mh_parser/vol_split/19 - Psalms/Chapter 2.xml

<div2 id="Ps.iii" n="iii" next="Ps.iv" prev="Ps.ii" progress="22.12%" title="Chapter II">
<h2 id="Ps.iii-p0.1">P S A L M S</h2>
<h3 id="Ps.iii-p0.2">PSALM II.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Ps.iii-p1">As the foregoing psalm was moral, and showed us
our duty, so this is evangelical, and shows us our Saviour. Under
the type of David's kingdom (which was of divine appointment, met
with much opposition, but prevailed at last) the kingdom of the
Messiah, the Son of David, is prophesied of, which is the primary
intention and scope of the psalm; and I think there is less in it
of the type, and more of the anti-type, than in any of the gospel
psalms, for there is nothing in it but what is applicable to
Christ, but some things that are not at all applicable to David
(<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.6-Ps.2.7" parsed="|Ps|2|6|2|7" passage="Ps 2:6,7">ver. 6, 7</scripRef>): "Thou art my
Son" (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.8" parsed="|Ps|2|8|0|0" passage="Ps 2:8">ver. 8</scripRef>), "I will give
thee the uttermost parts of the earth," and (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.12" parsed="|Ps|2|12|0|0" passage="Ps 2:12">ver. 12</scripRef>), "Kiss the Son." It is interpreted of
Christ <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.4.24 Bible:Acts.13.33 Bible:Heb.1.5" parsed="|Acts|4|24|0|0;|Acts|13|33|0|0;|Heb|1|5|0|0" passage="Acts 4:24,13:33,Heb 1:5">Acts iv. 24;
xiii. 33; Heb. i. 5</scripRef>. The Holy Ghost here foretels, I.
The opposition that should be given to the kingdom of the Messiah,
<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.1-Ps.2.3" parsed="|Ps|2|1|2|3" passage="Ps 2:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. The baffling
and chastising of that opposition, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.4-Ps.2.5" parsed="|Ps|2|4|2|5" passage="Ps 2:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>. III. The setting up of the kingdom
of Christ, notwithstanding that opposition, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.6" parsed="|Ps|2|6|0|0" passage="Ps 2:6">ver. 6</scripRef>. IV. The confirmation and establishment
of it, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.7" parsed="|Ps|2|7|0|0" passage="Ps 2:7">ver. 7</scripRef>. V. A promise
of the enlargement and success of it, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.8-Ps.2.9" parsed="|Ps|2|8|2|9" passage="Ps 2:8,9">ver. 8, 9</scripRef>. VI. A call and exhortation to
kings and princes to yield themselves the willing subjects of this
kingdom,, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.10-Ps.2.12" parsed="|Ps|2|10|2|12" passage="Ps 2:10-12">ver. 10-12</scripRef>. Or
thus: We have here, I. Threatenings denounced against the
adversaries of Christ's kingdom, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.1-Ps.2.6" parsed="|Ps|2|1|2|6" passage="Ps 2:1-6">ver.
1-6</scripRef>. II. Promises made to Christ himself, the head of
this kingdom, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.7-Ps.2.9" parsed="|Ps|2|7|2|9" passage="Ps 2:7-9">ver. 7-9</scripRef>.
III. Counsel given to all to espouse the interests of this kingdom,
<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.10-Ps.2.12" parsed="|Ps|2|10|2|12" passage="Ps 2:10-12">ver. 10-12</scripRef>. This psalm,
as the former, is very fitly prefixed to this book of devotions,
because, as it is necessary to our acceptance with God that we
should be subject to the precepts of his law, so it is likewise
that we should be subject to the grace of his gospel, and come to
him in the name of a Mediator.</p>
<scripCom id="Ps.iii-p1.14" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2" parsed="|Ps|2|0|0|0" passage="Ps 2" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Ps.iii-p1.15" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.1-Ps.2.6" parsed="|Ps|2|1|2|6" passage="Ps 2:1-6" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.2.1-Ps.2.6">
<h4 id="Ps.iii-p1.16">The Enemies of Messiah.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.iii-p2">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 <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.iii-p2.1">Lord</span>, and against his anointed,
<i>saying,</i>   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.   6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of
Zion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p3">We have here a very great struggle about
the kingdom of Christ, hell and heaven contesting it; the seat of
the war is this earth, where Satan has long had a usurped kingdom
and exercised dominion to such a degree that he has been called
<i>the prince of the power of the</i> very <i>air</i> we breathe in
and <i>the god of the world</i> we live in. He knows very well
that, as the Messiah's kingdom rises and gets ground, his falls and
loses ground; and therefore, though it will be set up certainly, it
shall not be set up tamely. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p4">I. The mighty opposition that would be
given to the Messiah and his kingdom, to his holy religion and all
the interests of it, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.1-Ps.2.3" parsed="|Ps|2|1|2|3" passage="Ps 2:1-3"><i>v.</i>
1-3</scripRef>. One would have expected that so great a blessing to
this world would be universally welcomed and embraced, and that
every sheaf would immediately bow to that of the Messiah and all
the crowns and sceptres on earth would be laid at his feet; but it
proves quite contrary. Never were the notions of any sect of
philosophers, though ever so absurd, nor the powers of any prince
or state, though ever so tyrannical, opposed with so much violence
as the doctrine and government of Christ—a sign that it was from
heaven, for the opposition was plainly from hell originally.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p5">1. We are here told who would appear as
adversaries to Christ and the devil's instruments in this
opposition to his kingdom. Princes and people, court and country,
have sometimes separate interests, but here they are united against
Christ; not the mighty only, but the mob, the <i>heathen,</i> the
<i>people,</i> numbers of them, communities of them; though usually
fond of liberty, yet they were averse to the liberty Christ came to
procure and proclaim. Not the mob only, but the mighty (among whom
one might have expected more sense and consideration) appear
violent against Christ. Though his kingdom is not of this world,
nor in the least calculated to weaken their interests, but very
likely, if they pleased, to strengthen them, yet the kings of the
earth and rulers are up in arms immediately. See the effects of the
old enmity in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the
woman, and how general and malignant the corruption of mankind is.
