Revolt, Rebelion and Rage

If you would, let's bow together in a word of prayer and ask God to open our minds to his word. Father, once more we are here to listen to your voice. We have not come to merely serve the purpose of going to church on Sunday. We have come because it is here, in a special way, that we hear your voice as you speak to us through the ministry of those who open the word of God.

Would you please now help us to see? Give us greater understanding. Help us to have a better way of looking at the world because we understand it from your perspective. Give us insight now, we pray, into our world and into our Savior, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. look around today and you see almost nothing but violence, turbulence and deep disquiet our world going mad a man in London the other day just starts stabbing people all around him in revenge for the death of the leader of ISIS People in Iraq burned down the Iranian consulate in their city, while at the same time fighting against their own government, and many of them dying in the protests that follow.

There's pitched battles continue in Hong Kong between freedom protesters and the police, which also now heightens tensions between the United States and China. 14 year old children are killed on the streets for the sake of a jacket and on the other end of the spectrum of the social scale rich CEOs and bankers and heads of companies are also motivated by the same greed that motivates those children gaining more money for less work while their employees work more for less money there seems to be a general disquiet and turbulence in all the world. And then Christmas comes along and everybody gets some sort of a sense of hope.

A time when peace is supposed to reign. When our hopes for peace and goodwill are raised. And yet, year after year, people's hopes are shattered as the turbulence continues There no end in sight No peace no goodwill conquering the hearts of people Why Why As I was coming into LaRue the other day, I had on a radio program, and the host of the show was talking about how wonderful Christmas is, and if we can do this one month a year, then we can do it 12 months of the year.

And I thought, no we can't. We can't even do it for one month. There is something at the very heart of man that's going to keep that from happening. Well, the second psalm gives us some answers to that. It tells us the reasons for such tumult and madness. And as we come to Psalm 2, remember as we saw last week, this is the revelation of God's King in four scenes.

And for the rest of Advent, for the Advent season, And we're going to take one of those scenes every Sunday and look at it. There are four scenes that reveal the king to us in this psalm. The first scene is verses 1 through 3, the rebellion of the nations. The second scene is 4 through 6, where we see the Lord laughing. In 7 through 9, where the Messiah presents his credentials. and then verses 10 through 12 warning and blessing are ours and so we want to look then at this psalm over the next four weeks let's look at it together now as i read it why did the nations rage and the people's plot in vain the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the lord and against his anointed saying let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.

He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you.

Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like like a potter's vessel now therefore oh kings be wise be warned rulers of the earth serve the lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the sun lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled Blessed are all who take refuge in him Here is God's portrait of his Messiah, Jesus Christ. Here is the promise of the one who came. Here is a description of him and all that surrounds him.

Now, God's purpose in giving us this psalm is to present to us his Messiah so that we would submit and take refuge in him. That's the purpose of this psalm. In understanding all that is in him and that surrounds him, we then, verse 12, would take refuge in him. We then would submit to him. And in that submission, we would find true happiness. But as the psalm opens, you don't see any such peace or happiness, but the same tumultuous setting that we still see today.

Why? It's simple. Because of rebellion. Because of rebellion. Let's look at the first scene then in verses one through three. Why do the nations rage and the people's plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. As you approach the psalm, the first scene unfolds here in verses 1 through 3. And there before us is a great and grand army of rebels ready to do battle. That's the opening scene.

If you want an accurate picture of God's promised king, then you have to get an accurate picture of what he's coming to. That there is this universal rebellion against him. This is no popular king. That's the first thing we have to see. There is rebellion against him and his God. And that's what we must understand.

So, the first thing that we need to understand is that there is a universal rebellion. understand that there is a universal rebellion now if you've been in this church long enough you're gonna say okay we're gonna hear the same old thing again and you certainly are the bible does seem to hit the same themes wherever you are nevertheless it puts it in ways that just accentuates what that rebellion is like In this opening scene we just don see okay everybody depraved they against God What we see is whole nations. We see the whole world against God, and for a very specific reason. And that's what we need to see.

