Arise, O God, Judge the Earth – Psalm 82

Because of the use of the word “gods” in verses 1 & 6, this psalm requires checking out some Bible study notes or commentaries. But that only leads to the dilemma of good Christian theologians disagreeing. I won’t go into the various interpretations, because I want to focus on what we can be certain about. First, “God has taken his place” from which “he holds judgment” (1). That is, God is not consulting anyone here but rather issuing an indictment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?” (2). Second, God, the Chief Judge, orders what changes he wants: “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (3-4). This clearly shows us where God’s heart is. God has always mandated care and fair treatment of the weak & needy & the fatherless as well as the afflicted and destitute. For his own reasons, God has allowed such people to live among us. The greatness of any culture or nation is how we treat the weakest among us. Third, Asaph’s assessment of God’s decree for the plight of the needy is because they don’t know or understand why they are being treated the way they are. Their whole world is shaken up when there is no true & proper justice exercised by those supposedly appointed to render such justice (5). Finally, Asaph appeals to God, like he does in so many other psalms, to “Arise” and “judge the earth.” The reason he gives for that is because one day God himself shall inherit all the nations (8), and he is eager for that to happen. There are so many parallels here to our spiritual condition of being weak and poor and needy and afflicted because of our sins. It’s only through Christ’s death and resurrection that we have any hope of forgiveness & salvation. We worship a God who judged his Son so that we could be rescued & delivered from our sins and from the grip of the wicked one. That’s the message of the New Testament. The New Testament also tells us that Jesus Christ will return as THE JUDGE of heaven and earth (the book of Revelation) as he comes to claim his rightful inheritance (Psalm 2). That day cannot come too soon!