The assigned readings for Morning Prayer on the eve of
Epiphany (the 12th Day of Christmas) include the second Psalm, one
of the most messianic in the psalter. Fitting, indeed, as we anticipate
Epiphany with its reminder of the worship of the child Jesus by the Magi, an
early attestation of his kingship and hence of being the ‘Anointed One’ or (via
the Greek translation), Christ.
1 Why
do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take
counsel together,
against the Lord and his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from
us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in
derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in
his fury, saying,
6 “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He 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, with trembling 12 kiss
his feet,
or
he will be angry, and you will perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly
kindled.
Happy are all who take refuge in him.
(Psalm 2, NRSV).
The psalm, which can be understood as affirmation of King
David when beset by foes within and abroad, falls into two themes. In the
first, plots and conspiracies by ‘kings’ and ‘rulers’ are derided by God, who
will sustain his appointed (earthly) king, his anointed one. The second is an
affirmation of the everlasting sonship of the Davidic line, reflecting 2 Samuel
7:11-16, with an emphasis on the king’s authority (‘rod of iron’) and wrath.
The earliest believers were inflamed with a passion to
understand Jesus in the OT scriptures, as in the experience of the pair on the
Emmaus road “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted
to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” (Luke 24:27,
NRSV). Thus, in the prayer of the Jerusalem disciples after the inquisition of Peter
and John before the Sanhedrin, recorded early in the Acts of the Apostles, they
quote from the first theme of Psalm 2 (Acts 4:25-26). They affirm the
fulfillment of the psalm in the conspiracy and cooperation of the Jewish
‘rulers’ and the Roman Emperor through Pilate (‘kings’) that brought about the
crucifixion (as laid out in a series of scenes in Luke 22:66 – 23:25). Their
petition is for great boldness to declare Jesus as Messiah in the
fulfillment of Psalm 2 despite the threats directed at them.
The affirmation of Jesus as the Son of God, fulfilling the
second part of Psalm 2, is also quoted numerous times in the NT literature.
First by St. Paul who cites verse 7 in his declaration to the synagogue of
Pisidian Antioch in Acts 13:33, declaring that Jesus is the consummation of all
the promises God gave to his people in the (OT) scriptures. Then it is cited
again in the great attestation of the superiority of Jesus to the angels in
Hebrews 1:5, along with the parallel passage from 2 Samuel 7:14. And finally,
in the Letter to the Church in Thyatira (Revelations 2:18-28, NSRV), the focus
is on the power and authority of the Son. St. John dictates “18 These
are the words of the Son of God”, who promises: 26 “To
everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give
authority over the nations; 27 to rule them with an iron rod, as
when clay pots are shattered – 28 even
as I also received authority from my Father. To the one who conquers I will
also give the morning star.”
As we prepare to celebrate the adoration of the young child
Jesus by the sages of the east, let us be reminded of the cosmic dimension of
his anointing and be encouraged to resist false doctrines and “hold fast to
what you have until I come” (Revelations 2:25, NSRV). We are more than
conquerors through Him.
