The nations rage against God and His anointed king at the beginning of this Psalm. God laughs with derision at their rebellion. Opposition to God’s will cannot alter God’s plans nor hinder its fulfillment. When God speaks, it will come to pass. The question put forth in Numbers 23:19 is relevant to all biblical assertions. It says, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” Thus, in Psalm 2:8, God himself speaks to his anointed son and says, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” Before Jesus left his disciples after the resurrection, he commissioned his followers to go into “all the earth” and make disciples of all the Nations. He begins this commission by asserting that the Psalmist’s prophecy in Psalm 2:8 has been fulfilled. In Matthew 28:18, we read, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’”
The next verse, Psalm 2:9, has not yet been fulfilled. It says, “You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” That has been reserved for His second coming. Since God cannot lie, and as sure as all authority has been given to the Messiah according to verse 8, so too will the ultimate reign of Jesus upon the earth come to pass. Nobody knows when, but there appear to be hints in some Old Testament prophets. According to Gingrich, “During the forty-five days following the Second Advent of Christ, Daniel 12:11–12, preparations will be made to establish the Millennial Kingdom. At the close of this period, God will set Christ upon the throne of this world: (1) in fulfillment of his decree, (2) in the realization of His ultimate purpose in bringing Christ into this world (at the time of His virgin birth), and (3) despite all the desperate efforts of His enemies to keep Him from doing so.”[1] Jesus’ reign will not be a four-year term. It will be eternal, as John writes in Revelation 11:15. It says, “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
There is more to life than the short years we live on this earth. A believer’s life in the kingdom to come has been the subject of the Bible since Genesis 3:15. We, too, will share in the glory of God throughout all eternity. How do I know? Because God cannot lie. Some commentators will argue that life after death is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but that’s incorrect. Life after death, eternal life, has been the destiny of all believers who will once again have access to the tree of life. When Paul writes to Titus, he affirms this truth as well when he begins his letter by reminding Titus that the Gospel of Jesus, which is the “knowledge of the truth,” contains for all believers the “…hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.” The glorious hope of all believers in Jesus!
[1] Gingrich, Roy E. 2005. The Book of Psalms (Book One). Memphis, TN: Riverside Printing.