Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psalm 2:6 is God’s answer to the raging nations and rebellious rulers who oppose the LORD and His Anointed. Men imagine they can break His bands and cast away His cords (vv.1-3). God laughs at them from heaven and speaks unto them in His wrath (vv.4-5). What does He say? “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” Their rebellion does not alter His decree. The apostles identify these enemies as Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel gathered against Jesus Christ (Acts 4:25-28). The church itself took Psalm 2 upon its lips in prayer and praise to God for His Anointed King (Acts 4:24-28).
“Yet.” “Yet” is a conjunction of contrast. It sets God’s one sentence against all the raging, plotting, counsel, and rebellion of verses 1-5. Men say, “Let us break their bands asunder” (v.3); God answers, “Yet.” Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and Israel gathered against Jesus, but they could do only what God had already determined: “For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:28).
Their wickedness was real and fully theirs, but it never escaped His dominion. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (Psalm 76:10). God allowed the rulers to go no farther than His counsel appointed, and He made their wrath serve His glory. This one conjunction should steady the saints whenever earthly opposition appears great. Governments may threaten, rulers may unite, false religion may rage, and multitudes may reject Christ, yet none of them can overturn one sentence spoken from heaven.
“Have I set.” The action belongs to God Himself. Christ did not seize His throne by ambition, depend upon popular consent, or wait for earthly rulers to approve Him. God set Him. The words “have I set” are in the past tense: while the heathen are still raging, God speaks of His King as already set. The matter is settled before men finish their counsel. Peter explains the fulfillment through God’s oath to David: “Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;” (Acts 2:30).
After declaring His resurrection, Peter concluded, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). The eternal Word was God before He was made flesh (John 1:1,14), but the promised Son of David according to the flesh was raised and exalted to reign. Gabriel had already announced, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32). Men rejected Him, but God had settled the throne.
“My king.” “My” is a possessive pronoun, and in this verse it joins both the King and the holy hill to God Himself: “my king” and “my holy hill.” The King belongs to God by His appointment, and the place of His rule belongs to God by His choice. Jesus Christ is therefore not man’s king by invention, election, or permission. He is God’s King. This makes the rebellion of verses 1-3 especially wicked. The rulers do not resist a self-appointed claimant; they resist the One whom God has appointed. Jesus said, “He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). Men cannot claim honor for God while refusing His Christ.
Nor is Christ waiting for a future day before He begins to reign. Peter declared Him exalted at God’s right hand (Acts 2:33-36), and Paul wrote, “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet” (I Corinthians 15:25). He reigns now, though His enemies still rage, and He will reign until the last enemy, death, is destroyed at His coming (I Corinthians 15:23-26). The church must therefore treat Him as King now. His commandments bind, His doctrine rules faith, His ordinances govern worship and practice, and His authority extends over rulers, churches, families, and every creature. He said after His resurrection, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).
“Upon my holy hill of Zion.” Zion was the city of David and the place God chose for His name and worship, but the New Testament identifies the promised throne of David with the risen Christ’s exaltation. Peter joined God’s oath to David, Christ’s resurrection, and His enthronement in one argument (Acts 2:30-36). Believers are also said to have come unto mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22). Christ’s dominion is therefore not bounded by the earthly hill where David once ruled. God’s King reigns from heaven, and the command of this very psalm goes out to all kings and judges of the earth (vv.10-12).
The hill is also called “holy.” Christ’s kingdom is not established to protect rebellion, approve false worship, or bless sin. His reign is righteous and pure. “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;” (Hebrews 7:26). The King Himself is holy, His laws are holy, and His worship must be according to His command. Earthly rulers may legislate wickedness, churches may corrupt His commands, and men may despise His authority, but none of this changes the character of the throne. God has set a holy King upon His holy hill.
