Outline of Chapter 2:

       vv.    1–3        The Kings of the Earth Take a Stand Against God and His Anointed

       vv.    4–6        God Takes a Stand Against the Kings of the Earth

       vv.    7–9        God Decrees that His Son will be King Over the Earth

       vv.   10–12      God Recommends that the Kings of the Earth Respect His Son

Charts, Short Doctrines and Maps:

       Inscription       Psalms Classified by Author

       Inscription       The Psalms Attributed to David in the New Testament

       v.      2           Messiah in the Hebrew and Greek

       v.      2           The Application/Fulfillments of Psalm 2:2

       v.      3           Governmental Attacks Upon the Four Divine Institutions

       v.      3           Attacks Made Against Marriage and Family (quoted from J. Vernon McGee)

       v.      3           Attacks Made Against the Ten Commandments (quoted from J. Vernon McGee)

       v.      3           Barnes’ Summary of Psalm 2:1–3

       v.      6           The Parallelisms of the First Two Stanzas of Psalm 2

       v.      7           The Qal of the Verb Yâlad

       v.      7           Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Psalm 2:7 and God’s Decree

       v.      8           Barnes’ Three Points About the Inheritance Promised to God the Son

       v.     10           Psalm 82:1–8 (A Psalm of Asaph)

       v.     12           What Psalm 2:10–12 Exhorts Us to Do (Matthew Henry)

       v.     12           The Structure of Psalm 2

       v.     12           Scofield’s Summary of Psalm 2

       v.     12           J. Vernon McGee at a Concert

I ntroduction: Psalm 2 is one of the great psalms, quoted several times in the New Testament. David is called a prophet in Matt. 27:35, and the idea of a prophet is not necessarily one who foretells the future, but one who speaks on behalf of God to man. This David did, as he wrote about half of the psalms and certainly had some part in the writing of the book of Samuel, even if it was only based upon his personal chronicles.

We don’t know for certain that David wrote this psalm. He appears to be credited with this psalm in Acts 4:25, where the first verse is attributed to David. David is the author of most of the psalms. In fact, before I make any points, maybe we should quickly take a look at who wrote which psalms:

Placing this psalm into some particular portion of David’s life is very difficult to do. However, given all of the heathen nations which David had to war against, it seems so reasonable that David would begin writing this psalm thinking about all of the battles which he has fought against them. At least, this is how the psalm begins, but it quickly deals with heathenism in general.

We have several of David’s psalms that appear to be timeless. One could barely find a parallel here or there between David’s life and the things mentioned in this psalm. This psalm does seem to have a lot in common with Psalm 110; another difficult psalm to place. That this psalm speaks of God’s Appointed One to come and rule over the earth is evident. That David began to write this psalm about himself as the anointed one is a reasonable theory; however, he clearly departs from this by v. 7, when Jehovah speaks of bearing His Son, the King over all the earth.

Whether or not David actually wrote this psalm is not that important. However, I have given this topic a great deal of attention because some may misinterpret John and Peter’s quotation of it in Acts 4. The topic of God’s Son being made King over the earth is not a topic which can neatly be placed during this time or that time in David’s life. In fact, it is so removed from David’s life as to need no historical context. My thinking is, David did not include any mention of himself so that we would not think that he was speaking of himself in this psalm. That approach actually limits the way that we can interpret this psalm—that is, we cannot say that David is speaking of himself and how he is God’s anointed who will occupy the throne and rule over all of the world. If David was thinking of himself at all, he apparently put those thoughts aside as he wrote this psalm. This is clearly a psalm which can only barely be applied to David and his life; and is unquestionably messianic.

The inspiration of Scripture is certainly applicable to the titles and inscriptions of the psalms. Since we have intermingled the psalms with the book of Samuel, I think David’s spiritual growth became much more evident. Whereas, before, it appeared as though he was almost a different man from chapter to chapter, when the psalms are thrown in, the changes make more sense. However, here, the intention of God the Holy Spirit is to lift this psalm above the others, to remove it from David’s circumstances, and present it as clearly Messianic. When David is removed from consideration, then this psalm stands on its own.

As I exegete this psalm, I will make mention of David, assuming his authorship, and his place in the psalm; but this psalm is first and foremost about the Son of God.

This psalm breaks down very neatly into four stanzas of three verses each. In the first, we have the rulers of the world rebelling against God, and against the boundaries which He set. In the second stanza, a close parallel to the first, we see things from God’s perspective. Although the nations may rage against Him, God is in control. He has set His Son over them in Zion (v. 6). In the third stanza, God concentrates on His Son, giving us more information about Him. In the final stanza, the rulers of the earth are urged to worship the Son, or to face His wrath in the alternative.

The Kings of the Earth Take a Stand Against God and His Anointed

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Dead Sea Scrolls            .

The Peshitta                          Why do the Gentiles rage and the peoples imagine vain things?

The Septuagint                      Why did the heathen rage and the nations imagine vain things?

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Why do the nations plot, and why do their people make useless plans?

NJB                                        Why this uproar among the nations,

this impotent muttering of the peoples?

NLT                                        Why do the nations rage?

Why do the people waste their time with futile plans?

REB                                       Why are the nations in turmoil?

Why do the peoples hatch their futile plots?

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Why do the nations gather together? Why do their people devise useless plots?

JPS (Tanakh)                        Why do nations assemble,

and peoples plot [or “recites”; lit. “utters”] vain things;...

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                Why do the nations assemble with commotion [uproar and confusion of voices], and why do the people imagine (meditate upon and devise) an empty scheme?

McGee                                   Why do the heathen (Gentiles) rage and the people (Jews) imagine a vain thing?

MKJV                                     Why do the nations rage, and the peoples meditate on a vain thing?

Owen's Translation                Why do nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?

Young's Updated LT              Why have nations tumultuously assembled? And do peoples meditate vanity?

What is the gist of this verse? David asks why are the Gentile nations in an uproar and why do the Gentile and Jewish peoples act with such futility.

What follows is a question which does not require an answer, also known as erotesis. The writer will not pose a question and then answer it later in the psalm. It is a rhetorical question which expresses the indignation of God.

Translation: Why do the Gentiles [or, nations] rage... The word used here for nations is gôwyîm, or, more popularly, Goyim, which is generally applied to the Gentiles, or the nations of the earth; often their unbelief and even opposition to Jesus Christ is emphasized. However, this term can also be applied to Jewish unbelievers as well. The equivalent term in the New Testament Greek is ethnos (see Matt. 4:15 6:32 10:5 10:18 12:21). Man’s natural state is to be in opposition to God. However, there are times when that natural state gets worked up into a frenzy. We see that when Jesus came to this earth in His 1^st advent. The nation Israel and the Romans raged against Him.

The word for rage is found only here in the Hebrew, but it is found several times in the Aramaic in Daniel 6:7, 11, 15, where it means to assemble; to assemble in a commotion. The idea is, when there are large groups of people gathered, there is a great deal of commotion. This indicates a better fulfillment at our Lord’s 2^nd advent. When Jesus returns; the nations will be raging again. We will find several nations converging on the middle east at that time, all converging there to war and to destroy Israel.

Barnes tells us: The psalmist here sees the nations in violent agitation or commotion, as if under high excitement, engaged in accomplishing some purpose - rushing on to secure something, or to prevent something. The image of a mob, or of a tumultuous unregulated assemblage, would probably convey the idea of the psalmist. The word itself does not enable us to determine how extensive this agitation would be, but it is evidently implied that it would be a somewhat general movement; a movement in which more than one nation or people would participate. The matter in hand was something that affected the nations generally, and which would produce violent agitation among them..

