Rebels, Repent and Take Refuge!

3:00Questions like, will the rebels be able to sabotage the plans of the Lord? And perhaps most importantly, how should we view our own rebellion against God? And so what we're going to learn this morning is that wise people repent of their rebellion and take refuge in the Lord. Wise people repent of their rebellion and take refuge in the Lord. And we're going to break the psalm down into four parts. Those are on the screen as well. We're going to look first at the foolish rebellion of man, followed by the furious wrath of the Lord, and then the faithful word of the Lord, and then finally, the fearful repentance of the wise.

3:54So let's look now at Psalm 2, verse 1, and take a look at the foolish rebellion of man. Look at verse 1. David asks, why do the nations rage and the peoples 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. So David starts off asking this question that most people, certainly most believers, have asked at some point. One time or another. And that is, why do so many people rebel against God and against God's people? Now, we don't know the exact context of this psalm. We don't know the exact circumstances surrounding when and why David wrote it. But we do know that David faced opposition for most of his life. He faced it first from his own father-in-law, from his king, from his boss, Saul. And then after that, he faced it from other Israelites and then from Gentile kings. And later on in Psalm 2, David is going to refer back to his coronation when he was crowned king of Israel. He's going to refer back to that moment and the words that God spoke to him at that time. And so maybe David is thinking about the circumstances surrounding his coronation as king.

5:24And at that time, there was a group of people named the Jebusites. These were Canaanite descendants of Canaan living in and around Jerusalem. And David is anointed king of Israel in 2 Samuel 5. And he is preparing to go and establish himself as king in Jerusalem. And take a look on the screen at 2 Samuel 5. Look at what happens. And the king, that is David and his men, went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, you will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you. You off thinking David cannot come in here.

6:06Look at the arrogance of the Jebusites. God has installed David as king. The people of Israel have recognized him as king, and the Jebusites have no intention of recognizing God's coronation of David over his people. They have no intention of giving Jerusalem, which belongs to the people of Israel, back into their possession. They have so much confidence in themselves and their army that they're like, we don't even need to send the army out. The blind and the lame will take care of David and his men. Well, we'll see about that later on. Now, again, we don't know if David was thinking about this exact moment with the Jebusites when he wrote Psalm 2, but the incident is indicative of how all people have responded to God and God's appointed leaders and God's word all throughout human history since the fall of mankind into sin in Genesis 3. You look at verses 1 and 2 here, and you see that the nations, the peoples, the kings and rulers have all set themselves against the Lord and against his anointed king. Now, that word anointed is the Hebrew word for Messiah. When that word is translated into Greek, you get the word Christ. So anytime you're reading the Bible, and you see the word anointed or Messiah or Christ, context is going to determine whether that is referring to the earthly king, God's anointed, or if it's referring to the future king, God's Messiah, the Savior, Jesus, or both. Context is going to determine that. But understand that for thousands of years, believers have understood Psalm 2 to be referring both to David, the earthly king of Israel, and to the coming Savior, the Messiah, Jesus.

8:10So, with that understanding, what is the attitude of the nations? What is the attitude of the peoples, the kings and rulers, toward the Lord and toward his anointed? What is the attitude that they have toward God and King David and King Jesus? Look again at verse 3. This is what the people say: Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. Friends, that is exactly how fallen people look at God and God's rule over us through his appointed leaders and particularly through his word, through his law. That's how we've always looked at it since Genesis 1. 3. Fallen people see God's rule through his anointed leaders and through his word as bondage.

9:10We see it as slavery. We see it as akin to being wrapped up in a cord tightly where we're not free to do what we want to do. That's how we've looked at it since Genesis 3. But friends, that is foolishness. According to Psalm 14, the fool says in his heart that there is no God. The fool turns aside from God and from his commands, thinking that he knows best. Remember that when Satan tempted Eve, he tempted her by saying that if she rebelled against God, not only would she not die, she would become like God.

9:55And those are the same foolish lies every person has believed ever since. That sin will not lead to death, that sin will allow us to become like God, that we can determine for ourselves what is best, what is right. And so instead of submitting to God and to his good and holy and perfect law, we burst the bonds, we cast away the cords, thinking that we will finally be free once we do that. But of course, in a sad twist of irony. Our very attempts to find freedom from God and his rule have led to bondage. They've led us into sin and death. We're like a fish seeking freedom outside of the confines of the ocean. Not only do we not find freedom, we find death.

10:53That's what we see in verses 1 through 3: the foolish rebellion of man. How does God respond to the foolish rebellion of man? Join me now in verse 4, where we will see the furious wrath of the Lord. Verse 4. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Now, I believe God has a sense of humor. After all, he created laughter. But you should know that anytime God laughs in Scripture, it's not a good thing.