Here the psalmist, this poet, described for us in a different way, this universal rebellion against God. First of all, you look at this rebel army and you see a great deal of commotion. That word rage that you see in verse 1. Why do the nations rage? It's hard to capture that Hebrew word in just one word. It carries the idea of tumult and commotion.

Why do the nations throng tumultuously? You see an army of a number of different uniforms, people from different countries all in their own uniforms as each nation sends its warriors there seems to be a noisy hostility this seeming chaos this frantic activity that's what he's describing here this tumultuous, churning thing that stands against God and that's exactly what you see around you each day isn't it? there's this boiling cauldron of human endeavor We're busy at everything. Politics, business, religion, education, work.

All is motion and noise. There is no peace wherever you go. No peace anywhere. Isn't that what it looks like to you? Talk about education. There'll be a fight.

Talk about politics. There'll be a fight. Right? Religion. Work. Tumultuous.

Everything is turned upside down and cheering, and there is this deep disquiet, this deep rumbling all over everywhere, no matter what it is. This endless, tumultuous human endeavor that has no peace. But you can't let all the noise and the tumult deceive you, for these rebels are unified. They're unified. They may come from different countries. they have this whole huge army of different people but they're all unified they all have one purpose for example he starts out saying why do the people's nations rage and the people's plot in vain the common people The everyday ordinary people, they're plotting, they're plotting, they have a purpose.

Now some of us are old enough to remember Vietnam, in fact I'm looking at some of you who were there, right? I remember that. Most of the men who fought in that war were conscripts. They weren't there because they wanted to be, they were there because they had to be under pain of penalty. if you didn't go then you went to jail many were not enthusiastic about being there they didn't know why they were there they didn't understand what was going on they didn't know why they were there they served their tour not knowing that most were not willing they were less than enthusiastic I'm old enough to remember my high school class was the last I had to register for the draft and I can remember that from freshman on every year, wondering which of the graduating class was going to go to Vietnam.

Your number gets called up, you're gone. You've got plans for college? Put those on hold. You're going to be gone. They were less than enthusiastic to go. These warriors serve willingly and enthusiastically and with purpose.

The people's plot. They've got something going. They want to see something happen. They share agreement with the rulers in their hatred for their enemy. The rulers, the common people and the rulers, the kings of the earth are also involved. The rulers set themselves, that is, they have met or they have positioned themselves to fight.

And it says that they take counsel together, that is, they have met in a united counsel. They too are united in this common purpose of fighting and hatred for an enemy. You know, when you look at the nations of the world, everything's in a turmoil because every nation is looking out for its own interests, right? When you go to Albania, for example, I've been to Albania a number of times.

When you go there, you're entering a part of the world called the Balkans. The world that made up of Albania Herzegovina Serbia Macedonia those I can remember all the countries but you've got all those little countries there, because all these people hate one another. You want to see hatred at work, go to Albania and talk to them. They hate the Serbs, right?

They hate the Serbs, the Serbs hate them, everybody hates one another. It's a cauldron, this boiling cauldron of hatred. You say, well, no one can agree on anything. Most kings or most nations' leaders are so envious and competitive, looking out for the narrow interests of their own countries, that no agreement is possible, it seems. They rarely agree on anything.

Not in this rebel army. This is the exception to the rule. All are motivated by the great hatred of every human heart. The peoples, the common people, their rulers, they're united in this gigantic enemy force. And they have one enemy. Who is that enemy?

Who do they hate so much? The common enemy that unites them is God and his Christ. That's what he says in our verses. They have met together. They're united against the Lord, against Yahuwah, and against his anointed. Remember, anointed is the Hebrew word that's translated Christ.

They are against the Lord and against His Christ. The hatred they all harbor is a hatred for God and His anointed one. This is the one thing that unites them. This is the one thing that unites them. Now you can see David's shock and indignation. Why?

That's a cry of amazement, an expression of his astonishment, shock and indignation. Why do the nations plot against God and his anointed one? Why is it? And by the way, he says, it's vain, it's useless, it's senseless, it's bizarre. What madness! What madness to be allied together against God! that's crazy by the way I'll tell you something about the nature of sin it's madness there no sense in it it madness to declare war on the living God and his Messiah Yet that hatred and that antagonism merges them into a fighting force They're united against him, a coordinated fighting force that hates him.

