Psalm 2
Preaching
A Journey Through the Psalms: Reflections for Worried Hearts and Troubled Times
Preaching the Psalms Cycles A, B, C
There is an old preacher's joke that asks the question, "How do you make God laugh?" The answer that follows quickly is short and to the point -- "Make plans." Anyone who has had their carefully laid plans foiled by fate can attest to the truth contained in this joke. From vacations to careers to families, relationships and beyond, the words of old rock-and-roller, John Lennon, bear the reality that life is something that happens while you're busy making plans.
The message is clear. Our plans and strategies amount to little in the wake of life's exegencies. That this is true on an individual level seems clear enough, but it is to those who plan and "conspire" in the seats of power that this psalm addresses itself. From the days of King David right on through to the moment of this writing, it has ever been the same with kings and presidents, dictators and leaders. Those who find themselves in power inevitably find themselves wound up in plots and conspiracies that aim at confounding the purposes of God. Those in power plot and conspire to oppress workers and those who live on the land. It has been thus for millennia. Perhaps 1 Samuel puts it best as the people of Israel clamor for a king and God explains the ways of the king.
These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.
-- 1 Samuel 8:11-18
Though we passed the one-tenth mark long ago in terms of what today's kings take, the essence and truth ring with clarity down the centuries. But still, from the White House to the Kremlin; from Paris to Managua and back they continue to plot and conspire. And God? God continues to laugh.
The message is clear. Our plans and strategies amount to little in the wake of life's exegencies. That this is true on an individual level seems clear enough, but it is to those who plan and "conspire" in the seats of power that this psalm addresses itself. From the days of King David right on through to the moment of this writing, it has ever been the same with kings and presidents, dictators and leaders. Those who find themselves in power inevitably find themselves wound up in plots and conspiracies that aim at confounding the purposes of God. Those in power plot and conspire to oppress workers and those who live on the land. It has been thus for millennia. Perhaps 1 Samuel puts it best as the people of Israel clamor for a king and God explains the ways of the king.
These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.
-- 1 Samuel 8:11-18
Though we passed the one-tenth mark long ago in terms of what today's kings take, the essence and truth ring with clarity down the centuries. But still, from the White House to the Kremlin; from Paris to Managua and back they continue to plot and conspire. And God? God continues to laugh.
