Why did they reject God's sovereign rule?
Jew and Gentile alike rejected God's sovereign rule because they refused to let God rule in their affairs. They said, “Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords.” Christ had come proclaiming He was the King ready to set up the Kingdom, but they declared, “We will not have this man to rule over us.”
Les explains that Psalm 2 addresses both the heathen, meaning the non-Jew Gentiles, and the people, meaning the Promised Covenant people of Israel. The kings of the earth and the rulers of Israel took counsel together against the Anointed, which is another word for Christ and His Messiahship. Although Acts lays blame on Israel for crucifying Christ, Rome carried it out, and Pilate made the decree. Israel and the Romans together turned against Him. They said, “Let us break their bands asunder” and “cast away their cords,” meaning God’s sovereign rule. They rejected all that because Christ had come to proclaim that He was the King and ready to set up the Kingdom, and Jew and Gentile alike said, “No way, we’ll not have this man to rule over us.”