Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?Why do the nations rage, And the peoples meditate a vain thing?
6 sermons cite this verse
… is praising in heaven, there is more rebellion on earth as the nations are enraged at the thought of Christ returning. This is again a fulfillment of a Psalm from a thousand BC. Psalm 2 verse 1, why are the nations in an uproar and the people devising a vain thing? Verse 5, then God will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury saying, but as for me, I've installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. Do homage to the son that he not become angry and you perish in the way for his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are those who take refuge in him. The picture is we are in the final days of the tribulation. Man's rebellion is increasing. The tribulation judgments are intensifying, but notice the blessed assurance of God's faithfulness that occurs in verse 19. And the temple of God, which is in heaven, was opened. And the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple. And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. Just as people are thinking, things could not get worse here on earth. And those who are redeemed on earth are saying, where are you, Lord, when we need you the most? Suddenly, John says, I saw the heavens open. And although he had seen an earthly temple that he measured at the beginning of the chapter. Now he sees the heavens open and he sees the heavenly temple and he sees in the temple, the arc of the covenant. Remember that arc of …
… I remember hearing an old saintly pastor speak on Psalm 2, which describes the heathen. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine an empty or vain thing? Remember the passage? Why do the heathen rage? He leaned over the pulpit and he said, because they're heathen. Rather simple answer, isn't it? Why do the unbelievers reject? Because they're unbelievers. They're not sheep. You see, the man who rejects the claims of Jesus Christ, he doesn't need more information. Most of them have heard more than they can handle already. And you give them more information, it simply drives them deeper into confusion. The problem is not one of information. The problem is one of rejection. and they will simply use, give me more facts, as an excuse to keep from submitting their heart to the claims of Jesus. That's what these men did. But before we look at their reaction, I've got to show you a revelation here, right in the passage, verse 16, where you can be found. …
… was a thousand years old by the time they quote it here. So they said the Holy Spirit was at work through the mouth of David, King David, to give us the second Psalm. Why do the nations rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing? So they're basically saying, why would we be surprised by the opposition. Why would they be surprised then? And why would we at this point in the 21st century be surprised now? Surely any kind of even superficial view of contemporary Western culture and its impact throughout the rest of the world find you saying, God is never taken by surprise. The nations continue to rage, and the people continue to imagine vain things. There was a British empire once. When I went to school, we used to sing on the bus, Roe Britannia, Britannia, rule the waves. We can hardly put a meaningful vessel on the sea at this point in Great Britain. our stuff compared to American aircraft carriers looks like something that somebody got out of a secondhand shop somewhere and I say it as a member of both nations as it turns out but the fact of the matter is that the state of affairs in our world is such that unless we start to view the news through our Bibles rather than viewing our Bibles through the news, we're going to find ourselves in trouble. Start word before world. Word before world. You can leave all the news until you get your perspective. How would you get your perspective? In acknowledging who God is, …
… No parent wants their child destroyed. We also learn this about it in Psalm chapter 2, verse 1. This is a remarkable verse when God says, I'm going to laugh at your calamity. This is tough. I bet it's tough for God to say. You'll have nothing to do with me. You've forced me to wash my hands clean of you. And when your day of disaster comes, I'm going to laugh at you. You guys, you have to understand God is holy. This is not sarcasm. This is God's purity. This is God's holiness. And he says, I'm going to have to laugh in the day of calamity. Psalm 2 reminds me of that. Listen to this. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, that's Yah, Yahweh, and against his anointed. Hmm. Anointed is another word for Messiah. Interesting. Saying, let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. Let's cut God off from our world, our culture. …
… come flying overhead? What are you going to do in this world that is so prevailingly engaged against the work of the kingdom? Why do the nations rage and the people imagine a vain thing? Because they won't kiss the sun! And so the battle is our battle. The wall is not our wall to build. I looked, and I spoke to the group, and I said to them, Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome. This is our role. This is it. Don't be afraid. Fear not. That's what Jesus said. Fear not. Don't be afraid. Remember the Lord, who's great and awesome, and fight for your brothers and your sons and your daughters and your wives. This is not rhetoric. This is theology. we're in a fight for our sons and our daughters. Our sons and our daughters have grown up being schooled by three big lies, depending on where they've gone to school. Number one, there is no personal creator. Number two, there is no absolute morality. …
… the living God. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us burst our bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. and you will break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. …