The Messiah of Psalm 2
In a teaching from Founded in Truth Fellowship, Matthew Vander Els explores the profound meaning and enduring relevance of Psalm chapter 2. This passage of scripture, situated early in the Book of Psalms, serves as a foundational declaration about God's chosen ruler, the Messiah, who Christians recognize as Yeshua, or Jesus. The teaching emphasizes that Psalm 2 is not merely an ancient historical text but a powerful statement about the present reign of Christ and the role of believers in his ongoing kingdom.
The session begins with an invitation to those seeking a deeper connection and community rooted in truth and love, a place of worship for the "King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Son of God." Psalm 2 is introduced as a potent message, significant not only in its original context but also as it is echoed by the New Testament authors in reference to Jesus. The speaker expresses the hope that the exploration of the Psalms, including this particular one, will be edifying, reminding listeners of the tensions and emotions present even in biblical times and the challenge of remaining faithful.
Psalm 2 opens with the question, "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?" This sets the stage for a depiction of earthly powers and rulers who "take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed," seeking to break free from their perceived bonds. However, the response from the divine is one of laughter and derision. God declares, "As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill." This declaration is central to understanding the psalm's message: God has already established his chosen king.
The teaching highlights the significance of the word "anointed" in verse 2, which is the Hebrew word "mashiach" or Messiah. This word means "the anointed king," and it is the origin of the title "Christ" (Christos in Greek) used for Jesus. Therefore, "Jesus Christ" literally means "Jesus the Messiah," or "Jesus the King." A key point of emphasis is the assertion that the scriptures testify that Jesus has already taken the throne, possessing all authority and power in heaven and on earth. The speaker passionately refutes the idea that Jesus is not king yet, arguing that such a view minimizes his position and authority. Matthew 1:1 is cited, which refers to Jesus as "the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, the anointed king." To deny Jesus' present kingship is, in essence, to deny that he is the Messiah.
The teaching delves into the ancient Near Eastern context, where it was common for the rightful king to be considered the son of God, embodying God's presence and authority. Heaven is described not as a distant place but as the control room for earthly affairs. Just as idols were seen as links to the presence of pagan gods, humankind was created in Genesis 1 to be the image of God ("tzalim" in Hebrew), designed to rule and have dominion as a portal of God's authority, love, justice, mercy, and grace. The mission of humanity was to walk out God's presence on earth, but this ideal was disrupted when mankind chose its own way.
In its immediate context, Psalm 2 speaks of the Davidic monarchy, including David and Solomon, and their heirs. The enthronement of the king served as a reminder of God's ultimate control. However, the speaker points out that the historical kings of Israel, including David and Solomon (despite his use of slaves), fell short of the ideal righteous king. Even after the return from Babylonian exile, when the Book of Psalms was compiled, the faithful began to recognize a deeper, future fulfillment of the promise of a righteous king, a Messiah who would truly embody the essence of God's son. The New Testament authors identified Jesus as this long-awaited Messiah.
To understand how heaven's king rules on earth, the teaching explores the chiastic structure of Psalm 2. The psalm is divided into four sections: verses 1-3 (action on earth), verses 4-6 (heavenly activity), verses 7-9 (heavenly activity), and verses 10-12 (action on earth). The central point of this structure, found in verses 6 and 7, declares, "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.'" This highlights the intimate connection between heaven and earth through God's appointed King, the Christ. Despite the desires of the world's nations to disconnect from God, his King reigns with a rod of iron, which will ultimately break their opposition. This image is echoed in Revelation 12, depicting the birth of a child who will rule with a rod of iron, leading to the defeat of Satan in heaven, which has implications for earth.
The victory over darkness is achieved through the expansion of God's kingdom on earth via the message of the gospel. The gospel, as proclaimed by Jesus in Mark 1:14-15, is the good news that "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news." This is not a message of escapism but of hope for the present world, where the reign of God's king is now. Through Jesus, believers have access to the Holy Spirit, enabling them to demonstrate God's love, mercy, graciousness, and justice, bringing a level of "heaven on earth."
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Application for Everyday Life
- Recognize Jesus as the reigning King: Understand that Jesus is not just a future hope but the present ruler with all authority. This should influence how you view the world and its challenges.
