The duties of the risen Messiah are foretold in Psalm 2:7-9. I chose the Amplified version to give us some additional help in understanding these words included in the Messiah.
“I will declare the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son;
This day [I proclaim] I have begotten You.
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‘Ask of Me, and I will assuredly give [You] the nations as Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth as Your possession.
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‘You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall shatter them [in pieces] like earthenware.’”
Paul quotes verse 7 in his impassioned preaching to the Jews in Antioch recorded in Acts 13:32-33. He was describing Jesus as the awaited and prophesied Messiah. “And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’” God claims Jesus as Son and establishes His right to rule over all the earth. The author of Hebrews also includes verse 7 when referring to Christ’s God given superiority over all angelic beings. He rightly includes all beings in heaven and earth will worship the Son. Hebrews 1:5-6 “For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
What do these prophecies mean to us? Our Savior and Lord is God’s Son and will rule over all creation both in heaven and on earth. This is not wishful thinking by God but presented as fact that His Son will rule as King. God gives each of us to His Son as a precious possession. Ephesians 1:14 refers to all believers as belonging to Christ and being sealed by His Holy Spirit. “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Peter also refers to believers as being a special possession of Christ’s 
in 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Peter reminds us we are called to proclaim Jesus as we have seen His light and were called out of unbelief.
Let us praise our risen King and all He accomplished on our behalf as we consider the babe in the manger. I love the description of Jesus in Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” Thank you Jesus.
Linda
Prayer
Jesus knew the heart of man is where the problems lie. The Pharisee’s desired to destroy Jesus out of greed, envy, jealousy and hatred. It had nothing to do with eating ‘unclean food’ with ‘unclean hands’. Jesus knows our hearts too. He knows our true motives and desires. Our hearts are bent toward self-gratification, self-glory, self-power and self-adulation. It comes from a heart that is not right with God. An old hymn calls it a sin sick heart that is in need of saving, cleaning and setting right before God. We can not deny the true nature of our hearts but we can bring our hearts to God and allow Him to transform and make our hearts clean before Him. Jesus gave us this new way to reconciliation with God. Hebrews 10:21-23 describes this power, “
permanent. 
I want to wish each of you a Happy 4th. The 4th of July is a favorite holiday filled with family BBQ’s, games, swimming, picnicking, corn on the cob, apple pie and fireworks. But as you know, the 4th is more than that to each of us. America and the freedom it represents and holds for each of us was bought with a price- sacrifice, hope and struggle by those that went before us and those that labored to secure our freedom. Our struggle over the centuries has been to secure,defend and maintain freedom of religion, peace, prosperity and hope for us and our children. We desire to live in an unbiased, loving and accepting society. Is this possible? Actually I believe it is not possible without Christ. He is the one who can make all things right and gives us the power to love and live in harmony with others.
Today as you are thankful for America, think also of the greater freedom you have though Christ and say a prayer of Thanks to Jesus.
As the psalmist nears the end of his lengthy outpouring of praises and petitions to God in Psalm 119:161-168, he lays bare before God his struggles with persecutors. He relies upon God’s Word and character to uphold him. “
what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” Making God real involves faith in who He is and what He has done for us in Jesus. Pleasing God involves seeking Him and accepting the gift of faith in Jesus. He promises sincere seeking will be rewarded by faith.
that the Word will lead him to victory. He claims God as his guide and redeemer! He refers to being ransomed or bought back from evil. This is what Christ did for us. In Paul’s letter to Titus he puts it this way, “He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.” Titus 2:14
rejection of the truth of God’s Word and His ways bring me to tears? Do I sorry for those that do not believe or those that profess to believe and do not live by the standards God desires? If I am brought to tears, then my response should be one of love and restoration not condemnation. Pray, pray, pray for the light of God to be made known to them. God has ways of reaching those who we consider unreachable. Look what He did to confront Saul, the chief persecutor of early Christians. He brought him to his knees and to faith in Jesus. Read his miraculous story in Acts 9. Lift your tears up to God and ask Him to work on the person who you are concerned about, to bring them to faith and change their life. Many times I have heard stories of people praying for individuals for years and years before they came to faith. God calls us to be persistent and filled with hope at their redemption. 
In verses 41 and 42 the psalmist is asking God for his help so he can reply to those who would taunt him for or about his faith. He asked God to give him an answer from His Word to reply to his tormentors. Peter also tells us in 1 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” 
has and is the answer to the world’s problem of sin as He alone is the redeemer.
Do you open God’s Word regularly seeking to know Him better and learn a better way of living? The Word of God is to be treasured as it guides and reveals God to us. I like the conclusion that the psalmist comes to in the last verse of this section, verse 24. “
Fearless Living 