See how formidable the enemies of the church are; they are
numerous; they are potent. The unbelieving Jews are here called
<i>heathen,</i> so wretchedly had they degenerated from the faith
and holiness of their ancestors; they stirred up the heathen, the
Gentiles, to persecute the Christians. As the Philistines and their
lords, Saul and his courtiers, the disaffected party and their
ringleaders, opposed David's coming to the crown, so Herod and
Pilate, the Gentiles and the Jews, did their utmost against Christ
and his interest in men, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.4.27" parsed="|Acts|4|27|0|0" passage="Ac 4:27">Acts iv.
27</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p6">2. Who it is that they quarrel with, and
muster up all their forces against; it is <i>against the Lord and
against his anointed,</i> that is, against all religion in general
and the Christian religion in particular. It is certain that all
who are enemies to Christ, whatever they pretend, are enemies to
God himself; they <i>have hated both me and my Father,</i>
<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:John.15.24" parsed="|John|15|24|0|0" passage="Joh 15:24">John xv. 24</scripRef>. The great
author of our holy religion is here called <i>the Lord's
anointed,</i> or <i>Messiah,</i> or <i>Christ,</i> in allusion to
the anointing of David to be king. He is both authorized and
qualified to be the church's head and king, is duly invested in the
office and every way fitted for it; yet there are those that are
against him; nay, <i>therefore</i> they are against him, because
they are impatient of God's authority, envious at Christ's
advancement, and have a rooted enmity to the Spirit of
holiness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p7">3. The opposition they give is here
described. (1.) It is a most spiteful and malicious opposition.
They <i>rage</i> and fret; they gnash their teeth for vexation at
the setting up of Christ's kingdom; it creates them the utmost
uneasiness, and fills them with indignation, so that they have no
enjoyment of themselves; see <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.13.14 Bible:John.11.47 Bible:Acts.5.17 Bible:Acts.5.33 Bible:Acts.19.28" parsed="|Luke|13|14|0|0;|John|11|47|0|0;|Acts|5|17|0|0;|Acts|5|33|0|0;|Acts|19|28|0|0" passage="Lu 13:14,Joh 11:47,Ac 5:17,33,19:28">Luke xiii. 14; John xi. 47;
Acts v. 17, 33; xix. 28</scripRef>. Idolaters raged at the
discovery of their folly, the chief priests and Pharisees at the
eclipsing of their glory and the shaking of their usurped dominion.
Those that did evil raged at the light. (2.) It is a deliberate and
politic opposition. They <i>imagine</i> or meditate, that is, they
contrive means to suppress the rising interests of Christ's kingdom
and are very confident of the success of their contrivances; they
promise themselves that they shall run down religion and carry the
day. (3.) It is a resolute and obstinate opposition. They <i>set
themselves,</i> set their faces as a flint and their hearts as an
adamant, in defiance of reason, and conscience, and all the terrors
of the Lord; they are proud and daring, like the Babel-builders,
and will persist in their resolution, come what will. (4.) It is a
combined and confederate opposition. They <i>take counsel
together,</i> to assist and animate one another in this opposition;
they carry their resolutions <i>nemine
contradicente—unanimously,</i> that they will push on the unholy
war against the Messiah with the utmost vigour: and thereupon
councils are called, cabals are formed, and all their wits are at
work to find out ways and means for the preventing of the
establishment of Christ's kingdom, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.5" parsed="|Ps|83|5|0|0" passage="Ps 83:5">Ps.
