I will tell the promise
that the LORD made to me:
“You are my son, because today
I have become your father.
Ask me for the nations,
and every nation on earth
will belong to you.
You will smash them
with an iron rod
and shatter them
like dishes of clay.”
Be smart, all you rulers,
and pay close attention.
Serve and honor the LORD;
be glad and tremble.
Show respect to his son
because if you don’t,
the LORD might become furious
and suddenly destroy you.
But he blesses and protects
everyone who runs to him. (Psalm 2:7-12)

How long do you want to live? It depends on your relationship with God’s Son. David, and those who ascended the throne in Jerusalem after him, became sons of God—his representatives to the people of Israel. God had first told David that he would become God’s son when David had told God his desire to build a permanent Temple for him. After Nathan the prophet had told him no, God had made a covenant with David. God told him that there would always be someone to sit on his throne (2 Samuel 7:5-16).

God had in mind more than just an endless string of human rulers. The ultimate ruler of Israel—and of the nations of the world—would be God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Just as the sacrifices of the Old Testament pictured Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, so the kings of Israel pictured Jesus’ rule in the kingdom of Heaven. God kept his promise to David, that he would always have a descendent ruling and that he would be God’s son, when Jesus came.

God promised that those who mistreated David or his descendents would suffer, just as those who blessed him would prosper. Likewise, the Father promised that all those who respected his Son, Jesus, would be blessed by him: they would have everlasting life.

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