A Warning to Kings

"Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth." Psalm 2:10

The road to the house that I grew up in was curvy. There were some pretty tight turns on the road, but because it was a main road at one time going from one city to the next, the speed limit on the road was 55. When I turned 16, my first car was a Geo Storm. It was not that great of a car, but it was pretty low to the ground and somewhat sporty looking.

Because it was so low to the ground it could hug the turns pretty well and having driven that road to and from my house all of my life, I was pretty familiar with the turns. One night, I was coming home and it was pretty late. I wasn't in a hurry, but I was driving a bit fast for that road.

Unbeknownst to me, there was a cop following me that night. As I was hugging the turns in my car, his top heavy vehicle was struggling to keep pace with me. As these things go, the cop decided to turn on his blue lights and pull me over. This was the first time I was pulled over by a cop. I was nervous and of course my mind is jumping to conclusions that I was in deep trouble.

But instead of writing me a ticket for reckless driving or speeding, he let me off with a warning. I'm not sure if they still do this or not, as I've only ever received that one warning from law enforcement, but they used to give you a piece of paper that was an official warning. This was contrary to what I had always thought, which was that if they gave you a warning, it was a verbal warning, as in "don't do that again, young man."

Instead, I got an official warning. Here the Psalmist is giving out an official warning. It's written down. God is not just issuing a verbal warning or shaking his head, this is an official warning to the Kings of this earth. You have been warned. You kings who plot against the Lord, who scheme against his people, you have been warned.

One of the things this does is gets rid of the ability to cry ignorance. There will be no saying, "I didn't know Lord" on that day. There will only be judgment and wrath for those that do not heed his warning. In one sense, the warning is an act of grace though. The cop that pulled me over had every right to issue judgment against me. He could have given me a ticket, but he didn't. He gave me a warning instead. He showed me grace.

This is the same thing God is doing here. He had every right to issue judgment and pour out his wrath on these kings who were rebelling against Him, but he doesn't. Instead he gives grace. This should tell us a lot about how God treats us. He has given us His Word. His word is our warning. It's grace to us. It tells us that He is good and forgiving. And just like those kings, all of us have rebelled against God and deserve judgment. We deserve his wrath, but instead he gives us grace. Jesus took on our judgment so that we could live. What a great God we serve!

Prayer - Lord, thank you for giving us a warning. Thank you for your word. It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It warns us to stay away from the darkness and embrace your light. Thank you for leading us to life and giving us grace. Amen