Laughter because god also laughs vol 1

LAUGHTER BECAUSE GOD ALSO LAUGHS VOL 1
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Psalm 2:4 ESV He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The False And The True In Kingship
Psalm 2:2-6
W. Forsyth
There is a silent contrast throughout this psalm between the "kings of
earth" (ver. 2) and" my King" (ver. 6).
I. THE FALSE IS CHARACTERIZED BY SELF-SEEKING; THE
TRUE BY SELF-SACRIFICE. The false begin and end with self. They
act from and for "themselves" (ver. 2). The true have regard to others,
and are always ready to subordinate and sacrifice themselves for the
good of others. In the one case it is the many for the one, the people for
the king; in the other, it is the one for the many, the king for the people.
II. THE FALSE RULE BY FORCE; THE TRUE BY
RIGHTEOUSNESS. "Bands" and "cords" mark the restraints of law,
but the false care for none of these things. Might, not right, is their rule.
Whatever stands in the way must give place to their ambitions. On the
other hand, the true are animated by the spirit of justice. Instead of
grasping violently what does not belong to them, they accept their place

and use their powers as from God. They hold that the "decree" must be
righteous to be respected - that the law must be just and good to
commend itself to reason, and to command the obedience of the heart.
Power that a man gains for himself he will use for himself, but power
that is held as a trust from God will be wisely and rightly employed.
III. THE FALSE IS MARKED BY CORRUPTION AND MISERY;
THE TRUE IS PRODUCTIVE OF THE HIGHEST GOOD. Great are
the perils of power. Well did the Preacher say, "Oppression [i.e. the
power of oppressing] maketh a wise man mad" (Ecclesiastes 7:7). If this
be so with the wise, how much worse will it be with the unwise! The
Books of Chronicles and Kings in the Old Testament, and the history of
heathen and Christian nations, are full of proofs as to the evils of power
wrongly and wickedly used. Crimes, revolts, revolutions, wars upon
wars, with manifold and terrible woes, mark the course of the Pharaohs
and the Nebuchadnezzars, the Herods and Napoleons of this world. On
the other hand, the rule of the true is conducive to the highest interests
of men. Their aim is to do justly and to love mercy. Their motto is,
"Death to evil, life to good." "The work of righteousness is peace"
(Isaiah 32:17).
IV. THE FALSE ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE; THE TRUE TO
VICTORY AND IMMORTAL HONOUR. The rule of the false
inevitably leads to ruin. Sin is weakness. Evil can only breed evil. Where
obedience is given from fear, and not from love, it cannot last. Where
homage is rendered for reasons of prudence, and not from conviction, it
cannot be depended upon. Where there is not desert on the one hand,
there cannot be devotion on the other. Empire founded on the wrong is
rotten through and through. But the true reign after another fashion.
Their character commands respect. Their government, being founded in
righteousness, secures confidence and support. Their rule, being
exercised for the benign and holy ends of love, contributes to the general
good. Two things follow.
1. God's ideal of kingship is found in Jesus Christ, and the nearer
earthly kings resemble him, and the more perfectly they conform their

lives and rule to his mind, the better for them and their subjects.
2. On the other hand, our first duty is to accept Christ as our King, and
in love and loyalty to serve him. Thus we shall best fulfil our duty in all
other relationships. The best Christian is the best subject. - W.F.
Biblical Illustrator
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh...and vex them in His sore
displeasure.
Psalm 2:4, 5
First a laugh then a smite
Joseph Parker, D. D.
The heathen and the people, the kings and the rulers are answered with
contempt, they are laughed at and derided; and if this be not enough to
change their spirit and their purpose, they will be spoken to in wrath,
and vexed in sore displeasure. It is interesting and instructive to remark
how creation first laughs at and derides men who oppose it, and how in
the next place it avenges the insults that are offered to its laws. When
Canute rebuked the waves the sea laughed at him, and the waves had
him in derision; had he remained upon the position he had chosen,
laughter and derision would have been changed for vengeance and
overthrow. Let a man attempt to put down the wind, and the only
possible answer is derision; let him attempt to defy the lightning, and he
may perish under its stroke. There is but a short distance between the
derision of nature and its penal judgments. So every attempt to revile
the power of God is contemned, and every insult offered to His holiness
is avenged. A very curious process is indicated by these two verses. The
laughter is expressive of an eternal law; things are not so constituted
that they can be turned about at the pleasure of the wicked, nor is the
purpose of the universe so fickle that the wrath of man can affect its

fulfilment; great strength can afford to deride; infinite power can best
express its own consciousness of almightiness by smiling upon all the
hosts which array themselves against it. But this answer of
contemptuous laughter must not be the only reply, for contempt can
seldom have any moral issue of a really substantial and blessed kind;
there must come a time when law must avenge itself upon those who
would insult its majesty or mock its power. First, laughter, as a proof of
the utter impossibility of injuriously affecting the standards and
purposes of God; after laughter must come the judgment, which shows
how dangerous it is to trifle with fire, and how awful a thing it is to defy
the wrath of righteousness. It is for every man to consider under what
particular phase of the Divine regard he is now living. For a period he
may be amused, as it were, at certain phases of the opposition of nature,
or the awkwardness of life; but let him not suppose that he sees the
whole of the case: such opposition and awkwardness may suddenly be
displaced by judgment, and vengeance, and destiny irrevocable.
(Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The laughter of God
Thomas Adams.
They scoff at us. God laughs at them. Severe Cato thought that laughter
did not become the gravity of Roman consuls, and is it attributed to the
majesty of heaven...Pharaoh imagined that by drowning the Israelite
males he had found a way to root their name from the earth, but when
at the same time his own daughter in his own court gave princely
education to Moses, their deliverer, did not God laugh? Is Dagon put up
in his place again? God's smile shall take off his head and his hands and
leave him neither wit to guide nor power to subsist He permitted His
temple to be sacked and rifled, the holy vessels to be profaned and
caroused in; but did not God's smile make Belshazzar to tremble? Oh,
what are His frowns if His smiles be so terrible?
(Thomas Adams.)

Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The False And The True In Kingship
Psalm 2:2-6
W. Forsyth
There is a silent contrast throughout this psalm between the "kings of
earth" (ver. 2) and" my King" (ver. 6).
I. THE FALSE IS CHARACTERIZED BY SELF-SEEKING; THE
TRUE BY SELF-SACRIFICE. The false begin and end with self. They
act from and for "themselves" (ver. 2). The true have regard to others,
and are always ready to subordinate and sacrifice themselves for the
good of others. In the one case it is the many for the one, the people for
the king; in the other, it is the one for the many, the king for the people.
II. THE FALSE RULE BY FORCE; THE TRUE BY
RIGHTEOUSNESS. "Bands" and "cords" mark the restraints of law,
but the false care for none of these things. Might, not right, is their rule.
Whatever stands in the way must give place to their ambitions. On the
other hand, the true are animated by the spirit of justice. Instead of
grasping violently what does not belong to them, they accept their place
and use their powers as from God. They hold that the "decree" must be
righteous to be respected - that the law must be just and good to
commend itself to reason, and to command the obedience of the heart.
Power that a man gains for himself he will use for himself, but power
that is held as a trust from God will be wisely and rightly employed.
III. THE FALSE IS MARKED BY CORRUPTION AND MISERY;
THE TRUE IS PRODUCTIVE OF THE HIGHEST GOOD. Great are
the perils of power. Well did the Preacher say, "Oppression [i.e. the
power of oppressing] maketh a wise man mad" (Ecclesiastes 7:7). If this
be so with the wise, how much worse will it be with the unwise! The

Books of Chronicles and Kings in the Old Testament, and the history of
heathen and Christian nations, are full of proofs as to the evils of power
wrongly and wickedly used. Crimes, revolts, revolutions, wars upon
wars, with manifold and terrible woes, mark the course of the Pharaohs
and the Nebuchadnezzars, the Herods and Napoleons of this world. On
the other hand, the rule of the true is conducive to the highest interests
of men. Their aim is to do justly and to love mercy. Their motto is,
"Death to evil, life to good." "The work of righteousness is peace"
(Isaiah 32:17).
IV. THE FALSE ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE; THE TRUE TO
VICTORY AND IMMORTAL HONOUR. The rule of the false
inevitably leads to ruin. Sin is weakness. Evil can only breed evil. Where
obedience is given from fear, and not from love, it cannot last. Where
homage is rendered for reasons of prudence, and not from conviction, it
cannot be depended upon. Where there is not desert on the one hand,
there cannot be devotion on the other. Empire founded on the wrong is
rotten through and through. But the true reign after another fashion.
Their character commands respect. Their government, being founded in
righteousness, secures confidence and support. Their rule, being
exercised for the benign and holy ends of love, contributes to the general
good. Two things follow.
1. God's ideal of kingship is found in Jesus Christ, and the nearer
earthly kings resemble him, and the more perfectly they conform their
lives and rule to his mind, the better for them and their subjects.
2. On the other hand, our first duty is to accept Christ as our King, and
in love and loyalty to serve him. Thus we shall best fulfil our duty in all
other relationships. The best Christian is the best subject. - W.F.

