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Writer's pictureChris Dawes

October 24, 2024


Yesterday, our devotional blog post touched briefly on the content of the recorded sermons of the apostles. We saw that they invoked King David’s prophetic psalms multiple times in the process of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Today, I thought we could expand upon this topic a bit more.


Acts 13:32 And now we proclaim to you the good news: What God promised our fathers 33 He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:


‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’


34 In fact, God raised Him from the dead, never to see decay. As He has said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’  35 So also, He says in another Psalm:

‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’


36 For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay. 37 But the One whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.  38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.


The authorship of Psalm 2 is attributed to David by New Testament writers. Some of the Rabbis that contributed to the Talmud said Psalm 1 and 2 were originally one Psalm. That would be especially interesting in light of the fact that Psalm 1 speaks of the blessings God pours out upon men who meditate on and obey His Word. And then in Psalm 2 that is contrasted against the nations of people who conspire to literally oppose God’s Word, or Divine Decree concerning His Messiah-King. Let’s take a look at Psalm 2 to get the context and see if we can understand why Luke records two sermons with the same Psalm being cited as a proof text showing Jesus as the prophesied Anointed One. 


1Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

2The kings of the earth take their stand

and the rulers gather together,

against the LORD

and against His Anointed One:


Take note that the demonic conspiracy described here is against both Yahweh (the LORD) AND His Anointed One, or Messiah.


3 “Let us break Their chains

and cast away Their cords.”

4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

the Lord taunts them.

5 Then He rebukes them in His anger,

and terrifies them in His fury:


In context, the chains and cords that the rulers of this earth seek freedom from are connected to God’s Divine Decree which is quoted in the next verse. 


6 “I have installed My King on Zion,

upon My holy mountain.”


Mount Zion is where King David’s palace was in Jerusalem. It is also where the Temple Mount was constructed and the Temple itself stood. God, the Father, declares that He alone has appointed an Anointed Ruler whose reign of power will radiate outwards from Jerusalem from an especially holy and elevated location.


But then, things shift and the voice speaking in this Psalm is that of the promised Anointed King. He speaks up and quotes what God the Father decreed over Him.


7 I will proclaim the decree

spoken to Me by the LORD:

“You are My Son;

today I have become Your Father.


Some Bible translations say; “You are my Son, this day have I begotten You.”  This can be quite confusing if we don’t properly interpret these verses. The Jewish Rabbis are divided on their interpretation of who is speaking at this point in the Psalm. One of the most famous Rabbis, Rashi, claims that King David is actually the one speaking and relating what he heard God speak to him. 


But there are many others who disagree and argue that, even though this Psalm was penned by David, he was not speaking about himself but rather about a promised Messiah to rule and reign at a future date. There is very good reason to trust this as the correct interpretation, especially when we compare this portion of psalm 2 with another important passage in 1 Chronicles 17. Nathan, the prophet is speaking in this passage to David, inspired by the Spirit of God:


11 And when your days are fulfilled and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He will build a house for Me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his Father, and he will be My son. And I will never remove My loving devotion from him as I removed it from your predecessor. 14 But I will set him over My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.”


When we harmonize Psalm 2 with this passage, it becomes very apparent that the “son” David is speaking of is NOT himself or even Solomon, but rather, a special descendant of his. And this Anointed King whom God calls His “son” will need to be eternal, because God said he would rule forever


The decree God the Father made to this mysterious man He calls His “son” continues to be related through the mouth of that same anointed King as we continue to read Psalm 2:



8 Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance,

the ends of the earth Your possession.

9 You will break them with an iron scepter;

You will shatter them like pottery.”


At this point in the Psalm, it’s as though another voice speaks. From our Trinitarian point of view, it makes perfect sense that this last portion is voiced by the Holy Spirit:


10 Therefore be wise, O kings;

be admonished, O judges of the earth.

11 Serve the LORD with fear,

and rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry

and you perish in your rebellion,

when His wrath ignites in an instant.


Again, the “Son” is mentioned and the rebels of this world are invited to “Kiss” Him. What could this possibly mean? A number of things come to mind. First of all, we are aware of the respect shown to a figure like the Roman Catholic Pope through the act of kissing the ring he wears on his hand. The ring is a symbol of his position and authority, and kissing his ring is an act of humility and a public recognition of the legitimacy of his role in that office. 


We’ve also seen similar acts in movies about the Cosa Nostra, or the Mafia. Kissing the hand is a sign of respect and if that protocol is not followed, the repercussions can be quite severe. 


But I think the best way to think about this mysterious passage is in light of the New Testament word for “worship” which is “proskuneo.” The word splits apart as “in close proximity to” and the word for “dog.”  Sounds very strange, but scholars think the word evolved from the loving way a dog licks his master’s hand. It also is translated as “to kiss the hand or to kiss with the hand.” It is a word that implies a humbling act of devotion, loyalty and love which is, of course, what worship is supposed to be towards God. So, we can more easily understand what the Spirit of God is urging all rebellious people of the nations to do: to humbly bow before God’s appointed and anointed King who will be known as His Son. The anger the Father feels is completely righteous. He is not willing that anyone should perish but that all should come to repentance. We might even paraphrase the verse I am referencing from 2 Peter in this way: “God is not willing that any rebellious person perish eternally, but rather, His passionate desire is that they ‘Kiss the Son of God’, the Divinely appointed and anointed King who paid their sin debt and invites them into loving relationship with Him.”


Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.


If, as some of the Talmudic Rabbis claim, Psalm 1 and 2 were at one time united together as one, this final sentence is the perfect bookend. The “blessed” person is the one “whose delight is in the Law (Decree-Word) of the Lord”, and that person will also recognize the Divine Word of Yahweh is the Eternal “Son” we are implored to “kiss.” 


So, after doing a little more study on this amazing Psalm that our New Testament apostles cited to invite Jews and Gentiles to turn to Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, it becomes much more obvious why they would do so. One thousand years before Christ, King David had prophesied the coming of:


  1. A King who would be a physical descendant of his

  2. A King who who would be eternal because He would forever be ruling from an eternal throne

  3. A King who would be publicly revealed and proclaimed by God the Father as His own “begotten Son”


I hope this blesses you as much as it blesses me!  Tomorrow, as we finish up this week, we discuss more of the amazing messianic prophecies given to King David and how our NT apostles used them to bring people to God, the Son, Jesus Christ.


PRN:  Father in Heaven. We hear your Divine Decree today. It is our desire to be among the blessed ones who humble ourselves under your mighty hand and your magnificent Word. It is our desire to continually “Kiss the Son” of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, acknowledging His Kingship and His ownership of our lives, purchased by His precious Blood. It is our desire to always take refuge in our King and Messiah and it is in His name we pray, amen.

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