Psalm 2:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: "As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill."

NIV: "I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain."

NASB: 'But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.'

CSB: "I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain."

NLT: For the Lord declares, 'I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.'

KJV: Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

NKJV: “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”

The unbelieving world thinks it can throw off God's truth and His will (Psalm 2:1–3). That will only earn a laugh, and wrath, from an all-powerful God (Psalm 2:4–5). The sovereign Creator of the universe will set His King—the Lord Jesus Christ, Israel's Messiah—on Mount Zion, His holy hill. The book of Psalms mentions Zion thirty-nine times. David, who wrote Psalm 2, conquered Zion when it was a city of the Jebusites (2 Samuel 5:7). Later, Zion referred to the temple area in Jerusalem and eventually it became synonymous with Jerusalem. God's "holy hill" refers to the temple mount.

Someday, Jesus, God's Anointed (Acts 4:23–28), will return to earth, subdue His enemies, and rule from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:1–4; Malachi 3:1). In the angel Gabriel's address to Mary, he prophesied concerning Jesus: "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32–33). As surely as King David ruled from Jerusalem, so King Jesus will rule from Jerusalem!

Psalm 2:1–6 portrays nations arrayed in military fashion against the Lord God and His anointed King. They have plotted to throw off the Lord's control. However, their scheme causes the Lord to laugh and to defeat their evil plan. He addresses them in His wrath and terrifies them in a display of His fury. After being released by the Sanhedrin, the Jews' ruling body in the first century, Peter and John returned to a gathering of believers and reported what had transpired. Together, the believers quoted Psalm 2:6 and applied it to the risen Son of God (Acts 4:23–30).

Psalm 2, written by King David (Acts 4:25), begins by questioning the nations' frenzied attempt to overthrow the Lord and His anointed King, Jesus. Godless cultures plot to rid themselves of divine authority. But trying to escape God's will is ridiculous. He will direct His wrath toward them and asserts He has established His King upon Mount Zion. God addresses His Son as His only begotten. This passage predicts the anointed King—the Messiah—will smash the rebellious nations to pieces with an iron rod. The psalmist urges the kings and rulers of the earth to submit to the Son's rule and come to friendly terms with Him. The psalm closes with the declaration that all who take refuge in the Lord's anointed King are blessed.

Psalm 2 is often labelled a royal psalm, because it refers to the King above all kings. This complements several other psalms: Psalms 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 89, 101, 110, 132, and 144. Acts 13:33 relates Psalm 2:7 to Jesus. Revelation 2:27, spoken by the risen Savior, relates Psalm 2:9 to His victory over the rebellious nations and His reign on earth. Revelation 19:19–21 describes when and how Jesus will defeat the nations that assemble to go to war against God's anointed Son.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.