Biblical Illustrator
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh...and vex them in His sore
displeasure.
Psalm 2:4, 5
First a laugh then a smite
Joseph Parker, D. D.
The heathen and the people, the kings and the rulers are answered with
contempt, they are laughed at and derided; and if this be not enough to
change their spirit and their purpose, they will be spoken to in wrath,
and vexed in sore displeasure. It is interesting and instructive to remark
how creation first laughs at and derides men who oppose it, and how in
the next place it avenges the insults that are offered to its laws. When
Canute rebuked the waves the sea laughed at him, and the waves had
him in derision; had he remained upon the position he had chosen,
laughter and derision would have been changed for vengeance and
overthrow. Let a man attempt to put down the wind, and the only
possible answer is derision; let him attempt to defy the lightning, and he
may perish under its stroke. There is but a short distance between the
derision of nature and its penal judgments. So every attempt to revile
the power of God is contemned, and every insult offered to His holiness
is avenged. A very curious process is indicated by these two verses. The
laughter is expressive of an eternal law; things are not so constituted

that they can be turned about at the pleasure of the wicked, nor is the
purpose of the universe so fickle that the wrath of man can affect its
fulfilment; great strength can afford to deride; infinite power can best
express its own consciousness of almightiness by smiling upon all the
hosts which array themselves against it. But this answer of
contemptuous laughter must not be the only reply, for contempt can
seldom have any moral issue of a really substantial and blessed kind;
there must come a time when law must avenge itself upon those who
would insult its majesty or mock its power. First, laughter, as a proof of
the utter impossibility of injuriously affecting the standards and
purposes of God; after laughter must come the judgment, which shows
how dangerous it is to trifle with fire, and how awful a thing it is to defy
the wrath of righteousness. It is for every man to consider under what
particular phase of the Divine regard he is now living. For a period he
may be amused, as it were, at certain phases of the opposition of nature,
or the awkwardness of life; but let him not suppose that he sees the
whole of the case: such opposition and awkwardness may suddenly be
displaced by judgment, and vengeance, and destiny irrevocable.
(Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The laughter of God
Thomas Adams.
They scoff at us. God laughs at them. Severe Cato thought that laughter
did not become the gravity of Roman consuls, and is it attributed to the
majesty of heaven...Pharaoh imagined that by drowning the Israelite
males he had found a way to root their name from the earth, but when
at the same time his own daughter in his own court gave princely
education to Moses, their deliverer, did not God laugh? Is Dagon put up
in his place again? God's smile shall take off his head and his hands and
leave him neither wit to guide nor power to subsist He permitted His
temple to be sacked and rifled, the holy vessels to be profaned and
caroused in; but did not God's smile make Belshazzar to tremble? Oh,

what are His frowns if His smiles be so terrible?
(Thomas Adams.)
The Heathen in Three Aspects
W. Forsyth
Psalm 2:1-12
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?…
I. AS SLAVES OF SIN. The condition of peoples varies. Civilization was
more advanced in Greece and Rome than in other parts of the world.
But though there may be superiority in some respects, with regard to
the highest things there is no difference (Romans 3:9). What a terrible
picture have we in this psalm of the crimes and violence and miseries
that desolate the world, where "the lust of the eye, and the lust of the
flesh, and the pride of life" prevail, and not the Law of God!
II. AS OBJECTS OF DIVINE INTEREST. The Jews were in covenant
with God as his peculiar people. But this did not imply that other
peoples were unloved and uncared for. God has his purposes with
regard to all the tribes and kindreds of the earth. Though they have
forsaken him, he has not forsaken them. In their conscience they feel his
presence. In the results of their actions they arc subject to his Law. In
their fears and darkness they are groping after him, and in their cruel
rites and superstitions, consciously or unconsciously, they are declaring
that without God they are without hope, and that the desire of their
hearts is for his light and blessing. Things are dark and gruesome, but
yet, in ways unknown to us, God is ruling over all, and working for the
accomplishment of his own will and holy ends. The heathen are in God's

hand. He promises to give them to Christ. All prayer and evangelistic
effort should be founded on this: "Ask of me." Prayer is good; but
prayer without work is vain. Have we the mind of Christ? Do our hearts
yearn in love and pity over the multitudes who are sitting in darkness
and the shadow of death? Then let us plead God's word, and labour to
carry out Christ's command (Matthew 28:19, 20).
III. AS THE SUBJECTS OF MESSIAH'S KINGDOM. "Thine
inheritance."
1. This inheritance is moral, not material. It is the people that God is
concerned about. "All souls are mine."
2. This inheritance is obtained by right, and not by might. God "gives,"
not in an arbitrary way, but in accordance with law. There will be no
forcing. The heathen must be won by truth and conviction if they are to
be won at all. Hence there is scope for all reasonable motive and
argument.
3. This inheritance is for spiritual good, not for personal
aggrandizement. Empire has been often sought for selfish ends. If the
heathen are given to Christ, it is not that they may remain in their
heathenism, but that they may be renewed in the spirit of their minds
and receive the blessings of the gospel. The more that we ourselves, who
have so many representatives among the heathen, recognize that the
power we have as a nation is given us of God, and should be used as a
sacred trust for God's glory and the good of the people with whom we
have to do, the better for us all. Woe to us if we seek our own and not
also the things of others, if we are eager to make gain and to advance
our own selfish ends and forget the claims of our brethren, who as
surely belong to Christ as we do, and for whom he died! - W.F.

Opposition to Messiah in Vain
John Newton
Psalm 2:4
He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in
derision.…
Opposition to Messiah in Vain
Psalm 2:4
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh;
the Lord shall have them in derision.
T he extent and efficacy [effects] of the depravity of mankind cannot be
fully estimated by the conduct of heathens destitute of divine revelation.
We may say of the Gospel, in one sense, what the Apostle says of the
Law, It entered that sin might abound (Romans 5:20) . It afforded
occasion for displaying the alienation of the heart of man from the
blessed God, in the strongest light. The sensuality, oppression and
idolatry which have prevailed in all ages, sufficiently prove the
wickedness of men to be very great. But the opposition which they who
have rebelled against the government of their Creator make to the
proposals of His grace, is a proof still more striking. If sin has so

hardened their hearts, and blinded their eyes, that of themselves they
neither can nor will implore His mercy, yet it might be thought that if
the great God whom they have so heinously offended, should be pleased,
of His own goodness, to make the first overtures of reconciliation, and to
invite them to receive pardon, they would gladly attend to His gracious
declaration, especially when they were informed that, to preserve them
from perishing, He gave up His only Son to sufferings and death. But
when they not only defy His power, but insult His goodness; when they
reject and blaspheme the Saviour whom He commends to them; when
they are but the more exasperated by His tenders [offers] of mercy;
when they scorn His message, and persecute His messengers by whom
He entreats them to be reconciled; this mad and ungrateful carriage
shows such a rooted enmity against God in fallen men, as even the fallen
angels are not capable of discovering. For MESSIAH took not on Him
the nature of angels, nor did He make proposals of mercy to them. But
He did take upon Him our nature. He visited us in person, for us He
lived a Sufferer, and died that we might live.
The prophets foresaw and foretold the reception He would meet with,
and their predictions were fulfilled. The Jews, who professed to expect
Him, and the heathens who have not heard of Him, united their utmost
efforts to withstand and defeat the purposes of His unexampled love.
What must the holy angels think of the baseness, presumption, and
obstinacy of such creatures!
But rebellion against God is not only wickedness, but folly and
infatuation in the extreme. Who ever hardened himself against the Lord
and prospered? (Job 9:4) . He whom they opposed, and against whom
they thought they had prevailed when they saw Him dead upon the
cross, soon resumed His glory and His throne. The text, therefore,
principally respects the opposition made to His Gospel and to His
Kingdom after His ascension, which is still carrying on, but which
always was, and always will be, in vain. The words I have read offer two

points for the consolation of those who love Him, and for the timely
consideration of those who have hitherto disregarded Him.
I. That He sits in the heavens.
II. That He takes notice of His enemies He smiles at their rage, and
treats both their power and their policy with contempt.
I.
He whom God has anointed (therefore called MESSIAH ) He against
whom kings and rulers, nations and people rage, sits in the heavens. He
has finished His great work, and entered into His rest; having by
Himself purged our sins, He is immovably seated upon His throne, at
the right hand of the Majesty on High (Hebrews 1:3) . He is the Head,
King, and Lord of all principalities, dominions, and powers, possessed
of all authority, unchangeably fixed over all, God blessed forevermore
(Romans 9:5) . In this character He is the Representative, High Priest,
Advocate and Shepherd of all who put their trust in Him. He is ever
mindful of them. While He is preparing a place for them near Himself,
by the power of His Spirit He maintains an intercourse with them, and
manifests Himself to them as He does not to the world. By His
Providence, which rules over all, He manages their concerns upon earth,
supplies their wants, and gives them present and effectual help and
support in their time of trouble. To Him their eyes and hearts are
directed, they look to Him and are enlightened (Psalm 34:5) ,
strengthened, and comforted. And under His protection they are safe.
He having taken charge of them, and engaged to save them to the
uttermost, no weapon formed against them can prosper. Now they may
draw nigh to God with boldness, for they have One who ever lives to
make intercession for them. Now they may lay aside all anxious uneasy

