Psalms 2:10 - Meaning and Application

Here is the practical use of this gospel truth about the Messiah’s kingdom, spoken as an appeal to the kings and judges of the earth. They are told that it is useless to fight against Christ’s rule, so they should be wise enough to submit to it. The one who has power to destroy them also shows that he does not want their destruction, because he puts them on the path to happiness (Psalm 2:10).

Anyone who wants to be wise must be taught, and the truly wise are those who accept instruction from God’s word. Kings and judges stand on the same level as everyone else before God, and they need religion just as much as others do. Those who make laws and pass judgment on others must themselves receive God’s law from Christ, and it will be their wisdom to do so.

What is said to them is really said to all of us. It is aimed at kings and judges because their example affects the people under them, and because they were the powerful men who opposed Christ’s kingdom (Psalm 2:2). We are urged, first, to honor God and live in reverent fear of him (Psalm 2:11). This is a central duty of natural religion. God is great, far above us, perfectly holy, and rightly displeased with sin, so we should fear him and tremble before him. Yet he is also our Lord and Master, so we owe him service. He is our friend and benefactor, so we have reason to rejoice in him. These fit together very well.

We must serve God in worship and in every part of a godly life, but always with holy fear, careful self-watch, and deep respect for him. Even kings, whom others serve and fear, must serve and fear God. There is the same great gap between them and God as there is between the lowest subject and God.

We must also rejoice in God. In submission to him, we may rejoice in other things, but still with a trembling heart, because he is glorious, holy, and always watching us. We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). We should rejoice in the setting up of Christ’s kingdom, but we should do so with holy awe, with concern for ourselves that we do not fall short, and with tender concern for those many souls to whom his gospel becomes an odor of death (2 Corinthians 2:16).

Whatever we rejoice in in this world, we must do it with trembling. That keeps us from becoming proud of our joy, and it reminds us how quickly joy can be shaken by many changes. To rejoice with trembling is to rejoice as though we did not fully rejoice (1 Corinthians 7:30).

Second, we are urged to welcome Jesus Christ and submit to him (Psalm 2:12). This is the great duty of Christian religion. It is required of all, even kings and judges, and it is both wise and good for us to do it.

The command is put this way: “Kiss the Son.” Christ is called the Son because God had already declared him to be his Son (Psalm 2:7), “You are my Son.” He is the Son of God by eternal generation, meaning he is eternally from the Father, and for that reason he must be adored. He is also the Son of man, that is, the Mediator, the one who stands between God and people (John 5:27), and for that reason he must be received and obeyed. The title Son includes both.

Our duty toward Christ is described in a figure: “Kiss the Son.” This is not a traitor’s kiss, like Judas gave, or a hypocrite’s kiss, which pretends honor while really insulting him. It is a believing kiss.

First, it is a kiss of agreement and reconciliation. Kiss, and be friends, as Jacob and Esau did. Let the quarrel between us and God end. Let the acts of hostility stop, and let us make peace with God through Christ, who is our peace.

Second, it is a kiss of worship and reverence. People used to kiss idols as an act of worship (1 Kings 19:18; Hosea 13:2). We should think carefully about how to honor the Lord Jesus and give him the glory due to his name. He is our Lord, and we are to worship him (Psalm 45:11). We must worship the Lamb as well as the one who sits on the throne (Revelation 5:9-13).

Third, it is a kiss of love and affection. “Kiss the Son” means enter into friendship with him and make him precious to you. Love him above all, love him sincerely, and love him deeply, as the woman did who had been forgiven much and then kissed Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:38).

Fourth, it is a kiss of loyalty and obedience, like Samuel kissing Saul as a sign of allegiance (1 Samuel 10:1). Swear loyalty to Christ. Submit to his rule, take his yoke on you, and give yourselves completely to his laws, to his providence, and to his cause.

The reasons for this command are taken from our own good, which God shows concern for in the gospel. Consider, first, the sure ruin that comes if we refuse Christ. “Kiss the Son, for your own safety.”

It will greatly offend him. “Do it, lest he be angry.” The Father is already angry with sin, and the Son is the Mediator who came to make peace. If we despise him, the Father’s wrath remains on us (John 3:36), and the Son’s wrath is added too, because nothing angers him more than having his grace rejected and his saving work resisted. The Son can be angry, even though he is the Lamb. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and the wrath of this King, the King of kings, will be like a lion’s roar. It will drive even mighty rulers to look in vain for hiding places among the rocks and mountains (Revelation 6:16).

If the Son is angry, who will plead for us? There is no other sacrifice left and no other name by which we can be saved. Unbelief is a sin against the only remedy.

It will also bring complete destruction on ourselves: “Lest you perish from the way,” or, as some understand it, “in the way.” That may mean the way of your sins, or the path of your false hopes. It may mean that your way itself will perish, as in Psalm 1:6. In other words, you may miss the road to happiness. Christ is the way, so beware lest you are cut off from him as your way to God.

This also suggests that they were, or at least thought they were, on the right path. But by neglecting Christ, they perish from it. That makes their ruin worse, because they go to hell from the road that should have led to heaven. They are near the kingdom of God, yet never enter it.

Second, if we give ourselves to Christ, we are sure of happiness. When his wrath is kindled, even a little, the smallest spark of it is enough to make the proudest sinner miserable if it reaches the conscience, for it will burn to the lowest hell. One might expect the thought to lead directly to this warning: “Woe to those who despise him.” But the psalmist is startled by the thought, turns away from that terrible fate, and calls blessed those who escape it.

Those who trust in Christ and so “kiss” him are truly happy. This will be especially clear when Christ’s anger is shown against his enemies. Then those who have made him their refuge and protector will be blessed.

On the day of wrath, when other hearts fail from fear, they will lift up their heads with joy. Those who now despise Christ and his followers will be forced to admit, to their own shame, that blessed are all who trust in him, and only those who trust in him. As we sing this and pray it over, our hearts should be filled with holy reverence for God. At the same time, we should be steadied by cheerful confidence in Christ, whose mediation, his role as our go-between with God, gives us comfort and encouragement for ourselves and for one another. We are the circumcision, the people set apart for God, who rejoice in Christ Jesus.