As Pastor Jamie suggested in last week’s sermon, Psalm 1 and 2 serve as an introduction to the entire Psalter, introducing the themes of law (the Word) and gospel (the coming Savior). Messianic imagery is hard to miss in Psalm 2, and hopefully our service this morning follows suit. We use language of a coronation when we sing “bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him lord of all” (All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name). Just as God directly rebukes the wickedness of earthly rulers, “terrifying them in His fury” (vs. 5), we sing that God “stands to order judgement right to judges of the land” (Arise, O God—Psalm 82) and that Jesus will make “all His foes submit” (Rejoice, The Lord Is King). Where Psalm 2 has God speaking to His Son that He will “make the nations your heritage” (vs. 8), we read from Revelation 15 that the Lamb is “King of nations,” and we sing that He will “make the nations prove the glories of His righteousness” (Joy To The World) and be “glorified” by all nations (There Is No Greater Portrait). The final hymn is a setting of Psalm 2 itself, concluding the service by singing the passage that we’ve been meditating on all morning. We are sent out with a benediction from Romans, which mentions that “through the prophetic writings [Jesus] has been made known to all nations” —nations that were far off, like ourselves, and prophetic writings like Psalm 2.
—Henry C. Haffner