cares, for they have a mighty Friend who cares for them. Now they may
say, each one for himself, I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord
Jehovah is my strength, and my song, and my salvation (Isaiah 12:2) .
Whether you have indeed fled to Him for refuge as the hope set before
you, committed your soul to Him, and accepted Him in all His offices, as
your Prophet, Priest, and King, is a point of experience; if you have, He
knows it; for He enabled you to do it and He will not disappoint the
hope and expectation which He Himself has wrought in you. If you
have, methinks you must know it likewise. Have you not done it more
than once? Do you not daily repeat this surrender of yourself to Him? It
is certainly possible to assent to the truths of the Gospel, considered
merely as doctrines or propositions, yea to plead and dispute for them
with much seeming earnestness, and yet to be entirely a stranger to their
power. But I trust that they to whom I now speak will understand me.
Our Lord reminded Nathanael of what had passed under the fig tree
(John 1:48) , when he thought himself alone. Do not I remind you of
seasons, when no eye but the eye of Him who sees in secret was upon
you? Did not you then and there, once and again, accept Him as your
Saviour upon the warrant of His own Word, devote yourself to His
service, resign yourself to His disposal, and entrust yourself to His care?
Then fear not. He that sits in the heavens is on your side. If the premise
be well grounded, the inference is sure. And though many may rise up
against you, they shall not prevail, for He will teach your hands to war,
and your fingers to fight, He will cover your head in the day of battle,
and in the end make you more than a conqueror. For the battle is not
yours, but the Lord's. Your enemies are His, and His cause is yours.
They who associate against Him shall be dashed in pieces, as the billows
break and die upon a rocky shore.
II.
The feebleness and insignificance of their rage against MESSIAH, is
intimated by the manner in which He notices their proceedings. He

holds them in derision, He laughs them to scorn. He has them perfectly
under His control, holds them in a chain when they think themselves to
be most at liberty, appoints the bounds beyond which they cannot pass,
and can in a moment check them, and make them feel His hook and
bridle, when in the height of their career.
It is the Lord's pleasure not only to favour and to support His people,
but to do it in such a way that it may be seen that it is wholly His own
work, and that the praise belongs to Him alone. And therefore He
permits their enemies for a season to try if they can prevent His designs.
For a season, things take such a course that their attempts seem to
prosper; they threaten, they boast, and confidently expect to carry their
point. But the contest always issues in their shame and confusion. He
not only disconcerts their schemes, but makes them instrumental to the
promoting of His own designs. Thus when He sent Moses to deliver
Israel from Egypt, Pharaoh, instead of complying with His command,
increased their burdens, added to the rigour of their bondage, and,
though rebuked by a succession of severe judgments, he hardened
himself the more, and was determined to detain them if he could. But he
could not detain them a day or an hour beyond the appointed time,
which God had long before made known to Abraham (Exodus 12:41, 42)
. Then they were delivered, and Pharaoh and his host overthrown in the
Red Sea. Hereby the name of the God of Israel was more known,
noticed and magnified, than it would have been if Pharaoh had
dismissed the people without reluctance and delay.
In like manner, when MESSIAH left the earth, His followers were
considered as sheep without a shepherd. The world conspired to
suppress His cause, and to root out the remembrance of His people. But
the methods they employed counteracted their own designs. They who
were dispersed by the persecution that followed the death of Stephen,
preached the Word wherever they went, the Gospel spread from place to
place, and the number of disciples daily increased. So that the Jewish

rulers soon found themselves unequal to the task, and foreboded their
own disappointment, doubting whereunto these things would grow (Acts
5:24) . In some cases the Lord signally interposed, and showed how
entirely the lives and the hearts of His adversaries were in His hands.
The haughty Herod was suddenly smitten by an invisible hand, with a
loathsome and fatal disease (Acts 12:23) . He fell, devoured by worms;
but the success of the Gospel, which he had presumed to withstand,
greatly increased and spread. The furious zeal of Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9)
against the truth, was silenced in a different manner. Jesus, whom he
ignorantly persecuted, appeared to him in the way to Damascus, when
he was breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples ,
disarmed his rage, made him a monument of His mercy, and an earnest
and successful preacher of the faith he had laboured to destroy.
From the Jews the business was transferred to the heathens, whose
opposition was no less unavailing. Though they sometimes affected to
boast that they had suppressed the Christian name, the Gospel was
propagated in defiance of their attempts to prevent it. The worst and the
best of the Roman emperors, were alike industrious, and alike
unsuccessful, in their endeavours to stifle the work of God. At length, in
the reign of Constantine, the Christian religion obtained the sanction
and protection of imperial authority.
But it soon appeared that the religion of the New Testament gained little
advantage by this revolution. Though the worship of heathen idols
gradually declined, and sank into disrepute, the bulk of the people of all
ranks were only changed in name. The world still lay in wickedness (I
John 5:19) , and true Christianity was still exposed to persecution.
When the name Christian' ceased to be invidious and despicable, new
names were soon invented to stigmatize the real servants of God; and
ecclesiastical powers gradually increased, till the mystery of iniquity
reigned for ages in the temple of God. The persecutions of popery
equalled and exceeded those of paganism. And they who aspired to be

Christians indeed, were constrained, like the worthies of old, to wander
on mountains and in deserts, to hide themselves in dens and caves of the
earth (Hebrews 11:38) . Yet, under all disadvantages, there was still a
remnant, according to the election of grace, who could not be compelled
to wear the mark of the beast. And while persecutors, who could only
kill the body, seemed to weaken the Church militant, they increased the
number and the songs of the Church triumphant.
To appearance, the Church of Christ was often brought low. It was very
low at the time of the Reformation. But then it suddenly was revived,
and broke forth like the sun from behind a dark cloud; and the light of
the Gospel was diffused far and wide, almost as at the beginning, in the
apostles' days. But the Protestants were quickly actuated by the same
spirit, as their popish and pagan predecessors had been. The form of
Christianity was professed and protected, and the power of it denied
and opposed. And to this day it remains a truth verified by experience,
that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus, must, in one way or other,
suffer persecution (II Timothy 3:12)
Of late years the sanguinary [blood-thirsty; murderous] spirit, which,
under pretence of doing God's service, destroyed His people by fire and
tortures, is much subsided. We live in a time when great pretences are
made to candour and moderation. We have reason to be thankful to the
good Providence of God for our religious liberty. But, so far as men are
concerned, we are not indebted for it, to a just sense and
acknowledgment of the right of private judgment, but to the prevalence
of sceptical indifference and infidelity. The religion of the Gospel was,
perhaps, never more despised and hated than at present. We seem to be
returning apace to the state of primitive ages when there were but two
sorts of persons -- Christians and infidels. But notwithstanding all the
arts and assaults of men, whether open enemies or pretended friends,
the Bible is still extant [still in existence], the Gospel is still preached,
yea, is still spreading. The Lord has always had a people, though they

have been often hidden from the general notice and observation of men.
He that sits in the heavens laughs His opposers to scorn, and maintains
His own cause in defiance of them all.
Surely if this work was not of God, the united efforts of kings, councils,
popes, and philosophers, the great, the wise, the decent, and the
profligate, must have overthrown it long ago. If a miracle be demanded
in proof of Christianity, behold one! Though the world has been raging
and plotting against it, from its first appearance; though it has been
fiercely assaulted by those without, and shamefully betrayed by many
within, it still subsists, it still flourishes. And subsist it shall, for it is
maintained by Him, who has the hearts of all men in His hands, and can
control or change them as He pleases. He can, and He will, support and
strengthen His people under all their sufferings. He can disappoint His
adversaries by unexpected events, divide them among themselves, and
so manage them by His Providence, as to make them protect and
promote the very cause which they hate. And whenever He pleases He
can, as it were, from the stones (Matthew 3:9) , raise up instruments to
carry on His work, and to show forth His praise. Therefore,
(1.)
Let not His people tremble for the ark. Our eyes indeed should affect
our hearts. It becomes us to be jealous for the LORD of hosts, to be
concerned for the contempt and dishonour that is cast upon His
government and grace, to be grieved for the abounding abominations of
the day, and to pity and pray for obstinate sinners who know not what
they do. But we need not fear the failure of His promise. His truth and
honour are engaged for the success of His Gospel, and they must stand
or fall together. It is a cause dearer to Him than it can be to us. The
manifestation of His glory in the salvation of sinners, by the doctrine of
the Cross, is the one great concern, for which the succession of day and

night, and of the seasons of the year is continued, and the visible frame
of nature is preserved. He will work, and none shall let it (Isaiah 43:13) .
The kingdoms of the earth shall become the kingdoms of the Lord and
of His Christ (Revelation 11:15) . The fulness of the Gentiles shall come
in, and the dispersed of Israel shall return to the Lord (Romans 11:25) .
These great events, to those who judge by an eye of sense, and according
to the recent state of things, may appear improbable or impossible. But
the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? His hand
is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? (Isaiah 14:27)
(2.)
Think it neither strange nor hard, if any of you are called to suffer for
the sake of the truth. Think it not strange; for thus it has been from the
beginning. Think it not hard; for our sufferings are small, if compared
with the lot of many who have lived before us. We are not called to resist
unto blood. Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see such
days of liberty as we are favoured with, but have not seen them.
(3.)
Consider seriously, Who is on the Lord's side? His is the strongest side
and must prevail. If you have yielded yourselves to Him, and taken
upon you His yoke, your best interests are safe, your final happiness is
secured. Nothing can separate you from His love. You shall be kept by
His power through faith, and no weapon formed against you shall
prosper. But if you are against Him, tremble; for the Day of His Wrath
will come, it will burn like an oven, and all the proud, and all that do
wickedly shall be as stubble, and the day that comes shall burn them up,
says the Lord of hosts, and shall leave them neither root nor branch
(Malachi 4:1) . Turn therefore in time from your evil ways, submit

yourselves unto Him, and implore His mercy while He waits to be
gracious, that iniquity may not be your ruin.
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
He that sitteth in the heavens - Whose kingdom ruleth over all, and is
above all might and power, human and diabolical. Shall laugh. Words
spoken after the manner of men; shall utterly contemn their puny
efforts; shall beat down their pride, assuage their malice, and confound
their devices.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/psalms-2.html.
1832.
return to 'Jump List'
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible
He that sitteth in the heavens - God, represented as having his home, his
seat, his throne in heaven, and thence administering the affairs of the
world. This verse commences the second strophe or stanza of the psalm;
and this strophe Psalm 2:4-6 corresponds with the first Psalm 2:1-3 in

