The sermon, centered on Psalm 2, explores the significance of Palm Sunday and its connection to the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The speaker emphasizes the historical and theological importance of this event, celebrated by Christians for nearly two millennia. Psalm 2 is linked to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, demonstrating the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy in the New Testament. The sermon stresses the importance of understanding Old Testament texts through the lens of New Testament revelations, highlighting how events like the crucifixion and resurrection were predestined by God. The speaker draws a parallel between the rejection of Jesus by earthly rulers and His ultimate victory through resurrection, supported by God's laughter in Psalm 2, symbolizing divine triumph over evil. The sermon concludes by reinforcing the unity of believers throughout history in worshiping the risen King, urging listeners to recognize the transformative power of Christ's resurrection and their place in this enduring tradition.

Psalm chapter 2. If you have a pew Bible you can Find our passage this morning on page 552. Page 552. And if you do not own a copy of God's Word, please take that Bible home with you. And I might add, if you have a neighbor or a family member that would desire a copy of God's Word, we have a number of them placed on the table outside of this sanctuary for you to take home to your neighbor or to your loved ones, particularly during this time of Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday.

So avail yourself of our Bibles, if that would be of great benefit to you. Let's stand together as we now read God's word together and hear directly from God in Psalm 2. Hear now the word of our God, beginning in verse 1. Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us tear their fetters apart and Cast away their cords from us.

He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his fury, saying, But as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord, he said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthenware. Now therefore, O kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling.

Do homage to the Son that he not become angry and you perish in the way. For his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him. May God bless the reading and the preaching of His Word. Amen.

Amen. You may be seated. This morning is Palm Sunday, wherein the Church of Jesus Christ throughout history has for nearly 1700 years remembered and celebrated the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. I just want you to think about that. For nearly 1, 700 years, For almost two millennia, Christ's church has remembered, celebrated, and marked the occasion of the Son of God's entrance into Jerusalem recorded in his gospels.

Palm Sunday. Now, it might be longer than that, but formally for 1700 years. Now maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, but I think it should. Because you're taking part in something that Christians for almost two millennia have taken part in. You're joining a long line of God's people and worshiping on Palm Sunday.

But more than simply Palm Sunday, every Sunday, Maybe by gathering here on the Christian Sabbath day, you enter into something that spans back all the way to the first century. You're joining with the saints of old. You're joining with all the ransom church of God, generation after generation after generation. And before the coming of Christ, there was still a Sabbath, different day. We'll get to that.

But you are part of this glorious stream of the redeemed who have come before you. You're joining in the long line of God's people who by God's sovereign grace, and His grace alone as we say, have week after week after week for millennia come together to adore, to worship, and to be renewed by the crucified, risen, and reigning Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So Every Lord's Day, in this, the Lord's Day gathering, each and every Christian Sabbath day for two millennia, God has brought His covenant people together. And He's blessed them. And He's taught them.

And He's transformed them. And He's made His face to shine upon them. And He's spoken to them. And He's communed with them. And He sent them out with blessing to go into His world and make disciples, starting in the home and extending to the ends of the earth.

He's been doing that work for millennia and He's grafted you into that stream. Now maybe you just don't think anything I'm saying is a big deal. It ought to be. He's made you a part of that tradition of the redeemed. So beloved, be amazed at what you get to take part in in the Christian Sabbath.

Every Lord's Day when you gather, children, be amazed what you enter into as children of believers, as believers yourself. On the Lord's Day, when you ascend to the holy hill, you hear God speak to you, and God comes down to you and Demonstrates to you that you belong to him at the table You hear him speak You go home changed That's something we're getting excited about Each Lord's Day you are reminded of the faithfulness of God from generation to generation, from century to century, and for 20 centuries. God's people, our people, your people, Have been meeting on Sunday mornings to worship the one true living God the resurrected Savior And he has met with us We have seen his glory For nearly 17th century they remembered Palm Sunday Jesus entering Jerusalem Do you remember that? Do you remember Palm Sunday? You weren't there.