lxxxiii. 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p8">4. We are here told what it is they are
exasperated at and what they aim at in this opposition (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.3" parsed="|Ps|2|3|0|0" passage="Ps 2:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>Let us break their
bands asunder.</i> They will not be under any government; they are
children of Belial, that cannot endure the yoke, at least the yoke
of the Lord and his anointed. They will be content to entertain
such notions of the kingdom of God and the Messiah as will serve
them to dispute of and to support their own dominion with: if the
Lord and his anointed will make them rich and great in the world,
they will bid them welcome; but if they will restrain their corrupt
appetites and passions, regulate and reform their hearts and lives,
and bring them under the government of a pure and heavenly
religion, truly then <i>they will not have this man to reign over
them,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.19.14" parsed="|Luke|19|14|0|0" passage="Lu 19:14">Luke xix. 14</scripRef>.
Christ has <i>bands and cords</i> for us; those that will be saved
by him must be ruled by him; but they are <i>cords of a man,</i>
agreeable to right reason, and <i>bands of love,</i> conducive to
our true interest: and yet against those the quarrel is. Why do men
oppose religion but because they are impatient of its restraints
and obligations? They would break asunder the bands of conscience
they are under and the cords of God's commandments by which they
are called to tie themselves out from all sin and to themselves up
to all duty; they will not receive them, but cast them away as far
from them as they can.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p9">5. They are here reasoned with concerning
it, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.1" parsed="|Ps|2|1|0|0" passage="Ps 2:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Why do they
do this? (1.) They can show no good cause for opposing so just,
holy, and gracious a government, which will not interfere with the
secular powers, nor introduce any dangerous principles hurtful to
kings or provinces; but, on the contrary, if universally received,
would bring a heaven upon earth. (2.) They can hope for no good
success in opposing so powerful a kingdom, with which they are
utterly unable to contend. It is <i>a vain thing;</i> when they
have done their worst Christ will have a church in the world and
that church shall be glorious and triumphant. It is <i>built upon a
rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.</i> The
moon walks in brightness, though the dogs bark at it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p10">II. The mighty conquest gained over all
this threatening opposition. If heaven and earth be the combatants,
it is easy to foretel which will be the conqueror. Those that make
this mighty struggle are the people of the earth, and the kings of
the earth, who, being of the earth, are earthy; but he whom they
contest with is one that <i>sits in the heavens,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.4" parsed="|Ps|2|4|0|0" passage="Ps 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. He is in the heaven, a
place of such a vast prospect that he can oversee them all and all
their projects; and such is his power that he can overcome them all
and all their attempts. He sits there, as one easy and at rest, out
of the reach of all their impotent menaces and attempts. There he
sits as Judge in all the affairs of the children of men, perfectly
secure of the full accomplishment of all his own purposes and
designs, in spite of all opposition, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.29.10" parsed="|Ps|29|10|0|0" passage="Ps 29:10">Ps. xxix. 10</scripRef>. The perfect repose of the
Eternal Mind may be our comfort under all the disquietments of our
mind. We are tossed on earth, and in the sea, but he sits in the
heavens, where he has prepared his throne for judgment; and
therefore,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p11">1. The attempts of Christ's enemies are
easily ridiculed. God <i>laughs</i> at them as a company of fools.
He <i>has them,</i> and all their attempts, <i>in derision,</i> and
therefore <i>the virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised
them,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.37.22" parsed="|Isa|37|22|0|0" passage="Isa 37:22">Isa. xxxvii. 22</scripRef>.
Sinners' follies are the just sport of God's infinite wisdom and
power; and those attempts of the kingdom of Satan which in our eyes
are formidable in his are despicable. Sometimes God is said to
<i>awake,</i> and <i>arise,</i> and <i>stir up himself,</i> for the
vanquishing of his enemies; here is said to <i>sit still</i> and
vanquish them; for the utmost operations of God's omnipotence
create no difficulty at all, nor the least disturbance to his
eternal rest.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p12">2. They are justly punished, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.5" parsed="|Ps|2|5|0|0" passage="Ps 2:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. Though God despises them
as impotent, yet he does not therefore wink at them, but is justly
displeased with them as impudent and impious, and will make the
most daring sinners to know that he is so and to tremble before
him. (1.) Their sin is a provocation to him. He is wroth; he is
sorely displeased. We cannot expect that God should be reconciled
to us, or well pleased in us, but in and through the anointed; and
therefore, if we affront and reject him, we sin against the remedy
and forfeit the benefit of his interposition between us and God.
(2.) His anger will be a vexation to them; if he but speak to them
in his wrath, even the breath of his mouth will be their confusion,
slaughter, and consumption, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.4 Bible:2Thess.2.8" parsed="|Isa|11|4|0|0;|2Thess|2|8|0|0" passage="Isa 11:4,2Th 2:8">Isa. xi. 4; 2 Thess. ii. 8</scripRef>. He
speaks, and it is done; he speaks in wrath, and sinners are undone.
