An Expectation of Justice

Psalm 82 ESV

A Psalm of Asaph. God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 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.” They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!

The Divine Counsel

Psalm 82 is an unusual psalm in that much of the psalm is God himself speaking as opposed the psalmist addressing God or God’s people. It is also unique becuase it highlights a reality of the world we live in that is often forgotten either unintentionally or out of ignorance. A reality that some followers of Christ, intentionally ignore or downplay. I am speaking of the fact that history is being played out on two parallel planes. One of which is seen and one of which is unseen; one natural and one supernatural. God has established his creation to contain that which we can see and that which we cannot see; however, God has seen fit in his wisdom to interweave the seen and unseen with one another where actions taken on one level effects what occurs in the other and vice versa. In one plane of existence (the seen), human beings are the main actors, while on the other plane of existence (the unseen), the main actors are what Paul calls in Ephesians 6: the rulers, authorities, principalities and cosmic powers. The two planes of creation are interwoven with one another in that, the principalities and powers influence human decision and actions, while at the same time, human decisions and actions influence what happens amongst the realm of rules, principalities and cosmic powers.

This dynamic is evident in God’s creation from the very beginning when Satan influenced Adam and Eve’s decision to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were wholly responsible for their decision, but it was influened by rulers, principalities and powers, namely Satan himself. This dynamic is evident in Job’s life. The book of Job recounts the story of the sons of God presenting themselves before the Lord; Satan is amongst them and asks permission to afflict Job hoping he would turn against God when difficulties came against him. As a result of the interactions and decisions made in the unseen, Job experiences great affliction and loss of his family and property. Both are examples of how the unseen affect the seen. In the book of Daniel, chapter 9, we see an example of how the seen impacts the unseen. Daniel was in prayer seeking the mercy of God over the people of Israel during their exile in Babylon and as a result of Daniel’s prayer, the angel Gabriel came to visit Daniel to give him understanding of a vision the Lord gave him and he says to Daniel “At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out (word of command), and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.”

There are many other examples of how both planes of God’s creation influence each other: Elijah and the chariots of fire; when Jesus predicts Peter’s denial he tells Peter, Satan had asked to sift him like wheat, but Jesus prayed that his faith would not fail; throughout the gospels and acts, we see multiple examples of demonic oppression, the casting out of demons and healing the sick, afflictions experienced in the natural, caused by rulers, principalities and powers.

All that to say, the seen and the unseen, the natural and the supernatural are tightly interwoven in God’s creation and I want you to keep that in mind as we look at psalm 82. I am going to run through it relatively briefly and then end by considering how this psalm points to our responsibility based on what we read in this psalm about what is occuring amongst the principalities and powers.

Psalm 82 begins with God joining an assembly of divine powers. We don’t know whether this assembly actually occured or if it was a vision the psalmist had of what goes on in the heavenlies, but It is very similar to the assembly we see come together in the book of Job when Satan asks God for permission to afflict Job. Job 1:6 says, Satan asked God for permission to trouble Job when “the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord”. In Psalm 82, the asssembly is referred to by the psalmist as a counsel of little g, gods and the Lord refers to them as ‘sons of the most high’ in Psalm 82:6 so the parallel between Job and Psalm 82 is strong, the ‘sons of God’ or ‘the sons of the Most High’ are gathering together. We can infer those who were present, whom God calls the ‘sons of the most high’ are likely angels as well as demonic powers (fallen angels) who are aligned with Satan working to hinder and destroy God’s purposes and intentions. This group may also include spirits who are charged with dominion over certain nations. This is something that is clearly portaryed in the book of Daniel; that there are spirits or angelic beings who have dominion over certain areas and nations; though their authority is always submitted to God’s ultimate authority. It is clear in the description of those present that those unloyal to the Lord are in this gathering of divine beings because of the Lord’s proclamation of judgment upon them.

The psalmist is clear, God’s reason for joining this ‘divine counsel’ is to pass judgment over the ‘gods’ who are present. It is very clear, God is not present to hear from the assembly and take counsel from them, but to give decrees to them, he is in charge and the rest present are required to give an account to Him for their actions. This picture represents God’s rule over creation, it shows his superiority over not just the seen but also the unseen and his ultimate authrity over everything. God’s judgement of those present is a scathing indictment of their actions. He asks a rhetorical question in verse 2: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?” God’s indictment of the divine assembly is that they are unjust and evil and his reasoning is because they show partiality to wickedpeople and this is un-acceptable to the Lord.

God’s Expectation

In contrast to the evil and wicked ways of the divine beings which God calls them out on in verse 2, God declares his expectations for them in verse 3-4:

Psalm 82:3–4 ESV

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.”

God’s indictment against those present is, you are favouring the wicked, but the exact opposite is expected of you; you are to protect against the actions of the wicked; and He uses four imperatives to define his expectations: give, maintain, rescue and deliver. We are going to look at these in more detail in a few moments once we look at the rest of the psalm.