But you've read about it, have you not? Jesus the Christ comes riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. And the people, what do they do? They lay down palm branches, like a red carpet for the Lord Jesus, so that He might ride on top of these palm branches, like a red carpet into the capital city. They're treating him like a king, because that's exactly who he is.

He's the king of kings. And the people cry out to him as Jesus is riding on this donkey, on this Palm branch red carpet scenario. They're crying out to him. Hosanna, Hosanna Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord as Jesus rides as a king into Jerusalem on a donkey And that event is very significant if you've been paying attention to biblical prophecy. And you should!

That is precisely what the Messiah, that is precisely what the promised King of Kings would do. Zechariah 9 says, behold your King is coming. He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey. Even on a colt the foal of a donkey. Palm Sunday, that prophecy was fulfilled.

The people are shouting, Hosanna, they're shouting Psalm 118, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. On Palm Sunday, Psalm 118 fulfilled. There's no mistaking what the people in the narrative are communicating to you. There's no mistaking what the authors of the gospels are communicating to you. Jesus is the promised prince.

Jesus is the promised messiah. Jesus is the anointed king of kings. Jesus is the line of the tribe of Judah, the eternal king of the line of David. So if you've been paying attention to prophecy, and you should, that's what gets announced on Palm Sunday. As Jesus heads toward Jerusalem, prophetic fulfillment.

But you also know, if you've been paying attention to the Gospels, and you should, that Palm Sunday very quickly turns into what? Good Friday. Palm Sunday, riding on a donkey with pomp and circumstance, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna! Riding on a colt quickly turns into the passion. This king comes in on a donkey, the promised king of the world coming into Jerusalem just days later hangs on a tree.

What? How did that happen? I mean, you want to talk about a twist when you're reading the Gospels? Talk about a contrast from Palm Sunday's red carpet and Hosanna's to five days later, Good Friday's torture and execution. That's a twist.

From Jesus' palm to his passion. Why? How? How can this happen to the King of the world? I mean, were the people who were shouting Hosanna, were they wrong?

Was this not the Hosanna? Was this not the promised Messiah? Was this riding on a donkey a fulfillment of Zechariah 9.9? Was that just a mistake? Oh, we thought it was prophetic fulfillment, oops.

Were the gospel writers mixed up? Oh, this is the king, this is the king, this is the king. Palm branch is falling down, Hosanna's being cried out, boom. Raised up on a crucifix and put to death. Why?

Psalm 2 answers that question exactly. Psalm 2 answers that question exactly. Psalm 2 answers that question exactly. From Jesus Christ's palm to passion to resurrection, that's where Psalm 2 comes in. Friends, you need to hear me.

This is really important. You need to understand Old Testament prophecy. You need to understand Old Testament texts in light of the New Testament. I need you to hear that. You need to understand Old Testament texts like Psalm 2 in light of how the Holy Spirit tells you what they mean in the New Testament.

Same Holy Spirit. Nobody's not. Now I've been gone for two weeks. Maybe that's not what we do, but I think we do that every once in a while. Let the New Testament tell you what Old Testament texts mean.

So for instance, When you're reading Deuteronomy 25 verse 4, you remember that phrase, that brief command God says in Deuteronomy 25, 4, don't muzzle your ox. Straightforward. Got it. An animal that works for me, I need to provide for it. I need to give it food.

Feed my ox. Got it. And if that was all you had, okay. But is that all you have? No, if you go to the New Testament, what happens?

The same Holy Spirit that inspired Moses to write Deuteronomy 25, 4, don't muzzle the ox, is the same Holy Spirit that inspired Paul to write 1 Timothy chapter five. And what does Paul quote in 1 Timothy chapter five? He quotes, don't muzzle the ox. He quotes Deuteronomy 25 in 1 Timothy five and says, Hey, and that's why you should pay your pastors which by the way, thank you So you didn't know Deuteronomy 25 for didn't tell you that it was about paying pastors the same Holy Spirit did Psalm 22 verse 1. How about Psalm 22 verse 1?

