Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
The number and authorship of this Psalm are stated (Acts 4:25; Acts 13:33). Though the warlike events of David's reign may have suggested its imagery, the scenes depicted and the subjects presented can only find a fulfilment in the history and character of Jesus Christ, to which, as above cited and in Hebrews 1:5; Hebrews 5:5, the New Testament writers most distinctly testify. In a most animated and highly poetical style, the writer, in "four stanzas of three verses each," sets forth the inveterate and furious, though futile, hostility of men to God and His anointed, God's determination to carry out His purpose, that purpose as stated more fully by His Son, the establishment of the Mediatorial kingdom, and the imminent danger of all who resist, as well as the blessing of all who welcome this mighty and triumphant king. (Psalms 2:1-12)
Why do the heathen, etc.—Beholding, in prophetic vision, the peoples and nations, as if in a tumultuous assembly, raging with a fury like the raging of the sea, designing to resist God's government, the writer breaks forth into an exclamation in which are mingled surprise at their folly, and indignation at their rebellion.
heathen—nations generally, not as opposed to Jews.
the people—or, literally, "peoples," or races of men.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Psalms 2:1:
Psalms 2:1
Psalms 2:8
Psalms 4:2
Isaiah 49:7
Joel 3:10
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