Page 59 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

With this reading, we understand that the identity of the righteous one of Psalm 1 is revealed in Psalm 2.
He is the anointed of Yahweh (2:2), also designated as Yahweh’s Son (2:7). English translations often fail
to capitalize the words “anointed” (also meaning “messiah”) and “son,” yet the psalm clearly indicates
his connection to Yahweh. “He is God’s son in an absolutely unique sense…. He in fact partakes of the
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divine nature.” “The perfect man portrayed in the opening verses of this first Psalm is, first of all, the
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LORD Jesus Christ.”

The NT confirms the identity of God’s anointed in the church’s early evangelism (Acts 13:33) and in the
theological argument of Hebrews (1:5; 5:5). God himself makes the same identification at the baptism of
Jesus (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22) and his transfiguration (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35). “This
is my Son whom I love.” God the Father is Son centered. He has a deep, personal affection for his Son. No
one matters more to him than his Son. Any human individually and all humans collectively mean less to
him than his Son.

God has laughed at the counsels and ravings of the wicked, and now Christ the
Anointed himself comes forward, as the Risen Redeemer, “declared to be the Son of God
with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Rom.
1:4).” Looking into the angry faces of the rebellious kings, the Anointed One seems to
say, “If this suffices not to make you silent, ‘I will declare the decree.’” Now this decree is
directly in conflict with the device of man, for its tenor is the establishment of the very
dominion against which the nations are raving. ‘Thou art my Son.’ Here is a noble proof
of the glorious Divinity of our Immanuel.
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Psalm 2 ends with a second use of “blessed.”
“Blessed are all who take refuge in him (v. 12).”
Here the wicked are offered a way of becoming
righteous. Those who serve Yahweh with fear,
those who kiss the son, will take refuge in him.
Instead of trying to establish their own
righteousness through keeping the law or throwing
away the law completely, they will trust in the Son.
“Verses 11 and 12 indicate an opportunity for
repentance and service to God and his king, and
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thereby escape perdition.” Figure 32: Human refugee camp

Strikingly, here in the first songs of Psalms is the heart of NT hope. Because the Son lives constantly in a
state of blessedness, we too can share in his blessings by faith. “Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3,

95 Cole, Psalms 1-2, 113.
96 Arno C. Gaebelein, The Book of Psalms (Neptune: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc. 1939), 18.
97 C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1970), vol. 1, 12.
98 Cole, Psalms 1-2, 123.
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