You read in Psalm 22 verse 1, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That's Psalm 22 verse 1. Does that sound familiar to you? Those are the words of the Son of God, Jesus, at his crucifixion as he hanged. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

And then the temple curtain was torn in two. So when you go back and you read your Old Testament, Psalm 22 verse 1, what are you supposed to think about that verse? You're supposed to say when you read Psalm 22 verse 1, that verse is fulfilled by Jesus. That verse is about Jesus Christ's death on the cross. Psalm 22 didn't tell you that.

Who told you that? The Holy Spirit told you that in the New Testament. Through the inspired writing of the Gospels as Jesus' words were recorded. You're to understand Old Testament texts in light of the New Testament. You do this all the time.

I just don't want you to get to Psalm 2 and use different rules. You understand Old Testament text in light of the New Testament, in light of how the New Testament tells you to understand them. And so that very much includes Psalm 2. How are you to understand Psalm 2? You need to ask the question, how does the New Testament understand Psalm 2?

That's how you should understand Psalm 2. Do the Apostles, do the Gospel writers, do they show you how to interpret Psalm 2? Do they? The answer is, oh yeah. Oh yes they do.

So I want to show you, I want to show you what the New Testament tells you about Psalm chapter two. And I think if you get it, you'll never be able to read Psalm 2 the same again. So look at verses 1 and 2 of our text. Look at verses 1 and 2 of our text. Psalm 2, verses 1 and 2.

The psalmist writes this. And Right now, at this juncture, are we told who writes the psalm? Not in my Bible. No, it just says, why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us." What's that talking about?

What's that talking about? Keep your finger in the Psalms. Keep your finger in Psalm 2 and turn with me all the way to the New Testament and go to Acts chapter 4 Acts chapter 4 we're going to come right back to Psalm 2, Go to Acts 4 beginning in verse 24. Now in Acts chapter 4, Peter and John have been arrested and they've been put in jail for preaching the gospel, particularly the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And so Peter and John, they get arrested, they get jailed, Then they get put on trial, but since they haven't really committed a crime, they get released and kind of slapped on the hand a little bit.

After they're released, they go back to their companions, they go back to the church, and we pick up in on their conversation in verses 24 through 27 of Acts chapter 4. They lift up their voices together in prayer and worship and what is it that they pray? Look in verse 24. When they heard this, Peter and John being released, when they heard this they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said oh Lord It is you who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them Who by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David your servant said, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth stood at their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.

For truly in this city, they were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your purposes be destined to occur. All right well if you look in verse 25 they quote Psalm 2 right? Do you see a quotation there that looks familiar? Yes, that's Psalm 2 verses 1 and 2. And who do they say the author is?

David. So in the New Testament, if you go back to Psalm 2, you look at Psalm 2 and you go, I know. Who writes that Psalm now? I didn't know it from Psalm 2, but I know it from the same Holy Spirit that inspired Acts chapter 4. This is the Psalm of David.

But what is it that they pray? These people gather together with John and Peter, and they are amazed that they've been released, and they pray, they worship together, and their prayer, their worship is saturated with Old Testament quotations. And the biggest quotation is there in Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is quoted. Acts chapter 4 verses 25 and 26 quote directly from Psalm 2 verses 1 and 2.

So what does Acts 4 tell you the first two verses of Psalm 2 mean? I want you to look again at verse 27. Right after they quote Psalm 2 verses 1 and 2, they pray in verse 27 of Acts 4, for truly in this city they were gathered together against your Holy servant Jesus whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your purpose predestined to occur. What was that? What had God predestined to occur?

What did Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel do against the Holy Servant of God Jesus? What do they do? Easy answer. Crucify them. The kings of the earth, the rulers of the earth, they crucified Jesus the Christ the anointed one of God so acts four is talking about what event the crucifixion of Jesus while quoting the first two verses of Psalm 2 to do it.

