Psalms 2:4

_HE THAT SITTETH IN THE HEAVENS SHALL LAUGH: THE LORD SHALL HAVE THEM IN DERISION._ The scene passes from earth to heaven, from Antichrist and his confederate hosts to Yahweh on His throne above, laughing to scorn their purpose and then proceeding to execute judgment. SITTETH IN THE HEAVENS - and therefore exercises exalted sovereignty over "the kings of the earth....

After David has told us of the tumult and commotions, the counsels and pride, the preparation and resources the strength and efforts of his enemies, in opposition to all these he places the power of God alone, which he concludes would be brought to bear against them, from their attempting to frustrate his decree. And, as a little before, by terming them _kings of the earth, _he expressed their feeble and perishable condition; so now, by the lofty title of _He that dwelleth in heaven, _he extols the power of God, as if he had said, that power remains intact and unimpaired, whatever men may attempt against it. Let them exalt themselves as they may, they shall never be able to reach to heaven; yea, while they think to confound heaven and earth together, they resemble so many grasshoppers, and the Lord, meanwhile, undisturbed beholds from on high their infatuated evolutions. And David ascrib...

1-6 We are here told who would appear as adversaries to Christ. As this world is the kingdom of Satan, unconverted men, of every rank, party, and character, are stirred up by him to oppose the cause of God. But the rulers of the earth generally have been most active. The truths and precepts of Christianity are against ambitious projects and worldly lusts. We are told what they aim at in this opposition. They would break asunder the bands of conscience, and the cords of God's commandments; they will not receive, but cast them away as far as they can. These enemies can show no good cause for opposing so just and holy a government, which, if received by all, would bring a heaven upon earth. They can hope for no success in so opposing so powerful a kingdom. The Lord Jesus has all power both in heaven and in earth, and is Head over all things to the church, notwithstanding the restless endea...

Verse Psalms 2:4. _HE THAT SITTETH IN THE HEAVENS_] Whose kingdom ruleth over all, and is _above_ all might and power, human and diabolical. _Shall laugh_. Words spoken after the manner of men; shall utterly contemn their puny efforts; shall beat down their pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices....

HE THAT SITTETH IN THE HEAVENS - God, represented as having his home, his seat, his throne in heaven, and thence administering the affairs of the world. This verse commences the second strophe or stanza of the psalm; and this strophe Psalms 2:4 corresponds with the first Psalms 2:1 in its structure. The former describes the feelings and purposes of those who would cast off the government of God; this describes the feelings and purposes of God in the same order, for in each case the psalmist describes what is done, and then what is said: the nations rage tumultuously Psalms 2:1, and then say Psalms 2:3, “Let us break their band

EXPOSITION HERE we have again a psalm without a title, and, so far, we are left to conjecture its age and author. The Jews, however, have always regarded it as Davidical; and there is evidence in Scripture itself (Acts 4:25) that the early Christians were of the same opinion. Modern critics, for the most part, agree, although there are some (Ewald, Paulus, Bleek) who ascribe it to Solomon, and others (Maurer, Delitzsch) who suppose it written by Hezekiah or Isaiah. The psalm is certainly Messianic. It is assumed to be so in Acts 4:25; Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5;...

HE THAT SITTETH IN THE HEAVENS SHALL LAUGH,.... At the rage and tumult of the Heathen; at the vain imaginations of the people; at the opposition of the kings of the earth; at the mad counsel of the rulers, against him and his Messiah; and at their proposal to one another to throw off the yoke and government of them both. This is a periphrasis of God, "who dwells in the heavens", and sits there enthroned; though he is not included and comprehended in them, but is everywhere; and his being there is mentioned in opposition to the kings of the earth, and the people in it; and to show the vast distance there is between them, and how they are as nothing to him, Isaiah 40:1 Job 4:18; and how vain and fruitless their attempts must be against him and his Messiah: and his sitting there still and quiet, serene and undisturbed, is

Psalms 2:1. _Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, 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 from us._ This was what they did when they took the Lord of life and glory, dragged him to the judgment seat, and then nailed him to the accursed tree. «This is the heir,» said they, «let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.» They thought that they had destroyed the power of Christ, the appointed and anointed King, and that he would never reign among the sons of men. Psalms 2:4. _He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision._ God might well laugh at their folly, for the

Psalms 2 THE REJECTED KING _ 1. The rejection and the coming confederacy (Psalms 2:1)_ 2. Jehovah's attitude and interference (Psalms 2:4) 3. The coming of the King and his inheritance (Psalms 2:7) 4. Warning and exhortation (Psalms 2:10) Psalms 2:1. The rejection of the perfect Man, the Son of God, by man, is here revealed. It is the first psalm quoted in the New Testament. See...

II. MESSIAH'S REIGN. Also without a title. Here we have a distinctly Messianic Ps., put in this place, possibly, as an introduction to other Messianic Pss. which follow. Messianic it is in the strictest sense of the word, for it does not look forward to a dynasty of Davidic kings (_cf._ Jeremiah 23:4 ff., Ezekiel 34:23), or to the direct intervention of Yahweh, as 2 Is. and Malachi do. Rather the Kingdom of God is to be founded and maintained by an anointed King who is the Son of God and His vicar on earth. The poet speaks as if the ideal King had already ascended His throne. But we cannot be sure that the Ps. refers to an actual king then alive. He is present to the imagination of the Psalmist: that is all we can say. Much less can we point to any contemporary in whom his dream was already realised