through having done this, can one personally apply the end of v. 12 and be blessed by having taken refuge in Him.