its structure. The former describes the feelings and purposes of those
who would cast off the government of God; this describes the feelings
and purposes of God in the same order, for in each case the psalmist
describes what is done, and then what is said: the nations rage
tumultuously Psalm 2:1-2, and then say Psalm 2:3, “Let us break their
bands.” God sits calmly in the heavens, smiling on their vain attempts
Psalm 2:4, and then solemnly declares Psalm 2:5-6 that, in spite of all
their opposition, he “has set his King upon his holy hill of Zion.” There
is much sublimity in this description. While men rage and are
tumultuous in opposing his plans, he sits calm and undisturbed in his
own heaven. Compare the notes at the similar place in Isaiah 18:4.
Shall laugh - Will smile at their vain attempts; will not be disturbed or
agitated by their efforts; will go calmly on in the execution of his
purposes. Compare as above Isaiah 18:4. See also Proverbs 1:26; Psalm
37:13; Psalm 59:8. This is, of course, to be regarded as spoken after the
manner of men, and it means that God will go steadily forward in the
accomplishment of his purposes. There is included also the idea that he
will look with contempt on their vain and futile efforts.
The Lord shall have them in derision - The same idea is expressed here
in a varied form, as is the custom in parallelism in Hebrew poetry. The
Hebrew word ‛ag means properly to stammer; then to speak in a
barbarous or foreign tongue; then to mock or deride, by imitating the
stammering voice of anyone. Gesenius, Lexicon Here it is spoken of
God, and, of course, is not to be understood literally, anymore than
when eyes, and hands, and feet are spoken of as pertaining to him. The
meaning is, that there is a result in the case, in the Divine Mind, as if he
mocked or derided the vain attempts of men; that is, he goes calmly
forward in the execution of his own purposes, and he looks upon and
regards their efforts as vain, as we do the efforts of others when we
mock or deride them. The truth taught in this verse is, that God will
carry forward his own plans in spite of all the attempts of men to thwart
them. This general truth may lie stated in two forms:
(1) He sits undisturbed and unmoved in heaven while men rage against

him, and while they combine to cast off his authority.
(2) He carries forward his own plans in spite of them. This he does:
(a) directly, accomplishing his schemes without regard to their attempts;
and
(b) by making their purposes tributary to his own, so making them the
instruments in carrying out his own plans. Compare Acts 4:28.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". "Barnes' Notes on the
New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/psalms-2.html.
1870.
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
"He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh:
The Lord will have them in derision.
Then will he speak unto them in his wrath,
And vex them in his sore displeasure."
The alternate reading for "vex" in our version is "trouble." Has this
come to pass? Indeed it has! In my lifetime, a mighty nation, the Union
of Socialist Soviet Republics, the U.S.S.R., in effect declared war upon
God and his Anointed; but God has indeed spoken unto that nation in
His wrath!

Copyright Statement
James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of
Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other
rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". "Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/psalms-2.html.
Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh,.... At the rage and tumult of
the Heathen; at the vain imaginations of the people; at the opposition of
the kings of the earth; at the mad counsel of the rulers, against him and
his Messiah; and at their proposal to one another to throw off the yoke
and government of them both. This is a periphrasis of God, "who dwells
in the heavens", and sits there enthroned; though he is not included and
comprehended in them, but is everywhere; and his being there is
mentioned in opposition to the kings of the earth, and the people in it;
and to show the vast distance there is between them, and how they are
as nothing to him, Isaiah 40:1, Job 4:18; and how vain and fruitless
their attempts must be against him and his Messiah: and his sitting
there still and quiet, serene and undisturbed, is opposed to the running
to and fro, and the tumultuous and riotous assembling of the Heathen.
Laughing is ascribed unto him, according to the language of men, as the
Jewish writers speakF4, by an anthropopathy; in the same sense as he is
said to repent and grieve, Genesis 6:6; and expresses his security from
all their attempts, Job 5:22; and the contempt he has them in, and the
certain punishment of them, and the aggravation of it; who will not only
then laugh at them himself, but expose them to the laughter and scorn

of others, Proverbs 1:26;
the Lord shall have them in derision; which is a repetition of the same
thing in other words; and is made partly to show the certainty of their
disappointment and ruin, and partly to explain who is meant by him
that sits in the heavens. The Targum calls him, "the Word of the Lord";
and Alshech interprets it of the Shechinah.
Copyright Statement
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernised and
adapted for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes
Reserved, Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". "The New John Gill
Exposition of the Entire Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/psalms-2.html.
1999.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
By a figure whose boldness is only allowable to an inspired writer, God‘s
conduct and language in view of this opposition are now related.
He that sitteth in the heavens — enthroned in quiet dignities (compare
Psalm 29:10; Isaiah 40:22).
shall laugh — in supreme contempt; their vain rage excites His derision.
He is still the Lord, literally, “Sovereign,” though they rebel.

Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text
scanned by Woodside Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-Brown Commentary is
in the public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary
on Psalms 2:4". "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/psalms-
2.html. 1871-8.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in
derision.
Sitteth — As the king of the whole world.
Heavens — As an evidence both of God's clear and certain knowledge of
all things that are done below, and of his sovereign and irresistible
power.
Laugh — Shall despise them and all their crafty devices.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic
edition that is available on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
Website.
Bibliography
Wesley, John. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". "John Wesley's
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible".

https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/psalms-2.html.
1765.
Ver. 4. The prophet looks away from the wild turmoil of enemies, from
the dangers which here below seem to threaten the kingdom of the
Anointed, to the world above, and sets over against them the
almightiness of God. Calvin: "However high they may lift themselves,
they can never reach to the heavens; nay, while they seek to confound
heaven and earth, they do but dance like grasshoppers. The Lord
meanwhile looks calmly forth from His high abode, upon their senseless
movements." He who is throned in the heavens laughs; the Lord mocks
them. God is here emphatically described as being enthroned in heaven,
to mark His exalted sovereignty over the whole machinery of earth, and,
in particular, over the kings of the earth. "Laughter" and "derision"
are expressive of security and contempt. Calvin: "We must therefore
hold, that when God does not immediately punish the wicked, it is His
time to laugh; and though we must sometimes even weep, yet this
thought should allay the sharpness of our grief, nay, wipe away our
tears, that God does not dissemble, as if He were tardy or weak, but
seeks through silent contempt, for a time, to break the petulance of His
enemies." Expositors generally suppose that the is to be supplied to .
This is not necessary, though it is certainly supported by Psalms 37:13,
Psalms 59:8. Luther gives a course of admirable remarks upon this
passage; some of these, we feel it our duty to quote, not for the sake of
answering practical purposes independent of exegesis, but in the interest
of exegesis itself. "All this is written for our learning, that we, through
patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope. For what is here
written of Christ, is an example for all Christians. For every one who is
a sound Christian, especially if he teaches the word of Christ, must
suffer his Herod, his Pilate, his Jews and heathens, who rage against
him, to speak much in vain, to lift themselves up and take counsel
against him. If this is not done now by men, by the devil, or, finally, by

his own conscience, it will at least be done on his death-bed. There, at
last, it will be in the highest degree necessary to have such words of
consolation in remembrance as—"He who sits in heaven laughs: the
Lord holds them in derision." To such a hope we must cling fast, and on
no account suffer ourselves to be driven from it. As if He would say
So certain is it, that they speak in vain, and project foolish things, let it
appear before men as strong and mighty as it may, that God does not
count them worthy of being opposed, as He would needs do in a matter
of great and serious moment; that He only laughs and mocks at them, as
if it were a small and despicable thing which was not worth minding. O
how great a strength of faith is claimed in these words! For who
believed, when Christ suffered, and the Jews triumphed over and
oppressed Him, that God all the time was laughing? So, when we suffer
and are oppressed by men, when we believe that God is laughing at and
mocking at our adversaries; especially, if to all appearance we are
mocked and oppressed both by God and men." Upon the expression,
"He that is enthroned in the heavens," Luther specially remarks—"As
if it were said, He who cares for us dwells quite secure, apart from all
fear; and although we are involved in trouble and contention, He
remains unassailed, whose regard is fixed on us; we move and fluctuate
here and there, but He stands fast, and will order it so, that the
righteous shall not continue for ever in trouble, Psalms 55:22. But all
this proceeds so secretly that thou canst not well perceive it, unless thou
wert in heaven thyself. Thou must suffer by land and sea, and among all
creatures; thou mayest hope for no consolation in thy sufferings and
troubles, till thou canst rise through faith and hope above all, and lay
hold on Him who dwells in the heavens—then thou also dwellest in the
heavens, but only in faith and hope. Therefore must we fix and stay our
hearts, in all our straits, assaults, tribulations, and difficulties, upon
Him who sitteth in the heavens; for then it will come to pass that the
adversity, vexation, and trials of this world, can not only be taken
lightly, but can even be smiled at."

