The second psalm begins with a question: Why do the nations rage and the peoples meditate on vain things? The question is immediately followed by more details about the described situation: "The kings of the earth stood by, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying: Let us break through their bonds, and let us cast away their yoke from us."
These first two verses of the psalm are a description of creation (represented by angels and human beings) in rebellion against God. God has created everything that exists in goodness and love, but His own creations have risen up against Him with the determination to be their own gods, to break through the bonds of the True God and cast off His yoke. God, Who is described as "the One, Who dwells in Heaven," responds to His creatures' rebellion with laughter and derision. This is the only appropriate response, because these creatures, in their haste to throw off the yoke that is easy and the burden that is light, have taken upon themselves a yoke that is truly impossible to bear, the yoke of sin and death. God's creatures have foolishly acted to their own hurt. To this, God does not stop at deserved mockery and derision. No, he endeavors to speak to them, to try to bring them around to knowledge of the truth. "Then shall He speak to them in His wrath, and in His anger shall He trouble them."
Here is the point at which we need to be very closely attentive to what the psalm in saying, lest we miss the deep mysteries that King David and the Holy Spirit want to impart to us. The previous verse has said that the Lord will speak to His rebellious creation. This next verse is recording what He says: "But I was established king by Him, upon Zion His holy mountain, proclaiming the commandment of the Lord." The One, Who speaks is the Son, the One, Who was referred to as "the Anointed" above. From the context, it is clear that the Lord and His Anointed mentioned in verse two are both "the Lord," for it is the One Who dwells in Heaven, Who is addressing creation with this vituperation. It is the Lord Who was established as king on Zion, the Lord's holy mountain, in order to proclaim the Lord's commandment.
The important detail to see here is the reference to Zion, because Zion is itself a reference to the Temple and the royal palace of the Davidic kings. The two edifices stood over against one another on Mount Zion, with a courtyard between them. Thus, Mount Zion is used everywhere in Scripture as a representation of God's presence. Here is the palace in which the Lord's anointed king dwelt, and here is the Temple, which the Spirit of the Lord overshadowed. Mount Zion, in other words, is the Scriptural representation of the Mother of God. The Son of God, His Anointed, is founded on this Zion, just as we see in Psalm 86 that all of God's children will be founded on her as well. That psalm tells us, "Glorious things came to be spoken concerning thee, O City of God. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those knowing me; and lo, foreigners, and Tyre, and the people of the Ethiopians-- 'These were born there.' A man shall say: 'Mother Zion'; and 'a man was born in her'; and the Most High Himself founded her.' The Lord shall set out in detail, the writings of the peoples and rulers, of those having been born in her."
The rest of the psalm is concerned with the promises that the Lord makes to the Son. He says, "Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt herd them with a rod of iron, like a potter's vessels shalt Thou shatter them." The importance of the mysteries that are being related to us in these texts cannot be overestimated. God establishes Mount Zion as His capital, the seat of His power. Zion is not God, but it is the exclusive place of worship for all of God's people. It is the sole seat of government, the place from which God exercises His sovereignty. The Apocalypse refers to this as well when it makes specific mention of this psalm, describing the woman in chapter 12 as giving birth to a Son destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. In the same sense, we find the Lord commanding Moses to make the lid of the Holy Ark in such a way that it is overshadowed by the wings of the cherubim. That lid is specifically referred to as "the propitiatory," because it was that lid that was sprinkled with the blood of the atoning sacrifice. The Ark is a vessel of the Shekinah (the indwelling presence of God). The only way to enter that presence is through the propitiatory, just as the only legitimate worship of the One, True God is at Mount Zion.
The takeaway for us from this psalm is that having the Mother of God at the center of our Christian spiritual life actually establishes Christ there in that place. Developing a deep devotion for Christ, Who dwells in His Zion, can only lead to our salvation. It is the sure way trodden by millions of pilgrims over long ages, like King David himself, who expressed the hopeful anticipation in Psalm 83, "we shall see the God of gods in Zion."
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