He's not only awake; He has a plan

The first three verses that we studied talked about the rebellious kings who wanted to cast off the leadership and authority of God.

The next group of verses talks about God's response:

He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. 

5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, 

6 "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." 

7 "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 

8 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. 

9 'You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware. (Psalm 2:4-9)

I saw this summed up in a commentary in three words: God is sovereign. Pretty succinct!

In the picture that the psalmist is painting for us, God doesn't even get up from His throne to deal with the silly schemes of rebel kings.

He sits.

And He scoffs.

This does NOT mean that God takes lightly the rebellion, or its horrible results. It doesn't mean He chuckles at their antics. He doesn't get any amusement out of their kicking over the traces, or of the destruction and death that can follow.

 "Say to them, 'As I live!' declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?' (Ezekiel 33:11)

Instead, His laughter shows the absolute foolishness of rebelling against Him, the folly of thinking we humans know more and know better.

Mighty men may rise up and in their pride, think that they are so awesome! So powerful! God laughs: "Are you kidding?" Who is puny little man to try to stand up against the Sovereign God? He does things according to His will:

He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. (Daniel 2:21)

Remember Nebuchadnezzar? In his day, he was the top dog - the mightiest ruler on the earth. He had a massive pride; he even attributed his greatness to himself, and did not honor God. God humbled him so that he lived in the fields until he learned better:

You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. (Daniel 4:25)

When Nebuchadnezzar honored God and praised Him, a startling transformation occurred:

At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”  (Daniel 4:36-37)

Many a proud and powerful man has been "taken down a peg or two" as my grandma used to say. God is not worried about man's rebellion against Him; He doesn't sit in heaven and wring His hands, oh, whatever shall I do about those rebels? He will allow man (or woman) to persist for a while in His rebellion; He will give him or her a chance to change; then His anger and judgment will come and the proud plans of humans will be dashed.

I think the psalmist wanted us to know that God is not only awake, and aware of things -- He also has a plan. God's plan centers on the person of God's Son, the Messiah, the Anointed One. God sent Jesus into the world to pay the penalty for man's rebellion. He knew the timing, and He knew how it would happen:

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (Galatians 4:4)

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, died according to the plan and the foreknowledge of God at the hands of wicked, godless men.

This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. (Acts 2:23)

But thanks be to God, Jesus was raised by the power of God and He ascended to heaven, where He is now waiting to return with power and glory. (That's the second part of God's plan!)  He will return to the earth and crush His opposition and reign in righteousness as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Satan and his followers will be thrown into the lake of fire, but we believers will live with our Redeemer in glory. 

Forever.

Anyone else besides me ready to do some praising right about now? (Grin)

Yep, God is awake.

He is aware.

And He has a plan. 

He will deal with rebellious men and with Satan.

Next time, we will study how the psalmist says we should (all of us here on earth) respond . . .