Do not measure Christ’s throne by the noise of rebels. “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 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” (vv.11-12). Bow to God’s King, trust Him, obey Him, and worship Him with fear and gladness.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psalm 2:6 is God’s answer to the raging nations and rebellious rulers who oppose the LORD and His Anointed. Men imagine they can break His bands and cast away His cords (vv.1-3). God laughs at them from heaven and speaks unto them in His wrath (vv.4-5). What does He say? “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” Their rebellion does not alter His decree. The apostles identify these enemies as Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel gathered against Jesus Christ (Acts 4:25-28). The church itself took Psalm 2 upon its lips in prayer and praise to God for His Anointed King (Acts 4:24-28).
“Yet.” “Yet” is a conjunction of contrast. It sets God’s one sentence against all the raging, plotting, counsel, and rebellion of verses 1-5. Men say, “Let us break their bands asunder” (v.3); God answers, “Yet.” Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and Israel gathered against Jesus, but they could do only what God had already determined: “For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done” (Acts 4:28).
Their wickedness was real and fully theirs, but it never escaped His dominion. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain” (Psalm 76:10). God allowed the rulers to go no farther than His counsel appointed, and He made their wrath serve His glory. This one conjunction should steady the saints whenever earthly opposition appears great. Governments may threaten, rulers may unite, false religion may rage, and multitudes may reject Christ, yet none of them can overturn one sentence spoken from heaven.
“Have I set.” The action belongs to God Himself. Christ did not seize His throne by ambition, depend upon popular consent, or wait for earthly rulers to approve Him. God set Him. The words “have I set” are in the past tense: while the heathen are still raging, God speaks of His King as already set. The matter is settled before men finish their counsel. Peter explains the fulfillment through God’s oath to David: “Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;” (Acts 2:30).
After declaring His resurrection, Peter concluded, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). The eternal Word was God before He was made flesh (John 1:1,14), but the promised Son of David according to the flesh was raised and exalted to reign. Gabriel had already announced, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32). Men rejected Him, but God had settled the throne.
“My king.” “My” is a possessive pronoun, and in this verse it joins both the King and the holy hill to God Himself: “my king” and “my holy hill.” The King belongs to God by His appointment, and the place of His rule belongs to God by His choice. Jesus Christ is therefore not man’s king by invention, election, or permission. He is God’s King. This makes the rebellion of verses 1-3 especially wicked. The rulers do not resist a self-appointed claimant; they resist the One whom God has appointed. Jesus said, “He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him” (John 5:23). Men cannot claim honor for God while refusing His Christ.
Nor is Christ waiting for a future day before He begins to reign. Peter declared Him exalted at God’s right hand (Acts 2:33-36), and Paul wrote, “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet” (I Corinthians 15:25). He reigns now, though His enemies still rage, and He will reign until the last enemy, death, is destroyed at His coming (I Corinthians 15:23-26). The church must therefore treat Him as King now. His commandments bind, His doctrine rules faith, His ordinances govern worship and practice, and His authority extends over rulers, churches, families, and every creature. He said after His resurrection, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18).
“Upon my holy hill of Zion.” Zion was the city of David and the place God chose for His name and worship, but the New Testament identifies the promised throne of David with the risen Christ’s exaltation. Peter joined God’s oath to David, Christ’s resurrection, and His enthronement in one argument (Acts 2:30-36). Believers are also said to have come unto mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22). Christ’s dominion is therefore not bounded by the earthly hill where David once ruled. God’s King reigns from heaven, and the command of this very psalm goes out to all kings and judges of the earth (vv.10-12).
The hill is also called “holy.” Christ’s kingdom is not established to protect rebellion, approve false worship, or bless sin. His reign is righteous and pure. “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;” (Hebrews 7:26). The King Himself is holy, His laws are holy, and His worship must be according to His command. Earthly rulers may legislate wickedness, churches may corrupt His commands, and men may despise His authority, but none of this changes the character of the throne. God has set a holy King upon His holy hill.
Do not measure Christ’s throne by the noise of rebels. “Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 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” (vv.11-12). Bow to God’s King, trust Him, obey Him, and worship Him with fear and gladness.