So, the gods are accused of being irresponsible of God’s expectations.

As a result of their irresponsibility, of their wicked and evil actions, God passess judgment on them;

Psalm 82:5–7 ESV

They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”

God’s judgment over the actions of the divine gathering is, they are foolish, he says they have ‘no knowledge or understanding’. The words used here in the Hebrew allude to the idea of hearing what the Lord commands, but not comprehending it in their minds, instead they walk around in darkness, meaning moral darkness. Then God says, “all the foundations of the earth are shaken”; meaning they are destroying God’s divinely established order; they are messing with the foundations that everything is built on and how things should be in God’s creation. Because of this, they will be punished. verse 6-7, ‘I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.”’ Though they are not human, because of their rebellion, they will die just like man. Jesus speaks about this happening in one of his parables recorded in Matthew. He speaks of angels dying like men in the parable of the sheep and goats.

In that parable , Jesus is separating his people; who are the sheep, from the wicked; who are the goats and in verse 41, it speaks of his judgment over those who are not his people, saying:

Matthew 25:41 ESV

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

This is what is being alluded to here in Psalm 82, men and gods alike will perish in the eternal fire God has prepared for those who rebel against him.

God’s Justice

So the flow of this psalm begins with the divine beings rebelling against God; God holding counsel to rebuke them, decree his expectations of them and then proclaiming his judgment on them for not executing his expectations and living according to how he had ordered his creation. Then the psalm ends with a prayer for God’s justice and judgment that will one day come upon the whole earth which will put an end to the wicked and injustice upon the earth.

Psalm 82:8 ESV

Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!

Parallels

Now, we would be remiss to read psalm 82 and not recognize the parallels between the vision of the divine assembly and God’s judgment upon them and the assembly of humanity throughout the earth and God’s judgment upon us. The themes God indicts the divine counsel for, are the same things God indicts humans for, including: showing partiality, wickedness in not following God’s ways, denying God’s established order and the punishment which results from such rebellion.

We should read about the condemnation of the divine assembly which occurs in Psalm 82 and understand God’s judgment on the divine beings implies (points too) the condemnation of all humn beings who live the same lifestyle God judges as wicked and evil in this psalm. Those divine beings who were called ‘sons of the most high’ in verse 6, prove by their actions they are not sons of the most high (beyond the fact that God created them) becuase they do not reflect his heart. The same is true for humanity. True ‘sons of the most high’ are those whom are not just created by God, but whom live according to God’s expectations, in relationship with Jesus Christ. Those whom truly have God as father, whom have been saved by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, will reflect his heart. How we live our life is evidence of our faith. Good works do not come first, but good works are a result of our faith in Jesus.

James 2:18 ESV

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

In this psalm God conveys the expectations of his heart to the divine counsel which reveals quite clearly the expectations and responsibility he lays upon his covenant people.

Our Responsibility

This psalm should serve as a reminder for followers of Christ of what God expects of us, because his expectation of us is no different than what he decreed in the divine assembly.

Psalm 82:3–4 ESV

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.”

God is concerned for the weak, he mentions them twice in these two verses. The weak are mentioned twice, the fatherless, the afflicted, the destitute and the needy. And, as I mentioned earlier, four imperatives are given for how to respond to those who find themselves in these categories: give, maintain, rescue, deliver. These are groups of people and actions for respondng to them that are close to our Heavenly Father’s heart.

Remember what the Spirit of God spoke through James:

James 1:27 ESV

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

What James means by religion that is pure is, religious activity such as going to church, prayer, reading the bible are important, but nonetheless lack significance if such things are not paired with good works, not because we work to save ourselves, but our works are an outpouring of our salvation and reveal we have been internally changed and have proper motives. God desires his people to be in his word, to know him, to deepen their faith, but not so that we get fat on knowledge. He expects such knowledge and understanding of him to inform our actions, not be kept for us and our own families, but spill out in our treatment of others.

Lets look at these four imperatives together:

Give justice to the weak and the fatherless (defend)

The combination, give justice, may be rendered ‘defend’ in some of your versions. The Hebrew word often translated justice is the word ‘mishpat’ and a look at its meaning will tell us God’s focus here. It means to treat people equitably; in a fair and impartial manner. In legal terms, it means to find every person either innocent or guilty, based solely on the merits of their case, regardless of race or social status or any other factor which may influence how they are treated. Meaning, quite clearly, whoever commits the same wrong should receive the same penalty for that wrong. Whether you are a black man or white man, asian or middle eastern, rich or poor, each receives the exact same treatment and punishmnt for the same crime. This is our Father’s expectation, however, In our fallen world, this does not always happen; partiality will play a role in any justice system ran by broken human beings. Convictions are sadly influenced at times by factors like race and social status. A perfect example of this type of partiality was seen in the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearing. If you saw any of that hearing, it became clear, very quickly, she was not on trial for whether she was a capable judge for the supreme court, but rather, much of it became a trial about her Christian worldview and how she had chosen to live her life and her beliefs based on her Christian worldview.

