One of the books I finished reading recently is a biography of John Lennon. Lennon, along with Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr made of the group of famous musicians called “The Beatles”. Lennon and McCartney started “jamming” together when they were in their teen years. They were great musicians. They gained notoriety, first in their homeland of Great Britain, then they exploded onto the world scene with screaming crowds and had a great influence on the entire scene of music.
However, as Chuck Swindoll says, “It is very dangerous to carry a full cup”. What that saying means is the more successful you become the more difficult it is to keep your balance. It happened to John Lennon during the peak of their career, while they were on stage. He declared, “I am greater than Jesus Christ. The world will forget about Jesus, but they will never forget John Lennon”. Lennon had a full cup, and he lost his balance. It affected he rest of his career. Little did Lennon know that a man by the name of Mark David was watching and listening. Lennon had leased one entire floor of the Dakota Hotel in Manhattan. Mark stalked him and when the time was right, came up behind him and put 5 .38 caliber bullets in his back. Lennon died on his way to the Hospital. Was he greater than Jesus Christ? Lennon lies in the grave and Jesus lives on.
This could be repeated in many ways down through time and history. Men have defied God and Empires have defied God. How does God feel about that? The 2nd Psalm gives us insight into this question. The Psalm asks, “Why are the nations in an uproar and the people devising a vain thing. The Kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers …against the Lord and His Anointed”. Success can be a powerful aphrodisiac. It is a very heady thing to be successful and be admired. People and kingdoms have taken their stand and declared they are god and nothing else matters. Throughout we read of people and nations that have taken their stand against God.
How does God respond? “He who sits in the heavens laughs, and The Lord scoffs”. This is he only place in the entire Bible where God is said to “laugh”. Who does He laugh at? Those who seek to take His place and put themselves above Him. Rulers have done this. Diocletian, Rome’s Emperor from 245-313, was a great foe of Jesus Christ. It was he who extended the Roman Empire into Spain and there he erected a monument to himself. On it he inscribed, Diocletian Caesar Augustas for having extended the Empire to the east and to the west and for having extinguished the name of Christ, who was responsible for bringing the empire to ruins…”. Another example is Julian the apostate, who ruled Rome from 313-363. In the time of his prosperity, he pointed his dagger to heaven, defying the Son of God whom he called the Galilean. He was wounded in battle, and his blood was dripping from his chariot. He gathered a handful and threw it in the air and cried out, “thou hast conquered, oh thou Galilean!”
Thus, it has been down through the centuries to our present day. God, in the heavens, laughs.
Why does He laugh? Verse 6 of the Psalm says, “I have installed My King…”. Despite what Lennon or Caesar or anyone else may say, God laughs and says, “I have already installed my king”.
We live in a world of political turmoil as people and nations vie for power. We live in a violent culture. It is easy for us to become a part of the fear anger and confusion that is going on around us. It becomes so important for us to stay focused on what God has to say regarding the world in which we live. Yes, it is confusing, but God says in the face of it all, “I have installed my King….”. Note He uses the word in the past tense; it is something He has already done. He merely awaits he day to initiates what He has done.
In verse 7, God says, “I will tell you the decree of the Lord”. This is in contrast to the to what the nations have decreed. They have decreed that they will take their stand, but God says, “I have decreed, Thou art my Son and I will give you the nations for an inheritance”. What a contrast; the nations are in an uproar with their decrees against God, but God laughs and says, “sorry, I have beat you to it, for I have decreed that my Son is the world’s Messiah, and I will give Him all the nations as an inheritance”. This is the tug of war that we feel in our culture as men seek to take the place of God, but God says, “not so fast”.
The Psalm closes saying “Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the King…how blessed are all who take refuge in Him”. Here is why we worship Him and accept Him as King of all the world and His Son as the Savior of my soul.
What are some things to learn from the Psalm?
First, we learn to listen to the teaching of God and His purpose for our world. It is so easy to become immune to the message from God and to become overwhelmed by the message that comes from culture. The Psalm teaches me that God does have a plan for the future, and I can be confident in that.
Second, I must be careful not to be in opposition to Gods plan. If not careful, my personal agenda may be opposite to what God is in the process of doing. My plan leads to death, but Gods plan leads to life.
