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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Psalms 2

Psalm 2: the raging nations and the king set on Zion

General context

The psalm opens with a question: why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords. The one who sits in the heavens laughs and has them in derision; then he speaks to them in his wrath and vexes them in his sore displeasure, declaring that he has set his king upon his holy hill of Zion. A new voice declares the decree: the Lord has said to him, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee; ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth; thou shalt break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. The closing verses turn to the kings and judges of the earth: be wise, be instructed, serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling, kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. The last line calls blessed all who put their trust in him.

Cited passages: Psalms 2:1, Psalms 2:2, Psalms 2:3, Psalms 2:4, Psalms 2:5, Psalms 2:6, Psalms 2:7, Psalms 2:8, Psalms 2:9, Psalms 2:10, Psalms 2:11, Psalms 2:12

Psalms 2 (KJV)

1Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,

3Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

4He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

5Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

6Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

7I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

8Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

9Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

10Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

11Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

12Kiss 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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The text as printed carries no heading, so no author or occasion is stated. Several voices speak in turn and the psalm marks them: the rulers are quoted "saying" in verse 3, the Lord speaks in verse 6, and in verse 7 a speaker reports what "the Lord hath said unto me"; that speaker is the one the Lord calls "my Son" and, by verse 6, "my king". The king is called "his anointed" and placed "upon my holy hill of Zion", but he is never named, and neither are the kings, rulers or nations who oppose him. The New Testament quotes this psalm: Acts 4:25-26 attributes verses 1-2 to "thy servant David" and cites the rulers gathered "against the Lord, and against his Christ"; Acts 13:33 says "it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee"; Hebrews 1:5 repeats the same line. Those are later readings; the psalm itself does not say who its king is or when the counsel of the rulers took place.

Cited passages: Psalms 2:2, Psalms 2:6, Psalms 2:7, Acts 4:25, Acts 4:26, Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5

Literary context

The poem moves in four parts of three verses each. Verses 1-3 describe the nations' plotting and quote their words; verses 4-6 answer from the heavens with laughter, wrath and the Lord's own declaration; verses 7-9 give the king's report of the decree spoken to him; verses 10-12 address the kings directly with commands. Speech answers speech: the rulers say "Let us break their bands asunder", and the Lord says "Yet have I set my king". The images move from bands and cords cast off to a rod of iron and a shattered potter's vessel. "Kings of the earth" who plot at the start become "ye kings" who are told to be wise at the end, and the derision of verse 4 becomes the warning "lest he be angry" in verse 12. The final line, "Blessed are all they that put their trust in him", answers the opening word of Psalm 1, "Blessed is the man", so the two psalms open the book with a blessing at either end.

Cited passages: Psalms 2:3, Psalms 2:4, Psalms 2:6, Psalms 2:9, Psalms 2:2, Psalms 2:10, Psalms 2:12, Psalms 1:1

Key moments

  1. Rulers take counsel (Psalms 2:2). Kings and rulers set themselves against the Lord and his anointed.
  2. Laughter from the heavens (Psalms 2:4). The one who sits in the heavens laughs and has the plotters in derision.
  3. The king set on Zion (Psalms 2:6). The Lord declares that he has set his king on his holy hill of Zion.
  4. The decree declared (Psalms 2:7). The king reports the Lord's words to him: Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
  5. Rod of iron (Psalms 2:9). The nations given as inheritance will be broken like a potter's vessel.
  6. Counsel to the kings (Psalms 2:10). The kings and judges of the earth are told to be wise and instructed.
  7. Trust and blessing (Psalms 2:12). The psalm ends by calling blessed all who put their trust in him.

For reflection

The kings are told in one breath to "rejoice with trembling"; what would it look like to hold both of those together, given the laughter and wrath the psalm has just described?