That's My King

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray preached from Psalms 1 and 2, treating them as a single unit. He looked at why people resist God's authority, what God has done about it through His anointed king, and what it means to trust Him rather than rage against Him. Pastor Ray came to the Psalms this week as a detour from his usual walk through the New Testament. He explained that he had been sitting with the Psalms in his own...

Read together

1. Revelation 22:17 opening invitation: let anyone who is thirsty come, drink freely from the water of life
2. Proverbs 3:5-6 read aloud before the offering: trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding
3. Psalm 2 main preaching text for the sermon
4. Psalm 1 read alongside Psalm 2 as the same combined psalm, the two ways of the righteous and the wicked
5. Psalm 18:29 prompted Ray's interest in the Psalms: with you Lord I feel like I could run at the troops and jump over a wall
6. Hosea 11 quoted to show God's cords of love: I drew them with gentle cords, bands of love, I stooped and fed them
7. Mark 1:1 cited as the beginning of the gospel of Jesus the anointed one, the son of God
8. Mark 1:11 voice from heaven at Jesus' baptism: you are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased
9. Luke 3:22 the Holy Spirit descended like a dove and a voice said you are my beloved son
10. John 1:18 no one has seen God at any time, the only begotten son in the bosom of the father has declared him
11. Acts 13:33 God fulfilled this for their children in raising up Jesus, quoting Psalm 2: you are my son today I have begotten you
12. Hebrews 1:5 to which of the angels did he say you are my son, cited to show Jesus is better than angels
13. Hebrews 5:5 Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest but the father said to him you are my son today I have begotten you
14. Philippians 2 referenced to show Christ took on the nature of a servant rather than glorifying himself
15. Numbers 6:24-26 Aaronic blessing spoken as benediction: may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and give you peace

Talk about it

1. Ray read his personal notes on Psalm 1 as 'listen up, meditate, don't be cynical.' Where in your own life do you find cynicism creeping in, and what does it cost you?
2. Ray described God's commands as 'cords of love' and 'ties of love,' drawing from Hosea 11, but said we tend to experience them as bonds we want to throw off. When have you felt that tension personally, and what changed your perspective, if anything did?
3. The psalm describes the nations plotting a 'vain thing' against God Almighty. Ray said it looks like the devil is winning a lot of the time. What do you hold onto when things around you make it feel that way?
4. Ray drew a distinction between scoffers from outside the church and scoffers from inside it, and said a little humility on both sides would help. What does that kind of humility actually look like in practice for you?
5. Ray closed by asking whether the king of Psalm 2 is your king, not just for salvation but as someone you trust to know what is good for you day to day. What is one area of your life where that trust is hardest right now?