Let me just say at the outset that the translation of Psalm 2 verses 11 and 12, from which I’m taking the sermon title this week, is very uncertain. Basically, no one really knows what the original Hebrew of verse 11b and verse 12a actually means. The NRSV translation I’m using, “kiss his feet,” is, at best, a better guess than the traditional KJV, NIV, etc. translation, “kiss the son.” Old Testament scholars are fairly well in agreement that whatever the phrase at the beginning of verse 12 means, it cannot mean “kiss the son.” You can only get the word “son” by reading the word as Aramaic, but it’s a Hebrew text and it’s highly unlikely a single word in Aramaic was part of it. However, other translations all involve deciding to “correct” (that is, change) a letter or two of the text in some way, making any translation of these phrases only an educated guess.
Nevertheless, the frequent Christian appropriation of Psalm 2 in the New Testament as applying to Jesus the Son of God is totally justified because the word “son” actually does appear in Hebrew in verse 7 of the psalm. This verse is quoted about Jesus in Hebrews 1:5, making it a prophetic statement of Jesus’ relationship with God the Father.
Psalm 2 pictures the rebellion of the kings and rulers of the earth against the Lord and his anointed (verse 2), envisions God’s derision (verses 4-6) for such rebellion, then affirms the dominion (verses 7-9) in the first-person voice of one whom the Lord calls “my son.” Thus a call for some abject act of submission at the end of the psalm, like kissing the feet of the Lord in the person of His Son, makes total sense in the overall context.
In company with the picture we have from Matthew 17:6 of the disciples falling to the ground before Jesus as He is declared “my beloved Son” by God, Psalm 2 pushes us to reflection on just what it means to accept Jesus as our Lord and King. It reminds us that all the authority and power of this world, whether our own or of some governing authority above us, must bow in repentance and submission to Jesus Christ. We must beware of setting ourselves or anyone else up above the authority of the Son of God.
As we prepare to begin Lent next Wednesday, February 26, perhaps a good discipline to consider for the season might be to consider how submissive we are to the Son. Are we struck enough by His majesty authority over us to fall down before Him, even kiss His feet? Or are we sold on having our own way or the way of some other authority who makes us attractive promises? Perhaps picturing ourselves kissing those nail-pierced feet would be an appropriate Lenten meditation this year.