Beyond the tumult and the turbulence and the violence all around you is a common purpose. A common purpose. rebellion against God and his king. Walt Chantry in his book Praises for the King of Kings writes this. Have you ever picked up your newspaper? This is dated, obviously. I bet half of you have never even seen a newspaper.

So let me ask, have you ever picked up your newspaper or got on the internet to scan the stories of the day and thought that our world is a confusing jumble? Have you wondered if there is any thread of meaning to sew together the widely diverse happenings of our age? Have you been unable to give any explanation to it all? David tells you, I have discovered the key to every part of human history.

There is one mainspring that moves the senator in the halls of government and the prostitute on the street. Do you hear that? There is one mainspring that moves the senator in the halls of government and the prostitute on the street. I know what the businessman on Wall Street and the homeless drug addict have in common. I can tell you the driving motive shared by the Chinese school teacher, the Marxist guerrilla in Africa, and the American athlete.

All of them hate the true and the living God and are spurred by a passion to destroy his Messiah. all all of humanity is galvanized for rebellion it is shocking to the point of being unbelievable but it is true he says it well that's the one thing that motivates all of these diverse rebels so that they're united at least in one thing they hate god and they're against his king that's the main spring of everything that you see happening around us today now mankind had the opportunity to come face to face with this king, with the Lord of heaven and earth. And that was in Jesus Jehovah becomes flesh in the person of Jesus Christ What happened Turn over to Luke 4 I sorry not Luke 4 Acts 4 Acts chapter 4. Remember, this is the story of the apostles being let go by the council, and they gather together for a prayer meeting with the church.

And here's what we read, beginning in verse 23. When they, that is the apostles, were released, They went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, Why did the Gentiles rage and the people plot in vain?

Quoting Psalm 2 now. The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

So what are they saying? Herod and Pilate, political rivals who hated one another. Do you know that? Herod and Pilate hated one another. And yet, yet, they were united in crucifying the Messiah. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians.

You couldn't get any three diverse groups in that. The Pharisees who thought all of the Bible, we've got to do it. We've got to really obey the Bible. That's the Pharisees. Then the Sadducees. The liberals.

The liberals. Nah. The only part of the Bible that's true are the first five books. The rest of them, they're not. They're not God's Word. And by the way, no, we don't believe in a resurrection.

We don't believe in that supernatural stuff. That's no. That's the Sadducees and the Herodians. They're the ones who allied themselves with Herod. Three groups that could not stand one another. They hated each other with incredible passion.

What happens? Boy, they were united in one thing. they all wanted one thing to happen you know what it was? crucify that right man Abbi called Jesus. Right? And then in Acts, what does it say? The Gentiles and the Jews forgot their racial animosity and their hatreds and they labored side by side in this project to get rid of Jesus. Do you see?

With great solidarity, all working together to mock, beat, and impale the Son of God. There was one thing they all could agree on. There was one thing that brought them all together away with him. Get rid of him. You see, there is a deep, dark, vicious depravity common to every heart that focuses its corrupt passions against the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way it is.

Now some may be here saying, not me. Oh no, that's not true of me. I've never said anything against the Son of God that is cruel or disparaging. Don't put me in that rebel army. That's not me. We'll look at verse 3.

Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. Understand the common objective of this rebellion. What is that? Here's the rationale for this great hatred and rebellion. There is a determination to overthrow the rule of God. There's a determination to overthrow the authority of God, the rule of God's king.

All the tumult around us is caused by that consensus. That determination provides the unity. Now notice, here's what we have to see. This rule of God and his king is considered what? Oppressive and restrictive. It is considered oppressive and restrictive.

How? How do we know that? Look at what it says. Let us burst their what? Bonds apart. And cast away their cords from us.

All right? This king and his God are cruel and unfair They are oppressive His commands are considered insufferable bondage The commands of God are considered insufferable bondage. He calls them their bonds and their cords. NIV has it, chains and fetters. Here's what motivates their rebellion. This God is too restrictive.

Right? Now, many may say that they have kindly thoughts toward God. But often it's a God of their own making. An evangelical theologian recently has described the God of most people as a deistic, moralistic, therapeutic God. Let me say that again. Deistic, moralistic, therapeutic God.

