Psalms 2:11

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Serve	עִבְד֣וּ 'iv.Du	H5647	to work (in any sense) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
LORD	יְהוָ֣ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
fear	בְּיִרְאָ֑ה be.yir.'Ah	H3374	fear (also used as infinitive) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
rejoice	וְ֝גִ֗ילוּ ve.Gi.lu	H1523	properly · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine plural
trembling	בִּרְעָדָֽה bir.'a.Dah	H7461	a shudder · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation wi…
Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we…
Hebrews 12:28-29 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear…
Psalms 89:7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
Psalms 119:119-120 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies.
Hebrews 4:1-2 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Psalms 97:1 The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
Psalms 95:1-8 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 2:10–end

We have here the practical application of this gospel doctrine concerning the kingdom of the Messiah, by way of exhortation to the kings and judges of the earth. They hear that it is in vain to oppose Christ's government; let them therefore be so wise for themselves as to submit to it. He that has power to destroy them shows that he has no pleasure in their destruction, for he puts them into a way to make themselves happy, Psa 2:10. Those that would be wise must be instructed; and those are truly wise that receive instruction from the word of God. Kings and judges stand upon a level with common persons before God; and it is as necessary for them to be religious as for any others. Those that…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 2:10

kings . . . judges--For rulers generally (Psa 148:11), who have been leaders in rebellion, should be examples of penitent submission, and with fear for His terrible judgments, mingled with trust in His mercy, acknowledge--

John Gill on Psalms 2:11

Serve the Lord with fear,.... Not the creature, neither more, nor besides, nor with the Creator; God and mammon cannot both be served; nor any fictitious and nominal deities, the idols of the Gentiles, who are not gods by nature; but the true Jehovah, the one and only Lord God, he only is to be worshipped and served, even Father, Son, and Spirit. Here it may be understood either of the Lord Christ, the Son of God, who is to be served by the kings and judges of the earth, he being King of kings, and Lord of lords; or rather of Jehovah the Father, since the Son seems to be distinguished from him in Psalm 2:12, and the service these persons are called unto lies not in the discharge of any offic…

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John Calvin on Psalms 2:10-11

Psalm 2:10-11 10. And now, O ye kings, be wise; and ye judges of the earth be instructed. 11. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling. David having, as a preacher of the judgments of God, set forth the vengeance which God would take upon his enemies proceeds now, in the character of a prophet and teacher, to exhort the unbelieving to repentance, that they may not, when it is too late, be compelled to acknowledge, from dire experience, that the divine threatenings are neither idle nor ineffectual. And he addresses by name kings and rulers, who are not very easily brought to a submissive state of mind, and who are, besides, prevented from learning what is right by the foolish con…

The Church Fathers

He who remains in the fear of God remains in holiness.
— Peter Chrysologus, SERMON 80

He wants devotion, not coercion … because to obey is more sublime than to yield simply to duty.
— Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 2:11

Even your very rejoicings therefore ought to be done with fear and trembling, for a Christian who is faithful ought to repeat neither a heathen hymn nor an obscene song, because he will be obliged by that hymn to make mention of the idolatrous names of demons; and instead of the Holy Spirit, the wicked one will enter into him.
— Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 5:2.10

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Fear, Godly · Should accompany the joy of saints — Should accompany the joy of saints
Joy · Of saints should be: With awe — Of saints should be: With awe
Kings · Should: Serve Christ — Should: Serve Christ
Reverence · 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58; — 4:10;5:29;6:2,13;10:12,20,21;13:4;14:23;28:49,58;
Rulers · CHARACTER AND QUALIFI — CHARACTER AND QUALIFI

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 2:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 2:10–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 2:10

John Gill on Psalms 2:11

John Calvin on Psalms 2:10-11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 2:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 2:10–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 2:10

John Gill on Psalms 2:11

John Calvin on Psalms 2:10-11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 2:10–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 2:11-12

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 2:10-12