As a word made us, so a word can unmake us again. <i>Who knows the
power of his anger?</i> The enemies rage, but cannot vex God. God
sits still, and yet vexes them, puts them in to a consternation (as
the word is), and brings them to their wits' end: his setting up
this kingdom of his Son, in spite of them, is the greatest vexation
to them that can be. They were vexatious to Christ's good subjects;
but the day is coming when vexation shall be recompensed to
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p13">3. They are certainly defeated, and all
their counsels turned headlong (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.6" parsed="|Ps|2|6|0|0" passage="Ps 2:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion.</i> David was advanced to the throne, and became
master of the strong-hold of Zion, notwithstanding the disturbance
given him by the malcontents in his kingdom, and particularly the
affronts he received from the garrison of Zion, who taunted him
with their blind and their lame, their maimed soldiers, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.5.6" parsed="|2Sam|5|6|0|0" passage="2Sa 5:6">2 Sam. v. 6</scripRef>. The Lord Jesus is exalted
to the right hand of the Father, has all power both in heaven and
in earth, and is head over all things to the church,
notwithstanding the restless endeavours of his enemies to hinder
his advancement. (1.) Jesus Christ is a King, and is invested by
him who is the fountain of power with the dignity and authority of
a sovereign prince in the kingdom both of providence and grace.
(2.) God is pleased to call him <i>his</i> King, because he is
appointed by him, and entrusted for him with the sole
administration of government and judgment. He is his King, for he
is dear to the Father, and one in whom he is well pleased. (3.)
Christ took not this honour to himself, but was called to it, and
he that called him owns him: <i>I have set him;</i> his
commandment, his commission, he received from the Father. (4.)
Being called to this honour, he was confirmed in it; high places
(we say) are slippery places, but Christ, being raised, is fixed:
"<i>I have set him,</i> I have settled him." (5.) He is set upon
<i>Zion,</i> the hill of God's holiness, a type of the gospel
church, for on that the temple was built, for the sake of which the
whole mount was called <i>holy.</i> Christ's throne is set up in
his church, that is, in the hearts of all believers and in the
societies they form. The evangelical law of Christ is said to <i>go
forth from Zion</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.2.3 Bible:Mic.4.2" parsed="|Isa|2|3|0|0;|Mic|4|2|0|0" passage="Isa 2:3,Mic 4:2">Isa. ii.
3, Mic. iv. 2</scripRef>), and therefore that is spoken of as the
head-quarters of this general, the royal seat of this prince, in
whom the children of men shall be joyful.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p14">We are to sing <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.1-Ps.2.6" parsed="|Ps|2|1|2|6" passage="Ps 2:1-6">these verses</scripRef> with a holy exultation,
triumphing over all the enemies of Christ's kingdom (not doubting
but they will all of them be quickly made his footstool), and
triumphing in Jesus Christ as the great trustee of power; and we
are to pray, in firm belief of the assurance here given, "Father in
heaven, <i>Thy kingdom come;</i> let thy Son's kingdom come."</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.iii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.7-Ps.2.9" parsed="|Ps|2|7|2|9" passage="Ps 2:7-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.2.7-Ps.2.9">
<h4 id="Ps.iii-p14.3">The Triumphs of Messiah.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.iii-p15">7 I will declare the decree: the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.iii-p15.1">Lord</span> hath said unto me, Thou <i>art</i> my Son;
this day have I begotten thee.   8 Ask of me, and I shall give
<i>thee</i> the heathen <i>for</i> thine inheritance, and the
uttermost parts of the earth <i>for</i> thy possession.   9
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in
pieces like a potter's vessel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p16">We have heard what the kings of the earth
have to say against Christ's kingdom, and have heard it gainsaid by
him that sits in heaven; let us now hear what the Messiah himself
has to say for his kingdom, to make good his claims, and it is what
all the powers on earth cannot gainsay.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p17">I. The kingdom of the Messiah is founded
upon a decree, an eternal decree, of God the Father. It was not a
sudden resolve, it was not the trial of an experiment, but the
result of the counsels of the divine wisdom and the determinations
of the divine will, before all worlds, neither of which can be
altered—the <i>precept</i> or <i>statute</i> (so some read it),
the <i>covenant</i> or <i>compact</i> (so others), the federal
transactions between the Father and the Son concerning man's
redemption, represented by the covenant of royalty made with David
and his seed, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.3" parsed="|Ps|89|3|0|0" passage="Ps 89:3">Ps. lxxxix. 3</scripRef>.
This our Lord Jesus often referred to as that which, all along in
his undertaking, he governed himself by; <i>This is the will of him
that sent me,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:John.6.40" parsed="|John|6|40|0|0" passage="Joh 6:40">John vi.