Copyright Statement
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Hengstenberg, Ernst. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". Ernst
Hengstenberg on John, Revelation, Ecclesiastes, Ezekiel & Psalms.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/heg/psalms-2.html.
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
After David has told us of the tumult and commotions, the counsels and
pride, the preparation and resources the strength and efforts of his
enemies, in opposition to all these he places the power of God alone,
which he concludes would be brought to bear against them, from their
attempting to frustrate his decree. And, as a little before, by terming
them kings of the earth, he expressed their feeble and perishable
condition; so now, by the lofty title of He that dwelleth in heaven, he
extols the power of God, as if he had said, that power remains intact and
unimpaired, whatever men may attempt against it. Let them exalt
themselves as they may, they shall never be able to reach to heaven; yea,
while they think to confound heaven and earth together, they resemble
so many grasshoppers, and the Lord, meanwhile, undisturbed beholds
from on high their infatuated evolutions. And David ascribes laughter to
God on two accounts; first, to teach us that he does not stand in need of
great armies to repress the rebellion of wicked men, as if this were an
arduous and difficult matter, but, on the contrary, could do this as often
as he pleases with the most perfect ease. In the second place, he would
have us to understand that when God permits the reign of his Son to be

troubled, he does not cease from interfering because he is employed
elsewhere, or unable to afford assistance, or because he is neglectful of
the honor of his Son; but he purposely delays the inflictions of his wrath
to the proper time, namely, until he has exposed their infatuated rage to
general derision. Let us, therefore, assure ourselves that if God does not
immediately stretch forth his hand against the ungodly, it is now his
time of laughter; and although, in the meantime, we ought to weep, yet
let us assuage the bitterness of our grief, yea, and wipe away our tears,
with this reflection, that God does not connive at the wickedness of his
enemies, as if from indolence or feebleness, but because for the time he
would confront their insolence with quiet contempt. By the adverb then,
he points to the fit time for exercising judgment, as if he had said, after
the Lord shall have for a time apparently taken no notice of the
malpractices of those who oppose the rule of his Son, he will suddenly
change his course, and show that he retards nothing with greater
abhorrence than such presumption.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Calvin, John. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". "Calvin's Commentary on
the Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/psalms-
2.html. 1840-57.
John Trapp Complete Commentary
Psalms 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall
have them in derision.
Ver. 4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh at them] Videt, ridet.
He seeth and smileth, he looketh and laugheth, at these giants. He sitteth

in heaven, far above their reach; neither doth he much trouble himself
about the matter. No more should we; but trust in him, and know that
there is a council in heaven that will dash the mould of all contrary
counsels upon earth; as the stone cut out of the mountain did the four
great monarchies, Daniel 2:34. See an instance hereof in latter times.
Luther, that heroic reformer, was excommunicated by the pope,
proscribed by the emperor, hated and cursed all Christendom over
almost, yet he prospered, and the work of Christ went on in his hands.
And when the Elector of Saxony, his only patron, was much afraid what
would become of him, and of the business of religion, Luther out of his
Patmos (as he called it), where he lay hid, writeth him a rousing letter,
wherein is read this among many other brave passages: Sciat celsitudo
tua et nihil dubitet longe aliter in coelo quam Noribergae de hoc negotio
conclusum est, Let your Highness rest well assured of this, that things
are far otherwise carried and concluded in heaven, than they are at the
Imperial Diet held at Norinberg. After this, in the year of grace 1526,
there conspired against the gospel, and the professors thereof, the
emperor and his prisoner in Spain, the French king, the princes also and
bishops in Germany, stirred up by the pope. The French king was set at
liberty, upon the condition that he join with the emperor to root out
Lutheranism, that is, true religion. This was the agreement, but God
broke it; for the French king was no sooner home but he made a league
with the pope and the Venetians against the emperor. The pope excuseth
his falling off from Caesar by a petulant and malapert epistle. Caesar,
by another letter, lay open to the world the pope’s perfidy, exhorting
him to peace, and concluding that they had more need to unite their
forces for the extirpation of Lutheran heresy. By this means the Church
had a happy halcyon, while these great ones were out, and at it.
The Lord shall have them in derision] Adonai, that is, the sustainer and
upholder of all. Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, Revelation
19:16. Lords and lowlies are all his vassals and underlings, as
Constantine, Theodosius, and Valentine, those great emperors, called
themselves. This name or style Christ hath written on his vesture, that

all may see it, and on his thigh, where hangs his sword, to show his
absolute dominion, his unlimited empire, got and held out of the hands
of his enemies, with his mind, and with his bow, Genesis 48:22. And
when he is said to deride them, this is no more than to laugh at them, as
the following effects show.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". John Trapp Complete
Commentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/psalms-2.html. 1865-
1868.
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
Psalms 2:4. He that sitteth, &c.— Or, He that dwelleth. This is spoken of
God, (after the manner of men,) to denote his utter contempt of the
opposition of his enemies; the perfect ease with which he was able to
disappoint all their measures, and crush them for their impiety and
folly; together with his absolute security that his counsels should stand,
and his measures be finally accomplished; as men laugh at, and hold in
utter contempt, those whose malice and power they know to be utterly
vain and impotent. The introducing God as thus laughing at and
deriding his enemies, is in the true spirit of poetry, and with the utmost
propriety and dignity. The whole description is grand: Jehovah is he
who is seated in the heavens, far beyond the effects of their rage and
malice: from thence he sees their secret counsels, confederate armies,
and united obstinate endeavours to oppose what he had solemnly
decreed.

Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Coke, Thomas. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". Thomas Coke
Commentary on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tcc/psalms-2.html. 1801-
1803.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible
He that sitteth, as the Judge upon his tribunal, and as the King of the
whole world upon his royal throne; who, without stirring from his place,
can with one look or word destroy all his enemies.
In the heavens: this is opposed to their being and reigning upon earth,
Psalms 2:2, and is mentioned here, as it is in other places of Scripture,
as an evidence both of God’s clear and certain knowledge of all things
that are done below, as is noted, Psalms 11:4, and of his sovereign and
irresistible power, as is hence gathered, Psalms 115:3. See the preface to
the Lord’s prayer.
Shall laugh, i.e. shall both despise and deride them, and all their crafty
devices, which he shall manifest to the world to be ridiculous and
contemptible follies. Compare 2 Kings 19:21 Psalms 37:13.
Copyright Statement

Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". Matthew Poole's
English Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/psalms-2.html.
1685.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
4. Laugh… derision—A bold anthropomorphism, here signifying not
only exultation, but the infinite ease with which God shall render
abortive all their plans, which in Psalms 2:1 are called “vain,”—
nothing. See Psalms 37:13; Psalms 52:6
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Whedon, Daniel. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". "Whedon's
Commentary on the Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/whe/psalms-2.html.
1874-1909.
Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable
David envisioned God as ruler over all, sitting on His royal throne in
heaven, not at all threatened or worried about the plan of the nations,
but laughing at its futility. The figure of God sitting on His throne is a
common personification that the psalmists used (cf. Psalm 9:11; Psalm

22:3; Psalm 29:10; Psalm 55:19; Psalm 102:12; Psalm 113:5; Isaiah 6:1;
Ezekiel 1:26; Revelation 4:2; Revelation 5:1). This is the only place in
Scripture where the writer described God as laughing.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Constable, Thomas. DD. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". "Expository
Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dcc/psalms-2.html.
2012.
Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments
Psalms 2:4. He that sitteth in the heavens — As the judge upon his
tribunal, weighing the actions of men, and as the king of the whole earth
upon his royal throne; who, without moving from his place, can with
one word or look destroy all his enemies. His sitting (or dwelling, as Dr.
Waterland renders , josheb, here) in the heavens is opposed to their
being and reigning on the earth, (Psalms 2:2,) and is mentioned here, as
in other places of Scripture, as an evidence both of God’s clear and
certain knowledge of all things that are done below, and of his sovereign
and irresistible power. Shall laugh — Shall despise them and all their
crafty devices. “This is spoken of God,” says Dr. Dodd, “after the
manner of men, to denote his utter contempt of the opposition of his
enemies; the perfect ease with which he was able to disappoint all their
measures, and crush them for their impiety and folly; together with his

absolute security, that his counsels should stand and his measures be
finally accomplished; as men laugh at, and hold in utter contempt, those
whose malice and power they know to be utterly vain and impotent. The
introducing God as thus laughing at, and deriding his enemies, is in the
true spirit of poetry, and with the utmost propriety and dignity. The
whole description is grand: Jehovah is he who is seated in the heavens,
far beyond the effects of their rage and malice: from thence he sees their
secret counsels, confederate armies, and united obstinate endeavours to
oppose what he had solemnly decreed.”
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Benson, Joseph. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". Joseph Benson's
Commentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rbc/psalms-2.html.
1857.
George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
Them, who continue rebellious, Proverbs i. He speaks thus to shew that
we deserve derision. (Haydock) --- Quod nos derisu digna faciamus. (St.
Jerome) --- Yet he will convert many, (Worthington) even of those who,
like St. Paul, were bent on persecuting the faithful. If they still resist,
(Haydock) he will shew the futility of their plans, and triumph over all,
as David did over his opponents, and Christ over those who wished to
have obstructed his resurrection, and the propagation of his gospel.
Thus Jesus has proved his divinity, and confirmed our hopes that he will
still protect his Church; as he did when it seemed to be in the greatest
danger. (Calmet) --- God can fear no opposition to his decrees.

