The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed.

Psalm 2 is thought of as a poetic reflection on 2 Samuel 7 where King David is told by the prophet Nathan that his son Solomon would be the one who would build the temple.

Various places in the New Testament quote this psalm in relation to Jesus: Mark1:11 at his baptism; Mark 9:7 at the transfiguration, Paul preaching in Pisidian Antioch in Acts 13:33 and in Hebrews 1:5 & 5:5.

The psalm gives a strong sense that God is at work in

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Some years ago I had the privilege of supporting a Christian leader through a private retreat and to help him as he sought to hear God speak both about his own future and also that of the organisation for which he was responsible. As I thought and prayed about how to structure our time away, I felt prompted to look at the Psalms of Ascent and to use those as the basis for our praying and thinking at the beginning of our sessions.

I have employed the approach of using a psalm as the basis of praying in many situations since, both in personal prayer and praying pastorally with others. Drawing on the scriptures in this way gives

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