I have mentioned that one reason for attributing this psalm to David is the similarity in vocabulary to another psalm which he wrote. However, we find similar passages in other psalmist’s works, e.g., The nations raged, the kingdoms were shaken; He uttered His voice, the earth melted (Psalm 46:6; Asaph wrote that psalm). Therefore, a similarity between vocabulary is not enough to determine authorship.

Translation: ...and [why do] the peoples [or, heathen] celebrate emptiness? Even though these two words (Goyim and l^eûmmîym) are generally used of Gentiles as opposed to Jews, this refers to unbelieving Jews as well. In fact, J. Vernon McGee renders this Why do the heathen (Gentiles) rage and the people (Jews) imagine a vain thing? During the time of our Lord’s 1^st advent, they will celebrate their destruction of Jesus, which is an empty victory. During the 2^nd advent, it appears as though they will be celebrating as well. However, all of their plans and all of the things which they have done are futile. They can expect all of these things to come to naught before the Ruler of the Universe.

Barnes gives his explanation of these men celebrating vanity: That is, [they celebrate that] which will prove to be a vain thing, or a thing which they cannot accomplish. It cannot mean that they were engaged in forming plans which they supposed would be vain - for no persons would form such plans; but that they were engaged in designs which the result would show to be unsuccessful.

Perhaps, a study of national holidays would give us examples as to how nations celebrate empty, meaningless, vain things. Whereas, there are two holidays which celebrate Jesus Christ in much of the western world, there are many holidays found in all nations which celebrate that which is empty and meaningless, at least by comparison. Furthermore, even Easter and Christmas are both half pagan holidays anyway. Now, this is not the main thrust of this verse—it is not speaking of the empty holidays which national governments celebrate. However, this could be an offshoot application of this verse.

The greatest event of all history, that which has turned the world upside down, is the life, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our Lord’s time on this earth in His public ministry was actually quite short and very localized. From a human perspective, the idea that a man could, in three years, in such a localized region, cause such an uproar, is impossible—from a human perspective. Buddha roamed over northern India for 45 years teaching and gathering converts. Mohammed’s teaching may have lasted anywhere from 20–40 years. However, he entered into Mecca not just as a religious leader, but as a political leader as well (he was governor of Mecca). Then Islam spread because of military conquests over the 20 years which followed his death—military conquests which took in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and the Persian Empire. However, our Lord’s purpose was not to teach people how to be better, but He had come to die for our sins. This did not require a lengthy ministry on earth. He had to reveal Who He was. This had to be clearly taught. He had to offer Himself to the Jews as their Savior and Messiah. He had to offers proofs that He was the long-awaited Messiah. All of this took 3, maybe 3½, years. Once this was clearly established, to where the historicity could not be doubted by any objective critic (liberal critics and unbelievers are much less objective than they would have you believe); our Lord went to the cross, the primary reason for Him taking up residence in a human body (perhaps I should say, the primary reason for His incarnation; He did not inhabit a body as a demon would).

It is suggested that there may be an historical precedent for David writing this psalm. When he was set as ruler over Israel, there was a negative response. 2Sam. 5:17: And the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel. And all the Philistines came up to seek David. And David heard, and went down to the stronghold (see also 1Chron. 14:8). However, as previously discussed, even if David were the author, his experiences which may have triggered this psalm originally are not really relevant. Only in the most general terms, can this psalm be applied to David.

This and the next verse are quoted in the book of Acts; we will deal with this at the end of the next verse.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          The kings of the earth and the rulers have conspired and have taken counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying,...

The Septuagint                      The kings of the earth stood up and the rulers gathered themselves together, against the Lord, and against His Christ,...

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       The kings of this earth have all joined together to turn against the LORD and his chosen one.

NLT                                        The kings of the earth prepare for battle,

the rulers plot together against the Lord

and against his anointed one.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Kings take their stands. Rulers make plans together against the LORD and against his Messiah by saying,...

JPS (Tanakh)                        ...kings of the earth take their stand,

and regents intrigue together

against the Lord and against His anointed?

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                The kings of the earth take their places the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and His Anointed One — the Messiah, the Christ. They say...

Updated Emphasized Bible   The kings of earth take their station,

And ║grave men║ have met by appointment together,—

Against Yahweh

And against his Anointed One [saying]:...

MKJV                                     The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers plot together, against Jehovah and against His anointed, saying,...

Young's Updated LT              Station themselves do kings of the earth, And princes have been united together, Against Jehovah, and against His Messiah:...

What is the gist of this verse? The rulers of this earth stand united in opposition to God the Father and His Anointed One, God the Son.

Translation: The kings of the earth take a stand... Here, the kings of the earth rise up and they takes a stand. In the next portion of this verse, we find what it is that they rise up and take a stand against.

McGee pictures this as an organized protest; a large coalition of world leaders gathering together to take a stand against Jesus Christ. More precisely, against God and His Son Jesus Christ.

Translation: ...and rulers take counsel together against Y^ehowah and His Anointed One. We have a parallel thought in the second half of this verse, but with additional information given us. The rulers of the earth take counsel together and form a united front against Jehovah and against His Anointed one.

Barnes discusses the use of Messiah or anointed one here: our word Messiah, or Christ. The word means “Anointed,” and the allusion is to the custom of anointing kings and priests with holy oil when setting them apart to office, or consecrating them to their work. Compare Matt. 1:1 Daniel 9:26...The word Messiah, or Anointed, is therefore of so general a character in its signification that its mere use would not determine to whom it was to be applied - whether to a king, to a priest, or to the Messiah properly so called. The reference is to be determined by something in the connection. All that the word here necessarily implies is, that there was some one whom Yahweh regarded as his Anointed one, whether king or priest, against whom the rulers of the earth had arrayed themselves.

For David, perhaps this originally referred to God and himself—David is the anointed one to the throne (compare Psalm 89:20, where David is the anointed one). This understanding would place this psalm as being written before David became king. However, even if this were David’s initial intention upon sitting down to write this psalm, something else entirely different resulted. Even assuming David’s authorship and this topic, David veered far from that starting point. This psalm clearly speaks of God the Father and God the Son.

To place this in time, this applies, to some extent, to the 1^st advent of our Lord. Jesus is known as the Anointed One in Isa. 61:1 Luke 4:18 John 1:41 Acts 10:38 Heb. 1:8–9. The nation of Rome—Herod and Pilate in particular—and the nation of Israel, for all intents and purposes, plotted against Him—even though one would not see their actions as the result of an alliance, per se. However, this verse more appropriately refers the 2^nd advent of our Lord, when His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives and the nations of the earth will be converging on the nation Israel.

More generally, this refers to the nations of the earth and their general attitude toward God and His Anointed One. At this present time, for instance, we can see our own United States, established and founded by believers, moving further and further away from Jesus Christ. Separation between church and state has become distorted to the point where any mention of God is taken as the endorsement of some specific religion; even though our second amendment is quite clear in its prohibition: the state will not establish a church. I.e., the United States would not have the western equivalent of the Catholic Church or the Church of England, both great prosecutors of believers. The second amendment was never written with the intent to remove all mention of God from any state supported entity.