11:36He's always laughing at rebels and their attempts to break free from his rule. And that's what we see here in Psalm 2. And God doesn't just laugh. The verse says the Lord holds them in derision. And that word derision means contemptuous ridicule or mockery. God is all-knowing and all-knowing. All-powerful. And so attempts to rebel against an all-knowing and all-powerful God is quite literally ridiculous. It is worthy of ridicule. And I think that's a very important reminder for us as believers in a society that is increasingly marked by rebellion toward God and to His Word.

12:25Christians are often tempted to worry, to become anxious, to feel like we have to do something to defend God and His Word. And friends, that's not a new impulse. Believers have always felt that way. You see it here in Psalm 2, and we'll see it in other Psalms this summer. Believers are often dismayed and confused and anxious about the way unbelievers are responding to God and His Word. And we feel like we need to defend God and His Word.

12:59But as the 19th century preacher Charles Spurgeon reminded his congregation, you don't have to defend a lion. You just let it out of its cage, and it defends itself. And God is the lion of Judah. We don't have to defend him. We don't have to defend his word. He will defend himself. Look at verse 5. Then God defeated him. 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.

13:45So we see that God's initial response is to laugh at those who are rebelling against him, but he does not stop at laughter. Indeed, he cannot stop at laughter because rebellion is sin, and sin is not okay. It is an affront to the holy and righteous God of the universe. He is a God of justice. So he can't just overlook that. And so God speaks to the rebels. He unleashes his furious wrath against them. The rebels rage and they plot and they make plans to burst the bonds and to cast away the cords of God and his anointed one. That is their stated intention. That's what they want to do.

14:30And so God responds by saying, Let me tell you what I have done. Not what I plan to do, not what I'm plotting to do, not what I hope to do. Let me tell you what I have done. He says, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. The rebels had a lot of talk, but no action. As we say in Texas, all hat. No cattle. Right, Pastor Joshua? Pastor Joshua is from California. Where there are all toes and no boots.

15:16Proverbs 19, 21 on the screen. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. So I want you to think now back to 2 Samuel 5. The Jebusites have said, we don't have to worry about David. The blind and the lame are going to ward him off. They're going to prevent him from coming into Jerusalem. Take a look at what happens in 2 Samuel 5. Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David. And David became greater and greater. For the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.

15:58You see, rebellion against God is both foolish and pointless because his plans are going to stand. He always accomplishes his will no matter how people feel about it, no matter how people plot against him. But friends, rebellion against God isn't just foolish and pointless, it's sinful. And God pours out his furious wrath on sinners. He talks about how he's going to do that here in verses 5, in verse 5, but then again he says it in verse 9. Take a look at verse 9.

16:31He says, you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. So, how does God pour out his furious wrath on the wicked? Well, as we saw in 2 Samuel 5, he did that through King David, through his anointed, when he and his men crushed the Jebusites in battle. And that's consistent with the rest of Scripture because God most often works through means. He often works through people to accomplish his will, and that's what he does in 2 Samuel 5.

17:09But ultimately, brothers and sisters, God is going to pour out his furious wrath on rebellious sinners through Jesus Christ when he comes again to judge all people in perfect righteousness. You see, when Jesus came the first time, he came as the lamb. He came as the suffering servant, not to judge the world, but to save the world through his sinless life, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead. But when Jesus comes again, and he has promised to come again soon, when Jesus comes again, he's not coming as the lamb. He's coming as the lion.

17:54He's not coming as the suffering servant. He's coming as the conquering king. Look at the language that the Apostle John uses in Revelation 19. See how it mirrors Psalm 2. From his mouth, that is Jesus' mouth, from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. And he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. So, friends, understand that our raging and plotting against God is not some little mistake. It's not just a little error in judgment, something for which we will be able to utter a half-hearted apology for when Jesus returns. No, our rebellion is sin. It is sin against God, our creator, our sustainer, our judge, and our Savior.

18:54And he is going to pour out his furious wrath on sinners who rebel against him, sometimes through human agents like King David, but ultimately through Jesus Christ when he comes to judge all people in perfect righteousness. So we've seen the foolishness of man. We've seen the furious wrath of the Lord. And now let's turn our attention to the faithful word of the Lord. Look with me at verse 7. David speaks. And says, 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.

19:49So in these two verses, David is thinking back to his coronation when he was recognized as king over Israel. He's thinking back to his anointing when God spoke these words to him. Now, in the Old Testament, the people of Israel are often referred to as God's son. And David, as the king of the people of Israel, represents and embodies the people before the Lord. And so God promises David that if David asks, God would give him the nations, the ends of the earth, for his possession. And if that language sounds familiar, it's because it's in line with the promises that God made to David's ancestor, Abraham. Do you remember God's promise to Abraham? Look on the screen at Genesis 12. God tells Abraham, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you, I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

21:01You see, God promised Abraham that he would bless him, that he would multiply his descendants as much as the sand of the seashores. He promised them that he would bless all the families of the earth through him. And here in Psalm 2, David recalls a similar promise that God made to him, a promise that God would keep because God is always faithful to keep his word. But you see, it seems clear here that God is not just talking about King David in these verses, is he?