- Live as an ambassador of Christ's kingdom: Your words, actions, and thoughts should reflect the values and character of Jesus. Be a representative of heaven in your daily interactions.
- Proclaim the gospel of the kingdom: Share the good news that God's kingdom has come near. This is not just about escaping this world but about bringing God's presence into it.
- Embrace the power of the Holy Spirit: Rely on the Spirit to enable you to live out God's love, mercy, and justice. Pray for empowerment to be an effective agent of change.
- Fight the darkness with humility and forgiveness: Resist the urge to respond to the world's negativity with the same tactics. Instead, embody the subversive humility and forgiveness of Christ.
References
Read the transcript (5,842 words)
Automated transcript, lightly edited for readability. Scripture appears as spoken; the video is the authoritative teaching.
Do you ever find yourself searching for something bigger than you? For a community to be a part of? A place founded on truth and love. A place to worship the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Son of God. Welcome to Founded in Truth, where we're more than just a fellowship. We're a family, so welcome home. All right, Shabbat Shalom, everybody.
A Journey Through the Psalms
It is good to be back together today, and what a time to dare to take a journey through the Psalms. And I hope this series has been edifying, a reminder of the reality of the tension that exists in the world, a reality of the emotions that even the authors of the Bible struggled with, the reality about how doubt can creep in, even in the strongest of households of faith, the agony of events in the world heard through the screams of the Psalter and its authors. It's not only humbling when we read the Psalms, it's a reminder of how raw our world can be. And how big of a deal the challenge is to remain faithful to the king, to remain focused on the mission, no matter what. And we're about to jump into a psalm that I unintentionally pushed back a few weeks until last week, and then, of course, we had the incident last week, so we have it this week.
And that psalm is Psalm chapter 2. And Psalm chapter 2 is considered to be a part of the general introduction of the book of Psalms following Psalm 1, but it's a message that's very potent. Not only that, but it's a message that is echoed by the New Testament authors in reference to Yeshua, to Jesus. And I want that to be significant for you today. I want that to be something that you hold dear as we read the psalm. That we would read a psalm written thousands of years ago and then look at the authors of the New Testament and see how convinced, convinced they were. These words echoed a truth that can only be found in the person of Yeshua, the very author of new creation.
Reading Psalm 2
And so without further delay, let's go ahead and jump into Psalm chapter 2. I'll give you a minute to go ahead and turn there. As I said, it is right after Psalm chapter 1. So turn with me now and we'll go ahead and read it now. 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. He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify him in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. Now, therefore, O kings, be wise, be warmed, O rulers of the earth. Serve 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.
The Power in the Psalm
Man. Now, when we read that psalm with the passion behind it, I can imagine that there's two types of people that exist when they read this. There are those that get really excited, and when they read the drama unfolding in this psalm, it's as if a movie is playing inside their head. The passion of the author bleeds through their imaginations. And we feel, not just understand, we feel the authority in these words. And as if the very ground shakes around us, we feel the impact on the world around us because of this psalm. And then there may be those of us who read this psalm and think, so what? I don't get it.
And my hope is, My hope, if that's you today, is that I can somehow articulate properly the expressions of power held in this psalm. So right off the bat, this psalm is speaking of a proclamation of enthronement of God's anointed king. And as you noticed in verse 2, God speaks of his anointed. So the word there, anointed, in verse 2 is the Hebrew word mashiach or Messiah. That's where we get the word Messiah. And Messiah means the anointed king. It means king. When we say phrases or titles or names like Jesus Christ, Christ means anointed, Christos. It's the Greek version for the word Mashiach in Hebrew, Messiah.
Jesus Messiah is what Jesus Christ means. Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, the Messiah. They all mean King Jesus, King Yeshua, the King.
The Enthroned King
And I want to sit here for a minute because I've seen there is a horrible heretical message seeping into churches and even fellowships and messianic congregations that states that Yeshua or Jesus hasn't taken the throne yet. And I've seen various eschatological views about this, and there's a way that people seem to read the scriptures where they come to the conclusion and they teach that Jesus is not king yet. And I want to make clear today that the scriptures testify that he has. The scriptures tell us that he has been given all authority and all power in all of heaven and all of earth. So much so that the biblical authors wanted to make sure you as the reader understood, so they called him the Christ.
