A Declaration of Dependence

Psalm 2 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?
² The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
³ “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”

⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying,
⁶ “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

⁷ “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You. ⁸ ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ⁹ ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth.
¹¹ Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling.
¹² Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

It’s not a very popular or well received topic to speak of God’s wrath. Indeed though the wrath and judgment of God can be seen throughout scripture. Throughout the Old Testament accounts God’s judgment and wrath is displayed. We need to understand what the true object of God’s wrath is. God’s wrath is not directed toward people, though often people suffer as a consequence of it. God’s wrath is toward sin and evil. When God created the earth he created order from disorder. Genesis 1:31 says:   God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.        Sin entered, through the disobedience of Adam and Eve and what was good became corrupted. God spared Adam and Eve. God desire is to spare all people from the corruption and consequences of sin and evil.

In Genesis 5:8-14 we read the beginning of the account of Noah:  Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord… Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.  God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.  Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood                God’s wrath was toward the evil, the violence, the corruption and sin. He provided a way out for Noah.   

Today’s text says:   Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?
 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,  “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”        It is vanity is to think that it is possible to stand against God. Yet many today take counsel against the Lord. The psalmist identifies the key to their deception.   They say:  “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”     Foolishly those who stand against God believe that God wishes to hold them in bondage, to restrict the activities and actions of men for no reason. The truth is when men are opposed to God they are in bondage to sin. It is sin, not God that becomes man’s task master. It is sin’s cords and fetters that bind.

I once was speaking with a man who struggled with various addictions throughout his life. He said something to me that helped me to understand the struggles of an addict. He said, “I am addicted to more.” The drugs, the alcohol, sex, gambling were all simply ways he tried to satisfy himself. None was ever enough, he needed more. He was enslaved, in bondage to a variety of things, none of which could give him what he desired. That’s really how it is with sin. Usually it begins with a small thing. But just as with the addict there is always a need for more. Sin can never satisfy our desires. Because of the constant need for more the sinner is in bondage to sin. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says:   “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”          Serving God is not bondage to God, rather serving, following, being obedient to God is freedom from the bondage of sin. Romans 6:16-18 says:   Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?  But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,  and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.       Galatians 5:1 says: It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.     Jesus says: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”(Matthew 11:28-30)

Jesus came as a demonstration of God’s love, that through God’s mercy and His grace we could be spared and freed from the bondage of sin. It is foolish, vanity, to believe that because we live in the time of God’s grace, because God desires that none should perish, but all should come to repentance, that God doesn’t still hate sin and that He will not continue to show His wrath toward sin. It was sin after all that caused Jesus the pain and suffering of the cross. It was sin that caused Jesus the anguish of feeling totally forsaken.       About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"(Matthew 27:46)      How could we not know that God hates sin? How could we vainly and foolishly continue to be in bondage to what God hates?

The psalmist advises:    Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth.  Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling.  Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!      On this day when our nation remembers and celebrates its freedom, when we remember the declaration of independence the fathers of the nation made from an oppressive government, may we as believers celebrate the freedom we have in and through Christ, we are no longer in bondage to the oppressive rule of sin. May we declare our dependence on Christ alone.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for freedom. Thank You that despite the fact that You despise sin and show Your wrath for it, You reach out to people with love, mercy and grace. I gladly accept the yoke of Christ.  Thank You for freedom. I declare my dependence on You.    Amen