As mentioned, these first two verses are quoted in the New Testament. The circumstances were as follows: Peter and John were speaking to a crowd of people and they were seized by the priests and the elders, because they were teaching Christ’s resurrection. However, in listening to Peter and John, some of the religious types were swayed to some degree, amazed that these were uneducated fishermen who spoke with such great conviction and knowledge; and they could not deny the miracles they had done (one specifically is alluded to). When religious body decides to let Peter and John go, they admonish them not to speak of Jesus. However, Peter and John make two points: when it comes to doing the will of God, then that supercedes the ordinances of any civil body and there is no way that they would cease speaking about what they actually saw and heard. When regathered with fellow believers, they quote Acts 4:24–30: And having heard, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, You are the God who made the heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that is in them; who by the mouth of Your servant David has said, "Why did the nations rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ." For truly, against Your holy child Jesus, whom You have anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the nations, and the people of Israel, were gathered together in order to do whatever Your hand and Your counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your Word, by stretching forth of Your hand for healing, and miracles, and wonders may be done by the name of Your holy child Jesus. So the Apostles applied this to the time that they lived in; the coalition of the various governmental bodies and rulers against Jesus. We may confirm this with Matt. 2:1–20 26:3, 47, 59 27:1, 17–31.

As an aside, the Jewish people were always confused about their coming Messiah. Like many cults, they emphasized one set of traits over another set. For instance, they saw their Messiah was the One Who would come and destroy their Gentile enemies; however, they did not know how to reconcile Him as the suffering servant (Psalm 22 Isa. 53). They were also confused, as God and His Messiah often acted with one accord, which makes sense if they are both God. However, the Jews were so stuck on Deut. 6:4, where it reads The Lord our God is one God. The word used for one does not refer to singularity, but to unity (the same word is used for a husband and wife being one). The Jews have focused on singularity, and therefore have ignored many of the passages where the Trinity is taught (Gen. 1:26–27 Psalm 2:2 110:1). This passage, like many other passages, implies the Trinity, without specifically spelling it out. However, even in the New Testament, the Trinity is not taught as a single doctrine in any one place. We still must gather up several passages in order to come to that clear conclusion. The Jews of that time could have come to that conclusion as well, but, their vision was too focused on other passages. The Bible is a book designed to be studied in its entirety. God could have chosen to give us a short pamphlet of doctrines to study which is a tenth the size of Scripture. However, He chose not to do this. God chose for us to have a book which covers His dealings with man throughout human history. In fact, this is what gives the Bible so much universality. We see how God has dealt with man over these many centuries.

What you may have noticed in roughly half of the English translations is, they add the verb saying, either at the end of v. 2 or the beginning of v. 3. The idea is the content of what is being said is emphasized, rather than the act of saying it.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          “Let us break their bands asunder, and let us cast away their yoke from us.”

The Septuagint                      “Let us break through their bonds, and cast away their yoke from us.”

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       They say, “Let's cut the ropes and set ourselves free!”

NAB                                       “Let us break their shackles

and cast off their chains!”

NLT                                        “Let us break their chains,” they cry,

“and free ourselves from this slavery.”

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Let's break apart their chains and shake off their ropes.

JPS (Tanakh)                        “Let us break the cords of their yoke,

shake off their ropes from us!”

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                Let us break Their bands [of restraint] asunder, and cast Their cords [of control] from us.

MKJV                                     Let us break their bands in two and cast away their cords from us.

Young's Literal Translation    “Let us draw off Their cords, And cast from us Their thick bands.”

What is the gist of this verse? Those ruling powers who are against God the Father and His Anointed One seek to break free of the boundaries they are placed within (spoken of as cords and bands in this verse).

Translation: Let us tear off their bonds [or, bands]...

Barnes explains the word bands: The word “bands” here refers to the restraints imposed by their authority. The figure is probably taken from fastening a yoke on oxen, or the bands or cords which were used in plowing - the bands of the yoke being significant of their subjection to the authority or will of another. Or, more simply, tearing off one’s bonds means to rebel against servitude or to break away from servitude.

Even though God has allowed all men free will, they are still within restraints. That is, I have free will, but I cannot choose to fly—except, of course, in an airplane. In context here, the bonds spoken of are the bonds of their own territories. God and His Anointed One have placed these nations within specific boundaries and these rulers would like to break out of these boundaries. God has set, in eternity past, specific boundaries for various nations to remain during a specific time frame. God will not allow them to break out of these boundaries except at His discretion, when the time is proper.

Translation: ...and let us cast off their ropes.

Barnes again gives us the background: the cords [or, ropes] refer not to that which would bind them as prisoners, but to the ropes...which bound oxen to the plow; and, hence, to that which would bind men to the service of God. The word translated “cords” is a stronger word than that which is rendered bands. It means properly what is twisted or interlaced, and refers to the usual manner in which ropes are made.

You may wince at these rulers being in service to God; however, this is why governments are instituted, in order to preserve freedom, so that people have an environment in which they can hear the gospel. Just as the nations above are looking to break outside of their boundaries, so their rulers are looking to break away from their duties as rulers. A chief modern example would be Adolf Hitler, who sought to destroy the Jews in complete and total opposition to God’s plan. Another modern example are Communist rulers—they strive to remove both economic and religious freedom. However, as we have seen from history, that type of system is found to fail. It may take time, but it will collapse, leaving the people in utter poverty. The reason that a system like communism fails is it goes against the nature of man and essentially makes every man, apart from a few leaders, a slave of the state. Whereas, it is possible to convince the general public into believing and supporting such a system, through brainwashing, careful censorship and fear, the system robs its people of any sort of contact with God, as well as from personal expression, and that destroys the spirit of a people. The end result, as we have observed on several occasions, is economic collapse and chaos. So, political leaders may attempt to elude God’s call for them to be His ministers; but the civilization that they attempt to build will fall. Such leaders can never completely cast off their ropes.

Now you may wonder, what about the people who are under, say, a communist rule for most or all of their lives? God has always had inroads into Communist Russian and China. He can reach anyone with the gospel who is positive toward Him at God-consciousness. So books and missionaries have gone into Russia and into China even during the most oppressive of times. On the other hand, God has no responsibility to bring the gospel to any man who would reject it outright. God has no responsibility to bring the gospel to someone who has no interest in God at God-consciousness. Therefore, where there are huge pockets of negative volition, there will often be limited evangelism accompanied by an oppressive system of government.

We have an interesting parallel verse: Jer. 5:5: I will go up for myself to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of Jehovah and the judgment of their God. But these have broken the yoke together and have torn off the bonds! These are men who are known God’s way, but have rejected Him. However, where Jeremiah is dealing more with personal responsibility and relationship to God; this psalm really deals with something else entirely. The psalmist is not dealing with the believer who cannot seem to hold to God’s commandments; nor is he dealing with the unbeliever who rejects God’s limitations. We must take this in the context of the previous verse. This contextual approach pretty much destroys much of the comments of other Biblical exegetes who implore us at this point to accept the authority of God—not that that is a bad thing to do, to submit to the authority of God—it is just not the point which is being made here.

Recall that I have given five interpretations previously; now, how does this verse fit in with those applications and fulfillments. The first interpretation was that this applied to David and the nations around him. These nations, particularly the Philistines, were constantly trying to take chunks of territory from Israel, thus break out of the boundaries that God had set for them.

