Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Psalm 2:12 is the final command and warning of this Messianic psalm. The kings and judges who raged against the LORD and His Anointed have been told to be wise, receive instruction, serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling (vv.10-11). Now the matter becomes personal: they must submit to the Son Himself. This verse is instruction and warning spoken to the rulers of the earth, closing with a blessing. Refuse the King, and His wrath remains against rebellion; trust Him, and there is blessedness. The psalm ends by setting every ruler and every man before Christ.
“Kiss the Son.” The kiss is an act of homage, honor, and submission. When Samuel anointed Saul king over Israel, he poured oil upon his head and kissed him (I Samuel 10:1). The command therefore fits the royal setting exactly. The kings of the earth had taken counsel against the LORD and against His Anointed (v.2); now they are commanded to cease rebellion and honor the King God appointed. They cannot claim submission to God while rejecting His Son. Christ is not presented for negotiation, equal partnership, or ceremonial respect. God commands men to bow their will to His King.
The title “the Son” belongs to the Messiah identified earlier in the psalm. God had declared, “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (v.7). The eternal Word was God from the beginning, but He was made flesh and revealed as the promised Son in His incarnation (John 1:1,14; Luke 1:35). Psalm 2 therefore commands honor toward the incarnate King, Jesus Christ. The rulers who rejected Him were not rejecting an earthly pretender. They were resisting the Son whom God had appointed and set over His kingdom.
This command reaches farther than outward respect. Judas kissed Jesus while betraying Him (Luke 22:47-48). A physical sign without submission of heart is hypocrisy. Men may speak respectfully of Christ, celebrate His birth, admire His teaching, use His name, or call themselves Christian while refusing His commandments. Such gestures are no kiss of allegiance. Jesus asked, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Honor to the Son is proved by receiving His authority rather than by religious compliments.
“Lest he be angry.” Christ can be angry. The sentimental invention of a Christ without wrath is not the Christ of Scripture. Jesus looked round about on hardened men with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts (Mark 3:5). He drove buyers and sellers from the temple and condemned those who had made His Father’s house a house of merchandise (John 2:13-17). His holiness is not passive before rebellion. The King who receives homage also judges refusal.
The kings warned here raged against the LORD and His Anointed (vv.1-3), and the New Testament names them. After quoting this psalm (Acts 4:25-26), the church prayed, “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:27-28). Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee (Luke 3:1), set Him at nought (Luke 23:11); that same day he and Pilate, enemies before, were made friends (Luke 23:12). The chief priests persuaded the multitude to destroy Him (Matthew 27:20). They did what God had determined, yet by wicked hands (Acts 2:23). The warning to kiss the Son still stands against every ruler and every man.
“And ye perish from the way.” Rebellion has an end. The rulers imagined they could break God’s bands and cast away His cords (v.3), but their supposed freedom ends in destruction. To perish from the way is to be removed in the very course they chose against God. Proverbs warns, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). A path may appear powerful, popular, independent, or secure while moving directly toward ruin.
The warning also strips rebellion of its glamour. The kings of Psalm 2 appear strong when they gather together, but God sees men walking toward destruction. Their armies, offices, laws, alliances, and reputations cannot protect them from the anger of the Son. Herod the Great slew the children of Bethlehem to destroy the young Child (Matthew 2:13,16), but Herod died, and the Child lived (Matthew 2:19-20). His grandson, Herod Agrippa I, called Herod the king (Acts 12:1), arrayed himself in royal apparel and accepted divine honor, but the angel of the Lord smote him and he died (Acts 12:21-23). Earthly greatness cannot turn a wrong way into a safe one.
“When his wrath is kindled but a little.” The least kindling of Christ’s wrath is enough to overthrow proud men. Human rulers need armies, wealth, time, and opportunity to enforce their judgments. Christ does not. The city whose rulers gathered against Him learned this. Jesus warned that Jerusalem would be compassed with armies: “For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (Luke 21:20,22). In A.D. 70 the Romans laid the city even with the ground and left not one stone upon another (Luke 19:43-44). Of those who despised the marriage of the king’s son, Jesus said, “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (Matthew 22:7). Men must not mistake His patience for weakness.
“Blessed are all they.” The verse turns from warning to blessing. The same Son whose anger destroys rebels is the refuge of those who trust Him. “Blessed” describes a condition approved and favored by God. The word “all” reaches kings, judges, Jews, Gentiles, rich, poor, learned, and simple. No earthly rank excludes a man, and no earthly rank secures him. The Father gave the Son the heathen for His inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession (v.8), and men gathered from those very nations trust Him.
“That put their trust in him.” The verse ends with trust directed to the Son. This is stronger than admitting His existence or respecting His teaching. To trust Him is to rest confidence in Him as God’s appointed King and Saviour. Scripture forbids ultimate trust in man: “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:8). Yet Psalm 2 pronounces every man blessed who trusts in the Son. Such trust is proper because the Son is no ordinary man.
The New Testament joins the same blessing to trust in Christ: “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 10:11). The blessing of this verse is not promised to the rebel who refuses the Son, but to those who actually trust Him. Those who kiss the Son and take refuge in Him are kept from the shame and wrath that overtake rebels in the way; those who continue in resistance against Him have no part in it. God does not bless the man who will not trust and obey His King.