40</scripRef>. <i>This commandment have I received of my
Father,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:John.10.18 Bible:John.14.31" parsed="|John|10|18|0|0;|John|14|31|0|0" passage="Joh 10:18,14:31">John x. 18; xiv.
31</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p18">II. There is a declaration of that decree
as far as is necessary for the satisfaction of all those who are
called and commanded to yield themselves subjects to this king, and
to leave those inexcusable who will not have him to reign over
them. The decree was secret; it was what the Father said to the
Son, when he possessed him in the beginning of his way, before his
works of old; but it is declared by a faithful witness, who had
lain in the bosom of the Father from eternity, and came into the
world as the prophet of the church, to declare him, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:John.1.18" parsed="|John|1|18|0|0" passage="Joh 1:18">John i. 18</scripRef>. The fountain of all being
is, without doubt, the fountain of all power; and it is by, from,
and under him, that the Messiah claims. He has his right to rule
from what Jehovah said to him, by whose word all things were made
and are governed. Christ here makes a tow-fold title to his
kingdom:—1. A title by inheritance (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.7" parsed="|Ps|2|7|0|0" passage="Ps 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>Thou art my Son, this day have
I begotten thee.</i> This scripture the apostle quotes (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.1.5" parsed="|Heb|1|5|0|0" passage="Heb 1:5">Heb. i. 5</scripRef>) to prove that Christ has a
more excellent name than the angels, but that he <i>obtained it by
inheritance,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.4" parsed="|Ps|2|4|0|0" passage="Ps 2:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>.
He is the Son of God, not by adoption, but his begotten Son, the
only begotten of the Father, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:John.1.14" parsed="|John|1|14|0|0" passage="Joh 1:14">John i.
14</scripRef>. And the Father owns him, and will have this declared
to the world as the reason why he is constituted King upon the holy
hill of Zion; he is therefore unquestionably entitled to, and
perfectly qualified for, that great trust. He is the Son of God,
and therefore of the same nature with the Father, has in him all
the fulness of the godhead, infinite wisdom, power, and holiness.
The supreme government of the church is too high an honour and too
hard an undertaking for any mere creature; none can be fit for it
but he who is <i>one with the Father</i> and was <i>from eternity
by him as one brought up with him,</i> thoroughly apprized of all
his counsels, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.8.30" parsed="|Prov|8|30|0|0" passage="Pr 8:30">Prov. viii.
30</scripRef>. He is the Son of God, and therefore dear to him, his
beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased; and upon this account we
are to receive him as a King; for because <i>the Father loveth the
Son he hath given all things into his hand,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.7" osisRef="Bible:John.3.35 Bible:John.5.20" parsed="|John|3|35|0|0;|John|5|20|0|0" passage="Joh 3:35,5:20">John iii. 35; v. 20</scripRef>. Being a Son, he is
heir of all things, and, the Father having made the worlds by him,
it is easy to infer thence that by him also he governs them; for he
is the eternal Wisdom and the eternal Word. If God hath said unto
him, "<i>Thou art my Son,</i>" it becomes each of us to say to him,
"Thou art my Lord, my sovereign." Further, to satisfy us that his
kingdom is well-grounded upon his sonship, we are here told what
his sonship is grounded on: <i>This day have I begotten thee,</i>
which refers both to his eternal generation itself, for it is
quoted (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.8" osisRef="Bible:Heb.1.5" parsed="|Heb|1|5|0|0" passage="Heb 1:5">Heb. i. 5</scripRef>) to prove
that he is the <i>brightness of his Father's glory and the express
image of his person</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.9" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.3" parsed="|Ps|2|3|0|0" passage="Ps 2:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>), and to the evidence and demonstration given of it by
his resurrection from the dead, for to that also it is expressly
applied by the apostle, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.10" osisRef="Bible:Acts.13.33" parsed="|Acts|13|33|0|0" passage="Ac 13:33">Acts xiii.
33</scripRef>. <i>He hath raised up Jesus again, as it is written,
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.</i> It was by the
resurrection from the dead, that sign of the prophet Jonas, which
was to be the most convincing of all, that he was <i>declared to be
the Son of God with power,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.11" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.4" parsed="|Rom|1|4|0|0" passage="Ro 1:4">Rom. i.
