THE TEXT IN THE BIBLICAL CONTEXT AND LIFE OF THE CHURCH
Psalm 2 as Introduction to the Psalter
The placement of the first two psalms is not by accident. Some early Hebrew manuscripts have Psalms 1 and 2 written as a single psalm.
Some have Psalm 2 as the first psalm, with Psalm 1 as the prologue.
Regarding the placement of Psalms 1 and 2, B. W. Anderson writes: “These two themes—the revelation of God’s will in the Torah and the hope for the coming of the Messiah to inaugurate God’s kingdom—constituted the two cardinal beliefs of the Jewish people at the time the Psalter was given its final form” (1983:23).
In looking at book I of the Psalter, almost all the psalms from Psalm 3 to Psalm 41 carry a superscription of attribution to David.
The exceptions, Psalms 10 and 33, may each be linked to the preceding psalm. Psalm 2, affirming the covenant made with David at his coronation, may have been prefixed to the sequence of “Davidic”
psalms (3–41) as the LORD’s assurance of continued protection for David against his scheming enemies (Holladay: 77) [Composition; Superscriptions].
As introduction to the Psalter, Psalm 2 identifies themes found throughout the psalms. God is enthroned in the heavens. The king, made holy by divine choice and anointed regent, represents God’s rule in the world. All nations and people with their rulers belong to his dominion. The nations appear as opponents. They are under the wrath of God, but they are offered the service of the LORD as a better
way. The invitation to the readers is to “take refuge in him.” Psalm 2 points forward to all the following prayers as the liturgy of those who take refuge in the LORD amid all that threatens life (Mays,
1994b:48). In its context, Psalm 2 is a royal psalm that points up the ideology of a divinely appointed king, and so functions as an introductory psalm to have the reader view the psalms from an eschatological viewpoint.
Psalm 2 as Reinterpreted in the New Testament
Originating with the promises of the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 7, the hope of an ideal anointed one was nurtured by the eleven Royal psalms (2; 18; 20; 21; 45; 72; 89; 101; 110; 132; 144) [Psalm
Genres]. These psalms, focusing on the king, speak in hopeful and extravagant language. Yet king after king was a disappointment. After Judah fell to the Babylonians, there were no more kings. Yet the Jews
still used royal psalms, expressing the people’s hope for an ideal king.
Thus, the royal psalms became seedbed for messianic hope (Limburg, 2000:7).
The early Christians came to believe that in Jesus the Messiah had come. They read the royal psalms in that belief. The NT often quotes or refers to Psalm 2. It is quoted in connection with the baptism of Jesus and his transfiguration. At Jesus’ baptism the heavenly voice declares: “This is my Son, the Beloved” (Matt 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). At the transfiguration the affirmation comes: “This is my Son, the Beloved. . . . Listen to him!” (Matt 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35). A nuance already implicit in Psalm 2:7 (2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27) is that the son is chosen by God and that God is “well pleased” with his son.
On his first mission journey Paul preaches a sermon at Antioch in Pisidia. In telling the story of Jesus, he draws on this psalm, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you” (Acts 13:33), to refer to the resurrection of Jesus. Psalm 2:7 is quoted also in Hebrews 1:5 and 5:5 in support of Christ’s divine sonship and exaltation.
Other NT quotations of Psalm 2 include verses 1-2 in Acts 4:25-26, where the enemies conspiring in vain against the Lord and his anointed are identified as Herod, Pilate, and those set against Jesus
and his followers; verses 8-9 in Revelation 2:26-27, regarding authority over the nations to the one “who conquers and continues to do my works,” and in Revelation 19:15, on how the Word of God will rule
the nations. Some also see Psalm 2:8 as foreshadowing the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20; Acts 1:8).
Use of Psalm 2 by the Church
Since the NT gave a messianic interpretation to Psalm 2, it is also extensively quoted by early church writers, beginning with Clement, bishop of Rome, at the end of the first century AD (1 Clement 36.4).
Justin Martyr (ca. 150) understood Psalm 2 as a testimony of Herod, the Jews, and Pilate conspiring against Christ. Origen of Alexandria (ca. 185-254) took it for granted that the psalm deals with Jesus
Christ; he proposed that in 2:3 Christ addressed the angels. Jerome (ca. 342-420) also saw Psalm 2 as referring to Jesus Christ, and Christ’s opponents as all the kings of the world mentioned at Christ’s
temptation in the wilderness. Theodore of Mopsuestia (ca. 350-428) identified “the Lord and his anointed” as the Father and the Son, and the “rulers” as the scribes and Pharisees (Holladay: 162-63, 169-70, 172, 174).
Martin Luther (1483-1546) spoke of David as author of the psalm and that the psalm speaks of Christ. He identified the “rod of iron” (v. 9) as “the holy Gospel which is Christ’s royal scepter in his Church”
(Luther, 1974:35). In this psalm John Calvin (1509-1564) saw David describing his own kingship. He also viewed David as a “type” for Christ, who prophesied concerning Christ (J. Anderson, 1:9).
Psalm 2 plays a prominent role in lectionaries, prayer books, and hymnals of the church. Perhaps most striking is the musical setting by G. F. Handel. Who can forget the thundering bass solo of The
Messiah: “Why do the nations so furiously rage together?” Handel’s oratorio then follows with a chorus, “Let us break their bonds asunder,” and the tenor solo, “Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s
vessel.” After these songs comes the magnificent “Hallelujah” chorus. The “messianic” character of Psalm 2 is well established!
Learning from Nationalistic Poetry Today
The royal psalms are nationalistic poetry. Jacob J. Enz has called attention to how the NT writers appear to have deliberately ripped these metaphors out of their context of nationalism, earthly power,
and brutality “and used them to compose a new hymn of imperialism, the imperialism of love and truth and righteousness and judgment” (Enz: 72) [Hebrew Poetry].
Does the NT’s broad use of this psalm as a pointer to Jesus as the Messiah deliberately invite the reader to go back and read the whole psalm? What is the Messiah’s way? Is it not ultimately the way of humility and suffering, as revealed in Jesus, the heaven-approved Messiah?
How do the squabbles among the nations look from God’s perspective?
How foolish the politics of cold war or preemptive war must appear! How devastating will unchecked military buildup be? What if God’s sovereign lordship over the earth is not to be mocked? Will an
unbridled militarism become the means of God’s wrath on the rebellion of humanity to his lordship? Will human power and military hardware decide the history of people and nations, or is there another way
to security and fullness of life?
This psalm, possibly written for the coronation of a king, kept hope alive after the exile for the “coming one” who would rule with righteousness and justice. For the Christian church, the psalm spoke of Jesus as the Messiah. Psalm 2 thus takes on a mission message for followers of the King of kings and Lord of lords. God’s sovereignty is over all peoples and nations.
Fonte: Believers Church Bible Commentary: Psalms - James H. Waltner
Pesquisa: Pastor Charles Maciel Vieira
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