Psalm 2 ends where every rebel must end if he would be wise: at the feet of the Son. “He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). Stop raging against the King God has appointed, and give Jesus Christ the allegiance, obedience, worship, and confidence due unto Him.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Psalm 2:12 is the final command and warning of this Messianic psalm. The kings and judges who raged against the LORD and His Anointed have been told to be wise, receive instruction, serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling (vv.10-11). Now the matter becomes personal: they must submit to the Son Himself. This verse is instruction and warning spoken to the rulers of the earth, closing with a blessing. Refuse the King, and His wrath remains against rebellion; trust Him, and there is blessedness. The psalm ends by setting every ruler and every man before Christ.
“Kiss the Son.” The kiss is an act of homage, honor, and submission. When Samuel anointed Saul king over Israel, he poured oil upon his head and kissed him (I Samuel 10:1). The command therefore fits the royal setting exactly. The kings of the earth had taken counsel against the LORD and against His Anointed (v.2); now they are commanded to cease rebellion and honor the King God appointed. They cannot claim submission to God while rejecting His Son. Christ is not presented for negotiation, equal partnership, or ceremonial respect. God commands men to bow their will to His King.
The title “the Son” belongs to the Messiah identified earlier in the psalm. God had declared, “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee” (v.7). The eternal Word was God from the beginning, but He was made flesh and revealed as the promised Son in His incarnation (John 1:1,14; Luke 1:35). Psalm 2 therefore commands honor toward the incarnate King, Jesus Christ. The rulers who rejected Him were not rejecting an earthly pretender. They were resisting the Son whom God had appointed and set over His kingdom.
This command reaches farther than outward respect. Judas kissed Jesus while betraying Him (Luke 22:47-48). A physical sign without submission of heart is hypocrisy. Men may speak respectfully of Christ, celebrate His birth, admire His teaching, use His name, or call themselves Christian while refusing His commandments. Such gestures are no kiss of allegiance. Jesus asked, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). Honor to the Son is proved by receiving His authority rather than by religious compliments.
“Lest he be angry.” Christ can be angry. The sentimental invention of a Christ without wrath is not the Christ of Scripture. Jesus looked round about on hardened men with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts (Mark 3:5). He drove buyers and sellers from the temple and condemned those who had made His Father’s house a house of merchandise (John 2:13-17). His holiness is not passive before rebellion. The King who receives homage also judges refusal.
The kings warned here raged against the LORD and His Anointed (vv.1-3), and the New Testament names them. After quoting this psalm (Acts 4:25-26), the church prayed, “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:27-28). Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee (Luke 3:1), set Him at nought (Luke 23:11); that same day he and Pilate, enemies before, were made friends (Luke 23:12). The chief priests persuaded the multitude to destroy Him (Matthew 27:20). They did what God had determined, yet by wicked hands (Acts 2:23). The warning to kiss the Son still stands against every ruler and every man.
“And ye perish from the way.” Rebellion has an end. The rulers imagined they could break God’s bands and cast away His cords (v.3), but their supposed freedom ends in destruction. To perish from the way is to be removed in the very course they chose against God. Proverbs warns, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). A path may appear powerful, popular, independent, or secure while moving directly toward ruin.
The warning also strips rebellion of its glamour. The kings of Psalm 2 appear strong when they gather together, but God sees men walking toward destruction. Their armies, offices, laws, alliances, and reputations cannot protect them from the anger of the Son. Herod the Great slew the children of Bethlehem to destroy the young Child (Matthew 2:13,16), but Herod died, and the Child lived (Matthew 2:19-20). His grandson, Herod Agrippa I, called Herod the king (Acts 12:1), arrayed himself in royal apparel and accepted divine honor, but the angel of the Lord smote him and he died (Acts 12:21-23). Earthly greatness cannot turn a wrong way into a safe one.
“When his wrath is kindled but a little.” The least kindling of Christ’s wrath is enough to overthrow proud men. Human rulers need armies, wealth, time, and opportunity to enforce their judgments. Christ does not. The city whose rulers gathered against Him learned this. Jesus warned that Jerusalem would be compassed with armies: “For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (Luke 21:20,22). In A.D. 70 the Romans laid the city even with the ground and left not one stone upon another (Luke 19:43-44). Of those who despised the marriage of the king’s son, Jesus said, “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city” (Matthew 22:7). Men must not mistake His patience for weakness.
“Blessed are all they.” The verse turns from warning to blessing. The same Son whose anger destroys rebels is the refuge of those who trust Him. “Blessed” describes a condition approved and favored by God. The word “all” reaches kings, judges, Jews, Gentiles, rich, poor, learned, and simple. No earthly rank excludes a man, and no earthly rank secures him. The Father gave the Son the heathen for His inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession (v.8), and men gathered from those very nations trust Him.
“That put their trust in him.” The verse ends with trust directed to the Son. This is stronger than admitting His existence or respecting His teaching. To trust Him is to rest confidence in Him as God’s appointed King and Saviour. Scripture forbids ultimate trust in man: “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:8). Yet Psalm 2 pronounces every man blessed who trusts in the Son. Such trust is proper because the Son is no ordinary man.
The New Testament joins the same blessing to trust in Christ: “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 10:11). The blessing of this verse is not promised to the rebel who refuses the Son, but to those who actually trust Him. Those who kiss the Son and take refuge in Him are kept from the shame and wrath that overtake rebels in the way; those who continue in resistance against Him have no part in it. God does not bless the man who will not trust and obey His King.
Psalm 2 ends where every rebel must end if he would be wise: at the feet of the Son. “He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). Stop raging against the King God has appointed, and give Jesus Christ the allegiance, obedience, worship, and confidence due unto Him.