4</scripRef>. Christ is said to be the <i>first-begotten</i> and
<i>first-born from the dead,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.12" osisRef="Bible:Rev.1.5 Bible:Col.1.18" parsed="|Rev|1|5|0|0;|Col|1|18|0|0" passage="Re 1:5,Col 1:18">Rev. i. 5; Col. i. 18</scripRef>. Immediately
after his resurrection he entered upon the administration of his
mediatorial kingdom; it was then that he said, <i>All power is
given unto me,</i> and to that especially he had an eye when he
taught his disciples to pray, <i>Thy kingdom come.</i> 2. A title
by agreement, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.13" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.8-Ps.2.9" parsed="|Ps|2|8|2|9" passage="Ps 2:8,9"><i>v.</i> 8,
9</scripRef>. The agreement is, in short, this: the Son must
undertake the office of an intercessor, and, upon that condition,
he shall have the honour and power of a universal monarch; see
<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.14" osisRef="Bible:Isa.53.12" parsed="|Isa|53|12|0|0" passage="Isa 53:12">Isa. liii. 12</scripRef>,
<i>Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, because he
made intercession for the transgressors. He shall be a priest upon
his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them
both,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.15" osisRef="Bible:Zech.6.13" parsed="|Zech|6|13|0|0" passage="Zec 6:13">Zech. vi. 13</scripRef>.
(1.) The Son must ask. This supposes his putting himself
voluntarily into a state of inferiority to the Father, by taking
upon him the human nature; for, as God, he was equal in power and
glory with the Father and had nothing to ask. It supposes the
making of a satisfaction by the virtue of which the intercession
must be made, and the paying of a price, on which this large demand
was to be grounded; see <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.16" osisRef="Bible:John.17.4-John.17.5" parsed="|John|17|4|17|5" passage="Joh 17:4,5">John xvii.
4, 5</scripRef>. The Son, in asking the heathen for his
inheritance, aims, not only at his own honour, but at their
happiness in him; so that he intercedes for them, ever lives to do
so, and is therefore able to save to the uttermost. (2.) The Father
will grant more than to the half of the kingdom, even to the
kingdom itself. It is here promised him, [1.] That his government
shall be universal: he shall have <i>the heathen</i> for his
inheritance, not the Jews only, to whose nation the church had been
long confined, but the Gentiles also. Those in <i>the uttermost
parts of the earth</i> (as this nation of ours) shall be his
<i>possession,</i> and he shall have multitudes of willing loyal
subjects among them. Baptized Christians are the possession of the
Lord Jesus; they are to him for a name and a praise. God the Father
gives them to him when by his Spirit and grave he works upon them
to submit their necks to the yoke of the Lord Jesus. This is in
part fulfilled; a great part of the Gentile world received the
gospel when it was first preached, and Christ's throne was set up
there where Satan's seat had long been. But it is to be yet further
accomplished when <i>the kingdoms of this world shall become the
kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.17" osisRef="Bible:Rev.11.15" parsed="|Rev|11|15|0|0" passage="Re 11:15">Rev. xi. 15</scripRef>. <i>Who shall live when God doeth
this?</i> [2.] That it shall be victorious: <i>Thou shalt break
them</i> (those of them that oppose thy kingdom) <i>with a rod of
iron,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.18" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.9" parsed="|Ps|2|9|0|0" passage="Ps 2:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. This
was in part fulfilled when the nation of the Jews, those that
persisted in unbelief and enmity to Christ's gospel, were destroyed
by the Roman power, which was represented (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.19" osisRef="Bible:Dan.2.40" parsed="|Dan|2|40|0|0" passage="Da 2:40">Dan. ii. 40</scripRef>) by feet of iron, as here by a rod
of iron. It had a further accomplishment in the destruction of the
Pagan powers, when the Christian religion came to be established;
but it will not be completely fulfilled till all opposing rule,
principality, and power, shall be finally put down, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.20" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.15.24 Bible:Ps.110.5-Ps.110.6" parsed="|1Cor|15|24|0|0;|Ps|110|5|110|6" passage="1Co 15:24,Ps 110:5,6">1 Cor. xv. 24; Ps. cx. 5,
6</scripRef>. Observe, How powerful Christ is and how weak the
enemies of his kingdom are before him; he has a rod of iron
wherewith to crush those that will not submit to his golden
sceptre; they are but like a potter's vessel before him, suddenly,
easily, and irreparably dashed in pieces by him; see <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.21" osisRef="Bible:Rev.2.27" parsed="|Rev|2|27|0|0" passage="Re 2:27">Rev. ii. 27</scripRef>. "Thou shalt do it, that
is, thou shalt have <i>leave</i> to do it." Nations shall be
ruined, rather than the gospel church shall not be built and
established. <i>I have loved thee, therefore will I give men for
thee,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p18.22" osisRef="Bible:Isa.43.4" parsed="|Isa|43|4|0|0" passage="Isa 43:4">Isa. xliii. 4</scripRef>.