Matthew chapter 1 verse 1 says, The genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, the anointed king. And the issue, the issue with saying that Yeshua is not the enthroned king yet is that if you say he is not, then you are saying he's not the Messiah yet. That's what Messiah means. The anointed, Mashiach, Christos. It means king, the anointed king in Psalm 2 that God has set on the throne. It is the enthroned king of Israel. And so that's a passion for me because I hate seeing the character and the position and the authority of Yeshua minimized, especially among the body. And this Psalm, Psalm 2, is speaking of God reigning on earth through his anointed Mashiach, his anointed king, that he calls the Messiah, as well as his own son.
The Ancient Near Eastern Context
And all of this is common language in the ancient Near East, in the ancient world. It was common language for the rightful king to be considered the son of God, that he would somehow embody the intimate presence of God and authority of God. See, in the ancient world, the king in the surrounding nations around Israel was seen as like the true image of God sitting on the throne. And the idea is that you have heaven. And heaven is not some faraway thing in a distant galaxy. No, heaven is seemingly interconnected with earth. And I guess a better way to phrase it, what heaven in the Bible is, think of heaven as it's the CEO's office. This is the control room for the things that go on down here. And the idea, again, in the ancient world was that the king would be seen as a type of son of their God, and sometimes the image of their God, that whatever the king did, that was a direct flow of character or behavior or decisions of their God in the heavens. And I hope that makes sense.
Idols, when idols were fashioned and formed in the Near East, they were typically carved out of wood and overlaid with silver and gold, just like Jeremiah 10 says. That's the lament, that's the charge. They're making these idols and coating them with silver and gold. And then Jeremiah is like, they can't do anything. They're not talking. They don't have any power. But the logic in the ancient world by the pagans was that idols were set up in a similar fashion. They were seen as an image, as a link, as the very presence of the God they represented. So if you had an image before you of some God in some pagan temple, that God was not seen as being far away. Its very presence was directly linked to its image.
Mankind as Image Bearer
And this is why the Hebrew Bible is so radical because it claims something no other ancient writings or ancient cultures claimed with their pagan beliefs. It claims in Genesis 1 that it was mankind that was created to be the image of God. And I want you to stop and let that soak in with the history that we just provided. Tzalim, the Hebrew word is tzalim for image. And it's the same word used in Joshua when Joshua was sent up to destroy the images of the pagans, the tzalim. It's the same word. It's the same idea. In Genesis 1, it was mankind that was created to be the image of God. Mankind, right? Created to image the God of the universe wherever they went, and they were created to rule and have dominion over the earth as a portal of God's authority, as a portal of God's love, as a portal of God's justice and mercy and grace. The mission was that humans would walk out the presence of God on earth. That's what being an image bearer means.
The Fall and the Psalm
The ideal, of course, was short-lived. When we read the story, Genesis 3 came rather quickly in the story, and mankind chose to live out their own image, to partake of the tree of determining good and evil for themselves apart from the tree of wisdom of life with God. The tree of life is referred to as God's personified wisdom in the book of Proverbs. Mankind chose to make this world what they wanted it to be without the wisdom and the character of God shining through them. And I think we all agree that is definitely a reality when we just look out the windows. And here, here in Psalm chapter 2, in its context, it's actually speaking, of course, of the Davidic monarchy, David and Solomon, as well as future heirs of the Davidic monarchy, with allusions to 2 Samuel 17, 14, as well as 1 Chronicles 28, 6, where this prescription, you are my son, is used as well for the king that is becoming God's son in Israel.
And in Psalm 2, the enthronement of the king is a reminder to the world of who is in control. That's why I feel like Psalm 2 is such a significant chapter. It is a reminder that God laughs when we think we're going to do it our way. He's like, no, I've already set up my anointed. Like my anointed, my king rules. And so he is the one who reigns. And look how it starts out here in verse 2. So think about that. We have people of the world here in the chapter, and what are they doing? They're raising themselves up as rulers over the earth. We want to rule our way. We want to take things we want. We want to do the things that we want to do, and we want to do it our way.
