Psalm 2:7-12
Have
you ever had to deliver difficult news to someone and you were pretty sure how
they would handle it? I used to get called whenever someone got a Red Cross
message. I was to be there to help them handle whatever news the message contained.
In case you don’t know, Red Cross messages never carry good news. They are
almost always about very serious illness or death of a close relative. It is
the official way for the military to verify the news, before allowing the
service member to go on emergency leave.
My
job was not to deliver the message, but to deal with the emotional aftermath.
It is that aftermath that many people just can’t handle, especially when it is
happening in someone else.
Imagine
having to deliver news that affects entire nations, negative news, news that
will change their everyday lives. Y2K had the possibility of changing the
course of history. If all the computers jumped backward 100 years in time,
banking systems messed up all the payments and interest calculations, power
station operating systems frozen, cars stopped because their computer chips
didn’t know what date it was, how would that have changed your life?
Or
if an enemy launched an EMP device over New York City, or Washington DC,
stopping all electronic devices, the chaos would be unimaginable. It would take
years to recover. How would you like to be the one to go on TV, every radio
station, and give the six minute warning that all electronics would go fail?
King
David and his successors had good news for Israel and at the same time bad news
for their enemies. The LORD had established Israel’s place in history. He was
protecting them. Those who opposed them would be crushed by His hand. Not the
most pleasant news to deliver. Just like toddlers, I am sure the nations tested
the rules and received the punishment appropriate to their rebellion.
The
LORD set up an intimate family relationship with David and the nation of
Israel. He made promises to them. He put His reputation on the line for them.
If they remained faithful to Him, and that is a big IF, then the LORD said
certain things would happen as a result. They would be the leading nation in
the world. They would be the ones in charge of what happens in the earthly
realm. And if someone tries to oppose this Divinely ordered order, then they
would receive the negative consequences. They will get squashed like a bug,
smashed like a piece of pottery.
In
order to avoid the negative consequences of rebellion against the LORD, the
nations, and we ourselves, are encouraged to serve the LORD. We are to put Him
in His place in our lives, personally and corporately. They were to recognize David
as their king, and the LORD as David’s King. They were to live with the LORD’s
chain of command active in their lives. They were not in charge, He was and is.
We
might not have a divinely appointed king in our lives the way Israel did. But
we do have a chain of command. The LORD is in charge. We can choose to
acknowledge that in every area of our lives, or we can live with the blind
illusion of control. If only our leaders would acknowledge the LORD’s place in
the world, over it in fact. The world would be a very different place. The
power struggles that dominate our world would be non-existent. If only we as
individuals all submitted. His will on earth as it is in heaven.