The second interpretation was the alliance of the pharisees, the Sanhedrin and Rome. What the pharisees and the Sanhedrin attempted to do again and again was to break free of the bonds of their authority. They could not put our Lord to death; they lacked that authority; however, they did what they could to illegally gain that power (which Rome granted them).

The third interpretation is very apropos here. Nations have opposed the church throughout its inception and have attempted to do so in several ways. Rome unified church and state, and then the church became apostate. This went hand in hand with the conquering of more and more territory. I have the example of Islam and how is spread militarily first, taking in almost the entire mid east. Again, the nations would seek to burst their bonds and escape from the boundaries where God kept them in order to destroy the Christian Church (as Islam is very much in opposition to Christianity).

The fourth interpretation is of the nations during the end times. We have four great national groups all converging upon little Israel; all hoping to take more land in the process and all hoping to, under Satan’s direction, destroy the Jewish nation of Israel. So, even with the addition of this verse, all four interpretations still hold up to exegetical scrutiny.

The final interpretation has Satan being released from hell and he will return to this earth to foment a revolution against perfect environment. The result is that there will be unbelievers on this earth who will choose to follow Satan rather than follow the Lord Who bought them. Here, we are not dealing as much with rulers as we are with potential leaders, who choose to throw off the bonds of Christ’s rule.

God Takes a Stand Against the Kings of the Earth

For the first three verses of this psalm, we look at this from the point of view of the people and the rulers on this earth. We may summarize these few verses as Men make plans (vv. 1–3) and God laughs (vv. 4–6). There is a careful, almost Davidian, parallel between the first 3 and the second 3 verses in this psalm.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          He that dwells in heaven will laugh and the Lord will mock at them.

The Septuagint                      He that dwells in the heavens will laugh them to scorn, and the Lord will mock them.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       In heaven the LORD laughs as he sits on his throne, making fun of the nations.

NLT                                        But the one who rules in heaven laughs.

The Lord scoffs at them.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         The one enthroned in heaven laughs. The Lord makes fun of them.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                He Who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].

MKJV                                     He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; Jehovah shall mock at them.

Young's Updated LT              He who is sitting in the heavens laughs, The Lord mocks at them.

What is the gist of this verse? In one of the many instances of anthropomorphism in this psalm, we have God laughing at or mocking the nations who believe that they are able to choose whether to remain in their boundaries or not.

So there is no confusion here, the anthropomorphism found here is God is mocking the rulers of the world who think that they can break out of the areas to which He has assigned them. The laughing referred to is not a joyful laugh; nor a cheerful, lusty laugh celebrating life; but a chiding, mocking laugh. Now, of course, this is an anthropomorphism. That is, God is not literally in heaven laughing when He watches the rulers on this earth below. This passage essentially confirms God’s sovereignty and His plan; and indicates that man’s attempts to do anything to disturb God’s plan will be futile.

Translation: Sitting in the heavens, He laughs;... God takes notice of what the nations determine to do. He has, from eternity past, set the boundaries of the nations and has allowed for their expansion and change. While observing these rulers thinking they can break out of the boundaries He sets, He laughs. This is not a good humored, good natured laugh, but a derisive, mocking laugh; God is said here to make fun of those who think that they choose their own destiny. This is, of course, an anthropomorphism, meaning that God is not literally laughing at the rulers of nations who think they control the destiny of their nation, because God is a Spirit and because God does not mock man. However, it helps to explain on our level just exactly what God’s response is when man thinks he is going to do something.

Translation: ...My Adonai ridicules them. Here, Adonai is in the plural, which represents the Godhead. However, they act in one accord, ridiculing the rulers on the earth beneath.

McGee comments: “He that sits in the heavens shall laugh.” Since this is not the laughter of humor, what is it? Well, look at it from God’s viewpoint—little man down there parading up and down, shaking his midget fist in Heaven’s face and saying, “Come on out and fight me! I’m against you.” God looks down at the puny little creature. It’s utterly preposterous. It is so ridiculous! He looks down and laughs. “He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.” It is so utterly ridiculous, my friend. Little men putting themselves in opposition to God, won’t be around very long. Mussolini did a lot of talking, and we haven’t heard from him lately. Stalin did the same thing, and he is gone. Little man plays his brief role here on the stage of life, then his part is over. How ridiculous and preposterous for him to oppose God! 

Please recognize that all of this is language of accommodation. God is omnipresent; so He is not off in heaven a million light years away actually looking down on the earth through super vision or a telescope. Furthermore, God does not laugh at nor does He mock mankind. However, these terms are used to ascribe to God feelings and emotions which He does not possess in order that we may understand His intentions, attitude and motivations.

We have a parallel verse in Psalm 59:8 (a psalm by David): But You, O Jehovah, shall laugh at them; You will mock at all the nations. In this psalm, David is being pursued by Saul, and he has begun to abuse his power by using Israel’s army to pursue David. This psalm almost feels like an addendum to Psalm 59. Recall that Psalm 59 is one of the first psalms that David wrote when put to flight by Saul. By Psalm 2, David has matured spiritually and he is more focused upon God. So this feels like a psalm written later, in retrospect, with some spiritual growth. Now, this parallel thought does not mean that David necessarily wrote Psalm 2, as we have a parallel thought in Prov. 1:26–28, where God says, “I will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dying fear comes. Then you will call on Me, but I will not answer. They will seek Me diligently, but they will not find Me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of Jehovah.”

Application: You may think that you are clever and that you have gotten away with something, but you haven’t. You may have cheated someone, or tarnished their reputation by talking behind their backs, or intentionally said something to hurt another, and you may think that you are in the clear—but God laughs at you; just as the ruler of a nation cannot get out of the boundaries assigned by God in eternity past, you (maybe I should say we) are subject to divine laws and mandates as well. We may cheat, lie, gossip or hurt another believer, but God keeps track and God will deal with this sort of behavior.

McGee: What effect will man’s opposition have upon God’s program? God is going forward to the accomplishment of His purpose. What little man does down here won’t deter Him, detour Him, or defer Him at all. God did not read something in the morning paper that He didn’t already know about. There is nothing that has surprised Him at all. He is moving according to His purpose.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          Then He will speak to them in His anger and He will terrify them in His wrath and say,...

The Septuagint                      Then He will speak to them in His anger and trouble them in His fury.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       The LORD becomes furious and threatens them. His anger terrifies them as he says,...

NLT                                        Then in anger he rebukes them,

terrifying them with his fierce fury.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Then he speaks to them in his anger. In his burning anger he terrifies them by saying,...

JPS (Tanakh)                        Then He speaks to them in anger,

terrifying them in His rage,...

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                He speaks to them in His deep anger, and troubles (terrifies and confounds) them in His displeasure and fury, saying,...

MKJV                                     Then He shall speak to them in His anger, and trouble them in His wrath.

Young's Updated LT              Then He speaks unto them in His anger, And in His wrath He troubles them:...

What is the gist of this verse? God shakes them up when He speaks to them and His wrath terrifies and unnerves them.

Translation: Then He speaks against them in His anger... When leaders choose to exceed the boundaries that God has set for them; particularly when it comes to their desire to take from the Jews, then all He has to do is say the word and they are either destroyed or put in their place. Again, this is all anthropomorphic; God designed for nations to remain within specific boundaries in eternity past. He doesn’t wake up from a sleep, see someone advancing out of their territory, and then say, “Damn, gotta set them straight. Better get someone on that.” These things were taken care of in eternity past, although the machinations take place in time.

