This word speaks directly to you!
by Pastor Stephen Abraham
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‘Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed’ (Psalm 2:1).
As a teenage boy on my 45-minute bus trip to school in the country, in those first 20 minutes where I was alone in the morning, I’d pick up my red Gideons New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs and read it with a pen in hand!
I was pretty dogmatic and passionate about my faith as a teen. I remember having some challenging theological conversations with my very atheistic science teacher in and out of class. I distinctly remember reading Psalm 2 and feeling, ‘This was written just for me as I battle my foolish, God-denying authority figure. He’ll get his just deserts in the end!’.
As I look fondly and amusingly back on that time in my youth, I’m reminded of how when we read Scripture in isolation, we can find it serendipitously applying to situations we currently face. And that is great – with some caveats!
Whenever we read Scripture, we do so through the lens of our own bias: our worldview, social norms, our psychological makeup and our theological background. The risk of reading Scripture purely in a personal manner without the self-awareness of our bias is it that we may only see what we want to see!
Maybe you’ve observed this sort of thing in the comments in some Christian groups or pages on social media. It’s been especially prevalent regarding US politics over the last year with people dogmatically believing that their candidate is God’s anointed leader and quoting any Bible verse to back up their opinion. A mentor of mine once said to me, ‘If you read Scriptures and your preconceived notions are only being affirmed, you are reading it wrong!’
So, is Psalm 2 about the US-elected leaders, my battle with my atheist science teacher or something else? In its historical context, Psalm 2 refers to the nations that challenged the king of Israel – like King David and his successors. So, God’s word speaks about times during history, but it also speaks prophetically about what is yet to come!
With its talk of ‘the anointed one’ in verse 2 (meshiach in Hebrew and christos in Greek translations) and the reference to ‘son of God’ in verse 7, Luther sees Psalm 2 applying to Jesus and those leaders who stood against him:
Psalm 2 is a prophecy of Christ, that He would suffer, and through His suffering become King and Lord of the whole world [and that it] stands a warning against the kings and lords of this world: If, instead of honoring and serving this King, they seek to persecute and blot Him out, they shall perish (from Reading the Psalms with Luther, pp17–19).
In my theological training, I was taught that we Lutherans look at Scripture ‘through the lens of The Confessions’ (that is my bias – and I happily accept that!). However, I think it is prudent to be aware of other ways of interpreting Scripture. That when a verse of Scripture has spoken to me personally, I ‘test the spirits’, use my study Bible and google it to see how other theologians I trust have interpreted it. I do not doubt that the Holy Spirit guides us into God’s word. I have had passages that have spoken powerfully into my context over the years and still do this very day. But let us always be aware and honest about our own biases and what we bring with us as we open the pages of God’s word.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word – its history, witness, teaching, and guidance. As we read it, Holy Spirit, convict us of sin, remind us of our sure salvation and comfort us when we are perplexed or troubled. Open our hearts to hear what you have for us. In the name of the Chosen One, our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
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