We're in Charge Now
Hey, but what about God in heaven? Isn't God the one that's in charge? Well, how about this? This is what the chapter is displaying. God can still be in charge in heaven, but not down here. We're in charge now. Look at what they say. Let's just cut the cord. Let's cut the cords from heaven and earth. God can be up there. We're going to be down there. It's as if the rulers of the earth are looking at God. Look at me. Look at me. I am the captain now. And it's hilarious to watch. And God thinks so because he just starts laughing. Let's cut the ties from heaven. God can do what God wants to do up there. But down here, we're going to do what we want to do the way that we want to do it, the way that seems right to us. And it's easy to judge the rulers of the world in Psalm 2 until we step in the mirror when all of that language sounds familiar in one way or another.
We Mirror This Too
Because we've done this. We do this. Hey God, I know you're in charge, but I'm going to react to what's going on out there the way that I feel I need to react. I'm going to be fearful of what's going on in the world. I'm going to ignore the fact that you said you're in charge. I'm going to allow anxiety and stress to overtake me. And then I'm going to react in a way that is outside of your wisdom and character, outside of imaging you. We all do it. And so it's a humbling reminder that God's like, what are y'all doing? What are you doing?
God Laughs
And how does God respond in the poem? In verse 4, he says this. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them with his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. See, God laughs because as much as the people of the earth want God's presence extinguished from the earth, no, he has enthroned his king on Zion. It's done. His presence, his rule, it's already here. So God's saying, what are you going to do about it?
The King Is Still Enthroned
See, sometimes things happen around us. The world seems to shift in a way that is scary, that is sometimes confusing. And maybe we struggle to navigate it. And no matter how bad, no matter how rough it may seem, the king is still enthroned. The king, our king, is still seated on his throne. Do we understand the implications of such a statement as this? Do we really understand the weight? When God speaks out, I've set my king on the throne. You can laugh, you can want. No, I am in charge.
A Promise That Didn't Seem to Happen
And so I want you to, history time, I want you to imagine the context of when the book of Psalms reached its final form, as we discussed a few weeks ago. You have this Psalm that endorses the prophecy given to David in 2 Samuel 7, a prophecy that his lineage would always have a place on the throne, that God would raise up the righteous king through him. Did that happen in the generations surrounding David? Did this most righteous ideal king sit on the throne around the generations of David? No. No. Well, David, what about David? Let's read Samuel's account of David in 1 Samuel. No, not so much. It wasn't David.
Maybe it was Solomon. Well, the thing about Solomon, Solomon used slaves to build God's temple. 1 Kings 10 says King Solomon used slavery to build God's temple. That's a big indicator of where Solomon shows up on the map of righteous king over here, not righteous king over here. Solomon overtook weaker nations, exploited them, brought them back to Jerusalem, and forced them to build a temple to the God that frees slaves. And people even saw through it with him. People saw through it. When Solomon's son, Rehoboam, became of age, the people petitioned him. They were like, hey, can you not be a jerk like your dad?
Can you not tax us to death? Can you not be so aggressive towards us? What did Rehoboam do? Did he want to soften his heart for the people and be a righteous king? No, he told the people that he was going to be even worse than his dad. He ended up splitting the entire kingdom in half. And now imagine generations later down the line, the kings of Judah are just spiraling down, down, down. The people follow suit until they enter exile to Babylon.
Expecting the Messiah
And after Babylon, many Judeans returned back to the land of Judah. And this is when the book of Psalms is compiled, edited, and fashioned into its final form, as we discussed in the Savior of Psalms message. Now, imagine being the people returning from exile and reading Psalm chapter 2. The faithful came to believe that there was a deeper meaning to the promise than having just a king sitting on the throne of Jerusalem. Because obviously that didn't happen. This prophecy must be for something else, something bigger. They began to expect a future Messiah, a future king that would truly embody the essence of what it means to be the true son of God. And so by the time we reach the New Testament, of course, the authors there recognize Jesus as that expected Messiah and affirm that belief every single time he's called Christ, the Greek equivalent to the word Messiah.
