Morning Light – May 3rd, 2016
Today: [Psalms Two] He That Sits in the Heavens Shall Laugh. Are you laughing? If you aren’t laughing you don’t realize your position in Christ. In this psalm David extols the sovereignty of God that rules over all even those who shake their fist in His face. Man can ignore and resist God and even pretend He doesn’t exists but ultimately the sovereignty of God rules over all. For us being seated in the heavens is a shared experience as we are seated with Christ. We are the beneficiaries of the Lordship of Jesus Christ over the earth and from that perspective we trust and we laugh at the threats of the enemy we see in the earth.
[Psa 2:1-12 KJV] 1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, [saying], 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
One of the interesting features of Psalms 2 is that it’s authorship AND numbering is mentioned elsewhere in the bible:
Act 13:33 KJV – 33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
Based on this we can know that the book of Psalms in it’s present form has remained unchanged in order and arrangement at least since the time of the first century. The psalm is written in four stanzas of three verses each and speaks of the futility of humanity’s rage against God’s anointed.
It is telling that for all the tolerance of the world’s religions, Christianity seems to be singled out along with Judaism for particular venom and hatred. Islam with its pitiless regimes and oppression of women is seldom if ever singled out by the liberal presses for it’s brutalities even in the face of terrorism but if a Christian refuses to bake a cake for a homosexual it is front page news. Islamic enclaves have been established throughout the United States, enforcing Sharia law with their own religious courts and nothing is said – but if the 10 Commandments adorn a courthouse lawn in a small town in Oklahoma it’s front page news and ignites law suits to have it removed. What is this an indicator of?
Eph. 2:2 tells us that disobedience and sin is not merely a human phenomenon but actually has a spirit behind it – the spirit of disobedience. How else to explain the blind prejudice against Christianity that goes completely ignored in our so-called enlightened society – that interprets freedom OF religion to mean freedom FROM religion (specifically Christianity)? John Lennon wrote a veritable hymn of secularism suggesting that we all “imagine there’s no heaven” to which David replies “why do the people imagine a vain thing?” Ultimately in God’s scheme of things the hatred and contempt the secular world holds for people of faith – i.e. particularly Christian faith – will be brought to nothing. As Bob Mumford once said “I read the back of the book and – WE WIN”.
In verse 2 we can read clearly (written centuries before the modern age) where persecution originates – in government. Millions of dollars have been spent by legislatures and in court procedures to use the instrumentality of government to stomp out the religious freedom of bible believing Christians. Years ago My father had a vision of churches being firebombed across the US. I prayed about that vision and asked the Father what that meant. I heard very clearly “persecution is coming to the American church”. I asked a follow up question – “how will it come?” The answer was chilling – “through the court system”. Amazingly just that same day I heard of a pastor in Colorado Springs who was sentenced to jail time for conducting a house church meeting.
It is a reality that for several decades our culture in the Western World has been moving into a post Christian age. How has this happened? Unchecked immigration, globalization and the advance of secularism has cooled the ardor of once passionate Christians to the point that any protest against once unthinkable government policies is tepid at best and the long decline into spiritual chaos continues. This can be very disconcerting to those who believe because we wake up every morning in a society that we feel increasingly threatened by and alienated from.
What is God’s response to all of this? “He that sits in the heavens shall laugh…” There is nothing new under the sun. For millennia since the time of the erection of the tower of Babel men have shook their fist in God’s face and declared that they will not live under heaven’s rule. He that sits in the heavens will laugh because all the strategies of secularism, Jihad and multi-culturalism will ultimately come to their failure.
What is to be our response? Do we run to the hills? Do we cower in fear? No – because the sky is not falling the kingdom is coming. When the bible says He that sits in the heavens shall laugh. In the New Testament that includes us. Eph. 2:6 declares that we are seated in heavenly places with Christ. If He laughs then we should laugh. What does this mean? It means that we are not alarmist in our views. We are not obsessed with the conspiracy of secularism or the scourge of terrorism or the decay of our once great Christian society. God is in control. Our concern is not for ourselves or for the plan of God. If we have concern it is for souls and to that end we pray and intercede but in the final analysis we realize that God is sovereign and we are safe in His pavilion and nothing shall by any means harm us for we have taken our refuge in the secret place of the Most High.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou [art] my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give [thee] the heathen [for] thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth [for] thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. 10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish [from] the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed [are] all they that put their trust in him.
David contrasts the rage of the heathen against the throne of heaven with his own conscious choice to put God first in his life. He says he has “set his king upon his holy hill of Zion…” This was quite literal for David. He put the ark of the covenant outside his royal palace on Mount Zion. He wanted to be near to the center of worship where God’s spirit hovered over the mercy seat between the Cherubim. The tent that David pitched for the ark of the covenant was the “Tabernacle of David”. Amos 9:11 predicts that there would come a day in the end times that the Tabernacle of David would to erected and raised up from ruin once again.
The Tabernacle of David was an open air tent surrounded by 1000’s of worshippers day and night praising the Lord in the beauty of holiness. It needed no defense. It was not surrounded by walls or hidden behind curtains. For us the tabernacle of David is in our hearts. To say we have set our king on OUR holy hill of Zion we are talking about the throne of our hearts. In our day we would be hard pressed to set a born again, sincere Christian in the Oval Office but we can set our king on our holy hill of Zion – our own hearts yielding to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I submit to you that Christ on the throne of our hearts will have a far greater impact on our lives than who sits in the Oval office. This is the message of Psalm 2.
What about the heathen? Do we ignore them? Do we go to war with them? What do we do with those who rage against God’s throne in the earth? The message of verse 8 is clear – “ask of Me the heathen and I will give them to you, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession!” We are not looking for an escape. Whatever the Parousia or rapture of the church is, it has nothing to do with escaping this world by the skin of our teeth just before the Anti-christ brands 666 on our foreheads. God is in control! The earth belongs to our God and He has given it to His anointed and Jesus has taken all that the Father has and given it to us. This is our territory and our turf. We rule and reign in prayer. We are kings and priests in the earth NOW and not something that will happen later. We need to adopt in the earth and in our personal life a ruling-and-reigning mentality.
What is our message to those who mock and deride and scoff at our king? Kiss the son lest he be angry with you. Yes, our message is one of a redemptive character but it is framed in a message that acknowledges the dread sovereignty of God in the earth by which we confront nations. Kiss the son. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling knowing that we are not our own we are bought with a price. For all the lowly character of our savior we do well to remember He is yet the dread sovereign of the universe who will both now and in the future not be denied His will. From that perspective as the Psalm concludes – we put our trust in Him and fret not because of evil doers.