So what are the first two verses of Psalm 2 about then? The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. Shouldn't be any question in your mind. Go back to Psalm 2 in your Bibles. We'll come back to Acts in a second.

Acts chapter 4 just told you that the first two verses of Psalm 2 are about one main thing. They are a prophecy of the crucifixion so when you read verses one and two of our text God wants you to think preeminently about the crucifixion of his son Psalm 2 1 & 2 is about the crucifixion of King Jesus. Now I want you to look at verse 2. The kings of the earth, so we're in Psalm 2 verse 2. The kings of the earth take their stand, the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed.

Now who are the rulers? Who are those kings of the earth? What did Axeford just tell you? They literally listed them out for you. He quotes Psalm 2 and he lists out the rulers and the kings of the earth that Psalm 2 is talking about.

Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the Jews. And what are those kings of the earth, what are those rulers doing? They're taking their stand against the Lord, and they're taking counsel together against the Lord and His anointed. It's exactly what Psalm 2 says. That word anointed there, if you look at verse 2, that word anointed, the kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed.

That word anointed there could be easily translated Messiah. So where we get the word Messiah could be Christ. Who is this? Who is Psalm 2 talking about? It's Jesus.

The anointed one of God. That's Jesus the Christ. So you've got the kings of the earth, you've got the rulers of the earth, and Psalm 2, they're standing against the Lord, they're standing against God. How are they doing that? They're standing against his anointed.

By standing against Jesus the Christ. So that shows you something, that even though the world you live in says to you, there are many ways to God, you don't need Jesus to get to God. Pluralism is okay, though the world will shove that down your throat, that there are many ways to God not according to Psalm 2. Here in Psalm 2 and in Acts chapter 4, that foolish notion is torn down and torched. If you reject the anointed one, if you reject Jesus, who do you reject?

You stand against God. If you're standing against Jesus, you stand against God. This is what's going on in verse 2. There is no other name given among men by which you may be saved except the name of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, the anointed one of God. So pluralism is not true.

A multitude of paths to God is not true. You either kiss the Son of God who is crucified and raised from the dead, you either trust and obey the anointed King Jesus and you're made right with God forever, or you stand against Jesus and you'll be damned by the Lord God forever. The Psalm 2 is not at all confusing with regard to that. So any other religion any other religion Hinduism Islam Judaism By rejecting Jesus the Christ to save your Lord They stand against the anointed, and therefore they stand against God. As Psalm 2, verse 2.

If you stand against the Son, stand against the Father. If you do not serve the Son, you do not serve the Father. So kiss the Son. So the rulers and the kings of the earth, what are they doing? They're taking their stand together against the Lord and against his anointed.

And that's precisely what Herod and Pilate did. Is it not? Herod and Pilate, a Jewish-ish ruler, and Pilate, a Gentile ruler. They used to be enemies, the Gospels tell us. They didn't like each other.

But guess what happens? The anointed one of the Lord comes along, the anointed one of God comes along and they say, you know what? Let's just forget our enemy status. Let's become friends. They take counsel together.

They band together to do what? Verse 3 of Psalm 2. Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us. Whose fetters? Whose cords?

I'm talking about the Lord and His anointed one. God the Father and God the Son. Let's tear apart their lordship. Let's be autonomous. They're rejecting the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

They are rejecting the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Let us tear apart their fetters. Let us cast away their cords from us. We will not serve this Messiah. We will not serve the Lord and His anointed.

So let us crucify. Right? Let's tear apart their fetters. Let's cast away their cords from us, let's crucify them. But friends, what are the fetters of the Lord Jesus?

The way that the wicked are viewing the Lordship of Jesus, the bonds of Christ, They're viewing them as fetters and cords that bind them. No. What are the cords that the Lord uses to bind His people to Himself? What are they like? Matthew 11 verse 30, my yoke is what?

Easy. My burden is light. They are the bonds of true freedom. They are The fetters of redemption that will keep you chained to the one who redeemed you and not let you go astray. Oh, without the chains of the Almighty, you would be lost.

