Псалом 2

In the Hebrew, Greek and Latin Bibles this psalm does not have the name of David in its inscription; The inscription of this name existing in the Russian Bible is confirmed by the testimony of Prince. Acts (Acts 4:25), where Ap. Peter, quoting the words of verses 1 and 2 of this psalm, calls them the words of God, spoken “by the mouth of our father David, your servant.” In Ps.2:1-4 v. the failure of the enemy's attack on God's anointed is predicted. The reason for this failure is the great protection of him from God and the promise that the power of this anointed one will spread even throughout the whole world (Ps. 2:5-9), therefore his present reign over holy Zion (Ps. 2:6) will be unshakable. The holiness of Mount Zion depends on the presence of God on it, a visible sign of which is the presence of the Icon of the Covenant on it. Therefore, one can think that the psalm was written after David brought the ark from Kariath-jearim to Zion. David's reign was a time of constant war. The most powerful uprising against him was the uprising of the united forces of the Syrians and Ammonites. One might think that the revolt of the peoples depicted in the psalm against David took place during his war with the Syro-Ammonites. The main content of the psalm is devoted to the disclosure of the promise that was given by God to David about his future universal power over the world. Such a promise, as can be seen from historical books (2 Samuel 7:12–16), was given to David through the prophet Nathan about his Descendant, whose kingdom would be eternal. From all that has been said, we can conclude that this psalm was written after the transfer of the Icon to Zion regarding the promise given to David about a Descendant during the war with the Syrian-Ammonites. In the first part of the psalm (1-9), David expresses bewilderment and regret that the kings of the earth rebelled against God and His anointed, when such a rebellion by its very essence cannot end in success, like the revolt of the weak against the strong (1-5). The authority of the anointed one will remain unshakable, since he received the promise from God not only to be king over Zion, but also over the whole world (6-9). Therefore, it would be more prudent for kings if, instead of fighting with God and His son, they submitted to Him, so as not to incur complete destruction from the Lord (10-12). Ps.2:1. Why do peoples rebel, and nations plot in vain? Ps.2:2. The kings of the earth rise up, and the princes take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed. “They are restless” - they are worried, “they are plotting in vain” - they are plotting the impossible; “kings” are the highest rulers of the state, “princes” are military leaders. By the Anointed One, David could mean himself, since he received power over the Jewish people from God through the anointing of them by the prophet Samuel. Ps.2:3. “Let us break their bonds, and cast off their fetters from us.” “Break the bonds” and “overthrow the fetters” clarify the purpose of the uprising. David's power increased to a high degree. To put an end to his further development, the neighboring pagan peoples who remained independent aroused the tribes he had already conquered against David and united with them in order to jointly break his spreading power. Such was the rebellion of the Ammonites (2 Sam. 10:6–13), who incited against David and the Syrians (2 Sam. 10:6), who had previously been conquered by David (2 Sam. 8:5–6). Ps.2:4. He who lives in heaven will laugh; the Lord will mock him. Ps.2:5. Then He will say to them in His anger and with His wrath will throw them into confusion: “He who lives in heaven” - by the will of the Lord and with His direct help to David, this enterprise of the enemies, instead of glory, will bring them reproach and ridicule, that is, it will end in failure, which really happened and had to happen, since the enemies entered into a struggle with God, David’s patron, an omnipotent being. Ps.2:6. “I have anointed My King over Zion, My holy mountain” 1 Ps.2:7. I will proclaim the decree: The Lord said to Me: You are My Son; Today I have given birth to You; David contrasts the unshakable strength of his throne with the failure of the enterprise of his enemies; the latter “willfully” rebelled against him, but David was “anointed” by the Lord. The enemies must perish, since David received such a promise from God: “Thou art my Son: today have I begotten thee.” In connection with the speech and in relation to the historical position of David in the fight against the Syro-Ammonites, this promise can be understood as David’s expectation of help from God in this particular case, since he is the son of God, that is, he is under His special protection, and it is natural that the father protects the son born to him (7). Ps.2:8. ask of Me, and I will give the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession; Ps.2:9. You will strike them with a rod of iron; You will break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” David is promised by God the expansion of power over the whole earth (8), but his enemies will be as powerless before him as clay vessels are weak before an iron stick. “Rod” is a staff, as a necessary accessory for shepherds. They passed the sheep under the staff to count, and the staff in their hands served as a sign of their power over the flocks. The “iron” staff serves as an image of the indestructibility of this power. Since the psalm was written about the uprising of David’s enemies, then by contrition here we must understand the death of those who rise up against him. Ps.2:10. So, understand, kings; learn, judges of the earth! Ps.2:11. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice [before Him] with trembling. Ps.2:12. Honor the Son, lest He be angry, and lest you perish on your journey, for His anger will soon kindle. Blessed are all who trust in Him. The enemies of David “the judges of the earth” are the highest dignitaries, one can also understand the kings, who also owned judicial power, must come to their senses (“understand and learn”) that they need not fight against God, but work with reverence before Him, that is, serve Him, and for the mercies they receive from Him, rejoice before Him with reverent “awe”, with humility, and not with pride consciousness of one's merits and one's strength. Their continued resistance to God will cause His wrath and their destruction. We have indicated the connection of thoughts in this psalm and its content as applied to the circumstances of its origin and the reasons for its writing. But the entire content of the psalm cannot be applied with precision to the person of David and his time. For example, 1) in 1 tbsp. depicts an uprising against the anointed one of all the nations of the earth, which there was no nationwide uprising against David. 2) God’s birth of David “today” (v. 7) literally, of course, cannot be understood. 3) at 9–10 art. the spread of David's power throughout the world is predicted, which historically did not come true. All of the above indicates that the content of the psalm cannot be placed within the historical framework of David’s time and the personality of David. We have already indicated that David was given a promise that a Descendant would descend from him, whose power would be indestructible and eternal. The promised Messiah was the same Descendant, and the words of v. 7. according to the book Acts 13 et seq. to Heb. 1:5 refer to the incarnation of the Son of God. The first two verses in the book. Acts 4:27–28, according to the explanation of the apostles, are attached to the depiction of the rebellion against Christ as representatives of the Jewish authorities. the people, and the Roman one, in the person of Pilate; At that time the Roman monarchy was world-wide; and the uprising of the Romans against Christ was the uprising of the entire world of that time. Thus, the historical circumstances that gave rise to the writing of the psalm also served as a reason for David to depict future messianic times, and therefore this psalm is prophetic and messianic. According to the translation of the 70: I have been appointed by Him as King over Zion, His holy mountain. You might be interested in: