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Psalm 2 Bible study: Why do the nations rage?
The son of "You are my son" (2:7) and the Son of "Give sincere homage to the Son" (2:12) are two Hebrew words, ben and bar. And the set of "I have set my King" (2:6) is a verb Brown-Driver-Briggs gives as "set, install" in only two verses. The first believers prayed this psalm about Jesus (Acts 4:25-27).
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“I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“In Psalm 2, the LORD answers the plotting rulers by saying he has set his King on Zion.”
Is that in Psalm 2, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Voice after voice
Psalm 2 has no title, and it moves from voice to voice. First the psalm asks, "Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?" (2:1) (tap rage, plot). "The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his Anointed" (2:2) (tap Anointed). Then the rulers speak: "Let’s break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us" (2:3). Then the psalm turns to "He who sits in the heavens" (2:4), and he speaks: "Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion" (2:6). Then someone says, "I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me" (2:7), and gives what the LORD said to him: "You are my son" (2:7). The last three verses speak to the kings: "Now therefore be wise, you kings" (2:10). The psalm names no speaker beyond what these words show.
Where it leads to Jesus
Against his Anointed
Psalms 2:2leads toActs 4:25-27
The psalm asks, "Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?" (Psalm 2:1), and says the rulers "take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his Anointed" (Psalm 2:2). After Peter and John were let go (Acts 4:19, 4:21, 4:23), the believers prayed to God, "who by the mouth of your servant David, said" (Acts 4:25), and gave the psalm's words: "The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers plot together, against the Lord, and against his Christ" (Acts 4:26). Then they said who the words were about: "For truly, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed" (Acts 4:27). The WEB words the psalm and Acts a little differently: take counsel together and plot together, the LORD and the Lord, his Anointed and his Christ.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 2
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 2 is waiting in Favor
- The answer is a King
- My son, and the Son
- The first believers prayed this psalm
- A rod of iron in Revelation
- 6 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 2 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
מָשִׁיחַmashiachsay ma-SHEE-akh
Strong's: "anointed; usually a consecrated person (as a king, priest, or saint); specifically, the Messiah". Among the uses Brown-Driver-Briggs lists are Israel's anointed king and the high priest. "The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his Anointed" (2:2). The Psalms have it ten times in Hebrew, and the WEB has anointed in each. One is "He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his offspring, forever more" (Psalm 18:50). When the believers pray this verse, the WEB has "against the Lord, and against his Christ" (Acts 4:26).
For your group
Psalm 2 Bible study questions
- 1The rulers say, "Let’s break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us" (2:3). Where do you feel that pull in your own life, to be free of what God asks of you?
- 2When the first believers were threatened, they prayed this psalm and asked for boldness (Acts 4:24-29). What are you facing this week that you could bring to God with a psalm's words?
- 3"Blessed are all those who take refuge in him" (2:12). When things are hard, where do you tend to go first for refuge?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 2 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Can I read Psalm 2 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 2 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home