That's one of the ways that I want to have people think when they come to me questioning their salvation. How do you view obedience to Christ? What goes on in your mind when you think about belonging to the Lord? And if I have saints that say, I love belonging to God. I love belonging to Jesus.

His yoke is wonderful. His law is my delight. That is not what the natural man says. No, the natural man, the man dead in his sins, wants to tear the fetters of God apart, to cast away the lordship of Jesus far from them. So take heart, brothers and sisters, if the opposite is true of you.

These rulers, they reject true freedom from the chains and cords of their bondage to sin. Just think about that. They reject the burden and the yoke of the Lord Jesus which is easy and light. They reject true freedom. They reject the lordship of Jesus Christ and in exchange, in insisting that they break the Lordship of Christ off themselves, I'm going to shake that off.

In doing so, they in exchange for that, they are now in shackles of their own making. Shackles of their sin. They're in greater bondage. They think that by shrugging off the Lord Jesus, they'll find freedom. And what do they end up with?

Greater slavery. Worse, far, infinitely horrible slavery. In Psalm 2, the kings of the earth oppose the lordship of Jesus Christ, which is precisely what Herod and Pontius Pilate have done. And so the nations are in an uproar. They did this when they crucified Jesus Christ on a tree.

So what does Psalm 2, verses 1 through 3, tell you it's all about? It's up there on the screen. Crucifixion. Psalm 2 verses 1 through 3, it's all about the crucifixion, the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 2, it's quoted in Acts.

First two verses quoted in Acts 4. And then we see in verse 3 what they're doing. They're meeting together and they're trying to say let's shrug off the lordship of Jesus Christ. But what about the rest of the psalm? Well look at verse 4.

Look at verse 4 of Psalm 2. God responds to the uproar. God responds to the crucifixion of His Son, starting in verse 4. Read it with me. He who sits in the heavens laughs.

The Lord scoffs at them, that He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in his fury, saying, But ask for me. I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthenware. Now, are there any of those verses that I just read? Are they quoted in the New Testament at all?

Yes. Actually all over the place. So let's go back to Acts and let's see if Acts can tell us how to understand those verses, verses 4 through 9. Again, keep your fingers on too, but go back to Acts. This time go to Acts 13.

Acts 13. We're trying to understand how the New Testament would have us understand Psalm 2. Acts chapter 13, look in verses 32 and 33. So Paul in Acts 13, Paul is preaching to the Jews on his first missionary journey. This is what he says in Acts 13 verse 32.

We preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children and that he raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Now do you recognize the end of verse 33 there? Is it in all caps in your Bible? If you have an asby it is. You don't even have to recognize.

Even if it wasn't in all caps, What does verse 33 tell you? That God has fulfilled this promise to our children, that He raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second Psalm. In case you didn't get it, this is from the second Psalm. This is from Psalm 2 verse 7. Psalm 2 verse 7 is supposed to be understood in light of Acts 13 33.

And what's Acts 13 33 all about? Let me read to you again. God has fulfilled this promise to our children that he raised up Jesus as it is also written in the second psalm. What is verse seven of Psalm two all about? The resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ. You start getting this, Psalm 2 is going to take on a whole new meaning for you. Psalm 2 verse 7 is about, I forgot my clicker somewhere, there it is, is about the resurrection of King Jesus. So go back to Psalm 2. Go back to Psalm 2.

Psalm 2 begins with what? Verses 1 through 3, the crucifixion of King Jesus. Then we get down to verse 7 and it's about the resurrection of King Jesus. And then if you keep reading you realize that if verses 1 through 3 are about the crucifixion, and they are. And if verse 7 is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and it is.

Then what must verse six and verses eight and nine be all about? Verses one through three is the crucifixion. And verse seven is about the resurrection. What about verse six and eight and nine? The ascension.

The ascension. There's no other way but the ascension of King Jesus. What happens after Jesus' resurrection? Do you remember in the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter one verse 20, God raises him up from the dead. God the Father, it says, Ephesians 1.20, God the Father raises Christ Jesus from the dead, and then what does he do?