21:34For thousands of years, believers have understood these verses to apply to someone other than King David. Not that they don't apply to King David, they do, but they apply also to someone else. And if you think about it, that's because while David could rightly be called a son of God, he was not the son of God. While it could rightly be said that David was begotten by God in the sense that he was adopted as a son, like all believers are, by God the Father, David was not of the same substance as God. David was not divine. And while it is true that David greatly expanded his kingdom, roughly tripling its size over the 40 years that he reigned, David didn't reign over all the nations of the earth. Earth, he reigned over a tiny sliver of the earth and only a handful of nations.

22:37And so, verses 7 and 8 do apply to King David in a limited sense, but they apply to someone else in a much greater and fuller sense. And that someone else, as we understand from the New Testament, is Jesus. You see, Jesus was quite literally the Son of God. And when the angel Gabriel came and announced to Mary that she would give birth to a son, look on the screen at what the angel tells her. The angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

23:26Jesus was of the same substance as the Father. He was fully divine. Look at Hebrews 1. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. He upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, quoting Psalm 2, You are my son, today I have begotten you. Or again, quoting 2 Samuel 7, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.

24:36And then we know that through the gospel, Jesus is extending his reign to the ends of the earth, ruling over all nations. You get a small foretaste of this. When the Holy Spirit is poured out on the church in Acts chapter 2, Peter is preaching the gospel, and these people in Acts 2 declare this in verses 9 through 11: Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylea, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.

25:31So you see, God was faithful to keep his word to King David. He called David his son and adopted him as his own and allowed David to rule over many nations. But friends, ultimately, these words find their perfect and final fulfillment in Jesus Christ, David's descendant, who claimed to be the Son of God, who proved to be fully divine by his sinless and miraculous life, and especially by his resurrection from the dead, and who is reigning and will reign over every tribe, every tongue, every nation on the earth.

26:13Brothers and sisters, when David encountered trouble and opposition, he reminded himself of God's promises that were made earlier in his life to him, promises that he would never break. And so we need to understand that when we encounter opposition and persecution, when we encounter trials and tribulations of various kinds, we have to do the same thing. We have to remind ourselves of God's unbreakable word and his unchanging character, because it's God's word and God's character that can and will sustain us through the darkest moments of our lives.

26:56That's why scripture meditation and scripture memory. Are so important. It's a wonderful discipline to read God's Word. You should read God's Word every day. But if we don't meditate on the Word of God, it doesn't pass through our eyes, into our brains, down into our hearts. And if we don't memorize the Word of God, we are not hiding it up and storing it away for those moments when we experience the trials and tribulations and difficulties of life.

27:36And that means we're going to find it hard when we go through those difficult times to trust in the Lord. When people are freaking out online and on cable news networks, it is either because they do not know the Word of God or because they have forgotten the Word of God. Friends, Christians should never be a people who panic. We should never be a people who panic because we know the One who is in control and we know the promises that He has made that He will fulfill.

28:15Hebrews 11 tells us faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Romans 10 tells us that faith comes through hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. So meditate. On God's word. Don't settle for just reading it. Memorize God's Word. Don't settle for just reading it. So you can have the same confidence as David in life's darkest moments. So we've seen the foolish rebellion of man, the furious wrath of the Lord, the faithful word of the Lord. And now let's conclude with the fearful repentance of the wise. Verse 10.

29:00Now, therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. David says, Now, therefore, he's drawing conclusions from everything that came before. In light of the foolish rebellion of man, in light of the furious wrath of the Lord, in light of the faithful word of the Lord, what should be done? David addresses the kings and the rulers because they're not only rebelling against God, they are leading others to rebel against God. And so, David tells them to do two things: be wise and be warned. First, David urges them to be wise. Look at Proverbs 12, verse 15.

29:52The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. Foolish people think they're always right. They think they always know the answers. They refuse to listen to others, even to God. It's that can't tell me nothing attitude that's celebrated in songs today. And God says that attitude is foolish. The only thing worse than a fool is an old fool. And these kings and rulers are being foolish, raging and plotting and taking counsel together against God and His Anointed One. And so David urges them to be wise. But then, secondly, David urges them to be warned.

30:41The purpose of warnings is to prevent you from getting hurt or killed. But if you're rebelling against God, the least of your worries are injury or death. Look at what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 10. He says, Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. David is warning these rebels that they are on a path to eternal destruction. So what do they need to do? What next steps should they take? Look at verse 11.