(Menochius) --- He is in Heaven, to whom we ought to address our
prayers. The Lord seems to be here applicable to Christ. Chaldean, "the
word of God." He has the title of the Creator, Adonai, as the Jews have
marked it with a Kamets 134 times, when it is to be taken in that sense.
(Berthier)
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Haydock, George Leo. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". "George
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hcc/psalms-2.html.
1859.
E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes
laugh. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6.
The LORD*. Primitive text was Jehovah. Altered by the Sopherim to
Adonai. See App-32.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bullinger, Ethelbert William. "Commentary on Psalms 2:4". "E.W.
Bullinger's Companion bible Notes".

https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bul/psalms-2.html.
1909-1922.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -
Unabridged
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in
derision.
The scene passes from earth to heaven, from Antichrist and his
confederate hosts to Yahweh on His throne above, laughing to scorn
their purpose and then proceeding to execute judgment.
Sitteth in the heavens - and therefore exercises exalted sovereignty over
"the kings of the earth."
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary
on Psalms 2:4". "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole
Bible - Unabridged".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfu/psalms-2.html. 1871-
8.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(4) He that sitteth.—Here the psalm, with a sublimity truly Hebrew,
turns from the wild confusion on earth to the spectacle of God looking
down with mingled scorn and wrath on the fruitless attempts of the

heathen against His chosen people.
Laugh.—We speak of the “irony of events “; the Hebrew ascribes irony
to God, who controls events.
PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES
CHRIS BENFIELD
II. A Day of Indivisible Authority (4-9) – David had looked upon the
condition of the world with despair, but he was confident in the God he
served. We live in a difficult day, but the Lord is still in control. The
world in which we live isn’t beyond the reach and authority of God.
Consider:
A. God’s Deity (4a) – He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. God is
seated upon His throne. He is sovereign and He still reigns. God is not
dismayed at the sinful indulgence of humanity. He is not worried about
evil overcoming righteousness. The world may sink deeper in sin, but
He remains in control. The world may reject Him, but He is not limited
in power. We belong to One who created the universe by the word of His
power. His authority is not given or rivaled by men. He is still God!
B. God’s Discipline (4b-5) – the Lord shall have them in derision. [5]
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore
displeasure. Man may feel as if he has gained the upper hand. He may

feel as if he can mock God’s holiness and get away with sin, but God will
have the final say. The word derision literally means “to mock.” Those
who denied and mocked God will face His judgment and His wrath.
Those who claim they are accountable to no one will stand before a holy
God and give account of their lives.
§ Sin does not go unnoticed and it will not go unpunished. God is a God
of mercy, but He is also a God of judgment and wrath. He was merciful
unto His own people, but when they refused to repent, judgment was all
that remained. I firmly believe God will judge those who reject Him and
His righteousness. Rom.1:18 – For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold
the truth in unrighteousness; Heb.10:31 – It is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God.
C. God’s Declaration (6-7) – Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of
Zion. [7] I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou
art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Things were bad in David’s
day. As he looked around he saw sin and despair, but God offered
assurance of the coming Messiah. Ever since Adam’s fall in the garden,
sin had reigned upon the earth. All of creation suffered under the
burden of sin, but the Promised King would come.
§ He came, just as God had promised, born of a virgin, and begotten of
the Father. Jesus was God veiled in flesh. He lived a triumphant life
over sin. They crucified Him as He became the substitutionary
atonement for our sin. He was buried in a cold, dark grave, but He rose
victorious over sin and death. The penalty of eternal death was
pardoned by the offering of the Son. He returned to the Father where
He is seated in power.

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§ The world may deny Him, but He is Sovereign and He is the Savior!
We can rejoice because Jesus atoned for our sin. Life may be hard, but
the redeemed belong unto the Lord.
D. God’s Dispensation (8-9) – Ask of me, and I shall give thee the
heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for
thy possession. [9] Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt
dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. These verses make reference to
the second coming of our Lord. This world today is ruled by the prince
of the power of the air, but Jesus is coming again to set up His kingdom
on earth to judge the wicked and establish righteousness. There are
those who doubt and even deny His coming, but He will come again.
Rev.19:15 – And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he
should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and
he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
The world is ruled by sin and despair in this dispensation of time, but
the Lord will come again and set things right, defeating Satan and the
influence of sin! Rev.22:12 – And, behold, I come quickly; and my
reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

III. A Day of Available Mercy (10-12) – Even in a day filled with
iniquity, God offered mercy. He desired that men would repent and turn
unto Him. We live in a sinful day, but the mercy of God is still extended
to those who will receive it. There is hope in this difficult day. The Lord
is calling for all to come unto Him. This involves:
A. An Honest Heart (10) – Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be
instructed, ye judges of the earth. The call was sent for men to examine
their hearts, to see where they stood with the Lord. God called for them
to turn from the pleasures of the flesh and seek His wisdom. He
expected them to live according to His righteous plan.
§ If you have never been saved, you have an urgent need. God wants to
save you, but you must meet Him on His terms. Seek the wisdom and
ways of God rather than the desires of the flesh. Admit that you are lost
and in need of His saving grace. Christian, if you are troubled and in
despair examine your heart and make sure you are right with God. We
must see ourselves in light of the holiness of God. He demands that we
be made righteous and live according to His ways.
B. A Humble Heart (11) – Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with
trembling. Men of the earth are determined to make their own way.
They don’t see the need to submit to the Lord’s demands. They have no
reverence for the Lord or respect for His ways. They live as if there is no
God. Mercy is available to those who seek it, but we must come before
the Lord in an attitude of fear and trembling.

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§ Apart from God we have no hope. He alone is our source of rejoicing.
Were it not for the sacrifice and provision of Christ, we would all be
hopelessly lost. We must see Him as Lord and Redeemer of our souls. A
life that isn’t submitted in holy reverence will not be accepted of God. If
you desire His blessing in your life, humble yourself before Him!
C. A Holy Heart (12) – Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from
the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that
put their trust in him. The answer to life’s problems is Jesus. He is the
only One who can deliver you from the burden of sin and the cares of
this life. We are to come before Him in an attitude of worship and
praise. Were it not for His mercy we would all be condemned and
rejected of God. Lam.3:22 – It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not
consumed, because his compassions fail not.
§ We have nothing to boast of in ourselves. It is the righteousness of
Christ that has made us acceptable unto the Lord. We could never stand
in the face of His wrath. We are obligated to offer praise unto the Lord
for all that He has done and for who He is. Every knee will bow and
every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

§ Let us come before Him with a holy heart that is mindful of His grace
unto us. Jesus gave His best upon the cross and He deserves our best in
praise. Those who have trusted the Lord in salvation and strive to live a
godly life are promised His blessing. We need the touch of God on our
lives in such difficult days.
Conclusion: The world in which we live can be seen in this Psalm. Many
live as if there is no God and seek to remove Him from every aspect of
life. God is sovereign and in control. He is coming again, just as He said.
Are you ready for that day? We all need the grace and presence of God
to endure in these hard times. If you have never been saved, come to
Jesus and He will supply your need. If you are troubled, consider your
heart, and turn to Him.
RON DANIEL
2:4 God Laughs
I have a picture in my mind of who Jesus is and what He must have
been like. The man who played Jesus in the Visual Bible presentation of
Matthew was, I believe, as close as any human will ever get in
portraying the earthly nature and persona of Jesus. His love for people
was written on his face, he constantly touched those he spoke to, he
laughed and connected and embraced people.
That being said, it is amazing that in all the Scriptures, there is no other
verse that refers to the Lord laughing. The Lord laughs at the ridiculous
picture of men who oppose Him.

I heard Frank Peretti once teaching about the New Age concept of
humans believing that they are God. He described Shirley Maclaine on
the beach with her spiritual guru encouraging her to shout into the sky,
"I AM GOD! I AM GOD!" Then, he switched the camera up to heaven,
as God laughingly said, "Gabriel, Michael, you've gotta come see this!"
And as they peer over the clouds, there is the tiniest speck on this little
blue marble saying minutely in a flea's voice, "i am god! i am god!"
2:5-9 The King Upon Zion
In response to Shirley's little voice, and all who claim that God is not
truly God, He will speak to them in His anger. I have been re-reading
the book of Revelation this week, and cannot even put into words the
terror that God will put in man's heart as His fury is poured out upon
the earth during the Great Tribulation. At the end of those seven years,
Jesus Christ will come down conquering, and then He will rule and
reign on this earth for a thousand years. He will sit upon Mount Zion
and rule the nations with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15).
2:10-12 Worship The Lord Or Else
It's not too late for Sadaam Hussein. It's not too late for Yeltsin, Clinton,
or Prince Charles. God has been so merciful, waiting for the rulers of
this earth to come to repentance, to worship the Lord, to take refuge in
Him.
2Pet. 3:9-12 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count
slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for
all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief,
in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be
destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned
up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of
people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and
hastening the coming of the day of God, on account of which the
heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with
intense heat

William L. Pettingill
THE VOICE OF THE FATHER
"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in
derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in
his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion"
(vss. 4-6).
"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh" (vs. 4a).
Setting aside for the moment the tragedy of it, there is real comedy here.
How ridiculous it is for these creatures of GOD, who owe to Him their
very lives, to assert independence from GOD and seek to overthrow His
dominion!
"the Lord shall have them in derision" (v. 4b).
Here the name "Lord" is "Adonai."** He is the Ruler of all; and He has
them in derision. In all their rebellion He looks upon them and laughs.
But all the time He goes on feeding them and clothing them. Behold the
Patience of GOD!
"Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath" (v. 5a).
Not since the flood of Noah has the LORD spoken in wrath to the
human race, but one day He will speak in judgment.
"and vex them in his sore displeasure" (5b).
Here is an intimation of the Great Tribulation. It is "the wrath to come"
from which we believers are to be delivered, "For God hath not
appointed us to wrath":
"For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had
unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and
true God; And to wait for his Son from Heaven, whom he raised from
the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come . . . For

God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians 1:9-10; 5:9).
"Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion" (v. 6).
Here is GOD's reply to the rebellious nations.
They vainly imagine that His eternal purpose may be thwarted and that
they may be able to prevent Him from seating His SON upon the throne
of universal empire as KING of kings and LORD of lords. But, though
the rulers may rage and the peoples imagine a vain thing, in His own
good time GOD will fulfill His promise and give to His SON "the throne
of his father David," from which throne the SON will "And, behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call
his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the
Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father
David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his
kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:31-33)
WIL POUNDS
THE SOVEREIGN OF THE UNIVERSE
The Psalm has four speakers. The first voices we hear are the enemies
speaking against the LORD God and His Anointed One. The second
strophe records the calm words of assurance of Adonai, the Sovereign
Lord of all in the thick of the opposition. Then the Anointed King
speaks. Finally, the Psalmist speaks with exultation because the Lord's
anointed comes forth with divine power and glory.
Our Psalm opens with the Gentiles in an uproar. Perhaps 2 Samuel 8 or
10 would fit the occasion under the reign of King David. The hostility of
neighboring nations had displayed itself. However, the rebellion is not
just against David. "Nations" and "peoples" refers to Gentile nations
who are in an "uproar" against the Lord God and His Anointed One (v.