He makes him ascend, and he puts him at the right hand of God in the heavenly places. He puts him at his right hand in the heavenly places. That's what happens in Ephesians 1.20. And then Hebrews 12.22 tells you that the right hand of God in the heavenly places. He puts him at his right hand in the heavenly places.

That's what happens in Ephesians 1.20. And then Hebrews 12.22 tells you that the right hand of God in the heavenly places is called Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. I want you to put those two things together Jesus Christ was raised from the dead God the Father raised him and put him at his right hand Hebrews 12 tells you that that the right hand of God that's Mount Zion the heavenly Jerusalem Is that not precisely the language of Psalm chapter 2? Used in verse 6 look in Psalm 2 verse 6 I have installed my king on Mount Zion I have installed my king on Mount Zion. I have installed my king on Mount Zion.

So Jesus ascends to the right hand of God the Father. Sorry, this thing's killing me. Jesus ascends to the right hand of God the Father and is installed as King on Mount Zion. And what is that King given? If you look in Psalm 2, what is the ascended King given?

Look in verses 8 and 9 of Psalm 2. That ascended King, at the right hand of God, He's given the nations. He's given the nations. He's given authority over all heaven and all the earth. Ask of me, I will surely give the nations as your inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession.

Is that not exactly what Jesus Christ declares at the end of Matthew's Gospel, right before he's about to be ascended? What does he say? All authority in heaven and on earth could say as far as the earth is given to me. What is Psalm 2 all about? Psalm 2 is all about the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The death, resurrection and ascension of the King of Kings and his redemptive reign over all things right now. That's why we're in Psalm 2 this morning. It took me all of that to try to tell you why we're in Psalm 2 on Palm Sunday. And why we're going to spend Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday, in Psalm 2 as well. Because this song is all about Palm Sunday and resurrection Sunday.

Now we're going to come back to the law of God. Some of you are thinking, man, he's just given up on the law of God. No way! I just wanted to show you Psalm 2. And a lot of the reason was because our dear brother Isaac, he delivered to you a precious sermon from Psalm 1 called the Blessed Man.

Do you remember that? It was a blessed sermon. I really appreciate that. You were well cared for by both Pastor Matthew and Brother Isaac. Here's a quote from Isaac's sermon.

The blessed man loves, lives, is founded on, and meditates upon God's law. And ultimately, who is this blessed man? Isaac emphasized it wonderfully. Ultimately, the only one that has meditated perfectly on God's law, the one that is God's law manifest is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word made flesh.

The blessed man is Jesus Christ so that all who are in Jesus Christ by faith are blessed. Yes? All who are in Jesus by faith are happy. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Happy are the people who belong to King Jesus, so that all who kiss the Son are made blessed.

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Psalm 1, and just as much so, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of Psalm 2. In Psalm 1, Christ is the blessed man who makes sinners righteous, who takes doers of iniquity and by His grace converts them and makes them His own and gives them a new heart and dwells within them and grasps them into Himself so that He's the vine and we are the branches. That's Psalm 1, planted by streams of living water. And His blessedness becomes yours by faith. You are made happy because you belong to Him.

Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Blessed are the people who belong to King Jesus. King Jesus secured that blessedness of Psalm 1 for all who repent and believe, yes? For all who believe upon His name, King Jesus secured the blessings of Psalm 1. And in Psalm 2, here is how Jesus Christ did it.

Blessed is the man who belongs to the blessed man. Here's how the blessed man secured the blessed, Psalm 2. Here's how the blessedness in Psalm 1 was secured in Psalm 2. So that's why we're in Psalm 2. This Lord's Day announced.

So in the little time that we have left, whoa, in the little time that we have left, I want to briefly examine what Psalm 2 tells you about the crucifixion. And we're going to get back to it on Resurrection Sunday. But I want to go all the way back up to verse 1, and I'll make some brief remarks. Don't worry, real close. It's only 39 minutes, so...

