When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM, who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS? ‘THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.’ For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
vss 24-30 - A prayer for thanksgiving for the sovereign power of God and for boldness accompanied by miracles, not a prayer for deliverance from further opposition.
"Note well the subject of this wonderful prayer. Do they say: 'O, God, grant that none of these evil things with which they threaten us may come to pass?' Do they say: 'O Lord, be merciful and deliver us from this persecution?' They do not. Their prayer is made of different stuff. It does not even seem to occur to them to think of their own safety. The wicked religious leaders of Israel are using threats and intimidation to deprive their nation of the long-promised blessing which has now been offered, and the apostles, though humble their station in life, recognize the call to courage and pray only that they may be given boldness to meet the situation without flinching. But there is a dispensational as well as a moral lesson for us here, for these believers ask that God will give them boldness by stretching forth His hand to work miracles. In other words, it was a God bore witness with miraculous demonstrations that they would be emboldened to declare His Word in the face of opposition and persecution. Compare this with the case of Paul, the prisoner of Christ, who prayed for boldness to make known the mystery entirely apart from any sign from heaven to encourage him (Eph 6:18-20). In early Acts, however, we have to do with prophecy, not the mystery, and since according to prophecy these signs were to usher in the reign of Christ, the prayer of this company at Jerusalem was perfectly order." (Stam)
chief priests - "We constantly read in the New Testament of the 'chief priests' (the same word as for high priest, ἀρχιερεύς, but in the plural) as a class by themselves. (Matt 2:4; 16:21; 20:18; Mark 14:10, 43, 53; Luke 22: 52; John 12:10). We have the word so used again in the Acts in v. 24; 9:14, 21; 22:30;23:14; 25:15; 26:10, 12. This usage of the word is also confirmed by passages in Josephus. We know that Herod and the Romans set up and deposed high priests at will, insomuch that there were no less than twenty-eight of them from the time of Herod the Great to the capture of Jerusalem by Titus. From such deposed and non-officiating high priests probably arose the group called in our version 'chief priests'. The title may have included, also, the heads of the twenty-four priestly courses. They thus constituted the leaders of the hierarchy, and were probably synonymous with the 'rulers' (cf. v. 5)." (Walker)
Lord - "Despot, used of the absolute relationship of a master to his slaves (1 Tim 6:1-2). The disciples were placing themselves in that position as slaves of their Lord." (Ryrie)
who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said ... - "Here in this prayer we learn that David by the Holy Spirit is the author of this Psalm. The Psalm begins with a prediction that the Gentiles were to oppose the Lord and His anointed, that is Christ. And here we see a partial fulfilment of this prophecy. Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel had indeed gathered together in that city to do what the hand and the counsel of the Lord had determined before should come to pass. The Anointed of the Lord had been rejected and refused. The Gentiles had an equal share in it. The rulers of the peoples of Israel had given command that His blessed Name should no more be mentioned. All was pre-determined by God, which, of course did not clear them from responsibility and guilt. It is an interesting fact that the text of the Second Psalm does not show that His own people Israel were to have part in that rejection. But this does not exhaust the prophetic meaning of the Second Psalm. The rejection of the Christ of God by the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel in the beginning of this age is only the prelude to the greater rejection of the Lord at the end of the age. Then the kings of the earth will form a great confederacy and say: 'Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.' This will be followed by the great event which is so clearly revealed in the Second Psalm, the Coming of the King to rule over these nations and to break them with a rod of iron. The rejected Christ will be enthroned as King upon the holy hill of Zion. Of Him the Lord will declare: 'Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.' (In resurrection from the dead.) Only then will the Second Psalm be fulfilled." (Gaebelein)
vs 27 - Responsibility for the death of Christ is laid upon both Jews and Gentiles.
predestined - "The death of Christ for man's salvation was pre-ordained before the foundation of the world (Acts 2:23). The verb here used, save for this one passage, is peculiar to St. Paul. If we collate the texts in which it occurs, we find that, (a) Christ's death and passion were fore-ordained (Acts 4:28); (b) The believer's likeness to his Saviour was fore-ordained (Rom 8:29-30); (c) The hidden wisdom of the Gospel was fore-ordained (1 Cor 2:7); (d) The Christian's adoption and privileges were fore-ordained (Eph 1:5, 11)." (Walker)
vss 24-30 - A prayer for thanksgiving for the sovereign power of God and for boldness accompanied by miracles, not a prayer for deliverance from further opposition.
