Psalms 2:6

I felt obliged to include some study on Christ as king before we ventured into the verse itself. I have tried to condense it down as much as possible but admittedly found most of it to be profitable and included most of it verbatim. It is a worthwhile consideration before looking at 2:6 which speaks of the office of king and the setting or anointing of the king by God.

The Name of Christ:
If Jesus is the personal, Christ is the official, name of the Messiah. It is the equivalent of the OT Mashiach (from mashach, to anoint –which is Strong’s 4886–), and thus means “the anointed one.” Kings and priests were regularly anointed in the old dispensation, Ex. 29:7; Lev. 4:3; Jgs. 9:8; 1 Sam. 9:16; 10:1; 2 Sam. 19:10. The King is called “the anointed of Jehovah,” 1 Sam. 24:10.The oil is used in anointing these officers symbolized the Spirit of God, Isa. 61:1; Zech. 4:1-6, and the anointing represented the transfer of the Spirit to the consecrated person, 1 Sam. 10:1,6,10; 16:13,14. The anointing was a visible sign of (a) an appointment to office; (b) the establishment of a sacred relationship and the consequent sacrosanctness of the person anointed, 1 Sam. 24:6; 26:9; 2 Sam. 1:14; and (c) a communication of the Spirit to the anointed one, 1 Sam. 16:13. The OT refers to the anointing of the Lord in Ps. 2:2… and formerly references were found in Ps. 2:6… but today Hebraists assert that the word nasak [Strong’s 5258 which is still listed as to pour out; to anoint; but is translated “I have set” in the KJV and the NKJV], used in these passages, means “to set up” rather than “to anoint”. But even so the word points to the reality of the first thing symbolized in the anointing. Christ was set up or appointed to His offices from eternity.
The Spiritual Kingship of Christ:
The spiritual kingship of Christ is His royal rule over the regnum gratiae, that is over His people or the Church. It is a spiritual kingship, because it relates to the spiritual realm. It is the mediatorial rule as it is established in the hearts and lives of believers. Moreover, it is spiritual, because it bears directly and immediately on a spiritual end, the salvation of His people. And, finally, it is spiritual, because it is administered, not by force or external means, but by the Word and the Spirit, which is the Spirit of truth and wisdom, of justice and holiness, of grace and mercy. This kingship reveals itself in the gathering of the church, and in its government, protection and perfection. The Bible speaks of it in many places, such as Ps. 2:6; 45:6,7; (cf. Heb. 1:8,9); 132:11; Isa. 9:6,7; Jer. 23:5,6; Acts 2:30-36, and other places.
The Duration of This Kingship:
The generally accepted position of the Church is that Christ received His appointment as mediatorial King in the depths of eternity, and that He began to function as such immediately after the fall, Prov. 8:23; Ps. 2:6. During the old dispensation He carried on His work as King partly through the judges of Israel, and partly through the typical kings. But though He was permitted to rule as Mediator even before His incarnation, He did not publicly and formally assume His throne and inaugurate His spiritual kingdom until the time of His ascension and elevation at the right hand of God, Acts 2:29-36; Phil. 2:5-11. – Louis Berkhof, “Systematic Theology”, pgs. 312, 406, 410

Christ is truly a King:
Although the kingdom of God had existed from the beginning, yet as everything therewith connected before the Advent was merely preparatory, the Scriptures constantly speak of the Messiah as a king who was to set up a kingdom into which in the end all other kingdoms were to be merged. The most familiar designation applied to Him in the Scriptures is Lord. But Lord means proprietor and ruler; and when used of God or Christ, it means absolute proprietor and sovereign ruler. Apart from Christ’s right in us and sovereignty over us as God, He as the God-man is our Lord. We belong to Him by the purchase of His blood, and God has set Him as King on His holy hill of Zion. In the second Psalm God declares in reference to the Messiah, I have “set my king upon my holy hill of Zion… Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” As the priesthood, and sacrifices, and prophets of the former dispensation were typical of the prophetic and priestly offices of Christ, so the kings of Israel were typical of His kingly office, so the national theocracy of the Mosaic economy was typical of the spiritual theocracy of the Messianic period. In the NT Christ is set forth as a king, in harmony with the predictions that foretold His advent, Luke 1:31-33; Matt. 3:2; Mark 1:14. Nothing, therefore, is more certain, according to the Scriptures, than that Christ is a king; and consequently, if we would retain the truth concerning Him and His work, He must be so regarded in our theology and religion. – Charles Hodge, “Systematic Theology”, vol. 2, pgs. 597-599