Alright, So the Psalm is David. We know David's writing the Psalm. Acts 4 tells us that. The Psalm is David. He asks the question, why?

Why are the nations in an uproar? Why are the peoples devising a vain thing? Now that word devising there, you see that word devising there at the end of verse one? Do you see that? Can you nod your head if you see the word devising?

Okay, that word devising at the end of verse one can actually be translated meditate. It's the exact same word that's in Psalm 1 it's the same word so it could be translated why are the nations in an uproar and the people's meditating on a vain thing. Now that's significant, isn't it? Why is that significant, do you think? Because what does Psalm 1 start out with?

The Blessed man meditates day and night on the law of God. That's how Psalm 1 begins. Blessed is the man who meditates on the law of God. Now, we go down to the very end of Psalm 2. We look at the very end of Psalm 2.

What is the last line in Psalm 2? What word? Blessed. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Start of Psalm 1, end of Psalm 2, blessed, blessed.

And in between, what do you have? Two different meditations. Two different paths. Psalm 1 and Psalm 2, as Brother Isaac told you two weeks ago, they are meant to be together. They're a unit.

In Psalm 1 you've got the blessed man meditating on the law of God. The blessed man meditates in the law as he walks the path of the righteous by faith in Jesus. And in Psalm 2 now, you've got rebels who are walking on the opposite path, the path of the wicked, and they aren't blessed. They aren't happy. What are they meditating on?

They're not meditating on the law of God. What does verse 3 say? They're meditating on how to rebel against the law of God. How can we cast these fetters and these cords off of us? Meditation.

Meditation. Two different kinds of meditation. How is that rebellion, they're taking their stand against the Lord's anointed, rebelling against His rule. How is that rebellion made manifest? How do they attempt to break apart their fetters?

We've already told you. They crucified the anointed one. We'll crucify the lawgiver. We'll show him. We've already seen that in Acts 4 verses 1 through 3.

Psalm 2 is about the crucifixion. They put the Lord Jesus to death. And in that moment, you know what they think that they've done? At the moment where verse 3 of Psalm 2 becomes manifest and they hang the anointed one of God on a tree. They think they've accomplished verse 3.

Do they not? We've cast our feathers apart. We've cast off our cords. We put the Son of God to death. In that moment, Satan, Herod, Pilate, the Sanhedrin, They are all saying, we've defeated the Lord's anointed.

Now they didn't think he was the Lord's anointed. What was God's response? What does God, before you can get to God's response, What does God say they are trying to do in verse 1? The people are meditating, devising, meditating on a vain thing. Vain.

It'll be useless. What's God's response to the crucifixion of His Son? Verse 4. What's the first two words? He, oh sorry, the first two lines.

He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. I want to ask you a question. How can God laugh at a time like this? How on earth can God scoff when the evil in the world seems like it's won?

Well, unless it didn't. I mean, how can God laugh at a time like this when the anointed one of His, the anointed one of the Lord, coming in on a donkey into Jerusalem to be king? How can He laugh when that king is now dead five days later? Unless He doesn't stay there. Psalm 2 tells you why the Lord laughs.

What's verse 7 all about? Psalm 7 is all about the resurrection. The king who died would be raised in power. The king who died in his death accomplished the redemption of the world and in his resurrection He is the first fruits of that redemption. That's how God laughs.

The way that the King of Kings reigns is first through death and resurrection. And that's exactly what this King of Kings did. That's why God laughed. God laughs because the enemies of Christ, his enemies fell for it. They fell for it.

If the perfect, spotless, unblemished Lamb of God dies, the sins of the world will be taken away. The world will be redeemed. That's the plan of redemption established before the beginning of time. And that redeemer comes to die And his enemies, your enemies, fall for it. That's why God laughs.

The very thing that the enemies of Jesus Christ thought they were doing, defeating Jesus, Casting off His Lordship through putting Him on a tree, putting Him in a grave. That is the very thing that sealed their defeat. As Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians, I love this. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 7 and 8. If the rulers of this age, Paul writes, if the rulers of this age had understood what they were doing, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

If the rulers of this age, if the guys in verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 2, they would have known what they were bringing about. They would not have done verse 3. But they did. And when they did, God raised His anointed up forever. And evil and sin and condemnation and even death were lost forever.

