I’m so glad someone put me onto Psalm 2, because it tells us God’s reaction to those who get snooty at the mention of Scripture being a good place to go for advice. Or that Jesus is the one who decides what’s right and wrong.
Any hint of God, Jesus or Scripture can get people very angry. It can cause irreparable rifts in families, and in several countries around the world it can get you killed, jailed, and tortured. And several people – in what used to be “democratic” countries – have been fired from their jobs for simply being Christians.
There’s something in the air, then, that like a virus is getting into people’s systems and causing an inflammatory reaction. And it soon became apparent in the book of Acts where this virus originated. It came from those in positions of power who didn’t like anyone challenging their authority, or their view of themselves as the only “go to” place for correct information. To propose any alternative was branded with what we would call today, “misinformation,” or worse still, “disinformation,” meaning deliberately intended to deceive.
Such was the situation in Acts 4:1-3, when the priests and their goons, “the temple guard,” along with the moralist Sadducee elite, got “greatly disturbed” about the apostles saying Jesus had come back to life again. Without hesitation they rounded the apostles up and herded them off to jail. They wanted the apostles silenced and punished (verses 17, 21).
But public support for the apostles got them released, so they shot back to their own people, reported the anger and threats of the officials, which brought Psalm 2:1-2 to mind: “Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one” (NLT). They could have added verse 3 too, “Let’s free ourselves from slavery to God.”
So this was what Jesus’ followers were up against: officials out to eradicate all mention of Jesus. Worrying? Not on your life, God says in verse 4, because “the one who rules in heaven laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.” He snorts in derision at those who believe they can suppress truth. To God they are cartoon characters. If only they knew.
Buck To Basics 
Exactly right!! They think they have all this power to lord it over people. But they only have what God allows and nothing more. They lack the celestial power of God—which is why God laughs at their puny efforts. Who do they think they are anyway? God can smash them like a hill of ants beneath His feet.
Has anyone ever seen what diatomaceous earth can do if you spread it on an ant hill? It can kill the whole colony. It’s how I once got rid of an ant infestation in my house. This fine powder literally sucks the life out of these little pests.
“And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matt 3:10; Luke 3:9)
But “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” (Psalm 92:12)
“He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.….. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1:3, 6)
LikeLike
It recently came to remembrance, a hymn that I learned in school of all places. Yeah, in those days of my childhood we actually learned hymns in school, along with our regular curriculum (reading, writing and arithmetic), instead of the crap the PTB force on our kids today.
It’s an old hymn—the original Greek text going back to the 4th century A.D.—not found in any of my hymnals, and which I haven’t heard sung in any of the churches I attended. The rendition in the link below is really beautiful. This hymn is loaded with scriptural meaning, the text along with relevant scripture references, I have included below the link.
LET ALL MORTAL FLESH KEEP SILENCE
Let all mortal flesh keep silence,……….(Habakkuk 2:20; Zechariah 2:13)
And with fear and trembling stand;…..(Deuteronomy13:4; Psalm 2:11)
Ponder nothing earthly minded,……….(Colossians 3:1-2)
For with blessing in His hand,………….(Colossians 3:4)
Christ our God to earth descendeth,….(Ephesians 4:10; Zechariah 2:10-11)
Our full homage to demand……………..(Psalm 2:12; Php 2:10)
King of kings, yet born of Mary,……….(Rev 19:16, 17:14, 1 Tim 6:15; Lk 1:27-28)
As of old on earth He stood,…………….(Daniel 7:13)
Lord of lords, in human vesture,………(Rev 19:16, 17:14, 1 Tim 6:15; Php 2:5-8)
In the body and the blood;………………(John 6:53-56)
He will give to all the faithful…………..(John 6:57)
His own self for heavenly food…………(John 6:58; Matt 26:26)
Rank on rank the host of heaven……..(Psalm 89:27-29)
Spreads its vanguard on the way,…….(John 1:23)
As the Light of light descendeth………(John 1:4, 14; Eph 4:9-10; Zech 2:10-11)
From the realms of endless day,………(Psalm 89:29)
That the powers of hell may vanish….(Psalm 89:48; Hosea 13:14)
As the darkness clears away…………….(1 John 2:8)
At His feet the six winged seraph,…….(Isaiah 6:2)
Cherubim with sleepless eye,…………..(Psalm 18:10; Rev 4:6, 8)
Veil their faces to His presence,……….(Isaiah 6:2)
As with ceaseless voice they cry:………(Revelation 4:8; Psalm 5:2)
Alleluia, Alleluia,……………………………(Revelation 19:1, 4)
Alleluia, Lord Most High!……………….(Revelation 19:1, 4; 4:8)
LikeLike