God does not literally speak to these various rulers audibly. They do not wake up in the middle of the night, in the midst of a campaign to expand their territory, and God whispers to them, “Nope; you have gone just about as far as you are going to go.” God speaks to these rulers in His actions; God in eternity past determined just exactly what boundaries He would allow and during what time period, and he set things into motion in order to maintain that.

Translation: ...and He overwhelms [or, terrifies] them with His wrath. When God decides to put a nation in its place, in His wrath, then it is clear to them what He has done. It is as though the heavens opened up and he rains bombs down upon them. This is how God speaks to them in His anger; His wrath which overwhelms them is what God says.

Barnes comments: His contempt for their plans will be followed by indignation against themselves for forming such plans, and for their efforts to execute them. One of these things is not inconsistent with the other, for the purpose of the rebels may be very weak and futile, and yet their wickedness in forming the plan may be very great. The weakness of the scheme, and the fact that it will be vain, does not change the character of him who has made it; the fact that he is foolish does not prove that he is not wicked. God will treat the scheme and those who form it as they deserve - the one with contempt, the other with his wrath. The point Banes is making is God’s dealings with His enemies is not commensurate with their evil achievements, but with their evil motivation. God will certainly head off their evil schemes; however, His wrath will come upon them despite the fact that their schemes came to naught.

I should mention that God’s anger and wrath are also anthropomorphisms. Since God is perfect righteousness and justice, those who oppose him are subject to His justice. We can understand this simply as thinking that God pours out His wrath or anger on those who do wrong. In all actuality, God is not angry with anyone. But His character demands a response for specific actions and motivations. Anger is known as language of accommodation; it helps us to better understand what God does. This is even more true of the unbelieving ruler whose kingdom God brings to naught. When this is presented to him as a result of God’s anger, it makes sense to him; he has a frame of reference for anger and wrath, whereas he may not understand the concept of justice.

Parallel verses abound in Scripture: Psalm 83:15: Pursue them with Your tempest, and make them afraid with Your storm. Psalm 110:5–6: The Lord at Your right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill them with dead bodies; He shall shatter heads over much of the earth.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          I have appointed my king over Zion, my holy mountain...

The Septuagint                      But I have been made king by Him on Sion, His holy mountain,...

.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       “I've put my king on Zion, my sacred hill.”

REB                                       ‘I myself have enthroned my king’, he says,

‘on Zion, my holy mountain.’

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         “I have installed my own king on Zion, my holy mountain.”

JPS (Tanakh)                        “But I have installed My king

on Zion, My holy mountain!”

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

MKJV                                     Yea, I have set My king on My holy hill, on Zion.

NRSV                                    “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”

Young's Updated LT              “And I—I have anointed My King, Upon Zion—My holy hill.”

What is the gist of this verse? God places His Son on the throne over earth, in the physical place of Zion, which is a hill in Jerusalem.

Translation: And I, [even] I have anointed my King... This psalm functions on two levels. God has set David over Israel, to rule from Zion. However, this primarily refers also to David’s Greater Son, Who will rule from the same mountain. However, even when his human form is physically absent from the earth, Jesus Christ controls history and He brings God’s plan to fruition. A study of the book of Esther—possibly a book populated only by unbelievers—God’s control of history is still clearly seen, despite the evil intent of the volition of man.

The verb nâçak^e refers to the pouring out of oil on one’s head, or the anointing of one for service. From the spiritual standpoint, this means that God is fully equipping His Son for service. The oil speaks of he empowerment of God the Holy Spirit, which is what empowered Jesus Christ in His life on this earth.

As a digression, so there is no misunderstanding, Jesus Christ did not function on this earth in His Own power as God. He performed no miracles in His power as God; He spoke no truth apart from the empowering of the Holy Spirit. He did not draw upon His deity as from a spare tank of gas or an emergency reserve. Jesus was fully a man Who depended upon the power of the Holy Spirit, exactly the same way we depend upon the power of God the Holy Spirit in the Church Age.

All authority over the earth was given over from the Father to the Son. John 5:26–27: For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given to the Son to have life within Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Or, Matt. 28:17–18: And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him. But some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth. God the Father placed God the Son in charge of the earth; of those souls whom He purchased with His Own blood.

By the way, Charles Spurgeon commented on this verse, saying, God's Anointed is appointed, and shall not be disappointed. That surprised me, because all this time I pictured Spurgeon as being Caucasian.

Translation: ...over Zion, My holy mountain. We have recently examined the Doctrine of Zion in Psalm 110. It was a high hill in Jerusalem, and well-fortified place. David would be enthroned in Zion and God the Son will physically be a king in Zion as well, over all the earth. God the Son will live on this earth in His resurrected body and rule over the earth. This is not an anthropomorphic statement. God the Son will literally rule from Zion in the Millennium. However, what is more important is that His rule will be eminent and highly visible.

Now it is reasonable to think that Zion did not become a part of David’s thinking until he became king over Israel and took Zion as his ruling stronghold (2Sam. 5:7 1Chron. 11:11:5). However, this does not mean that David lacked familiarity with Jerusalem or Zion. I saw the house that I live in right now when it was being built, and even though there was no way I could imagine ever having a house like this, given my salary. I thought to myself, “This would be incredible to own a house like this.” It s possible that David was familiar with Zion and he certainly knew his destiny as revealed to him when he was a teen by Samuel. So, it is possible the David saw himself early on as ruling Israel from Zion.

McGee had a lot to say about this incredible Psalm: God is moving forward today undeviatingly, unhesitatingly, uncompromisingly to the establishment of the throne on which Jesus Christ will sit on this earth. I hear folk say, “If the Lord delay His coming.” Where in the world did that idea come from? He is not delaying anything. He is going to come on schedule—His schedule, not mine, because I don’t know when He is coming. He is running on schedule and nothing will stop Him, nothing can cause Him to change His plan.

God Decrees that His Son will be King Over the Earth

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          To declare My promise; the Lord has said to Me, “You are My Son; this day I have sired you.

The Septuagint                      ...declaring the ordinance of the Lord: “The Lord said to Me, ‘You are My Son; today I have begotten you.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       I will tell the promise that the LORD made to me: "You are my son, because today I have become your father.

NLT                                        The king proclaims the Lord’s decree:

The Lord said to me, “You are my son.

Today I have become your Father.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         I will announce the LORD'S decree. He said to me: "You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.

JPS (Tanakh)                        Let me tell of the decree:

the Lord said to me,

“You are My son,

I have fathered you this day.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

MKJV                                     I will declare the decree of Jehovah. He has said to Me, You are My Son; today I have begotten You.

Young's Updated LT              I declare concerning a statute: Jehovah said unto me, `My Son You are, I today have brought you forth.

What is the gist of this verse? Jesus Christ presents the decree of God: “You are My Son; today I have given birth to You.”

Translation: Let me declare the degree of Y^ehowah:... This is David, taking upon himself the persona of Jesus Christ in his writing. So God the Father is speaking to Jesus Christ here. This will be more clear in the next few words.

What He declares is the decree of God. The decree of God is what God decreed to happen in eternity past. However, the declaration is made today, primarily for our benefit.

Translation: ...He said unto Me,... At this point, the writer of this psalm, David, takes upon himself the personage of Jesus Christ. Since David is a type of Christ, he can do this through God the Holy Spirit. So, when he speaks, it is Jesus Christ Who is speaking. However, again, all evidence of who actually wrote this psalm is lost—so there is no confusion as to Who this psalm is about, so there is no confusion as to who is speaking at this point. Jesus Christ is speaking through the psalmist.

