The text: Psalm 2 – NRSV
To be honest, George Frideric Handel has likely done more than anyone could or perhaps will ever do to memorialize a psalm in music than what he did with Psalm 2. In the Messiah he devoted not one, not two, but three pieces to this psalm: two arias and a chorus. They all occur back-to-back in succession in a most notable place: immediately before the Hallelujah Chorus at the conclusion of Part 2. The bass soloist begins with “Why Do the Nations so Furiously Rage Together?”, followed without pause (attacca) by the chorus “Let Us Break Their Bonds Asunder”, after which the tenor soloist steps forward and sings “He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn: the Lord shall have them in derision”, and then sings the aria, “Thou Shalt Break Them.” Then HALLELUJAH! It is one of most marvelous moments in the entire oratorio.
This psalm, at the very beginning of the psalter, is often called a royal psalm given its focus on the kingship of God, and especially the idea that God is King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords. As you read, you’ll find that the voice changes in the middle of the psalm, and we get a sense that this is no ordinary psalmist speaking! While it is tempting to see this psalm as a critique of earthly rulers by a divine king (and it is, of course), I would suggest that we ordinary folk are not merely bystanders. What earthly things do we rule over, and in such matters, what does the psalm say to us? What perspective does the psalm call us into? Pondering this may very well forever change the way you experience that famous moment of Handel’s most famous oratorio.
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