1). It is a "noisy riot that seethes in antagonism" against God. The
common bond among the nations is hatred against the Lord. They
meditate on how they might overthrow God (2:1, 2).
History is full of opposition to God. However, the plot to overthrow God
is empty. Adam first tired it in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). Before
the Deluge the man's heart was only continuously full of rebellion
(Genesis 6:5). Even after the flood men plotted in their selfishness
(Genesis 11:4). Pharaoh tried genocide and infanticide. Finally, "Jesus
came to His own and His own received Him not." Cf. Matthew 21:33-42.
The pulsating chant gets louder and louder. "Crucify Him!" "Crucify
Him!" The vain thing was the crucifixion of Christ (Matthew 26:3-5;
27:1).
Their goal had come to nothing. Peter stood and preached his finest
sermon using passages from the Old Testament including Psalm two.
"Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested
to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God
performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know––
this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of
God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to
death. And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of
death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power (Acts 2:22-
24).
Man is still in his rebellion (2 Peter 3:3-4; Isaiah 1:18; Romans 3:23;
6:23). He still toots the same horn, and sing the same song, "Let us tear
their fetters apart, and cast away their cords from us!" (Psalm 2:3).
The Lord God is sovereign and He is in complete control. The Lord
"laughs" (v. 4) in unbelief at their powerless threats. He "scoffs" at
them. Someone said, "He who sits is the Sitter in the heavens." All
attitudes toward Him are absurd and ridiculous.
However, God will not always be patient with their rebellion. "Anger"
in vv. 5, 12 describes God's righteous indignation.

God's plan will not be defeated. Listen to the emphatic firm voice of
God (v. 6). "But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy
mountain." The anointed King is set firmly in place (Cf. 2 Samuel 7:13,
16). Cf. Hebrews 1:3-5. Zion is the hill of God's holiness. He holds his
office by direct appointment of God. History makes no mention of a
king of Israel being anointed on Zion. Zion is mentioned as the royal
seat of the Anointed One. It is there He will be installed, and He may
reign and rule from there.
The Sonship implies world dominion (v. 7). These words find their full
truth only when the Davidic family is viewed as centering in Christ. The
Lord's Anointed comes forward with the divine power and glory, with
which the messiah appears in the prophets. The Old Testament knows
no other kingship to which is promised the dominion of world power.
Revelation 19:15 describes Christ when He returns. Only with the
words of Revelation 11:15-18 does it find resolution. "The kingdom of
the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ
(Messiah); and He will reign forever and ever."
RAY PRITCHARD
Voice of the Father
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he
rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I
have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill" (vv. 4-6).
God the Father now responds to the spreading rebellion on the earth.
What does he say about the runaway world? He’s not surprised at all.
It’s not as if God is pacing the throne room of heaven saying, “I’m
worried about what’s going on in Libya. What if this revolution spreads
to Saudi Arabia? What will happen then?" In contrast to the chaos on
earth, there is perfect peace in heaven. The Lord laughs, as if he is
saying, “Little man, who do you think you are?”

Men do not want God telling them to do.
First, he laughs at them (4).
Second, he threatens them (5).
Third, he warns them (6).
God is “enthroned,” not embattled. He “laughs” in derision at their
puny efforts. It’s like a father laughing when his 3-year-old son says,
“Let’s wrestle, Dad. I can beat you.” It’s a joke. Can a flea defeat an
elephant? Can man shoot a rocket and destroy the throne of God?
What does he say about the runaway world? He’s not surprised at all.
Verse 6 tells us that God’s response to human chaos is Jesus. He has
installed Christ as King. There is a sense of divine irony at work. “You
killed my Son, but the day will come when my Son reigns over the earth
in the very city where you put him to death.” God is not pleading with
men, “Please make my Son king.” He is the King of Kings already!
Psalm 2 does not present Christ as an “option” men may choose. He is
not an “option” on a long menu of religious choices any more than
gravity is an “option” we may disregard if we like. If you think gravity
is an “option,” climb to top of the Empire State Building, jump off, and
see what happens! The result will not be a positive experience. Those
who treat Jesus as an “option” will one day discover that ignoring him
leads to eternal destruction.
When we are troubled by the events around us, we should ask ourselves,
“Do I still believe in God?” Do we have a God so big that he transcends
the shattering affairs of this world? Do we have a God who doesn’t have
to watch Fox News to find out what’s going on in the Middle East?
Jesus is not an “option"!
Since God’s answer to all the problems of the world is Jesus, that ought
to be our answer as well.

RON BECHTEL
“He who sits in the heavens laughs” (4). Note that the position that God
holds “in the heavens,” a position from which he supremely reigns
above [the nations]… despite their interest to throw off all allegiance to
him and virtually dethrone him6. His name, we know, is Yahweh (2), but
his title is Adonai, Lord, sovereign over the nations. He derides their
rebellion, not in a gleeful laughter that makes sport of another’s
misfortune, but in a holy contempt at one’s willful, indefatigable folly.
Here the supreme ruler mocks the odiousness and the absurdity of
mankind’s rebellion against him.7 Of all the nerve, wee ones spitting at
the Great One. Remember the forty-two boys who jeered at Elisha in 2
Kings 4:23-24: “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” Their
dishonor and their foolishness led to their destruction as the great
prophet cursed them in the name of the Lord, and two she-bears came
out of the woods and tore them apart.
Not only does Yahweh deride the nations for their rebellion. He also
declares the installment of his king on Zion (5-6). First, he speaks with
terrifying anger (5). Verse 5 begins with “then,” a signal of the progress
of time. For a while, right now and perhaps for an undisclosed time in
the future, the nations will carry on in contempt against the Sovereign
Lord of the universe. But never forget, a “now” always yields to a
“then.” The contempt against God, the foolish discarding of his holy and
loving and wise restraints, will not and cannot last forever. Present self-
centered attitudes, speech and behavior eventuate in a “then” which is
always theocentric. Is this not one of the happiest thoughts to every
believer in Jesus Christ. The turmoil, heartache, and anguish of present
sin-caused sufferings eventuate in the certainty of future, final,
theocratic justice. Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!
(Did you know that Handel put that thought next in his masterwork
oratorio, Messiah, after that woeful tenor libretto, “Thou shalt dash
them in pieces like a potter’s vessel?” Immediately the whole chorus
breaks forth into the Hallelujah Chorus. But I digress.)

“Then,” when the cup of wrath overflows its brim, he will “speak to
them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure” (KJV). The
king’s laughter at the absurdity of their rebellion now escalates into a
heated declaration of terrifying fury. As he speaks, he centers attention
upon himself, answering the foolish and boastful rebellion against him.
“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill (6). “I” is emphatic
and “is best translated, “But as for me….” “My king” and “my holy hill,
Zion” underscore the centerpiece of the psalm as well as the intimate
union of God with Messiah and the earthly location of his reign. The
next stanza gives the details.
In the first stanza, the psalmist has expressed his astonishment at the
insurgent nations’ rejection of Yahweh’s rule (1-3). Then he narrates
Yahweh’s response to the nation through the installment of his king (4-
6). Now in third stanza, the psalmist records Yahweh’s decree and the
coronation of his anointed one who will destroy the rebel nations (7-9).
What made God laugh so hard? It was the fact that the kings and
rulsers of the nations decided to take Him to trial. Spurgeon tells us of
this great trial of all time.
THE GREATEST TRIAL ON RECORD NO. 495
A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 22,
1863, BY THE REV. C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN
TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together, against the Lord and against His anointed.” Psalm 2:2.

