Don't You Know There's A King In Zion?

“I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” ~Psalm 2:6

 Psalm 2 is the psalm most used by Bible writers, quoted or alluded to nine times in the New Testament. Psalm 2 forms the very center and focus of the Church’s first recorded prayer in Acts 4.

“Why do the nations conspire
  and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
  and the rulers gather together against the Lord
  and against his Anointed One.”
  ~Psalm 2:1-2 & Acts 4:25-26

Like those very first Christians, when we pray Psalm 2 it allows us to personally realize and internalize the tremendous canyon between the world’s ways and the ways of our God. It puts the reality of this unbridgeable gap between our ways and the ways of “the nations” right into our hearts and minds and muscles and guts.

Eugene Peterson translates Psalm 2:6 this way, “Don’t you know there’s a King in Zion?”

Peterson expands on the idea in his book, The Jesus Way:

“The first generation of Christians took Jesus at his word when he announced that the Kingdom was at hand—a real (not ideal) Kingdom with a real king, King Jesus. The words and sentences of Psalm 2 dismissed the pretensions of all these other ways and let Christ the King permeate their preaching and prayers and following. They followed the resurrected Jesus with an air of triumph and praise. The gospel was not something private that they cultivated in the cozy security of their homes and hearts; it was public, the most powerful force in human history, shaping the destiny of nations as well as the souls of men and women.”

Following Jesus is a unique way of living. It’s like nothing else. There is nothing and no one like Jesus. Following him gets us little or nothing of what we commonly think we want or need. Following him accomplishes nothing on the world’s agenda. Following him takes us right out of this world’s assumptions and goals and straight to a place where we can “insert a lever that turns the world upside down and inside out.” Following Jesus has everything to do with this world, but almost nothing in common with this world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m preaching my first Gospel Meeting (they’re not called Gospel Meetings anymore, are they?) beginning this Sunday evening through Wednesday at the Keller Church of Christ. My good friend Kyle Bolton is the preacher there, a long time friend of the family that traces back to his parents and my parents and my grandmother at P-Grove.

Here’s the lineup:

Sunday: “The Challenge to Know God” God reveals himself to us at Sinai & Zion
Monday: “The Challenge to Trust God” Isaiah 46 and Matthew 8
Tuesday: “The Challenge to Obey God” Abraham and the binding of Isaac
Wednesday: “The Challenge to Share God” The parables of Luke 15

My personal theme for the week is “The Challenge to Preach Four Straight Nights.” I invite you to join us for any and all those evenings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some of you have asked me lately, in emails and in person, why I’m not doing a 99-Days of Football on the blog this summer like we did last year. Well, we can’t do the exact same thing every year. Where’s the joy in that? Something much bigger and much better and much more interactive is coming soon. In fact, I’m planning on announcing it this Monday, July 28 on this blog. If you’re a hard-core college football fan, this will be right up your alley. If you’re interested in the 99 Days of Football, you can still click on the green tab at the top of this page to relive the glamour and excitement of last year’s countdown to football season. In the meantime, bone up this weekend on your college football scouting reports and predictions and join me back here Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Peace,

Allan