Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, January 3, 2013 Read – Psalm 2 As we noticed yesterday, the words of the voice from heaven, which are most directly connected to Isaiah 42, also alluded to Psalm 2 – especially the words in Psalm 2:7, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” In the context of Psalm 2 these words refer to the coronation of the king of Israel. When a human being was elevated to the role of king the understanding was that that person was now adopted by God as God’s agent in governing God’s people. God remained fully in charge – the real King – and the power rested with God – the king acted only on behalf of God. So, in a sense, the king really had no power or authority of his own. What power and authority the king exercised was on God’s behalf. Of course that was the ideal. It rarely worked itself out in practice. The king quickly forgot that he was under God’s authority and responsible to God and took power into his own hands. That is the dilemma of the OT – and probably the reason why God was not in favor of having a king in the first place. God adjusted to human wishes attempting to rule through the king. That is the purpose of Psalm 2 – to remind both the king and the people of this reality. As we have noticed the reality of the king slowly was modified into the hope and longing for the coming of the Messiah. The word “messiah” simply means “anointed one”. The concept of king took on a whole new meaning – especially in the time after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and there was no actual reigning king. By alluding to Psalm 2, the voice from heaven is declaring of Jesus that he is the long awaited Messiah! Mark wanted to make that connection and so does Luke. Psalm 2 serves well to identify who Jesus is – the long awaited Messiah.