How Is This Supposed to Look? How is this supposed to look though? How is the world supposed to look when heaven's king rules in it? So Bible nerd moment. There is a type of chiasm, a pattern that is indicated in Psalm chapter 2. And so Psalm chapter 2 breaks down in your Bibles as four different stanzas, okay? Four different sections, and you should see them separated in your Bible. And they are arranged according to a chiasm. The first one is verses 1 through 3. The last is verses 10 through 12. And both these stanzas refer to the kings of the earth and the action that takes place on earth. These sections have to do with what's taking place on earth. Now, the two middle stanzas that show up in the middle of the chapter are verses four through six and seven through nine. And these narrate the heavenly activities, things that are going on, not on earth, but in heaven. And the resulting chiastic pattern for the poem as a whole meets in the middle. And the message is that there is an intertwining of heaven and earth happening, and it has something to do with this anointed king.
Heaven and Earth Intertwined
So draw your attention to the center of the psalm. And right at the very end of the second stanza and the beginning of the third stanza in verse six, here is what it says. 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 thee. This is the culmination of the Psalm right here. This is the culmination, the high point of the Psalm. The entire Psalm is based around heaven and earth being intimately connected through this King that God appoints, the Christ. And no matter how much the people, the kingdoms, the nations of the world want to cut God off from their pursuits, the King reigns. Not only that, he reigns with a rod of iron that will smash their efforts and pursuits into pieces. Such a violent image when we speak of a rod of iron smashing nations into clay. And it's used by John in his vision of the nativity scene in Revelation 12. And it speaks of a child being born and it quotes Psalm 2. It quotes, he will rule with a rod of iron.
Darkness Defeated
And what's the result? Well, in John's vision, when the child is born and is taken up in authority to heaven, a war breaks out in heaven between Michael and Satan. And the result is Satan is thrown down from heaven to earth. The war in heaven is won in Revelation 12 because of something that happens on earth. The child is ruling. The kingdom of heaven is expanding on earth. Through this king's reign, the darkness that empowers the nations, the groups, the kingdoms of the earth is defeated. How? How is Satan defeated? How is the darkness defeated? Because of the kingdom of God expanding through the message of the gospel being preached and lived out. And this is a message I don't think I will ever stop repeating again. Tell me you're tired of hearing it and I won't care because I will never stop repeating and proclaiming the message of the gospel as stated in scripture.
The Gospel Message
In Mark chapter 1, it tells us exactly what the gospel is. And it doesn't say, okay, say this prayer and when you die, you'll be in, you're entering to heaven someday. Like that's the gospel. That's the whole truth of the gospel. And that's not at all what the Bible actually says. Mark chapter 1, starting in verse 14 says this. John was arrested and Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God, proclaiming the good news of God. Verse 15, here is what Jesus says the gospel of God is. The time is fulfilled now and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. That's the gospel.
And for far too long, we've been distracted and wanted to believe that somehow the gospel message was all about escaping this world so that we could fly off to heaven, leaving this rotten, awful place behind.
The Kingdom is Here, Not a Future Escape
One day, Jesus is going to come back to rescue us and take us all out of here. And that's not at all what the Bible actually says. The Bible doesn't give us a message of escapism from this world. The Bible gives us a message of hope for this world. And it is not just a message of hope for some vague timeframe. No, look now the time is fulfilled now, not in the future. Now the good news is here. When now, what is it? The kingdom of God has arrived. The reign of God's king is here. And through his reign, the darkness that enslaves the world will be crushed like pieces of pottery, just as Psalm 2 says. How does this happen? How is this victory achieved? Through the message of God's presence found in his son, Yeshua. Through him, we would have access to a spirit that enables us to have power and authority to show a type of love, to exhibit a type of mercy, to be vessels of graciousness and justice in the world to an extent where it can only be described as heaven on earth.
Ambassadors of the Kingdom
See, this is what Yeshua's followers understood. This is what the long tradition of Christians has carried with them. We are here today as ambassadors of the kingdom, ambassadors of the Christ, of the anointed king. We represent, carry, and live out the presence and authority of our king who is reigning now. Every word, every action, every thought, every move we make should not simply be an image of Yeshua's, but also, the things that we stand for should be a reality of Yeshua's presence in the world. And if that's not convicting, then I don't know what is. But this is exactly what Yeshua's followers thought. See, in Luke chapter 10, Yeshua sends out his 70 or 72 followers. He sends them out two by two to all of the towns and the villages to do what? To proclaim the gospel, which he specifically says again, that the kingdom of God has come near. It's here. It's come. It's here. It's right here. The king is here. The kingdom is here. It's here now. Don't you understand?
