Why is Psalm 2 called the outline of the Old Testament program?
Psalm 2 is called the outline of the Old Testament program because it foretells the sequence of prophetic events: the rejection and death of God's Son by Jew and Gentile together, God's derision and wrath, then the setting of the King on Zion, and the decree 'Thou art my Son.'
Les explains that Psalm 2 serves as the benchmark of prophecy and the outline of the Old Testament program because it lays out God's prophetic timeline in order. It first foretells the rejection and crucifixion—or at least the death—of God's Son by Jew and Gentile together. Then it uses time words like 'then' to show what follows: God laughing and holding them in derision, speaking in wrath and vexation, setting His King on the holy hill of Zion, and declaring the decree, 'Thou art my Son.' Les notes that Paul later quotes this very decree, and that God the Son is vividly portrayed in the Old Testament.
More Questions
How does Isaiah 61 show the same process as Psalm 2 from wrath to the Kingdom?
Just as Psalm 2 moves from pouring out wrath and vexation to setting the King on Zion, the Isaiah 61 prophecy flows through the wrath/vexation of the 'day of God' to the Kingdom, and that is the process.