Psalm 2 (part 3) - The Only-Begotten

Psalm 2 (part 3) - The Only-Begotten

Psa. 2:7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

Imagine being present in the midst of the heavenly council. There is the glory of the Father; the presence of the Son; the wind of the Spirit. Also we find the seraphim and cherubim, perhaps the elders as well that we find in Revelation 4 and 5. And there you are, tiny and scared like a church mouse. You can hardly breathe. Isaiah fell on his face. You probably should as well.

But let’s take a step further and find you behind a curtain as the Father and the Son whisper back and forth to one another in glorious intimate and profound words. Their secrets want to make your head explode with wonder. The Son will be installed (last week’s section) and begotten (this week’s section) into the world scene? And, at His request, He will be given Kingship and Mastery over everything? From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth? Every enemy will be vanquished, and He will be King of kings and Lord of lords. And there you are quivering and trying to disappear.

This divine interaction tells the story of the outcome of human history. This is where we will end up, with earth’s ruin ruined, and the glory of the Son vindicated. We do not know all the steps to get there. But man, oh man, you had better be standing on the Son’s side when it comes about.

This glory of the Son is often called into question by the use of the word “begotten.” It certainly is used most commonly of bearing children. If that is the case here, then the Son would be an offspring of the Father, something of a creation of the Father, and therefore not God Himself. Remember, in our understanding of the Trinity, there is but one God with Three Person. All are fully God and not brought about by the others.

In the verse above the title, we see the word used in the Book of Job. In a section where God speaks, God asks about begetting and giving birth in creation. But the answer seems to be, no, rather these things were established by the eternal decree of God, a phrase that we find here in Psalm 2. The Trinitarian God has in the forever past decreed that the Son would, one day, be revealed to the world in an action that is so mysterious, we have to stretch words to describe it. God in this Psalm dictates the use of “installed” or “begotten,” unmasked to the world as the One who will rule in a new heavens and new earth which will be fully submissive and reconciled to God.

The way this is described in the NT uses the same word, with safeguards and curbs wrapped around to keep us from being too literal with “begotten.” John 1:14 “And the Word (the Son) became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” That is, the Word, who already existed before the unveiling, now reveals, according to divine eternal decree, the glory of the Father, the glory of the Godhead. Earlier in the chapter, John begins, “John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”

Charles Wesley in Hark the Herald Angels Sing says it like this: “veiled in flesh, the Godhead see; hail the incarnate Deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel” (God with us). Jesus is not God’s creation. He is Himself God the Son, one with the Father and the Spirit. He deserves the same worship as does the Father.