Bible Commentaries

Missions: Promises and Prophecies

Psalm 2:8

This brief Psalm is not, like most of the Psalm 2:8

Archbishop Tait (when Bishop of London) took this as the text of his C.M.S. sermon in1859 , on the day following the national thanksgiving for the final restoration of peace and order in India after the Mutiny.

Psalm 2:10

This verse was the remonstrance addressed to Henry VIII. at Smithfield by John Lambert, who was burned in1538: "Now, ye kings, understand O ye which judge the earth, be wise and learned. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling."

Lambert's martyrdom was one of the most cruel of that time, and the often-quoted words came from him as he lifted his fingers flaming with fire," None but Christ, none but Christ".

—John Ker.

Christian Reverence

Psalm 2:11

In heaven love will absorb fear, but in this world fear and love must go together. No one can love God aright without fearing Him, though many fear Him and yet do not love Him. Self-confident men, who do not know their own hearts, or the reasons they have for being dissatisfied with themselves, do not fear God, and they think this bold freedom is to love Him. Deliberate sinners fear but cannot love Him. But devotion to Him consists in love and fear, as we may understand from our ordinary attachment to each other. No one really loves another who does not feel a certain reverence towards him. When friends transgress this sobriety of affection, they may indeed continue associates for a time, but they have broken the bond of union. It is mutual respect which makes friendship lasting. So again, in the feelings of inferiors towards superiors. Fear must go before love. Till he who has authority shows he has it and can use it, his forbearance will not be valued duly; his kindness will look like weakness. We learn to contemn what we do not fear; and we cannot love what we contemn. So in religion also. We cannot understand Christ's mercies till we understand His power, His glory, His unspeakable holiness, and our demerits; that Psalm 2:12

We are thus told that Christ at His coming will greet us most lovingly. He will not come to destroy the human race, but to save all those who flee to Him, as He says, Come unto Me, all ye that labour. These words are a pleasant salutation and the sweetest kiss that He offers us. Christ does not enter Jerusalem, as Herod did, slaying the people, but offering salvation to all.

—Melanchthon on the Psalm.

References.—II:12.—Expositor (3Series), vol. v. p305. G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p133. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v. No260. I. Williams, The Psalm Interpreted of Christ, p86. S. Cox, Expositor (2Series), vol. iii. p13. F. W. Macdonald, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iii. p81. S. Black, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. iv. p316. Parker, The Ark of God, p117. S. A. Brooke, The Spirit of the Christian Life, p95.