לָמָּה רָגְשׁוּ גוֹיִם וּלְאֻמִּים יֶהְגּוּ־רִיק
יִתְיַצְּבוּ מַלְכֵי־אֶרֶץ וְרוֹזְנִים נוֹסְדוּ־יָחַד
עַל־יְהוָה וְעַל־מְשִׁיחוֹ
נְנַתְּקָה אֶת־מוֹסְרוֹתֵימוֹ וְנַשְׁלִיכָה מִמֶּנּוּ עֲבֹתֵימוֹ
1 Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together against the LORD
and against his Anointed One.
3 “Let us break their chains,” they say,
“and throw off their fetters.”
רָגְשׁוּ is a qal 3rd perfect, "be restless." The verb only occurs here, but cf. "unrest" (Psalm 55:15) and "unrest; churning emotion" (Psalm 64:3). And we could notice the Aramaic verb "to storm in" (Daniel 6:7 and later in the chapter).
יֶהְגּוּ "moan, devise a plan."
רִיק is the same kind of "vanity" or "emtiness" we see in Habakkuk 2:13, with a similar sentiment: "The nations exhaust themselves for nothing."
מְשִׁיחוֹ "Messiah, Anointed One." The term Massiah occurs about 40 times in the Old Testament, mostly in Psalms and Samuel. Cyrus the Great is part of a prophecy involving him as a type or shadow of the coming Messiah (Isaiah 45:1). Although Messiah is sometimes seen as an ideal or excellent king (such as David), the New Testament tells us that here in Psalm 2 we have a clear reference and prophecy about Messiah Jesus Christ (Acts 13:32 ff; Hebrews 1:5; Hebrews 5:5). The role of Jesus the Messiah here is (1) the Son of God, (2) the Judge of the nations, (3) the Just king, (4) the Savior of the nations, and (5) the universal Lord.
The world does exactly what Psalm 1 warns us not to do. The world wants nothing to do with God. The world ("like sheep without a shepherd") is willing to listen to any shyster who claims to have found Jesus' bones and say, "See -- I knew it all along." The world is especially hateful of the doctrine of forgiveness, because to be forgiven implies that something needed forgiving. If I am forgiven, then something I did must not have been good. The world sneers at God.