"Thou shalt have power to do it; none shall be able to stand before
thee; and thou shalt do it effectually." Those that will not bow
shall break.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p19">In singing this, and praying it over, we
must give glory to Christ as the eternal Son of God and our
rightful Lord, and must take comfort from this promise, and plead
it with God, that the kingdom of Christ shall be enlarged and
established and shall triumph over all opposition.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Ps.iii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.10-Ps.2.12" parsed="|Ps|2|10|2|12" passage="Ps 2:10-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Ps.2.10-Ps.2.12">
<h4 id="Ps.iii-p19.2">Warning to the Enemies of
Messiah.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Ps.iii-p20">10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be
instructed, ye judges of the earth.   11 Serve the <span class="smallcaps" id="Ps.iii-p20.1">Lord</span> with fear, and rejoice with
trembling.   12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish
<i>from</i> the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed <i>are</i> all they that put their trust in him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p21">We have here the practical application of
this gospel doctrine concerning the kingdom of the Messiah, by way
of exhortation to the kings and judges of the earth. They hear that
it is in vain to oppose Christ's government; let them therefore be
so wise for themselves as to submit to it. He that has power to
destroy them shows that he has no pleasure in their destruction,
for he puts them into a way to make themselves happy, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.10" parsed="|Ps|2|10|0|0" passage="Ps 2:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Those that would be wise
must be instructed; and those are truly wise that receive
instruction from the word of God. Kings and judges stand upon a
level with common persons before God; and it is as necessary for
them to be religious as for any others. Those that give law and
judgment to others must receive law from Christ, and it will be
their wisdom to do so. What is said to them is said to all, and is
required of every one of us, only it is directed to kings and
judges because of the influence which their example will have upon
their inferiors, and because they were men of rank and power that
opposed the setting up of Christ's kingdom, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.2" parsed="|Ps|2|2|0|0" passage="Ps 2:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. We are exhorted,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p22">I. To reverence God and to stand in awe of
him, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.11" parsed="|Ps|2|11|0|0" passage="Ps 2:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. This is
the great duty of natural religion. God is great, and infinitely
above us, just and holy, and provoked against us, and therefore we
ought to fear him and tremble before him; yet he is our Lord and
Master, and we are bound to serve him, our friend and benefactor,
and we have reason to rejoice in him; and these are very well
consistent with each other, for, 1. We must serve God in all
ordinances of worship, and all instances of a godly conversation,
but with a holy fear, a jealousy over ourselves, and a reverence of
him. Even kings themselves, whom others serve and fear, must serve
and fear God; there is the same indefinite distance between them
and God that there is between the meanest of their subjects and
him. 2. We must rejoice in God, and, in subordination to him, we
may rejoice in other things, but still with a holy trembling, as
those that know what a glorious and jealous God he is, whose eye is
always upon us. Our salvation must be wrought out <i>with fear and
trembling,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.2.12" parsed="|Phil|2|12|0|0" passage="Php 2:12">Phil. ii.
12</scripRef>. We ought to rejoice in the setting up of the kingdom
of Christ, but to <i>rejoice with trembling,</i> with a holy awe of
him, a holy fear for ourselves, lest we come short, and a tender
concern for the many precious souls to whom his gospel and kingdom
are a savour of death unto death. Whatever we rejoice in, in this
world, it must always be with trembling, lest we grow vain in our
joy and be puffed up with the things we rejoice in, and because of
the uncertainty of them and the damp which by a thousand accidents
may soon be cast upon our joy. To <i>rejoice with trembling is to
rejoice as though we rejoiced not,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.7.30" parsed="|1Cor|7|30|0|0" passage="1Co 7:30">1 Cor. vii. 30</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p23">II. To welcome Jesus Christ and to submit
to him, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.12" parsed="|Ps|2|12|0|0" passage="Ps 2:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. This
is the great duty of the Christian religion; it is that which is
required of all, even kings and judges, and it is our wisdom and
interest to do it. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p24">1. The command given to this purport:
<i>Kiss the Son.</i> Christ is called the <i>Son</i> because so he
was declared (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.7" parsed="|Ps|2|7|0|0" passage="Ps 2:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>),
<i>Thou art my Son.</i> He is the Son of God by eternal generation,
and, upon that account, he is to be adored by us. He is the <i>Son
of man</i> (that is, the Mediator, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:John.5.27" parsed="|John|5|27|0|0" passage="Joh 5:27">John v. 27</scripRef>), and, upon that account, to be
received and submitted to. He is called the <i>Son,</i> to include
both, as God is often called emphatically the <i>Father,</i>
because he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in him our
Father, and we must have an eye to him under both considerations.
Our duty to Christ is here expressed figuratively: <i>Kiss the
Son,</i> not with a betraying kiss, as Judas kissed him, and as all
hypocrites, who pretend to honour him, but really affront him; but
with a believing kiss. (1.) With a kiss of agreement and
reconciliation. Kiss, and be friends, as Jacob and Esau; let the
quarrel between us and God terminate; let the acts of hostility
cease, and let us be at peace with God in Christ, who is our peace.
