Psalm 2:10

“Now”
• David… [as] a prophet and teacher… exhorts the unbelieving to repentance, that they may not, when it is too late, be compelled to acknowledge, from dire experience, that the divine threatenings are neither idle nor ineffectual. By the adverb now, he signifies the necessity of their speedy repentance, since they will not always be favored with the like opportunity. JC
• Delay no longer, but let good reason weigh with you. Your warfare cannot succeed, therefore desist and yield cheerfully to Him who will make you bow if you refuse His yoke. CHS
• Wherefore "now", under the Gospel dispensation, while it is today, and now is the accepted time and day of salvation, before the blow is given; act the wise part and leave off opposing, and become subject to so great and powerful a King. JG

“Be wise, O kings; be instructed you judges of the earth”
• He addresses by names kings and rulers, who are not very easily brought to a submissive state of mind; and who are, besides, prevented from learning what is right by the foolish conceit of their own wisdom with which they are puffed up. And if David spare not even kings themselves… much more does his exhortation apply to the common class of men, in order that all, from the highest to the lowest, may humble themselves before God. When he enjoins them to be wise, he directly condemns their false confidence in their own wisdom, as if he had said, the beginning of true wisdom is when a man lays aside his pride, and submits himself to the authority of Christ. JC
• O how wise, how infinitely wise is obedience to Jesus, and how dreadful is the folly of those who continue to be His enemies. CHS
• This address is made not so much to the kings of the earth in David's time, as to those who would be under the Gospel dispensation, and times of the Messiah; and particularly who would rise up, and set themselves against the Lord and his Anointed, and with these are to be understood their subjects: for if they are to serve the Lord, and be subject to Christ, then much more those that are under them; and they are rather spoken to particularly, because their examples have great influence on those over whom they rule, whether for good or evil these are exhorted to be wise, or to act the wise part; for great men are not always wise; wisdom, riches, and honor, do not always go together; men may be in high places, and yet be of low understandings; however, they do not always act wisely, and particularly those kings did not, when they rose up and set themselves against the Lord and His Messiah; since such opposition must be fruitless, nor is there any counsel against the Lord. And we learn, from the connection of these words with the following, that the truest wisdom in kings and people is to fear God, be subject to Christ, and trust in Him. JG
• We have here the practical application of this gospel doctrine concerning the kingdom of the Messiah, by way of exhortation to the kings and judges of the earth. They hear that it is in vain to oppose Christ’s government; let them therefore be so wise for themselves to submit to it. Those that would be wise must be instructed; and those are truly wise that receive instruction from the Word of God. Kings and judges stand upon a level with common persons before God; and it is as necessary for them to be religious as for any others. Those that give law and judgment to others must receive law from Christ, and it will be their wisdom to do so. What is said to them is said to all, and is required of every one of us. MH

Personal Summary:

So we see here the beginning of another contrast, which is God’s power and the divine threat which will mean man’s ruin vs. the call to repentance. In 2:9 we are told that the ungodly will be broken with a rod of iron and dashed into pieces. There we see the utter insignificance of the creature when held against the creator. A.W. Pink says this about it, “The supremacy of the true and living God might well be argued from the infinite distance which separates the mightiest creatures from the almighty Creator. He is the potter, they are but the clay in His hands, to be molded into vessels of honor, or to be dashed in pieces (Ps. 2:9) as He pleases. Were all the denizens of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth to combine in revolt against Him, it would occasion Him no uneasiness… Scripture itself tells us that when the Gentile heads unite with the apostate Israel to defy Jehovah and His Christ, “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh” (Ps. 2:4).” A.W. Pink, “The Attributes of God”, pg. 29

Yet, in spite of this great contrast in power, in spite of the fact that God is well within His rights to crush us like pots and break us with a rod of iron for our sin and our plotting against Him; even still, the offer of salvation is still given to mankind. We know that men still rejected this offer then and that they still perished in their sin. We also know that men are still doing it today. Even within proclaimed Christianity itself it happens. That is how sinful we are! J. Gresham Machen says this, “It is unnecessary, we are told, to have a “conception” of God; theology… it is said, is the death of religion; we should not seek to know God, but should merely feel His presence. With regard to this objection, it ought to be observed that if religion consists merely in feeling the presence of God, it is devoid of any moral quality whatever. Pure feeling, if there is such a thing, is non-moral. If human affection is… dependent upon knowledge, why should it be otherwise with that supreme personal relationship which is at the basis of religion? Certainly it does make the greatest possible difference what we think about God; the knowledge of God is the very basis of religion.” J. Gresham Machen, “Christianity and Liberalism”, pg. 54-55. Even within the church that proclaims itself to be a part of Christ; there are those that would seek to derail wisdom, and would thus plot in vain against God. Certainly, under this mode of operation, the church itself is not living up to or even in agreement with Matthew Henry’s comment that, “Those that would be wise must be instructed; and those are truly wise that receive instruction from the Word of God.” How do we live up to the exhortation to be wise if we do not even seek to truly know God? What good is the Word of God if it does not reveal Him to us? It is the primary reason for the bible!

So God offers repentance to mankind. He says we must do it now, do not delay, this is emphatically declared in the beginning of this verse. We have pitted ourselves against Him in every way, yet the offer still stands. Yet wisdom, because of sin, escapes us. Even in the church we set a horrible example for the world. What is the incentive for coming to Christ when the church acts as they do? Then to make matters worse, we justify our behavior by claiming that watered down Christianity is less offensive and more apt to fill the pews! And this, to the detriment of souls! People are jumping headfirst into the lake of fire, perishing in their sin, and this, after having spent a lifetime in these garbage churches. In all fairness, this is not the case in every church in America. Thankfully the promise still stands true that the Lord has reserved for Himself a remnant. But it is the case in far too many churches; and, if I might be so bold, in the vast majority of churches. We are being offered salvation and being told to repent now, to seek the wisdom of the Lord now; rulers, judges, all the people of the earth. Yet, the church is failing man because at its core it is failing God and, most importantly, fails to even truly recognize God which is the epitome of foolishness, not wisdom.

Thomas Watson says in his book “The Doctrine of Repentance” that, “Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed.” May the church, indeed all of mankind, repent now as we have been exhorted by David to do. May we turn to the Lord, trust in Him, submit to His divine governance, and glorify Him. This is true reformation: when it is done in the individual, and in society as a whole, with a contrite heart that has been convicted to love God and seeks to live according to His will. Let us not delay, the promise and the offer itself stand true, but so do the divine warnings of His wrath. The same God who says of the saints, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (Jo 10:27-28) also said, “God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies” (Nah 1:2).

Oh to be preserved by Him and to never feel the sting of His wrath! What love He has displayed for mankind that we are allowed to exist even one more day. Let us not waste the gift we have been given. We must let go of our ignorant sense of autonomy, abandon the clutch of sin, relish the offer we have been given and seek “the truest wisdom [which] is to fear God, be subject to Christ, and trust in Him.”