"Kings of the earth rise up against the Lord and His Messiah," the Psalmist says. Yet Psalm 2 says the Lord just scoffs and blessed are those who take refuge in Him.

WISE AS THE KING
Monday, May 3, 2010
Andromeda. It’s a brilliant massive spiral of stars 2.5 million light years away. We can see it like we never could before thanks to WISE – NASA’s latest telescope. The images it’s sending will help unravel the mysteries of the universe.
(swell)
This is Charles Morris . . .
WISE was launched in January of this year and since then it’s sent back ½ million images. WISE is an acronym that stands for WIDE-FIELD INFRARED SURVEY EXPLORER. The images this massive telescope is getting are spectacular -- you can go on-line and see them. They may help answer a lot of questions about the universe. But as cool as they are – and in spite of the name of the telescope -- they really can’t make us WISE.
We could know everything there is to know about the physical universe and still be complete fools. True wisdom starts with knowing the right question to ask. One question. This is it – the question that really wise people ask:
Who is the King?
Who made the universe? Who rules the world? Who decides its purpose? Who decides its destiny? Who sits on the throne?
Proverbs 30:8 puts it like this:
“Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has wrapped the waters in His garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name or His son’s name?
Surely you know!”

Who is the king?
In the first century there were some highly educated men who devoted themselves to studying the stars. Somehow they knew to ask that question. Matthew calls them, “Wise men from the east” They didn’t have telescopes – no WISE images unlocking the secrets of the galaxies. But they knew the ultimate question to ask – they were intently watching the sky trying to figure out the answer to that question: Who is the King?
One night, a star became visible that they’d never seen before. They interpreted it to mean that the time had come—the identity of the king was about to be revealed. They packed up and headed for Israel. When they got there they started asking questions—what town is the King supposed to be born in? They figured the Israelites would know this. They asked King Herod and he summoned his wise men and they told him – “Bethlehem”.
So the men from the east headed for Bethlehem and when they got there they saw the star again – over a stable. Inside they found the king. And they did what wise men do – they worshipped him.
How did they know so much? How did they even know there would be a king? How did they know to go to Israel to find him?
Probably they knew from Daniel. They were probably astrologers from Babylon and during the captivity, hundreds of year before, Daniel had been captured and taken to Babylon. He became one of the royal wise men and he impressed everyone with his ability to predict the future. He had huge credibility as a wise man. These men probably had his book in their library. They no doubt knew about Daniel’s vision:
Daniel 7:13-14 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

That’s what made the wise men wise – they knew that the Ancient of Days – the Creator of the Universe had established a throne. The world has a throne. We need to know that. And that throne is at the center of everything – it’s what really matters. Ultimately the only thing that matters is who’s sitting on the throne.
Who is the King?
The king who sits on God’s throne has “authority, glory and sovereign power” over everything forever. All people, all the nations on earth, are all going to worship him. It’s all about him. The Universe is all about the King.

And that King is Jesus. He’s the one the wise men found.

If you know that Jesus is this King -- King of Kings and Lord of Lords -- and if you worship him – then you are wise. You possess the fundamental wisdom of universe.
But even when we know the identity of the king, there’s more to be learned about his kingship. We need to keep enlarging our comprehension – just like the images the WISE telescope is sending back keep enlarging our understanding of the physical universe – we need to keep enlarging our understanding of the King of the universe. And one of the best places to go for that is to the Psalms.
Especially Psalm 2.
Psalm 2 is like a drama. There are four characters: the World, the Infinite One, the Son, and the Exhorter. Did you notice? You can make an acronym out of those four characters? It spells WISE.
The first speaker is the world:
“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.
“Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.”

