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 2 The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord and against his Christ.

3 Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their yoke from us.

4 He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them.

5 Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his rage.

6 But I am appointed king by him over Sion his holy mountain, preaching his commandment.

7 The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.

8 Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.

9 Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

10 And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth.

11 Serve ye the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling.

12 Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way.

13 When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him.

1 "Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things?"

David, recognizing in spirit the coming Messias, the many persecutions he was to undergo, to end in his most successful reign, commences by taunting his persecutors. “And the people devised vain things,” foreshadowing the folly of the Jews, “when they took counsel to destroy Jesus.”

2 "The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord and against his Christ."

After saying in general, that both gentiles and people rose up against Christ, he now descends to particulars, and attributes the excitement not so much to the people as to those placed over them. The first of whom was Herod. Next the princes and the people, as the gospel has it, “All Jerusalem was troubled with him.” Then Pontius Pilate and the princes of that day. Then, after the passion and resurrection of our Lord, all the persecutions of the Roman emperors. So clearly foreshadowed is the Messias in this verse that the apostles, in the fourth chapter of the Acts, not only literally applied it to our Savior, but even the old Jewish Rabbis hold it to apply to the Savior the infatuated Jews are still foolishly looking out for! Observe the propriety of the words used here. The gentiles are said “to rage,” as if they were animals void of reason; while the Jewish people are made “to meditate vain things,” having taken counsel to destroy Jesus.

3 "Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their yoke from us."

The prophet assigns a reason for such rage and conspiracy; it was for fear they may be subjected to the law of Christ, so opposed to their carnal desires, and the wisdom of the world. These words are then, as it were, spoken by the kings and princes. The law here gets the name of bonds and yoke, because such it is, in point of fact, to the wicked; whereas, to the just, it is “sweeter than honey, and more desirable than gold and precious stones,” as we read in Ps. 18.

4 "He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them."

Here the prophet shows again how vain was the labor of the kings and princes in assailing the Christian religion. For the religion of Christ is of divine origin, and nobody can offer resistance to God. “He that dwelleth in heaven” is very appropriate, inasmuch as it shows that God sees all, is above all, and without any trouble can baffle all their counsels, and demolish all their plans. “Shall laugh at and deride them,” means that God in his wisdom, by means of signs and wonders, through the patience of the martyrs, through the conversion of nations and peoples, and through other means known to himself alone, will so confound them that they shall be an object of laughter and ridicule to every one. That we see fulfilled. The pagan and the Jewish priesthood are now ridiculed by all. They have neither temples nor sacrifice; and all the persecutors of the Church have met a miserable end.

5 "Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his rage."

He explains the manner in which God has held the enemies of Christ up to ridicule, not in language, but in the most grievous punishments and afflictions; for instance, Herod, stricken by the Angel; Maximinus, eaten up by vermin, and others. Strictly speaking, God is not subject to anger or fury; his judgments are always tranquil; but he is metaphorically said to rage and to be angry, when he punishes with severity, especially when the correction does not conduce to the salvation of the culprit. Such anger and fury belong to those who do not, like physicians, hurt to heal, but hurt to kill. Thus, when David says, “Lord, reprove me not in thy fury, nor correct me in thy anger,” he prays for the reproof and correction of a father, not of an enemy; and that it may tend to his salvation, and not to his detriment.

6 "But I am appointed king by him over Sion his holy mountain, preaching his commandment."

Having spoken of the rebellious sentiments and expressions of Christ’s enemies, he introduces