The 70 Disciples' Authority Over Darkness
And when the 70 disciples returned, man, they were so excited in Luke chapter 10. They were ecstatic. They returned rejoicing. And I can just play it like a movie. I see them dancing around and they come back to Yeshua. And they're saying, they're like, Yeshua, even the demons submitted to us. Like, gosh, we have this authority and power of the kingdom. It's on earth now. It's happening. And Yeshua smiles and says: Yeah, I saw Satan fall from heaven as lightning. This is Luke chapter 10, verse 17 and 18. Let me read it. The 72 or 70 in your Bibles returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name. And he says back to them, yeah, I know. I watched Satan fall from heaven as lightning. Gosh, that is so potent. Yeshua saw the war in heaven happening and he saw Satan defeated through his followers proclaiming and living out the kingdom of God. Here and now.
Defeating Darkness Through Humble Love
The same thing happens in John's vision in Revelation chapter 12. The war in heaven is taking place. And what won the victory? Well, in Luke, it was the ministry, the message, and the act of reign of Yeshua walking out the kingdom of God and his followers demonstrating it. It was standing up to injustice, violence, greed, selfishness, pride, arrogance, everything that makes up the beast described in Daniel 7. And instead of responding like the beast, Yeshua responds a different way, in a way of subversive humility, through forgiveness, not allowing anger to boil and crust into hatred, but showing mercy on those who should not have it and forgiveness to those who don't deserve it, and allowing the beast to throw everything it has at him.
And he took it. And through God's power, he showed the beast of the world is not more powerful than God's kingdom. It is through life, the ministry, the example, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Yeshua the King that we walk out the birthing of the kingdom of God in our lives, actively defeating the powers of darkness. They don't have authority to be here. That's what Psalm 2 says. That's what Revelation 12 says. And that's what Luke chapter 10 shows us.
You Can't Act Like the World While Serving Christ
This is what Psalm chapter 2 is all about. You can't act like the nations. You can't act like the world and show allegiance to the kingdom of God. You can't. That's where we get in trouble. Even as believers, man. Okay. How many times do we act like the world with the message of the gospel? See, sometimes we're like, oh, I have the message of the kingdom and I'll just act like the world or I'll deliver it the same way the world tells me to. No, no, that's up there with making a calf and calling it God. Like, do you hear me? How many times do we see the world and their message and we respond to the world and their message the same way just with our message?
Sometimes we want so badly to change other people without first changing ourselves. That's my conviction. It's so easy to look at someone else and find fault, but it's okay. You have the message of the gospel to give to them so you can fix it. Guys, if your heart has not been conformed to the love and the mercy and the forgiveness and the graciousness of Yeshua, how are you going to deliver the message in a way that will transform others into vessels of love and of mercy and of forgiveness and of graciousness of Yeshua? We need to be changed to make changes. And God help us as we navigate this life with that as our focus.
How Do We Pray Psalm 2? How do we pray Psalm 2 as believers? How do we pray? We pray Psalm 2 knowing that God has enthroned his king in Zion, his holy hill. He reigns. But it's also a vocational prayer when, as believers, we choose to pray this. Because if Yeshua reigns now, and if we are ambassadors of his kingdom, see, when we read Psalm as the testimony of Yeshua's reign, it also comes with a conviction. Are we ready to respond to it? Are we responding to it? Where do we find ourselves on the map of Psalm 2? Do we find ourselves in the stanza speaking of the people on earth who just want to cut ties with God?
Okay, let's acknowledge God. He's in heaven. Okay. But let's snip off the ties that connect heaven to earth. God, you stay up there and I'll still pray with you and I'll still act like I'm carrying and living out your message and I'll acknowledge you up there, but I'm going to stay down here and do my thing. I'm going to live out my message the way I want to, my way. I will rule and take dominion over this earth just like you said I should, except I'm going to do it without your spirit, without you guiding me, without embracing your wisdom to lead me. Or, or, or. Do we find ourselves today as an ambassador of heaven's kingdom, a representative of it, an image bearer of our king?