"Note well the subject of this wonderful prayer. Do they say: 'O, God, grant that none of these evil things with which they threaten us may come to pass?' Do they say: 'O Lord, be merciful and deliver us from this persecution?' They do not. Their prayer is made of different stuff. It does not even seem to occur to them to think of their own safety. The wicked religious leaders of Israel are using threats and intimidation to deprive their nation of the long-promised blessing which has now been offered, and the apostles, though humble their station in life, recognize the call to courage and pray only that they may be given boldness to meet the situation without flinching. But there is a dispensational as well as a moral lesson for us here, for these believers ask that God will give them boldness by stretching forth His hand to work miracles. In other words, it was a God bore witness with miraculous demonstrations that they would be emboldened to declare His Word in the face of opposition and persecution. Compare this with the case of Paul, the prisoner of Christ, who prayed for boldness to make known the mystery entirely apart from any sign from heaven to encourage him (Eph 6:18-20). In early Acts, however, we have to do with prophecy, not the mystery, and since according to prophecy these signs were to usher in the reign of Christ, the prayer of this company at Jerusalem was perfectly order." (Stam)
chief priests - "We constantly read in the New Testament of the 'chief priests' (the same word as for high priest, ἀρχιερεύς, but in the plural) as a class by themselves. (Matt 2:4; 16:21; 20:18; Mark 14:10, 43, 53; Luke 22: 52; John 12:10). We have the word so used again in the Acts in v. 24; 9:14, 21; 22:30;23:14; 25:15; 26:10, 12. This usage of the word is also confirmed by passages in Josephus. We know that Herod and the Romans set up and deposed high priests at will, insomuch that there were no less than twenty-eight of them from the time of Herod the Great to the capture of Jerusalem by Titus. From such deposed and non-officiating high priests probably arose the group called in our version 'chief priests'. The title may have included, also, the heads of the twenty-four priestly courses. They thus constituted the leaders of the hierarchy, and were probably synonymous with the 'rulers' (cf. v. 5)." (Walker)
Lord - "Despot, used of the absolute relationship of a master to his slaves (1 Tim 6:1-2). The disciples were placing themselves in that position as slaves of their Lord." (Ryrie)
who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said ... - "Here in this prayer we learn that David by the Holy Spirit is the author of this Psalm. The Psalm begins with a prediction that the Gentiles were to oppose the Lord and His anointed, that is Christ. And here we see a partial fulfilment of this prophecy. Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel had indeed gathered together in that city to do what the hand and the counsel of the Lord had determined before should come to pass. The Anointed of the Lord had been rejected and refused. The Gentiles had an equal share in it. The rulers of the peoples of Israel had given command that His blessed Name should no more be mentioned. All was pre-determined by God, which, of course did not clear them from responsibility and guilt. It is an interesting fact that the text of the Second Psalm does not show that His own people Israel were to have part in that rejection. But this does not exhaust the prophetic meaning of the Second Psalm. The rejection of the Christ of God by the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel in the beginning of this age is only the prelude to the greater rejection of the Lord at the end of the age. Then the kings of the earth will form a great confederacy and say: 'Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.' This will be followed by the great event which is so clearly revealed in the Second Psalm, the Coming of the King to rule over these nations and to break them with a rod of iron. The rejected Christ will be enthroned as King upon the holy hill of Zion. Of Him the Lord will declare: 'Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.' (In resurrection from the dead.) Only then will the Second Psalm be fulfilled." (Gaebelein)
vs 27 - Responsibility for the death of Christ is laid upon both Jews and Gentiles.
predestined - "The death of Christ for man's salvation was pre-ordained before the foundation of the world (Acts 2:23). The verb here used, save for this one passage, is peculiar to St. Paul. If we collate the texts in which it occurs, we find that, (a) Christ's death and passion were fore-ordained (Acts 4:28); (b) The believer's likeness to his Saviour was fore-ordained (Rom 8:29-30); (c) The hidden wisdom of the Gospel was fore-ordained (1 Cor 2:7); (d) The Christian's adoption and privileges were fore-ordained (Eph 1:5, 11)." (Walker)
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