" 'As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.' "
~ Psalm 2:6
In Psalm 1 we clearly learned that ‘Blessed is the man who delights in and meditates on the Word of the LORD’. In Psalm 2, we learn that ‘Blessed are all who take refuge in the LORD’ (v.12).
I am reflecting on this psalm against the backdrop of the release of new photos from space that have come from the James Webb Space Telescope. The images are spectacular and breath-taking, quickly drawing my heart to worship my Creator. They display a far-reaching universe way beyond our normal capacity to see (and in all honesty beyond what I could have ever dreamed or imagined). All of which is within only a pin-prick portion of the night sky.
If the book of psalms was a narrative, which it is not, and if Psalm 2 was chapter 2 (which it is not), how quickly we see mankind going astray from God and his Word (v.1-3). But it is laughable what sinful men think and say and do, when viewed in proper perspective, which is what the new space images helped me do. Even with such advanced technology, the universe presents as infinitely enormous and incomprehensibly complex and beautiful.
Psalm 2 tells us that God himself laughs at the notions entertained by human kings and rulers (v.4). How puny we are in the grand scheme. How arrogant we are to think we can successfully separate ourselves from God’s sovereign universal rule. How small-minded to think we have any real power or influence with the tiny kingdoms we try to establish in our lives. The day of recompense is coming for those who do not heed God’s warning and wise up (v.10), serving the LORD with fear and joy and trembling (v.11). Only in the Son of God is there escape from perishing (v.12).
As you read Psalm 2, may your heart exalt and find refuge in the supremacy of our God and his Son who is THE King (v.6-7).