Daily Devotional Time: Psalm 2

So, I am sitting at a car wash in Colorado Springs, you know, the hometown of Focus on the Family, Dr. James Dobson, the National Association of Evangelicals, and some 86 other para-church organizations, and I am reading a column in the Colorado Springs Gazette. The columnist was the leader of an organization that seeks to aid people who were victims of religious harassment, which is defined as any effort to evangelize or disciple. If I knocked on your door to witness to you, or to invite you to church, I would have religiously harassed you, according to this column.

The column was an indication of where our society is headed. Our society is becoming increasingly anti-Christian. This shouldn't come as a suprise, however, as scripture speaks of those who oppose God in Psalm 2:1-5:

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.

In the psalmist's day, there were foreign kings and nations seeking to wipe out Israel, God's chosen people. Such a concept seemed insane to the psalmist, who was well acquainted with God's omnipotent power.

In our day, there are people who have identified God as the enemy, and they battle God by harassing, opposing, fighting and even persecuting His people. They may win victories in this life, but when they stand before God in the judgment, it will be a different story.

Meanwhile, things are different for those who know Jesus Christ as their personal savior. Psalm 2:6-9 says:

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.

We are different, because we have repented from our sin and turned our heart toward the Lord, or as the psalmist put it, we "have set our king upon our holy hill of Zion." We worship the Lord, and we openly profess that He is our Savior. The psalmist said, "I will declare the decree." What decree? "The Lord hath said unto me, 'thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.'"

In addition to being a Messianic passage, this verse also teaches us that if you know the Lord as your savior, you have been born again, and are now a child of God.

God loves His children, and gives them an inheritance, which the Bible teaches will be in God's Kingdom when He establishes it on this earth. We will have victory over those who persecute us, and spend eternity in God's presence.

The psalmist leaves a final warning for those who would fight against God in verses 10-12:

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.

God's grace is incomparable. He will save and extend His grace to those who once fought against Him. Today, you may be in a situation where you are fighting against God. Perhaps you are angry with God over a situation in your life. Perhaps someone claiming to act on God's behalf hurt you in a bad way. Or, perhaps you have been taught the lie that all wars and problems in the world come from Christianity.

Whatever the reason for your personal battle against God, He will spare you from His wrath and welcome you into His heaven if you turn from your sin and trust Jesus Christ as your personal savior. I can testify to this personally, because there was a time when I personally was at war against God. However, God confronted me about my sin. I repented, placed my faith in Jesus Christ, and He saved me and called me into His ministry.

You can do the same. Turn from your sin, and place your faith in Jesus Christ. What I mean by that is that if you trust that Jesus paid for your sin on the cross, and are willing to live for Him, He will save you.

Romans 5:8-10 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

May God Bless You.