Vera Czermak was distraught when she learned that her husband was being unfaithful to her. So she went up to a third-story window and jumped out. She actually landed on her husband and killed him. According to the Washington Post, this is a true story.
We might call that “poetic justice.” We might use the Buddhist term: karma. We might say that is justice.
The Bible describes God as being just, or righteous, many many times. The Bible also illustrates the justice of God on many occasions.
Let’s study Psalm 82 together…
GOD JUDGES IN THE MIDST OF RULERS – 82:1:
This verse points to the fundamental rule among men – God “stands” in the assembly of God – this refers to Israel, God’s people in the OT. In their midst, God “judges.” This verb “to judge” is used four times in this psalm, 151 times in the OT. The verb “to vindicate” in verse 3 is this same verb. Here’s something that’s eye-opening: the word “rulers” (ver. 1) is the word “elohim,” which is the word for “God.”
What this shows us is that God worked through human agency. God “judged” through humans who executed the laws that God laid out. Ultimately, authority, of course, resides in God, but He has chosen to execute that authority through humans. In the home, that authority is executed through Dads and Moms. In the church, that authority is executed through the elders. In society, that authority is executed through rulers over the people.
What we are emphasizing is that – to the degree that human rulers are implementing God’s teachings – then they are God’s servants. That’s why in Romans 13:4, Paul can refer to human rulers as God’s “ministers.” They stand in the place of God and have His authority, when they execute His laws.
THE SINFUL BEHAVIOR OF THE “GODS” – 82:2-4:
How long will you judge unjustly? God is a God of justice. Those who serve in God’s place ought to be just and righteous as well. These men were not being fair in their behavior.
How long will you show partiality to the wicked? These judges were willing to accept bribes or some other trade-off in order to be partial to the wicked. That’s nothing new.
The verb “do justice” is the verb “to make righteous” – to those afflicted and those destitute. These are two words which are synonyms and refers to the poor and those who have been ignored or trampled on in society.
THE END OF THE “GODS” – 82:5-7:
The result of ignorance is that people walk in darkness. We could interpret verse 5 in two ways. First, these judges do not know and do not understand the result of their unrighteous decisions. They walk about in darkness and do not understand what they are doing to individuals, to society, and to themselves. What is happening? The foundations of the earth are shaken.
Or, it could also be that the psalmist is referring to the destitute and afflicted who do not know or understand why the judges don’t rule according to law. That they don’t rule in fairness. That’s why the poor walk in darkness. The end result is the same, however: all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
JEHOVAH GOD POSSESSES THE WHOLE EARTH – 82:8:
The psalmist closes this psalm by once again calling on God, as he did in verse 1, to judge the earth. The reason why he wants God to judge the earth, the reason why God has the right to judge the earth is because He possesses all the nations. Everyone is accountable to Jehovah God.
JESUS’ USE OF PSALM 82:6 – John 10:34-38:
In John 10, Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6: “I said, you are gods.” In verse 35, Jesus makes His application. If Asaph, the author of Psalms (and all the psalms were considered inspired, so we might say “If God called them “gods.””) called rulers “gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), why would they accuse Jesus of committing blasphemy to identify Himself as the “son of God”? In fact, we’ve already seen from Psalm 82:7 that these rulers were also called “sons of God.”
Jesus’ use of Psalm 82:6 in this text shows three things:
1.) Jesus did not blaspheme when He called Himself the “Son of God.” Human rulers were called that in the book of Psalms.
2.) Jesus is the judge sent by God: John 5:30.
3.) Jesus will judge according to God’s standards: Matthew 12:17-20, quoting Isaiah 42:1-2.
God has given all authority to execute His judgment to His Son. You and I need to execute God’s word in our own lives and be faithful to His justice. We will give an account one day.
Paul Holland