That's how most people see God today. What does that mean? Deistic. Deism is the idea that God is not involved in the details of life. It's kind of like the God who wound up the clock and let it go. That is, he's deistic in the sense of he's not just down there all the time.

He's just kind of standing back and watching how things go. He's deistic. He's not really involved in your lives and its details. He's just kind of seeing how things go. He's moralistic. that as everybody knows there's right and wrong, we all know there's a right and wrong, and God says to you, just do what's right, okay? Just do what's right.

You just do okay. And he's therapeutic. God is there to make you everything that you can be. He's there to see that you make your potential. And you call on him when things are going tough and you just need some help. That's the kind of God people worship.

That's not the God of the Bible. That's not the God of the Bible. When God reveals himself in Scripture as a holy God who has moral demands and who will enforce those demands and lay down penalties for those who refuse to obey, that's when there's alarm, that's when there's hostility, that's when there's rebellion. God, if you're going to demand something of me, that's another thing. don't you know how this works God?

You're the one there to help me be what I'm supposed to be. I'm not supposed to be one who obeys what you say and if I don I in big trouble That not God You see Oh no no None of that We can have that We want a God This is what most people want They want a God stripped of moral demands. They want a king like the King of England, or right now, the Queen of England, which is a figurehead, somebody who kind of holds things together, but doesn't make any demands.

I'll give you my allegiance but obedience that's another thing that's another thing I don't have to obey you certainly not listen those who say well I don't have anything against God I say to them what God you know I look around and say I see today women who cannot abide God's assigning them a different role than men oh no that can't be that's not from God just because I'm a woman and I have certain roles to play because of that? Men will not tolerate a commandment that restricts their sexual activity to one woman in the bonds of marriage alone. Surely God does not expect us to be honest on every occasion.

And surely, just because I've been born with certain biological characteristics that say I'm male, that doesn't mean I can't choose my gender. God certainly wouldn't be against me choosing to be a woman if I feel like one, right? That can't be God. But you see, that is God. That is God. And people hate that kind of God.

They don't want that kind of king. And so there is this rebellion. So when the people say to me, I've never said anything against God. I say, well, what do you think of the demands that he makes like this? Then it's another story. When it becomes clear that God intends to legislate and enforce his commandments, no one, not one, will have his rule over them.

Let us burst those bonds. Let us throw off the fetters. Let's get rid of them. That shouldn't surprise us. Look at Romans chapter 8, verse 7. Romans chapter 8 verse 7 the apostle Paul as he looks at mankind says this for the mind for the mind that is set on the flesh is what Notice the word Is hostile to God for it does not submit to God law Indeed, it cannot.

Listen. From the pickpocket to the banker. from the prostitute to the most respected scholar, all are part of this mutiny. All are part of this mutiny. Remove these insufferable commands from us. Under all the unrest that we see around us, all the unrest without exception that you see around you, from nations, right, to the drama that's going on in our little town, All of it is motivated by this unrest and hatred for God's commands.

You know what? This says volumes about the nature of sin. You know what people think of sin today? If sin is even in the vocabulary of people today, it is typically almost exclusively in terms of hurting others or harming ourselves. That's sin. What's the center of that kind of a view of sin?

Me. Right? It doesn't hurt other people, so it's okay. Right? It's okay. Well, it's not doing me any harm.

But God says this. every transgression shows contempt for me and the king that I have set Jesus that's the nature of sin do you hear me yes does sin hurt others always does sin harm us certainly but at the very heart of sin is not me. It's God. Sinning despises God. That's what makes it so bad. That's what makes it so horrible. Look over at 2 Samuel chapter 12.

Here's the background. David has committed adultery. You know what? In today's terms, we could say David raped another woman. He took his power as king and used it to get what he wanted. And then, in order to cover up his sin, he had this woman, Bathsheba, had her husband Uriah killed, purposely killed, arranged things on the battlefield so he would be killed.

As a result, Nathan the prophet comes to David, tells him a parable, and says, you are the man. You are this man that you, in this parable I've just told you about, someone who took someone else's lamb, you're that man. And then Nathan says these words, look at verse 9, 2 Samuel 12, verse 9. He says to David, notice, why have you despised, no, despised the word of the Lord by taking that woman and by killing her husband?