“I have set my King”
• The pronoun I is also emphatical, by which God signifies that He is so far exalted above the men of this world, that the whole mass of them could not possibly obscure His glory in the least degree. As often, then, as the power of man appears formidable to us, let us remember how much it is transcended by the power of God. In these words there is set before us the unchangeable and eternal purpose of God effectually to defend, even to the end, the kingdom of His Son, of which He is the founder; and this may well support our faith amidst the troublous storms of the world. JC
• Notice – 1. The royal office and character of our glorious Redeemer: He is a King. 2. The authority by which He reigns; He is “my King,” says God the Father, and I have set Him up from everlasting: “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:” (John 5:22). The world disowns His authority, but I own it; I have set Him, I have “given Him to be head over all things to the church” (Eph 1:22). Stephen Charnock

“On my holy hill of Zion”
• Mention is here made of mount Zion in express terms, not because David was first anointed there, but because at length, in God’s own time, the truth of the prophecy was manifested and actually established by the solemn rite of His consecration. And although David in these words had a regard to the promise of God… he meant to signify that his own reign is holy and inseparably connected with the temple of God. But this is applied more appropriately to the kingdom of Christ, which we know to be both spiritual and joined to the priesthood, and this is the principle part of the worship of God. JC
• He is set upon Zion, the hill of God’s holiness, a type of the gospel church, for on that the temple was built, for the sake of which the whole mount was called holy. Christ’s throne is set up in His church, that is, in the hearts of all believers and in the societies they form. The evangelical law of Christ is said to go forth from Zion (Isa. 2:3, Mic. 4:2), and therefore that is spoken of as the headquarters of this general, the royal seat of this prince, in whom the children of men shall be joyful. We are to sing these verses (vs. 1-6) with holy exultation, triumphing over all the enemies of Christ’s kingdom (not doubting but they will all of them be quickly made His footstool), and triumphing in Jesus Christ as the great trustee of power, and we are to pray, in firm belief of the assurance here given, “Father in heaven, Thy kingdom come, let thy Son’s kingdom come.” MH
• Although in the first sense these words may be said of David as a type of Christ, when the Lord set David upon the throne of Zion, (which is also typical of the church of Christ, which is called Zion), yet we must look beyond David, and all earthly kings, to behold Jesus as God’s king; for it is the peculiar character of Christ, that He did not, uncalled, assume the spiritual kingdom in this world, nor the eternal kingdom in the world above, but was called of God as was Aaron (Heb. 5:4-5). And it is the peculiar joy of God’s people, that their king is their lawful Sovereign, Redeemer, and Mediator, being so appointed and constituted by Jehovah. Always keep this view of Jesus, as the head and king of the church and people, in remembrance; for it will give confidence in all your approaches to God in Christ. RH

Summary:

Christ is our all in all. He is our Prophet, Priest, and King. His majesty and glory has been established in all the ages, even in eternity. He is the Christ! He is the great Jehovah saves! We are not laden with a faulty king but we have THE king, the king that cannot be matched or surpassed. His kingdom is a blessed kingdom that endures forever. Man cannot overcome Him and we cannot be separated from Him (Rom. 8:38-39). He is the purchaser of our souls and all reverence and glory are due Him by His lowly creatures that can but humbly and thankfully come to Him in praise. For without Him we would be waiting for a different sentence to be exacted in which “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12).
David was established as an ectype of what Christ is; merely a copy of the original, regardless of how great he was among men. He was blessed and flourished, he was placed in his office by God, and he pointed us to Christ. Yet, in all of that, he was still a fallible man, mired in sin, and laden with temptation just like we are. Yet the king that all of mankind had been waiting for is now here. He is revealed to us and came among us in the flesh. We are not waiting for Him to come; He already came; now we wait on His return to fully institute His promised kingdom once and for all. If men take comfort in their kings then how much more so can we take comfort in our divine king? Let us be confident in our walk for we are triumphant and God has placed His king over all the earth and we know that in time “every knee shall bow to [Christ], and every tongue shall confess to God” (Rom. 14:11). Praise God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! Amen!