31:23Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. 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. So David advises the rebels to do these two things here: serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. First, he says, you need to serve the Lord with fear. And that begins with kissing the son, as we heard in verse 12. Now, that might sound weird to us, but the kiss was the sign of loyalty and devotion. So, think about medieval times, how people would come and kiss the ring of the king. Kissing was a sign of loyalty and devotion. And so, serving the Lord begins with kissing the son, with pledging allegiance to him and to him alone, recognizing Jesus as Lord rather than anyone or anything else.

32:28And once you've kissed the son, you serve him with fear because those who rage and plot against him are going to be dashed into pieces. That's what's going to happen to them. They're going to experience the furious wrath of the Lord and they will perish. So, David urges them to serve the Lord with fear. Repent of your rebellion. Stop doing that. Turn and kiss the son. Serve him with fear. And then, second, David urges them to do what? Rejoice with trembling.

33:00That follows logically as the next step, because if you're a rebel against the Lord, but he allows you to kiss him, to pledge allegiance afresh to him, then you are being treated mercifully. You deserve death, you deserve punishment, not mercy. But God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. And so, what this means is if we repent, if we kiss the Son and pledge allegiance to him, we will not experience the wrath that we deserve. We will not perish. God pours out his furious wrath on those who rebel, but he pours out his blessing on those who repent. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

33:50And so, friends, as we close this morning, if you have not done that, if you have not repented and turned to the Lord, if you have not kissed the Son and pledged allegiance to him, if you are not serving the Lord with fear and trembling, you need to begin doing that today. You need to see your sin for what it is, not some little mistake, not an error in judgment, not something that God, if he exists, should easily and quickly overlook.

34:27You must understand that sin is rebellion. It is raging and plotting against the creator and the sustainer of the universe, the one who will judge you on the last day. God cannot overlook that, and we don't want him to overlook sin. We do not want a corrupt judge judging the universe. We want a holy and righteous judge judging the universe. But that means that he has to judge all people fairly, equitably. And that means he will judge you and I according to his perfect law as well. He must punish rebels for their rebellion. But, friends, the good news is that Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, came to die in your place and for your sins. The night that he was betrayed, one of his best friends came up to him and gave him a kiss.

35:25But that kiss was not the kiss of loyalty. It was not the kiss of devotion. It was a kiss of betrayal. Judas kissed Jesus in the garden, and Jesus was led away like a criminal. He was tried for crimes and sins that he did not commit. He was unjustly condemned. He went to the cross and died. But remember that Jesus said, No one takes my life from me. I have come to lay it down of my own accord and to Take it up again because that is the charge that I have received from my Father. Jesus came to live and lay down his life, to die and to rise again in the place of rebellious sinners like you and me. He did that out of love. And so, friends, I urge you: if you have not kissed the Son, if you've not come to Jesus in repentance and faith, let today be the day. I'm not asking, do you call yourself a Christian? I'm not asking, have you been in church your whole life? I'm not asking, are you married to a Christian? Are you dating a Christian? I'm asking, are you a Christian? Have you kissed the Son? Have you come to Jesus in repentant faith? If not, do that today. Take refuge in him because he promises never to cast out anyone who comes to him.

36:52And if you are already a Christian, what that means is you have already taken refuge in Jesus. You are already blessed. And you will be blessed as you continue to take refuge in Jesus, particularly in the hardest times of trial and temptation and persecution. You may remember in the New Testament when the early church began to preach the gospel, they immediately encountered persecution. They were thrown in prison, they were beaten. And after those things happened, they come back, Peter and John do, to The church, and they pray. I want you to look on the screen at how they pray in Acts chapter 4.

37:38And when the church heard what had happened to Peter and John and the threats of the leaders, 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 do the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain? 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, there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you appointed, 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.

38:32You see, friends, those early Christians had confidence in the Lord in the midst of persecution and trial because they remembered God's character and God's word. They held on to that, they took refuge in him, and he did not let them down. So, friends, in the darkest moments of your life, run to the Lord who has saved you for refuge. He is a refuge for all who come to him. Praise God that we have done that. Let's pray.

39:07Father, we are reminded through Psalm 2 that every one of us at some time was a rebel against you. We raged, we plotted against you, we took counsel against you with others. We did not want you to rule over us. But according to your great mercy, through your word and your spirit, you caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. We thank you for that, God. We thank you for leading us to take refuge in Christ. I pray that you would sustain every believer here who is going through trials or who will go through trials. May we find refuge in Christ our Savior.

40:04And God, we pray for everyone here who has not taken refuge in Jesus the Son, who has not kissed the Son. We pray that today would be the day, that they would turn from darkness to light, that you would bring them from death to life, that you would reveal to them the hope of the gospel, and that they would put their hope in Jesus. God, we thank you for your word. Your word sustains us every moment of every day, and we are so glad to hear it afresh this morning. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

40:47Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.