Translation:...“You [are] My Son;... This is a decree of God, speaking of what would happen in the future in time. God the Father says to Jesus Christ: “You are My Son.” This is the defining event of history, when God the Son came to this earth in human form; when He was born of a virgin. However, this is not the context of this verse. The context of this entire psalm is kings opposing the rule of Jesus Christ over this earth. There is nothing in this psalm which points back to the incarnation of our Lord. What would be more in keeping with the rest of the psalm would be to view this as our Lord’s resurrection. It is only in this state that He is able to rule over the earth. One cannot wrench a verse out of its context and base a doctrine upon it; this is where cults come from. Secondly, note how John and Peter interpret this passage in Acts 2; they interpret the rulers as being Pontius Pilate and Herod, along with unbelieving Jews and Gentiles (Acts 4:27). Since Herod was the only one to attack our Lord near the time of His incarnation, then the opposition of leaders applies more to our Lord’s life. Paul later applies this verse to our Lord’s resurrection (Acts 13:33–34).

Please allow me a short tangent into Mormonism and the doctrines of Jehovah Witnesses: they believe that Jesus Christ is not God; and the Mormons see Jesus as having a beginning, and they quote this passage in support of that erroneous notion. However, Jesus Christ, in His Deity, existed eternally, with God the Father, as we see in John 1:1–3, 12 and when Jesus referred to Himself as the eternal I am, preexisting Abraham (John 8:58).

In the light of a passage like this, you can see how upset the pharisees were when Jesus would claim to be the Son of God. The King to come, the Messiah, the Son of God—these are all the same person, which we take for granted. However, this is the psalm which tells us that these are all the same Person. In v. 2, we have the princes of the world taking a stand against Jehovah and His Anointed (= Messiah). In v. 6, God anoints His King on the holy mountain of Zion. In this verse, God the Father says, “You are My Son. Today, I have given birth to you!”

Even though this is an elementary point, this verse is fulfilled in Jesus Christ: Psalm 89:27: And I will make him My first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. John 1:14, 18: And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth...No one has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. John 3:16: For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Matt., 3:17: And lo, a voice from Heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Heb. 1:6: And again, when He brings in the First-born into the world, He says, "And let all the angels of God worship Him."

Gill writes: [Jesus Christ is God’s Son] not by creation, as angels and men; nor by adoption, as saints; nor by office, as civil magistrates; nor on account of his incarnation or resurrection; nor because of the great love of God unto him; but in such a way of filiation as cannot be said of any creature nor of any other (Heb. 1:5); He is the true, proper, natural, and eternal Son of God, and as such declared, owned, and acknowledged by Jehovah the Father, as in these words.

You see, revelation is progressive. And it is here where David clearly declares that God would anoint His King, His King Whom He calls My Son. And, so there is no confusion, what God and His King, the Son, will do those who are in opposition to Them is presented in the following verses, tying the identify of the Son even more to the Messiah, Who is opposed by the kings of the earth in v. 2. Whatever David may have had in mind when he wrote this as pertaining to himself is clearly secondary to what he is prophesying. Even though David is called a son by God in 2Sam. 4:12–14, the remainder of this psalm is clearly about God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

The NIV Study Bible suggests that Father and Son refer to a great king and a subject king; that is, the latter owed the former allegiance and obedience. I don’t know if I believe that, but I mention it here. It could be true, with Jesus Christ being the subject king, as He was subservient to the father’s will (our Lord’s humanity had free will and in theory, at least, could choose against God’s plan). However, I think actual sonship is more in view. The NIV Study Bible rarely cites a source. Furthermore, I don’t know that this interpretation preserves the relationship which this psalm establishes. In fact, the relationship between God and David, as though Father and son (2Sam. 7:14), seems to point toward the personal Father and son relationship, rather than to that of a powerful king and a vassal king.

Translation: ...Today, I have given birth to You. This is interesting here. We do not find the Hiphil of this verb, which means to father, to sire, to cause to be born. The Hiphil is generally used of the father of a son. The form of this verb is used more when the woman is the subject. The woman gives birth to or bears the child. The idea here is, we are using a much more intimate word for giving birth with God as the subject.

We find this verse quoted in the New Testament. When Paul and his missionary entourage arrived in Antioch, Paul went to the synagogue to present the gospel of Jesus Christ. When exhortations were asked for, Paul stood up and said, “Men, brothers, sons of the race of Abraham, and whoever among you fears God, the Word of this salvation is sent to you. For those living in Jerusalem, and their rulers, not having known this One, and the voices of the Prophets being read throughout every Sabbath, condemning Him, they fulfilled the Scriptures. And finding not one cause of death in Him, they begged Pilate to do away with Him. And when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, taking Him down from the tree, they laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead, who appeared for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we preach the gospel to you, the promise made to the fathers, this God has fulfilled to us their children, raising up Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, "You are My Son, this day I have begotten You." (Acts 13:26–33). Paul quoted several Scriptures at this time, but this is the passage where God promises a Son to stand up to te Gentile nations.

Gill remarks about this phrase Today, I have given birth to You: [This] act of begetting refers not to the nature, nor to the office, but the person of Christ; not to his nature, not to his divine nature, which is common with the Father and Spirit; wherefore if His was begotten, Theirs must be also: much less to His human nature, in which He is never said to be begotten, but always to be made, and with respect to which he is without father: nor to his office as Mediator, in which he is not a Son, but a servant; besides, He was a Son previous to His being Prophet, Priest, and King; and His office is not the foundation of His Sonship, but His Sonship is the foundation of His office; or by which that is supported, and which fits him for the performance of it: but it has respect to his person; for, as in human generation, person begets person, and like begets like, so in divine generation; but care must be taken to remove all imperfection from it, such as divisibility and multiplication of essence, priority and posteriority, dependence, and the like: nor can the "modus" or manner of it be conceived or explained by us. The date of it, "today", designs eternity, as in Isa. 43:13, which is one continued day, an everlasting now. And this may be applied to any time and case in which Christ is declared to be the Son of God; as at his incarnation, his baptism, and transfiguration upon the mount, and his resurrection from the dead, as it is in Acts 13:33; because then he was declared to be the Son of God with power, (Rom. 1:4); and to His ascension into heaven, where He was made Lord and Christ, and his divine sonship more manifestly appeared; which seems to be the time and case more especially referred to here, if it be compared with Heb. 1:3.

Now, to my way of thinking, when I first read this, I had always assumed that the human nature of Jesus Christ is what was begotten; however, I provide Gill’s opinion so that we can all ponder it. Now let me give you the words of J. Vernon McGee: This is a verse that the Jehovah Witnesses use a great deal. I wish they would listen long enough to find out what it means. It would help them a great deal to find it has no reference to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ—which they would see if only they would turn to the New Testament and let the Spirit of God interpret. This verse was quoted by the Apostle Paul when he preached in Antioch of Pisidia. This is, I believe, one of his greatest sermons, and he is talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ: “God has fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He raised up Jesus again; as it stands written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son, this day I have begotten You.’ ” (Acts 13:33)

The reference in the second Psalm is not to the birth of Jesus. He was never begotten in the sense of having a beginning. Rather, this is in reference to His resurrection. Christ was begotten out of Joseph’s tomb. Jesus is the eternal Son of God, and God is the eternal Father. You cannot have an eternal Father without having an eternal Son. They were this throughout eternity. This is their position in the Trinity. It hasn’t anything to do with someone being born, but it does have something to do with someone being begotten from the dead. It has to do with resurrection. I’m afraid the Jehovah Witnesses have not heard this, but they could find, with a little honest searching, that the New Testament makes it very clear Jesus Christ is not a creature. He is the theanthropic Person. He is the God-man. Psalm 2:7 sustains this doctrine.