Image Bearers of God
See, mankind was meant to bear the image, bear the presence of God in their thoughts and their actions and their words. And the story of the Bible is how we accomplish that through Yeshua, through Jesus. When you speak, is the presence of God's spirit being heard? Is the presence of God's spirit making an impact? When you do, when you respond, when you react, is the presence of God's spirit heard? Are you imaging God's character and God's presence?
One of my favorite verses or section of verses is 2 Corinthians . And we'll conclude with this. Paul speaks, he's writing to Corinth and he says this. He says, "'All of this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ.'" and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation. Well, what's that? That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors. Listen, we, that's you. You are Christ's ambassador, as though God were making his appeal through you, through us. Let's read that again. That's powerful. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Do people experience the righteousness of God when they encounter you? That's the message of Psalm 2. Where are you at? Where are you at? Right?
The Battle is Won, But Still Rages On
We know the victory has been won. We know this. The battle is won. Yeshua won. He's not going to win. He's won. However, Revelation 12, after Satan was defeated, the battle still rages on. And when we look into the world and we see the battle still raging on, we need to be an ambassador of heaven. As his ambassadors, we should be the vessels of Christ's love. We should be the vessels of mercy. We should be the vessels of justice in the world. And if our hearts have not been transformed to be those vessels, then guess what? We might be fighting. We might be out there fighting, but we aren't fighting for heaven.
When we pray for the spirit of God to fill us, to bring peace, to bring comfort to this world, understand you're not praying for the Holy Spirit to just make everybody feel good and love each other. You're praying for the Holy Spirit to enable you to bring that sustaining comfort to this world, to be an image bearer. God, I have these people around me that have hard hearts. And God, I just want to pray to you today that you would soften them. It's a great prayer. Okay. You're the ambassador of Christ though. Yes, God does soften hearts. But you're on the front line. So your prayer should be, God, I'm on the front line.
Equip me to be able to facilitate the softening of their heart with your power. Put me in. Put me in and equip me to do what I need to do. How's that for a bold prayer? If we can be honest, we don't like that kind of prayer, do we? No. We want God to be a genie and just make stuff happen, and we want to sit back and relax and just retire as a good soldier of Christ, right? No. We don't like those kind of prayers because somewhere in that position, you might get hurt. Somewhere in that position on the front lines as an ambassador of Christ, it might make you uncomfortable. You might have to give of yourself more than them so that they can experience God's softening spirit.
That sustaining peace in this world that you're asking the Holy Spirit to equip you, you're asking him to equip you as a warrior to fight, but not a warrior to fight like the beast in Daniel 7 or the beast in Revelation. No, you're asking the Holy Spirit to equip you to fight not like a beast, but like the lamb who was crucified for the sake of achieving victory. This psalm, this psalm is a reminder to check our hearts, to check our spirit. Where do we fall in the dynamic between heaven and earth? Where do we find ourselves?
Warriors That Fight Like a Lamb
Join me in prayer. Our Father, our King, Father, we thank you for this time together. Father, we ask in the name of Yeshua that you would equip us to be the warriors that fight like a lamb, that you would give us every single need, that you would train us, that you would forgive us of our sins so that we may be equipped to forgive others. And Father, that you would equip us to carry out the message of the gospel, that as ambassadors of your kingdom, through us, through your spirit that you've given to us, being Yeshua's image to the world, your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. We thank you, Father, for the blessings of this day. And we ask for your continued spirit of love and patience, that your spirit would continue to guide us in all ways through this world. In the name of Yeshua, we pray. Amen.
Shalom
Shalom, I'm Matthew Vanderels, and I hope you enjoyed this message. Founded in Truth exists to build a community that bears the image of God and lives the redeemed life only Yeshua gives. If this message impacted you or if this ministry has been a blessing to you, we invite you to take part in making sure the message of Yeshua and the truth of God's word continues to reach others. To make sure this happens, you can donate through our online giving portal at foundinatruth.com slash give or by texting any amount to 704-275-0752. Don't forget to like and subscribe for new content every single week. And we thank you for your continued support. And we look forward to seeing you next time. Shalom. Info@foundedintuth.com






