Psalm 2 and the Lord’s terrifying laughter

​Psalm 2:

1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against hisAnointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

What happens when one makes a good thing a god thing, or replaces worship of God with worship of something else? What makes the heart of man want to do that? John Calvin once said the  human heart is a factory of idols. We still love to make idols. We’ll make them of patriotism, nationalism, legalism, and a whole host of other ‘isms. That includes making objects into idols like a flag or a pledge. Remember the First Commandment? “I am the Lord your God, who brought you put of Egypt, put of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.”

It’s painful to compare such things to Aaron making a golden calf for the people to worship.

Sure, we all are guilty of this, we’re all sinners after all. We tend to self justify our actions by saying to ourselves that it’s not worse than other sins (start listing a few of the Pharisees top ten here…). We all need grace and our God is merciful to save us. I would think He doesn’t like being mocked. Verses 4-6 are a bit terrifying when you really think about it. The Lord laughs and holds those in derision. 

I’m certain I don’t want to hear that kind of laughter. 

I’m just a beggar showing other beggars where to find the bread. 

I’ve got the freedom to do that too.

#TheologyMatters

#FiveSolas