The writer of Hebrews quotes a great many Scriptures; however, this is the first passage that he quotes: God, who at many times and in many ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the shining splendor of His glory, and the express image of His essence, and upholding all things by the word of His power, through Himself cleansing of our sins, He sat down on the right of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He say at any time, "You are My Son, this day I have begotten You?" And again, "I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son”? (Heb. 1:1–5; Psalm 2:7 2Sam. 7:14). Jesus is the unique Person of the universe—fully God and fully man; the Son of God and the Son of Man.

Later, the writer of Hebrews speaks about the High Priest and how Jesus, the Son of God, is the High Priest: For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in the things pertaining to God, so that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, who can have compassion on the ignorant and on those who are out of the way. For he himself also is compassed with weakness. And because of this he should, as for the people, so also for himself, offer for sins. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called of God, as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to be made a high priest, but He who said to Him, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You." As He says also in another place, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek" (Heb. 1:1–5; Psalm 2:7 110:1). God sent one Son, one High Priest, one Great Prophet, one Messiah, one Suffering Servant, one King; these are all designations for Jesus Christ.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          Ask of me, and I will give you the heathen for Your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your domination.

The Septuagint                      Ask of Me and I will give You the heathen and the ends of the earth [for] Your inheritance.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Ask me for the nations, and every nation on earth will belong to you.

NLT                                        Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance,

the ends of the earth as your possession.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your own possession.

JPS (Tanakh)                        Ask it of Me,

and I will make the nations your domain;

your estate, the limits of the earth.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

MKJV                                     Ask of Me, and I shall give the nations for Your inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession.

Young's Updated LT              Ask of Me and I give nations—your inheritance, And your possession—the ends of earth.

What is the gist of this verse? God the Father tells God the Son to ask for the nations of the earth, and He will give them to Him.

Translation: Ask of Me and let Me give You the Gentile nations [for] Your inheritance... We have several instances of heathen kings offering to a favored person whatever that person desires (Esther 5:6 Matt. 14:7). So this parallels that sort of kingly offer. This is God the Father speaking to God the Son. God did not tell David to ask Him, and he would give David all the Gentile nations. That is silly. However, this promise is made to God the Son. All of the Gentile nations will be ruled by God the Son during the Millennium. Again, no matter what David’s original intention when he began to write this psalm, it is certainly about the 1^st and 2^nd advents of our Lord and Savior. And the writer of Hebrews further tells us that His inheritance is far greater than that offered to any of the angels (Heb. 1:4).

Translation: ...as well as the ends of the earth [for] Your possession. All of the earth will be ruled by God the Son during the Millennium. These statements are parallel equivalent. All of the earth belongs to God the Father: Ex. 19:5: And now if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to Me above all the nations; for all the earth is Mine. God the Father will give to God the Son the entire earth—including His other sheep—for His possession. As we find in Isa. 49:6: And He said, It is but a little thing that You should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You for a light to the nations, to be My salvation to the end of the earth. Or, Psalm 22:27–28: All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to Jehovah; and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is Jehovah's; and He is the ruler among the nations. And Psalm 72:8: He shall also have the rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

As you have no doubt picked up, v. 8 has nothing to do with missionary work; everything to do with Christ’s reign over this earth.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          You will shepherd them with a rod of iron; You will break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

The Septuagint                      You will shepherd them with a rod of iron; You will dash them in pieces as a potter’s vessel.”

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       You will smash them with an iron rod and shatter them like dishes of clay.”

NJB                                        With an iron scepter you will break them,

shatter them like so many pots.’

NLT                                        You will break them with an iron rod

and smash them like clay pots.’ ”

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         You will break them with an iron scepter. You will smash them to pieces like pottery.”

JPS (Tanakh)                        You can smash them with an iron mace,

shatter them like a potter’s ware.”

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Updated Emphasized Bible   You will shepherd them with a scepter of iron,—

<As a potter’s vessel> You will dash them in pieces.

MKJV                                     You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Young's Updated LT              You rule them with a scepter of iron, As a vessel of a potter You crush them.”

What is the gist of this verse? God the Son will decimate the nations which are in opposition to them. He will break them like so much pottery.

Translation: You shepherd [or, shatter] them with an iron rod;... It is difficult to make the determination of the word used here. As you see in the Hebrew exegesis above, the word may possibly be to shepherd in the Hebrew. This appears to be the case based upon the Greek, Latin, Aramaic (Syriac), Arabic and Ethiopian. In the Hebrew, it is a difficult call, as some of these ancient translations may have looked back upon the Greek in order to make their determination.

Taking this word to mean to shepherd ruins an exact parallelism, which seems to have been carefully established in the previous verse. However, this could be the sort of parallelism where the second clause the is result of the first clause, rather than being identical to the first.

If this is taken to be râ׳â׳, then Jesus Christ is said to shatter the kings who oppose Him. If this is taken to be râ׳ah, then He shepherds (or rules over) with a strong, but just government (a rod of iron); dispensing severe punishment whenever appropriate (You shatter them like so many clay pots).

This verse is fulfilled in Rev. 12:5, which reads: And she gave birth to a Son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne (compare Rev. 19:15). Furthermore, this verse is quoted in Rev. 2:27: And he will rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter they will be broken to pieces, even as I received from My Father. Also, that Jesus Christ quotes this passage in this way makes me think that to shepherd, to rule is the proper understanding here.

The idea is, God the Son will rule or shepherd these nations with a rod of iron; there will be no relative moralism. There will be no such thing as second chances. Men will be born without old sin natures and they can choose to sin from their own free will, apart even from the temptation of Satan. Although it is not clear whether or not men will choose to sin, that appears to be the implication. If man does sin, he will be punished immediately.

Barnes has a few remarks with respect to the rod of iron: The expression “with a rod of iron” refers to the scepter which he would bear. A scepter was sometimes made of wood, sometimes of gold, sometimes of ivory, and sometimes of iron. The idea, when the past was the case, was, that the dominion was absolute, and that there was nothing that could resist it. Perhaps the idea of justice or severity would be that which would be most naturally suggested by this. As applicable to the Messiah, it can only mean that his enemies would be crushed and subdued before him.

Zodhiates, on the other hand, does not see this as a royal scepter, but as a rod of correction. There is really no contradiction for it to have both functions—to refer both to our Lord’s royal office as well as to His rod which he uses to correct and guide us (in this case, to shatter those who do not trust in Him). Zodhiates also points out that the fact that Jesus is meek does not exclude anger (both are, of course, anthropopathisms). Compare Matt. 11:28–30 and 23:2–39. God’s absolute and perfect justice looks as though it is meekness and mercy to the believer, but wrath and fury to the unbeliever. However, it is essentially the same characteristic in Jesus Christ.