The second speaker is the Infinite One – the Lord:
“The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
The third speaker is the Son:
“I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
The fourth speaker is the Exhorter:
“Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”
We can learn something from the lines of each of these four characters:
First, the first speaker – the World.
What we learn from the world is that it’s in rebellion. There’s an in-your-face rebellion against God that permeates the attitude of the world. And you can see what form it takes in the lines of this psalm ‘Let us break their chains and throw of their fetters.”
The world wants autonomy. It sees God as a jailer – someone who restricts our freedom. I have a relative who recently said, “I don’t believe in sin and I think the whole notion of salvation is x!x” expletive deleted. That’s open rebellion but usually the rebellion is more passive – it’s simple self-determination – living life on your own and just never factoring God into the equation of how you do life.
That’s the general attitude of the world – it doesn’t look like rebellion unless it’s provoked. But it was provoked when God sent his Son. Jesus always pushes buttons. People respond to him strongly because he’s the Anointed One of God. Psalm 2 says it’s not just God but his Anointed One – his Messiah – who provokes the world and stirs up rebellion.
In Acts 4, when Peter and John made the case from Scripture that Jesus was the Messiah, the religious leaders were furious and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus. They came back and told the church and the church started to pray and their prayer was taken straight out of Psalm 2:
Acts 4: 24- 29 “Sovereign Lord, you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’ Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.”
The early church was wise enough to know that Jesus was the anointed king of Psalm 2. They understood that he was put to death because of the rebellion of the world against the Lord and against his Anointed. And they understood that in spite of the world’s threats they were being called to boldly declare the kingdom of Jesus and they asked God for help to do it.
The Second Speaker: The Infinite One, the Lord.
It says he scoffs, he laughs. This is the only place in the Bible where it says God laughs. He obviously isn’t the least bit threatened by this rebellion. These kings and rulers are so miniscule and powerless that the very idea that they could rebel against him is a joke. But after he laughs he speaks, he rebukes them in his anger and he says,
“I have installed my King on my holy hill.”
The King is God’s answer to the rebellion. He’s put someone on his throne – the throne of the world -- and he’s given HIM all authority and all power and all glory. God’s king is going to deal with this rebellion.
The holy hill mentioned here is Mount Zion. Zion is a relatively small mountain in Israel. But it’s God’s Holy Hill – it represent the true Mount Zion in the heavenly realm.
David sat there as King of Israel and the bible says that the Anointed One, the ultimate King, was going to be a son of David – one his offspring. Jesus was that – he was in line for the throne on the human side. But the Bible also says that the Anointed One was going to be more than a son of David. He was going to be the Son of God.
Listen to Jesus making that exact point when he was talking to the Pharisees:

Matthew 22:41-46
“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Anointed One? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’?”
And then Jesus quotes from one of the Psalms of David:
“For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.”
God has installed his own Son on his throne.

The Third Speaker: The Son
He says: “I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
This is the King speaking – the Messiah. He’s proclaiming the decree of the Lord, telling the world what God has declared. This is his answer to the rebellion. This is his vision statement for his creation. This is his promise to his Son:
“I will give you the nations as your inheritance and the end of the earth as your possession.”
We need a timeline to understand this. When did God say” You are my son, today I have become your father”? It was when he raised Jesus from the dead. That’s what Paul said when he was preaching in Antoich:
Acts 13:32-33 “We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’
It’s not that Jesus wasn’t God’s Son for all eternity. But when he raised him from the dead he declared it to the whole world – this is my Son, listen to him. This is the King, Obey him. This is my Son. I’ve given him the nations for his inheritance.
Right now the nations are being gathered to the King – as the gospel goes out and believers come into his Kingdom.
But someday he’s going to come again and then he will “rule them with an iron scepter; dash them to pieces like pottery.”
The King is coming in judgment – he’s coming in anger because of the rebellion of the world and it should strike fear into the hearts of everyone who’s taken a stand against God and against his anointed.
Which bring us to . . .
The Fourth Speaker, the Exhorter.
The Exhorter is the Holy Spirit. He’s speaking to the whole world. He’s speaking to us and he’s warning us. He’s telling us how to be wise.
We need to give up our rebellion and serve the Lord with holy fear and with great joy. We need to kiss the Son – to lavish our love on him as our sovereign Lord and King.
The Exhorter wants us to understand -- there’s only one safe place to be. In light of what God’s done, in light of his throne and the fact that he’s installed his king, in light of the impending judgment – which the Exhorter tells us could flare up at any moment – there’s only one safe place to be. We need to take refuge in the Son.
How blessed are those who take refuge in Him! He’s provided a sacrifice for sin through his death. We can find safety in Him. And when we do we’re not only safe, we’re immensely blessed:.
Psalms 91 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, or the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.”