So beloved, do you realize what this means for you? When your sin, when that corruption within you seems to have won the day when your lust, when your pride, when your lies, when your sin laughs out loud over you in glee at your condemnation, when that great enemy, Satan, declares over you, see you're accursed, see you're mine. You can't kick this habit, you can't kick this lust, you can't kick this pride, you can't kick the lying, you're mine. When he gloats over you and he says there is no more mercy for you, there's no forgiveness possible for you, you are mine and you're condemned and you're damned. So you might as well get used to it.

You ever heard those voices? I hear those voices all the time. Christian, when he screams that refrain over you, just as he did in verse three of Psalm 2, Remember the rest of this song. It was God who had the last laugh. It was God who raised the King of glory, crucified in the place of your lust, crucified in the place of your pride, crucified in the place of your lies.

It was God who raised his anointed from the grave and established him as king in Mount Zion forever so that there is therefore now no condemnation for any who repent and believe in him. And so because that is true, because Psalm 2 is true, because God the Father had the final laugh, because Christ the King had the final laugh, this is true. There is more righteousness. There is more mercy. There is more atoning power in the risen Savior Jesus than there is sin and condemnation in you.

There is no sin, friends. There is no failure that gets to have the final word over you, Christian, because your Savior is risen and He is risen indeed, and He shuts the mouths of your enemies. He shuts the mouths of His enemies and He will shut the mouths of yours. He's already done it. So Christian, you trust Him.

You trust Him. And if you're not in Christ today, if you've not thrown yourself upon the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, if He is not your refuge, if He is not your trust, you ought to be terrified. Be terrified. The Lord is angry with you. Look at verse 5.

Look at verse 5. The Lord laughs and then He says, but my fury against you and your sin is very great. And this same anointed one that was raised he's coming again to judge the quick and the dead and you will perish under his wrath oh there is still today there is still this morning that you might repent of your sin and cling to Jesus crucified and raised up for you children that you would right now I confess Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead and my death is in him and my resurrection is in him blessed is the little boy blessed blessed it is a little girl puts their faith in him I was visiting with a young lady this week about baptism. I love those conversations. They're my favorite.

And talking to her about being baptized and the membership of our church. What a wonderful conversation to have. Amen. So exciting, so sweet. And as we were talking I asked her a question.

And it was kind of comical, but it's actually really serious, too. I asked her, when I put you under the water, will I leave you there? Will I hold you down? Her eyes got kind of big. He wouldn't.

He wouldn't. Of course you won't, Pastor Grant. You would never keep me under. You would never leave me under. I told her, you're right, young lady.

I wouldn't. Because God doesn't leave you there either. Your Father in heaven doesn't leave you, His child, in your sin. Your Father in heaven does not abandon your soul to Hades and death. No, He raises you up just as surely as He raised up His Son.

That's why He laughs, because of victory in Jesus. And that's why you, in the midst of sin, and in the midst of disease, in the midst of death, in the midst of some disease that has been told over you, that cancer diagnosis, that Alzheimer's diagnosis, and it seems to gloat over you. Nay. God will have the last laugh. God scoffs at what that sin and what that disease and what every enemy over you declares because his son is installed on Mount Zion.

Installed! And blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the truth. You do not leave us under in our sin.

You do not leave us under in death. But just like at our baptism, we die with Christ and we are raised with Christ. And the certainty of that is as sure as this gathering right now is sure. We are gathering on Sunday because you've been raised up to newness of life. Your son has been raised.

And we are here. And we are glorying in you. We are praising and reading your word in ways even more real than that. You will not abandon us. You will not let our soul be lost.

You will raise us up. And so Lord, because you laugh, grant us the grace to laugh too. In the name of Jesus And for his name's sake we pray. Amen.