AFTER our Lord had been betrayed by the false-hearted Judas, He was
bound by the officers who had come to take Him; no doubt the cords
were drawn as tight, and twisted as mercilessly as possible. If we believe
the traditions of the fathers, these cords cut through the flesh even to
the very bones, so that all the way from the garden to the house of
Annas, His blood left a crimson trail. Our Redeemer was hurried along
the road which crosses the brook Kidron. A second time He was made,
like unto David, who passed over that brook, weeping as he went; and
perhaps it was on this occasion that he drank of that foul brook by the
way. The brook Kidron, you know, was that into which all the filth of
the sacrifices of the temple was cast, and Christ, as though He were a
foul and filthy thing, must be led to the black stream! He was led into
Jerusalem by the sheep gate, the gate through which the lambs of the
Passover, and the sheep for sacrifice were always driven. Little did they
understand that in so doing, they were again following out to the very
letter the significant types which God had ordained in the law of Moses.
They led, I say, this Lamb of God through the sheep gate, and they
hurried Him on to the house of Annas, the ex-high priest, who, either
from his relationship to Caiaphas, from his natural ability, or his
prominence in opposing the Savior, stood high in the opinion of the
rulers. Here they made a temporary call, to gratify the bloodthirsty
Annas with the sight of his Victim; and then, hastening on, they brought
Him to the house of Caiaphas, some little distance off, where, though it
was but a little past the dead of night, many members of the Sanhedrin
were assembled. In a very short time, no doubt informed by some
speedy messenger, all the rest of the elders came together, and sat down
with great delight to the malicious work at hand! Let us follow our Lord
Jesus Christ, not, like Peter, afar off, but, like John, let us go in with
Jesus into the high priest’s house, and when we have tarried awhile
there, and have seen our Savior despitefully used, let us traverse the
streets with Him, till we come to the hall of Pilate, and then to the palace
of Herod, and then afterwards to the place called “The pavement,”
where Christ is subjected to a shameful competition with Barabbas, the

murderer, and where we hear the howling of the people, “Crucify Him!
Crucify Him!” Brothers and sisters, as the Lord gave commandment
concerning even the ashes and waste of the sacrifices, we ought to think
no matter trivial which stands in connection with our great burnt
offering! My admonition is, “Gather up the fragments which remain,
that nothing be lost.” As goldsmiths sweep their shops to save even the
filings of the gold, so every word of Jesus should be treasured up as very
precious. But, indeed, the narrative to which I invite you is not
unimportant. Things which were purposed of old, prophesied by seers,
witnessed by apostles, written by evangelists, and published by the
ambassadors of God, are not matters of secondary interest, but deserve
our solemn and devout attention! Let all our hearts be awed as we
follow the King of kings in His pathway of shame and suffering. I. We
come, then, to the hall of Caiaphas. After the mob had dragged our
Lord from the house of Annas, they reached the palace of Caiaphas, and
there a brief interval occurred before the high priest came forth to
question the prisoner. How were those sad minutes spent? Was the poor
Victim allowed a little pause to collect His thoughts, that He might face
His accusers calmly? Far from it—Luke shall tell the pitiful story
—“And the men that held Jesus mocked Him, and smote Him. And
when they had blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face, and asked
Him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote You? And many other things
blasphemously spoke they against Him.” The officers were pausing until
the chairman of the court should please to have an interview with the
prisoner, and instead of allowing the accused to take a little rest before a
trial so important, upon which His life and character depended, they
The Greatest Trial on Record Sermon #495
Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 9
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spend all the time in venting their bitter malice upon Him! Observe how
they insult His claim to the Messiahship! In effect, they mock Him thus

—“You claim to be a prophet like Moses; You know things to come; if
You are sent of God, prove it by identifying Your foes; we will put You
on trial, and test You, O man of Nazareth.” They blindfold His eyes and
then, smiting Him one after another, they bid Him exercise His
prophetic gift for their amusement, and prophesy who it was that smote
Him. Oh, shameful question! How gracious was the silence, for an
answer might have withered them forever! The day shall come when all
who smite Christ shall find that He has seen them, though they thought
His eyes were blinded! The day shall come, blasphemer, worldling,
careless man, when everything that you have done against Christ’s
cause, and Christ’s people, shall be published before the eyes of men
and angels—and Christ shall answer your question—and shall tell you
who it is who smote Him! I speak to some this morning who have
forgotten that Christ sees them; and they have ill-treated His people;
they have spoken ill of His holy cause, saying, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?” I tell you, the Judge of men
shall, before long, point you out, and make you, to your shame and
confusion, confess that you smote the Savior when you smote His
Church! This preliminary mockery being over, Caiaphas, the high
priest came in. He began, at once, to interrogate the Lord prior to the
public trial, doubtless with the view of catching Him in His speech. The
high priest asked Him, first, of his disciples. We do not know what
questions he asked; perhaps they were something like these—“What do
You mean, to allow a rabble to follow You wherever You go? Who are
You, that You should have 12 persons always attending You, and calling
You Master? Do You intend to make these the leaders of a band of men?
Are these to be Your lieutenants, to raise a host on Your behalf? Or do
You pretend to be a prophet, and are these the sons of the prophets who
follow You, as Elisha did Elijah? Moreover, where are they? Where are
Your gallant followers? If You are a good man, why are they not here to
bear witness to You? Where have they gone? Are they not ashamed of
their folly, now that Your promises of honor all end in shame?” The high
priest, “asked Him of His disciples.” Our Lord Jesus, on this point, said
not a syllable. Why this silence? Because it is not for our Advocate to
accuse His disciples! He might have answered, “Well do you ask,

‘Where are they?’ The cowards forsook Me! When one proved a traitor,
the rest took to their heels. You ask, ‘Where are My disciples?’ There is
one yonder, sitting by the fire, warming his hands, the same who just
now denied Me with an oath.” But no, He would not utter a word of
accusation; He whose lips are mighty to intercede for His people, will
never speak against them! Let Satan slander, but Christ pleads! The
accuser of the brothers and sisters is the prince of this world—the
Prince of peace is always our Advocate before the eternal throne! The
high priest next shifted his ground, and asked Him concerning His
doctrine—what it was that He taught—whether what He taught did not
contradict the original teachings of their great lawgiver Moses—and
whether He had not railed at the Pharisees, reviled the Scribes, and
exposed the rulers. The Master gave a noble answer. Truth is never
shamefaced—He boldly points to His public life as His best answer. “I
spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue, and in the
temple, where the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing.
Why ask Me? Ask them who heard Me, what I have said unto them:
behold, they know what I said.” No sophistries—no attempt at evasion
—the best armor for the truth is her own naked breast! He had
preached in the market places, on the mountain’s brow, and in the
temple courts; nothing had been done in a corner. Happy is the man
who can make so noble a defense! Where is the weakness in such a
harness? Where can the arrow pierce the man arrayed in so complete
an armor? Little did that arch-knave Caiaphas gain by his crafty
questioning. For the rest of the questioning, our Lord Jesus said not a
word in self-defense; He knew that it availed not for a lamb to plead
with wolves; He was well aware that whatever He said would be
misconstrued and made a fresh source of accusation, and He willed,
moreover, to fulfill the prophecy, “He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not
His mouth.” But what power He exerted in thus remaining silent!
Perhaps nothing displays more fully the omnipotence of Christ than this
power of self-control! Control the Deity? What power less than divine
can attempt the task? Behold, my brothers and sisters, the Son of God
does more than rule the winds, and command the waves, He restrains

Himself. And when a word, a whisper, would have refuted His foes, and
swept them to their eternal destruction, He “opened not His mouth.” He
who opened His mouth for His enemies, will not utter a
Sermon #495 The Greatest Trial on Record
Volume 9 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ.
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word for Himself! If ever silence were more than golden, it is this deep
silence under infinite provocation! During this preliminary examination,
our Lord allowed an outrage which needs a passing notice. When He
had said, “Ask them who hear Me,” some over-zealous person in the
crowd struck Him in the face. The margin in John 18:22 very properly
corrects our version, and renders the passage, “with a rod.” Now,
considering that our blessed Lord suffered so much, this one little
particular might seem unimportant, only it happens to be the subject of
prophecy in the book of Micah 5:1, “They shall smite the Judge of Israel
with a rod upon the cheek.” This smiting, while under trial, is peculiarly
atrocious. To strike a man while he is pleading in his own defense, would
surely be a violation of the laws even of barbarians! It brought Paul’s
blood into his face and made him lose his balance when the high priest
ordered them to smite him on the mouth. I think I hear his words of
burning indignation—“God shall smite you, you whited wall; for do you
sit to judge me after the law, and command me to be smitten contrary to
the law?” How soon the servant loses his temper! How far more glorious
the meekness of the Master! What a contrast do these gentle words
afford us—“If I have spoken evil, bear witness to the evil. But if well,
why do you smite Me?” This was such a concentrated infamy, to strike a
man while pleading for his life, that it well deserved the notice both of
evangelist and prophet. But now, the court are all sitting; the members
of the great Sanhedrin are all in their various places, and Christ is
brought forth for the public trial before the highest ecclesiastical court.
It is, mark you, a foregone conclusion that by hook or crook they will

find Him guilty! They scour the neighborhood for witnesses. There were
fellows to be found in Jerusalem, like those who in the olden times
frequented the Old Bailey—“straw witnesses”—who were ready to be
bought on either side, and, provided they were well paid, would swear to
anything! But for all this, though the witnesses were ready to perjure
themselves, they could not agree with one another; being heard
separately, their tales did not tally! At last, two came with some degree
of similarity in their witness; they were both liars, but for once the two
liars had struck the same note. They declared that He said, “I will
destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will
build another made without hands,” (Mark 14:58). Now, here was, first,
misquotation. He never said, “I will destroy the temple.” His words
were, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” See how
they add to His words, and twist them to their own ends? Then again,
they not only misquoted the words, but they misrepresented the sense,
willfully, because He spoke concerning the temple of His body, and not
the literal temple in which they worshipped; and this they must have
known. He said, “Destroy this temple”—and the accompanying action
might have showed them that He meant His own body, which was raised
by His glorious resurrection after destruction upon the cross. Let us add
that even when thus misrepresented, the witness was not sufficient as
the foundation for a capital charge. Surely there could be nothing
worthy of death in a man’s saying, “Destroy this temple, and I will build
it in three days.” A person might make use of those words a thousand
times over—he might be very foolish, but he would not be guilty of
death for such an offense! But where men have made up their minds to
hate Christ, they will hate Him without a cause. Oh, you who are
adversaries of Christ—and there are some such here today—I know you
try to invent some excuse for your opposition to His holy religion! You
forge a hundred lies! But you know that your witness is not true, and
the trial in your conscience, through which you pass the Savior, is but a
mock one! Oh that you were wise, and would understand Him to be
what He is, and submit yourselves to Him now. Finding that their
witness, even when tortured to the highest degree, was not strong
enough, the high priest, to get matter of accusation, commanded Him by

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