Psalms · psalm 82 of 150
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Psalm 82 presents God in the divine council, judging in the midst of the so-called gods or powerful ones and rebuking them for judging unjustly and showing partiality to the wicked. He commands them to defend the weak, the fatherless, the afflicted and the destitute. Because they do not understand, the foundations of the earth are shaken, and God sentences them to die like men. The psalm ends with a prayer that God himself judge the earth and inherit all the nations.
The title says only a psalm of Asaph. With just eight verses, it is short and of great intensity. It is one of the most debated texts of the Psalter because it calls those who stand before God gods. Interpreters understand it in two main ways: as human judges and rulers who exercised God's authority, or as heavenly beings who make up God's court. In both cases the message is the same: God alone is the supreme judge, and whoever has power must use it justly.
The psalm opens with a courtroom scene: God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment. Then he addresses them with a question that is an accusation: how long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?
Verses 3 and 4 give the command. 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. It is the standard of justice God demands of anyone who has power.
Verses 5 to 7 describe the response of the accused and the sentence. They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness, and therefore all the foundations of the earth are shaken. God says he called them gods and sons of the Most High, but they shall die like men and fall like any prince.
Verse 8 is the psalmist's closing prayer: arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all the nations.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God takes his place in the council and judges in the midst of the gods. The scene presents God as the supreme judge, before whom even the most powerful must give account.
God commands them to defend the weak and the fatherless, to maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute, and to rescue the needy from the hand of the wicked. God's justice is measured by what is done for the most vulnerable.
God says he called these rulers gods and sons of the Most High, but that they will die like men. All human power is borrowed and passing, and those who hold it are mortal.
The psalmist prays that God arise, judge the earth and inherit all the nations. If the powerful fail, hope rests in the just judgment of the one God.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: In the divine council, where he judges in the midst of the gods. — Psalm 82:1
Answer: Of judging unjustly and showing partiality to the wicked. — Psalm 82:2
Answer: The weak, the fatherless, the afflicted and the destitute. — Psalm 82:3
Answer: Without knowledge or understanding, walking in darkness. — Psalm 82:5
Answer: They will die like men and fall like any prince. — Psalm 82:6-7
Answer: To arise, judge the earth and inherit all the nations. — Psalm 82:8
Psalm 82 reminds those who have authority, whether in politics, business, church or family, that they will be asked how they treated the weak. In a Sunday school class you can discuss how to use our influence to defend someone who has no voice: a child, an immigrant, a widow, an elderly person.
It also comforts the one who has suffered injustice. Even if the powerful fail, God is not indifferent. The closing prayer, arise, judge the earth, is a way of waiting. For Christians, that hope becomes concrete in Jesus, who will come to judge with justice and whose kingdom will have no end.
Psalm 82 ends with the hope that God will inherit all the nations. Psalm 83 asks God not to keep silent while a coalition of peoples conspires against Israel.
There are two main readings. One understands them as human judges and rulers, called gods for representing God's authority, as in Exodus 21:6 and 22:8-9. The other understands them as heavenly beings of God's court, whom he judges for having failed. In both cases the psalm affirms that only the Lord is supreme God and that all authority answers to him.
In John 10:34-36, when accused of blasphemy, Jesus quotes verse 6 to argue that Scripture itself calls gods those to whom the word of God came. His reasoning is that, all the more, the one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world can be called the Son of God.