The quotation comes from Psalm 2:1–2. The fact that this psalm has been referenced shows that the believers interpreted the hostility which they faced from the Jewish council as an example of hostility against God’s King. Opposition to God’s church is thus opposition to Jesus Christ (see Acts 9:4–5).1 It is futile to be opposed to God when he foresees all scheming.2
25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?