SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
5/5/2012 9:21:51 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The judges and the judgment
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 82:2-8
Message of the verses: We looked at the introduction and the first verse of Psalm 82 yesterday and in the introduction that Dr. Wiersbe wrote he stated the following: The psalmist speaks in verse 1 and announces that the Judge will speak, and in verse 8, Asaph prays that God will bring justice to the whole earth. Between the statements, the Lord Himself speaks to the judges.”
The Judges (vv.2-7): “2 How long will you judge unjustly And show partiality to the wicked? Selah. 3 Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked. 5 They do not know nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I said, "You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 "Nevertheless you will die like men And fall like any one of the princes.’”
2 “How long will you hand down unjust decisions by favoring the wicked? Interlude 3 “Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. 4 Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people. 5 But these oppressors know nothing; they are so ignorant! They wander about in darkness, while the whole world is shaken to the core. 6 I say, ’You are gods; you are all children of the Most High. 7 But you will die like mere mortals and fall like every other ruler.’’’ (NLT)
We will begin to look at this section by quoting a wonderful verse found in the book of Micah chapter six and verse eight: “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” As we compare this verse with the verses above we see that these judges did not do justice and they did not love kindness, and they did not walk humbly with God.
Dr. Wiersbe points out that the pronoun “you” in verse two is plural “for the Lord is addressing all the guilty judges.” There are many verses in the Law of God that speak of how judges are to rule in a proper way and not be influenced by the rich or their own beliefs, that is to say that if a judge has a personal preference, but it differs from the law then he has to judge according to the law. It was in 1973 the Supreme Court brought down a decision that its affects have been responsible of killing over fifty million unborn babies in the United States. In this decision the Supreme Court over stepped their boundaries by not interpreting the constitution, but legislating law. They will have to answer to God for every baby that has been aborted since their decision. What the psalmist is writing about in this psalm speaks to all of the wrong decisions that judges have made and one day these unjust judges will have to answer to the Judge of all the world. Genesis 18:25b says “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Dr. Wiersbe writes the following on verse five: “Does verse 5 describe the evil judges or the abused people? If the judges, then it is a terrible indictment against people who are supposed to know the Law and walk in its light (Isa. 8:20; 59:1-15; Rom. 1:21-22). But it’s possible that the pronoun ‘they’ in verse 5 refers back to the weak and needy people described in verse 4. The priests and Levites did not always do their jobs well, and the common people did not know the Law well enough to defend themselves. ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge’ (Hos. 4:6) When the Law of God is ignored or disobeyed, this shakes and threatens the very foundations of society (11:3; 89:14; 97:2), for God’s moral Law is the standard by which man’s laws must be judged.”
The Judgment (vv. 6-8): “6 ¶ I said, "You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 "Nevertheless you will die like men And fall like any one of the princes." 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth! For it is You who possesses all the nations.” “6 ¶ I say, ’You are gods; you are all children of the Most High. 7 But you will die like mere mortals and fall like every other ruler.’’’ 8 Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for all the nations belong to you.” (NLT)
Verse six is quoted in John 10:34-36. The Amplified version of the Bible reads as follows “34. Jesus answered, Is it not written in your Law, I said, Ye are gods? [Psalm 82:6] 35. So men are called gods—by the Law—men to whom God’s message came, and the Scripture cannot be set aside or cancelled or broken or annulled. [If that is true] do you say [to Me], 36 The On Whom the Father consecrated and dedicated and set apart for Himself and sent into the world, You are blaspheming, because I said, I am the Son of God?” I have to admit that this Scripture has always been a problem for me to understand, but maybe the light will come on after looking at it in Psalm 82:6. Warren Wiersbe writes the following “Jesus quoted verse 6 (John 10:34-36) to defend His own claims to be the Son of God. For, if the Lord called ‘gods’ the imperfect human judges chosen by men, how much more should Jesus Christ be called ‘the Son of God,’ He who was set apart by the Father and sent to earth!
These men who have been called ‘gods’ will die and then they will be judged for their sins even though they were called gods, God will judge them. The word translated as “god’ is elohim and this word is seen in Exodus 21:6 “then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.” Again I wish to look at the verse in the Amplified Version of the Bible: “Then his master shall bring him to God [the judges]; he shall bring him to the door or doorpost, and shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him for life.” I believe that Jesus is saying to those who are confronting him as seen in John 10 that if judges who are picked by mere man can be called gods (elohim) the Jesus can be called the Son of God because for one reason that is who His is, and for another reason that God the Father has consecrated, dedicated, and set apart Jesus Christ to come into the world. These men who were confronting Jesus did not get it.
Asaph now speaks again in verse eight and adds a prayer that God will bring justice to all the earth, and we know that this is a prayer that will be answered by God.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I realize that because I am a born again believer in Jesus Christ that I am to follow the commandments that are set forth in the Scriptures. I see from this psalm that these judges who are called ‘gods’ have not always followed the Law, and will someday have to pay for their sins because they did not follow the Law. In Jeremiah 31:31 and then brought into the book of Hebrews we read that God will put His Laws in our hearts. I am to follow these laws. Jesus said that if you love me you will follow my commandments.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Love the Lord by following His commandments.
5/5/2012 11:30:27 AM
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