Translation: ...You smash them [into pieces] like a potter’s vessel. This indicates that the nations are nothing before the Son of God. He can choose to smash them as a potter would smash his own clay creations. As Gill tells us, pottery is easily shattered with a rod of iron. We find a parallel verse in Isa. 30:14: And He shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces. He shall have no pity, so that there shall not be found in the breaking of it a shard to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the pit. Also compare Jer. 19:11a: And shall say to them, So says Jehovah of Hosts, Even so I will break this people of this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel that cannot be made whole again.

Barnes comments about the shattering of the potter’s clay: A vessel or instrument made by a potter; a vessel made of clay. This is easily broken, and especially with a rod of iron, and the idea here is that he would crush and subdue his enemies as easily as this could be done. No image could more happily express the ease with which he would subdue his foes; and this accords with all the representations of the New Testament - that with infinite case - with a word - Christ can subdue his enemies, and consign them to ruin. Compare Matt. 25:41, 46; Luke 19:27.

Barnes comments: The idea is that he would crush and subdue all his foes. He would have absolute power, and the grant which had been made to him would be accompanied with authority sufficient to hold it. That dominion which was to be conceded to him would be not only one of protection to his friends, but also of punishment on his enemies; and the statement here is made prominent because the former part of the psalm had respect to rebels, and the Messiah is here represented as being invested with power sufficient to punish and restrain them. Then Barnes gives us some passages which related to the harshness of the wrath of Jesus Christ: Isa. 11:4: He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. So Psalm 110:6: He will judge among the heathen; he shall fill the places with the dead bodies. So, likewise, Rev. 19:15: And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Barnes concludes: The sense here is, simply, that the Messiah would be absolute; that he would have power to quell all rebellion against God, and to punish all those that rise up against him; and that on those who are incorrigibly rebellious he would exercise that power, and take effectual means to subdue them. This is merely what is done by all just governments, and is by no means inconsistent with the idea that such a government would be mild and gentle toward those who are obedient. The protection of the righteous makes the punishment of the wicked necessary in all governments, and the one cannot be secured without the other. This verse is applied to the Messiah in the Book of Revelation, in Rev. 2:27 19:15 12:5.

McGee comments: This is the way He will come the second time—to judge the earth. He has not asked me to apologize for Him, so I won’t apologize. He says that He intends to come to this little planet and put down the rebellion that has broken out—and He will break them with a rod of iron. Maybe you don’t like that. Well, you take it up with Him. He said it, and He is going to do it just that way

Now I have a question to ask you, if you think He ought to do it the way some of our political leaders are suggesting. Suppose Jesus came back to this earth tomorrow, like He came over 1900 years ago, the man of Galilee, the carpenter of Nazareth, the gentle Jesus. Suppose He went to the Kremlin and knocked at the door. Whoever keeps the store over there would come and say, “Yes?” He would say, “I’m Jesus, I’m here to take over.” Do you think they would say, “My, we have been waiting for you”? No, they’d put Him before a firing squad in the morning. My friend, how do you think He could take over if he came to Russia today? He would have to break them with a rod of iron, would He not? Apparently that is what He is going to do. Now suppose He goes to France. They don’t want Him. Suppose he went down to Rome. I was there just a few weeks ago. I went over the Tiber and listened to a man speak. Although I could not understand what he was saying, I was told he was telling the world how they ought to do it. He would like to take over. Suppose our Lord would go and knock on the door of the Vatican. The man with the long garment would come to the door, and the Lord Jesus would say, “I’m here to take over.” What do you think he would say? I think he would say, “I don’t think so, Scooter.” I don’t think he would want Him. Suppose He came to this country. Suppose He went to the Democratic headquarters or the Republican headquarters, and said, “I’m here to take over.” They would say, “We’re getting ready for a presidential campaign, we’ve already got our candidates, so we don’t need You.” Now maybe you think their reaction would be different. Maybe you are saying, “Oh, they would take Him.” Then why don’t they take Him? They will not because they won’t have Him! Suppose He went to the World council of churches today, ad He said to Protestantism, “I’m here.” Would they receive Him? Then why don’t they receive Him today? My friend, when He comes the second time He will come exactly as God said: “You will break them with a rod of iron; You will dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” He intends to put down the rebellion when he comes to this earth the next time. Oh, my friend, this namby pamby way of thinking that our God is not going to judge! You and I are living in a world this is moving to judgment day, and God is going to judge.

God Recommends that the Kings of the Earth Respect His Son

Now that David has warned his readers about what God will do, from here to the end of the psalm, he tells these rulers what they should do. All the admonishments have to do with their relationship with God.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          Be wise, therefore, O kings; be instructed, judges of the earth:...

The Septuagint                      Now, therefore, understand you kings; be instructed, all you that judge the earth:...

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Be smart, all you rulers, and pay close attention.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Now, you kings, act wisely. Be warned, you rulers of the earth!

JPS (Tanakh)                        So, now, O kings, be prudent;

accept discipline, you rulers of the earth!

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

MKJV                                     And now be wise, O kings; be instructed, O judges of the earth.

Young's Literal Translation    And now, O kings, act wisely, Be instructed, O judges of earth,...

What is the gist of this verse? Because God is able to smash His enemies as a potter would his own clay creations, they rulers of the world are warned here to be careful and to act wisely.

Translation: Therefore, be prudent, O kings;... David is saying to the kings of the earth, let this psalm stand as a warning. What has been said already, and what will be said is to stand as a warning for all world leaders. Scripture is profitable in the realm of wisdom.

This verse stand in stark contrast to v. 1: Why do the Gentiles [or, nations] rage and [why do] the people [or, Gentiles] celebrate emptiness? Rather than leading their people to rage and to celebrate meaningless things, the king must be circumspect, prudent and wise.

Translation: ...and be admonished, O rulers of the earth:... David warns the ruler who reads this. What follows will be what David admonishes the rulers to do.

Henry comments: Kings and judges stand upon a level with common persons before God; and it is as necessary for them to be religious as for any others. Those that give law and judgment to others must receive law from Christ, and it will be their wisdom to do so. What is said to them is said to all, and is required of every one of us, only it is directed to kings and judges because of the influence which their example will have upon their inferiors, and because they were men of rank and power that opposed the setting up of Christ's kingdom (Psalm 2:2).

God reaches the leaders of the world. They may or may not believe in Him, but he can read a world leader just as He can reach a uncivilized way out in the jungle-wilderness. McGee makes this point and reminds us of Joseph, a young man unjustly placed in prison until just the right time when God lets him out to speak to the pharaoh of Egypt (and Joseph acted as a deliverer of Egypt’s people as well).

Nebuchadnezzar was the first great world leader, and who did God place by his side but Daniel. Daniel was even given the position of prime minister at that time, remaining until Cyrus the Persian came to the throne and we find that he even makes a decree in the name of the Living God. Napoleon also publically admitted that he was a man of destiny, a man whom God had raised up. God can reach any ruler and He speaks to more of them than we realize.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          Serve the Lord with reverence; and uphold Him with trembling.

The Septuagint                      Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Serve and honor the LORD; be glad and tremble.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

JPS (Tanakh)                        Serve the Lord in awe;

tremble with fright,... [others suggest “rejoice with trembling”]

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                Serve the Lord with reverent awe and worshipful fear; rejoice and be in high spirits, with trembling [lest you displease Him].

MKJV                                     Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Young's Updated LT              Serve Jehovah with fear, And rejoice with trembling.

What is the gist of this verse? David is not telling the world rulers what to do. In their positions, they are to serve Jehovah with fear and respect; and they may rejoice, but with fear.