#DailyDevotion Kiss The Son, Take Refuge In Him
Psalm 2 10Now then, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the world. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son or He’ll get angry and you’ll perish on your way; because His anger can blaze quickly. Blessed are all who find shelter in Him.
The prophet here calls upon all the kings of the earth to be wise and be warned. They should not follow the manner of the previous kings at the beginning of the psalm. Rather they are encouraged to serve the LORD with and fear and rejoice with trembling. They should recognize what Paul says in Romans 13, “1Everyone should obey the government that is over him, because there is no government except that which is put there by God. God has ordered our government to be over us. 2Then anyone who is against the government opposes what God has ordered, and those who oppose will be condemned…4It is God’s servant to help you. If you do wrong, you should be afraid, because the government doesn’t carry a sword without a purpose. It is God’s servant, an avenger, who must punish anyone doing wrong.” There certainly were Israelite and Jewish kings that realized this to some extant. Throughout Christendom, there have been emperors, kings, princes and sundry nobility and elected officials who recognize their authority and power is from God. Then again, many have used religion, the Christian religion in particular to further their own goals and just gave lip service to Christ as king.
They should all serve the LORD. They should serve him with fear. They stand in the place of God giving judgment among men and ordering their lives. They will have to give an account of the power and authority the LORD had given them on the Last Day. Did they use it for good or for selfish reasons? They should rejoice with trembling in their offices in which they represent God’s rule upon the earth. The best way I can picture this is a child so exited about something but they have to contain themselves.
The rulers of the earth are called to “Kiss the Son or He’ll get angry and you’ll perish on your way.” Kissing someone in authority in those days demonstrated submission to him. They and we should recognize Jesus is the Son in verse 7 who is the only-begotten Son of God from eternity and now in time as the God-Man, the descendant of David, the LORD’s Anointed one, to whom the LORD promised would sit on David’s throne forever. You can submit to Jesus, King of the Jews, King of kings and Lord of lords, now or be smashed by him later with his rod of iron.
Jesus certainly will be angry with all who have rejected his kindness, mercy, stead-fast love and forgiveness in this life. But it is not clear here whether it is the Jesus, the Son, or the LORD i.e. the Father whose anger and wrath is quickly or rather suddenly kindled. The last line of the psalm, “Blessed are all who find shelter in Him,” tells me it is more likely the Father for the “Him” we are called to take refuge in is the Son, Jesus Christ. Being baptized into Christ shields us from the wrath of God. The Son’s blood covers our sins and washes away our guilt and iniquities so the wrath of God does not touch us. Jesus, the Son, has already taken the brunt of God’s wrath for us on the cross. Taking refuge in his infinite mercy, kindness, stead-fast love and forgiveness keeps us on the day of judgment and we will be saved.
Heavenly Father, grant our rulers such wisdom they submit to the authority of Jesus and rule and govern us according to his will. Grant we too submit ourselves to our LORD Jesus Christ as King and give us faith to take refuge in him so we may not be touched by your fury on the Last Day in judgment. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.