"A Psalm of Asaph.
God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgement:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!"
Psalm 82
This short Psalm is not without its problems for interpretation. There is a considerable divergence of view among the commentators as to the meaning of 'the mighty' in 1, who are nominated 'gods' in 6. Two main viewpoints have been held: one is that these are angelic beings, tutelary spirits such as those mentioned in passages such as Daniel 10, like the archangels Michael and Gabriel. This would mean then, that the scene in 1 must be regarded as a heavenly court scene, such as we have in the opening chapters of Job, and in 1 Kings 22:19ff. The other possibility is to regard them as human judges, appointed to positions of authority in the and. This has been the traditional interpretation, in which case the scene in 1 represents the assembly of the nation, and the persons at the bar will be those who have betrayed their stewardship and exercised injustice. There is one consideration, however, that is decisive in settling the issue, for our Lord Himself quotes 6 in John 10:34-38. What He says in this passage would be meaningless unless the 'gods' referred to in the Psalm are men. Jesus tells us why they are given this title: 'To them the word of God came'. They were recipients of a Divine word, which constituted them in their office; and insofar as they discharged its duties, their decrees were God's word ministered by them (Maclaren). The first lesson, therefore, in the Psalm has to do with lawfully constituted authority, and with the extremely serious repercussions when that authority is abused: there is the certainty of a day of reckoning. The powers that be are ordained of God (Romans 13). The doctrines of common grace and providence are involved in this. Law and order are infinitely important because they are the expression of the character of God, and they are introduced into society to save society from the worst effects of man's lawlessness and sin. This is the work of common grace, and of God's providential government of the world.