² but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;

⁸ Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and the ends of the earth your possession.

⁹ You shall break them with a rod of iron

and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Psalm 1 & 2 stand in a parallel relationship with each other such that the wicked in Psalm 1 correspond to the conspiratorial kings of the earth in Psalm 2 and the righteous one of Psalm 1 corresponds to the messiah of Psalm 2. In other words, parallelism is not just a line-level feature relating the smallest units of poetry together, it is also a “psalm-level” feature pairing certain (by no means all) adjacent psalms, as well. Psalm 1 & 2 are a perfect example.

One of the clues to this relationship is the fact that the two psalms share a key word: “meditate.” This is obscured in English translations that render the same Hebrew word (יהגה) “meditate” in Psalm 1:2 and “plot” in Psalm 2:1. This technical observation has led me to a powerful spiritual realization. What does it mean to meditate on YHWH’s instruction? We are told in Psalm 1 that this blessed man meditates on YHWH’s instruction day and night. But what does this look like? The answer comes in Psalm 2 where we see the messiah’s response to competing kings’ conspiracies and threats (i.e. their “meditations”). When YHWH’s messiah feels shaken and vulnerable due to the saber rattling and trash talk of competing kings, he simply recites to himself YHWH’s affirming words of sonship, contemplating the implications of the inheritance that is his because YHWH has adopted him.

That’s what it means to meditate. It means to recite to oneself life-giving, soul-protecting, truth-affirming words that mysteriously originated in God’s heart and are preserved in Scripture. It means to commit Scripture to memory so that it becomes the self-talk that we inevitably engage in. In fact, when read together, Psalm 1 & 2 identify two contrasting kinds of meditation or self-talk: the wholesome kind originating from God’s word that occupies the blessed man’s/messiah’s mind and the futile, self-deceiving kind originating from the rebellious and wicked hearts of the rulers who resist the divine appointment of YHWH’s messiah as viceroy of creation.

Notice the effect this meditation has on YHWH’s previously intimidated messiah. His fear melts away and he is emboldened to confront his enemies with truth. He grows into his divinely appointed role both in his own eyes and in the eyes of world rulers because he has fed his heart on YHWH’s determined declaration to adopt him, become his father, and make him his heir. The intimidation and psychological warfare of worldly rulers loses all of its power in the recollection of God’s word.

Of course, the last part of this meditation, Psalm 2:9, is troubling. YHWH’s prediction that his messiah will shatter the nations with a rod iron is disturbingly violent. What are we to make of this? All I know to do is to read this in light of Jesus’ approach to enemies and their resistance. After all, these are the words the Father spoke over Christ at his baptism indicating that he is the ultimate son who will inherit the new creation. I think what the psalmist means is that YHWH’s messiah will shatter the nations’ resistance as if with a rod of iron. It is helpful here to remember the profoundly metaphorical rhetoric of all poetry, including biblical poetry. Perhaps brokenness is necessary for the removal of the pride that prevents us from prostrating ourselves wholeheartedly at the feet of the Son. Jesus certainly had a way of breaking pride and resistance but in a way that no one anticipated.

Father,

Thank you for the gift of your word that fortifies our hearts and minds when we recall it. Lord Jesus, thank you for modeling for us meditation and demonstrating its power to embolden us in even the most terrifying circumstances. Even while writhing in agony on the cross you were reciting a psalm! What power God has infused into his word that it could sustain you through such an ordeal! Holy Spirit teach me to meditate on God’s word that I too may experience this power and be so emboldened, so fortified as to bear whatever cross is laid on me today graciously and faithfully.

AMEN