An Introduction: Understanding Acts through Psalm 2

Psalm 2 provides us with another lens to understand what we are reading when we read the Book of Acts. I like that Psalm 2 looks at three different periods when thinking of Christ: His rejection by Israel and Rome; His resurrection and all that flows from that event; and His coming judgment. We are given a grand vista of humanity and God’s relation to man in Psalm 2, a wonderful synopsis worth contemplating and trembling over since some will tragically find themselves on the wrong side of history.

Let’’s start at verse 7 and continue through verse 9:

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have become your father.
Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.”

Once again, we should be struck by several things: God’s sovereignty (a decree), the love the Father has for the Son (You are my son, today I have become your father), and the nations.

Paul zeroes in on Psalm 2 in his speech in Pisidian Antioch in Galatia in Chapter 13 of Acts as a reference point for understanding what had happened, what was happening, and what would happen as a result of Jesus rising again from the dead. See Acts 13:33.

Jesus said, I will be lifted up from the earth, and I will draw all men unto me. See John 12:32. Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection is a request—Father, forgive them and Here I am and the children you have given me.

And what does the Father give to His Son? The nations through the working of the Holy Spirit. See Luke 11:13. That gift of Father to Son by the activity of the Holy Spirit is yet another lens that explains what we are seeing here in Acts. The book is alive with the love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What a wonder that we could be considered a worthy gift from Father to Son! We are His inheritance! What a privilege! What an honor!