(2.) With a kiss of adoration and religious worship. Those that
worshipped idols kissed them, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.19.18 Bible:Hos.13.2" parsed="|1Kgs|19|18|0|0;|Hos|13|2|0|0" passage="1Ki 19:18,Ho 13:2">1 Kings xix. 18; Hos. xiii. 2</scripRef>. Let
us study how to do honour to the Lord Jesus, and to give unto him
the glory due unto his name. <i>He is thy Lord, and worship thou
him,</i> <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.45.1" parsed="|Ps|45|1|0|0" passage="Ps 45:1">Ps. xlv. 11</scripRef>. We
must <i>worship the Lamb,</i> as well as him that sits on the
throne, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p24.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.5.9-Rev.5.13" parsed="|Rev|5|9|5|13" passage="Re 5:9-13">Rev. v. 9-13</scripRef>. (3.)
With a kiss of affection and sincere love: "<i>Kiss the Son;</i>
enter into a covenant of friendship with him, and let him be very
dear and precious to you; love him above all, love him in
sincerity, love him much, as she did to whom much was forgiven,
and, in token of it, kissed his feet," <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p24.6" osisRef="Bible:Luke.7.38" parsed="|Luke|7|38|0|0" passage="Lu 7:38">Luke vii. 38</scripRef>. (4.) With a kiss of allegiance
and loyalty, as Samuel kissed Saul, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p24.7" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.10.1" parsed="|1Sam|10|1|0|0" passage="1Sa 10:1">1
Sam. x. 1</scripRef>. Swear fealty and homage to him, submit to his
government, take his yoke upon you, and give up yourselves to be
governed by his laws, disposed of by his providence, and entirely
devoted to his interest.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p25">2. The reasons to enforce this command; and
they are taken from our own interest, which God, in his gospel,
shows a concern for. Consider,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p26">(1.) The certain ruin we run upon if we
refuse and reject Christ: "<i>Kiss the Son;</i> for it is at your
peril if you do not." [1.] "It will be a great provocation to him.
Do it, <i>lest he be angry.</i>" The Father is angry already; the
Son is the Mediator that undertakes to make peace; if we slight
him, the <i>Father's wrath abides upon us</i> (<scripRef id="Ps.iii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:John.3.36" parsed="|John|3|36|0|0" passage="Joh 3:36">John iii. 36</scripRef>), and not only so, but there is
an addition of the Son's wrath too, to whom nothing is more
displeasing than to have the offers of his grace slighted and the
designs of it frustrated. The Son can be angry, though a Lamb; he
is the lion of the tribe of Judah, and the wrath of this king, this
King of kings, will be as the roaring of a lion, and will drive
even mighty men and chief captains to seek in vain for shelter in
rocks and mountains, <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.16" parsed="|Rev|6|16|0|0" passage="Re 6:16">Rev. vi.
16</scripRef>. If the Son be angry, who shall intercede for us?
There remains no more sacrifice, no other name by which we can be
saved. Unbelief is a sin against the remedy. [2.] It will be utter
destruction to yourselves: <i>Lest you perish from the way,</i> or
<i>in</i> the way so some, <i>in</i> the way of your sins, and
<i>from</i> the way of your vain hopes; <i>lest your way perish</i>
(as <scripRef id="Ps.iii-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.6" parsed="|Ps|1|6|0|0" passage="Ps 1:6">Ps. i. 6</scripRef>), lest you prove
to have missed the way to happiness. Christ is the way; take heed
lest you be cut off from him as your way to God. It intimates that
they were, or at least thought themselves, in the way; but, by
neglecting Christ, they perished from it, which aggravates their
ruin, that they go to hell from the way to heaven, are not far from
the kingdom of God and yet never arrive there.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p27">(2.) The happiness we are sure of if we
yield ourselves to Christ. When his wrath is kindled, though <i>but
a little,</i> the least spark of that fire is enough to make the
proudest sinner miserable if it fasten upon his conscience; for it
will burn to the lowest hell: one would think it should therefore
follow, "When his wrath is kindled, woe be to those that despise
him;" but the Psalmist startles at the thought, deprecates that
dreadful doom and pronounces those blessed that escape it. Those
that trust in him, and so kiss him, are truly happy; but they will
especially appear to be so when the wrath of Christ is kindled
against others. Blessed will those be in the day of wrath, who, by
trusting in Christ, have made him their refuge and patron; when the
hearts of others fail them for fear they shall lift up their heads
with joy; and then those who now despise Christ and his followers
will be forced to say, to their own greater confusion, "Now we see
that <i>blessed are all those,</i> and those only, <i>that trust in
him.</i>"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Ps.iii-p28">In singing this, and praying it over, we
should have our hearts filled with a holy awe of God, but at the
same time borne up with a cheerful confidence in Christ, in whose
mediation we may comfort and encourage ourselves and one another.
<i>We are the circumcision, that rejoice in Christ Jesus.</i></p>
</div></div2>