You have what? You have despised the word of the Lord. Now, David, just like guys, just like most of us, saw a woman without any clothes on. he was moved at that moment that's what I want right now I doubt at that moment that he was even thinking of God's law I doubt at that moment that he was saying just like us guys I know what God says but you know he just wanted what he wanted he wanted now and God wasn't even on his mind but in the process what does he do he despises the word of the Lord notice the next verse verse 10 Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have what?

Despised me. You've despised me. This is the heart of all sin and rebellion. It is not that it harms others, though it certainly does. It is not that it harms me, though it does that. The very heart and core of sin is it despises God. it despises God that's the nature of sin cares nothing for God but you know what else This psalm also gives us a window on the nature of salvation.

Why did God send His Son to die for people who despise Him? By the way, you need to think about that for a moment. if the heart of sin is despising God why would God do anything for us do you love people who despise you God loves those who despise him so much that he gave his son and crushed his own son to save people who despise him now that is amazing grace is it not and so why does he do that why does he do that he does it for this we are saved for the purpose of now loving and submitting to this king and that's where we end up in verse 10 through 12 verse 11 serve the lord with fear and rejoice with trembling end of verse 12 blessed are all who take refuge in Him. You know, I can't wait to get to that one on December 22nd.

The God who's angry at us is the one that we take refuge in. The nature of our salvation is that we are saved for the purpose of submitting to this King. Now, I can never be saved. I will never be converted by obedience. Me obeying won't save me. Why?

Because that malicious depravity He always rebels until it is conquered by the grace of God. Until the grace of God comes and conquers that malicious heart that despises him. He brings it. I'll never be saved by my obedience. For one thing, because of that innate depravity, I don't want to obey him. I always want to cast off those bonds.

I always see that his commands are burdensome. but when I come to the crucified king and embrace him in faith accepting what he has done I will submit I will bend my knee in obedience to him and I want to do it In my heart of hearts I will want to do it Let look at Luke chapter 1 for a moment You know, it's interesting that Luke, when he tells the Christmas story, man, he gives us tons of details. Of course, that's Luke. Luke always does that.

He can't leave any stone unturned. And so he tells the story all the way back. he starts with John the Baptist and Zachariah who is John the Baptist's father makes this prophecy this wonderful song he says this verse 68 Luke 1 68 now watch what he says blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham to grant us that we, now watch, being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days. Why is God sending this Redeemer?

That we would serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness. You see, that's the nature of the salvation that God has provided. It's to save us so that we submit. The difference between a child of Satan and a child of God is not perfection. The difference is one hates God's commandments and the other loves his rules and his commandments. We all sing this song here.

We sing it quite often. It's Isaac Watts, Join All the Glorious Names. I'll tell you what my favorite verse is. It's the one that says this, Divine Almighty Lord my conqueror and my king thy scepter and thy sword thy reigning grace I sing Thine is the power Behold I sit in willing bonds beneath thy feet Do you see the difference? Sitting, as he put it, Behold, I sit in willing bonds beneath your feet.

His commandments are not oppressive. They're not restrictive. I don't want to throw them off. I love them. They're the path that I walk. I want them.

God says to you, here is your king. Cease this wicked rebellion and bow before him. well there's only one question to ask I think at the end of this psalm here it is in which camp do you find yourself in which camp do you find yourself many people will accept the baby Jesus but they will not have him reign over them they like the baby they hate the king. Where are you?

Are you in God's army? Or are you in this rebel army? Where are you? Father, thank you for your word. Lord God, your word explains our world better than anything could possibly do. It outshines any analysis that we find anywhere else.

Here is the reason for the tumult, the anger, the rage. It is in a united hatred of you and your King. God help us who belong to the Lord Jesus, help us to show the world a people who delight, who delight in you and your commands. And Father, when the rebel starts to raise its head in our heart, as it often does, help us by your grace. to conquer it so that we can be a people who sit in willing bonds beneath the feet of our King Jesus.

Help us to that end, we pray. Amen.