The follower of Christ is called beyond such things in how we live, we are to show no partiality and base our judgments solely on the evidence of the case before us. But, Mishpat means more than just acquiting or punishing someone based on the merits of their case, becuase it also means to give people their rights. It is two sides of the same justice coin, to give mishpat is to give people what they are due, regardless of whether it is punishment for a wrong or protection they deserve as an image bearer of God; and partiality has no place in either judgment.

God demands this type of justice for the weak and the fatherless (literally: orphan). The Lord’s cry for mishpat for these two specific groups is based on the the fact that these two groups were two of the most likely NOT to receve such justice. They were the most likely to be forgotten in Jewish society, and similar societies of the time. These groups of people had absolutly no social power, leaving them significantly vulnerable to exploitation. In our day, the same is still true; the weak and the fatherless remain easily exploited and in our day, we can add to this list: the refugee, the homeless, some single parents as well as the elderly. We are to give justice to them. Timothy Keller coins this type of justice as ‘Rectifying Justice’. This means a follower of Christ works to rectify the situation the weak and fatherless find themselves in. This could include working with organizations such as International Justice Mission who are working to rectify the reality of slavery, trafficking and exploitation in these very groups. What is clear from the idea of mishpat and will become more clearlly as we look at the other three imperatives, is for the follower of Christ, God’s intention is not, ‘give to something once, then forget about it and leave individuals to their own devices. Our call is to rectify their situation, literally help bring them out of it.

Which becomes more clear in the next imperative:

Maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute (uphold)

Some of your translations may render this ‘to uphold’. This is the hebrew word ‘tsadeq’ (tsaw-dak) which means to be just or righteous. We often think of being righteous in terms of personal righteousness through the morality of our lives, but this actually refers to living a life of right relationships marked by conducting all of our relationships with fairness, generosity and equity. So it is not so much our personal holiness before the Lord, but our uprightness toward our fellow man. Timothy Keller coins this term as ‘Primary Justice’ and it refers to preemptively meeting a need to ensure exploitation does not occur. So whereas mishpat means to rectify a situation where an injustice has occured, ‘tsadeq’ means to meet a need in order to uphold, support, give to someone in order to prevent injustice from occuring. This is meeting the practical and continual need of the afflicted and the destitute. This is often what we would think of as charity and generosity, but God views it as justice; it is giving an individual what is rightfully theirs an image bearer. Again the word maintain gives us a clue that this is not give once and forget, we will see how these all fit together; rectify or give justice and then maintain that justice, keep supporting them, helping them. This could mean supporting someone who is homeless financially and with resources until they can become self-dependent. This could mean supporting a single mother financially and with resources so she will keep her baby instead of abort him or her.

Rescue the weak and the needy

Ah, are we seeing these come together even more clearly now. Give justice, mainatin that justice, followed by rescue the weak and needy. Literally, help them escape their situation. Rescue means to bring someone into security, to no longer have them be in the position they were in. These are not individual calls, do you see how they are intertwined to communicate a greater vision of the justice God’s people should work for: give justice, and then maintain it until you rescue them from their situation and brought them into a secure position where they are no longer weak and no longer needy.

Deliver them from the hand of the wicked (save)

Some of your translations may render deliver as ‘save’. This is the result of the first three. WHen you give justice, maintain their cause, which will resuce them from their situation, you will deliver them (save them) from the hand of the wicked. The Hebrew means literally to plunder the wickeds stockpile of whom they can afflict. It also communicates the idea of snatching prey away from the mouth of a predator. Our ultimate goal for justice as followers of Christ is to deliver give, maintain and therefore rescue and deliver other individuals from the wicked.

If you haven’t put this connection together already, I will point out this is a reflectionof what Jesus did and does for us. He rectified the situation we were in by dying on the cross for us, he maintains our cause through his blood that covered us and the Spirit of God he has placed in us and in doing so he rescued us so we are no longer in the state we were in before, delivering us from evil, from sin, from the mouth of satan, he snatched us up. And now he asks us to do the same for others; yes in regards to salvation, but also in regards to their physical needs. Our meeting of individuals phsyical needs in these ways points to what JEsus has done on the cross.

It should be a serious consideration for the life of the Christian..failure in this proved the divine beings were not the sons of God after all and they will perish in the eternal fire. What do our lives reflect? Th divine beings or the commands of God?

I will leave you with a thought from Timothy Keller’s book, Generous Justice:

Some Christians believe that justice is strictly mishpat—the punishment of wrongdoing, period... they would insist that helping the needy through generous giving should be called mercy, compassion or charity—not justice.

In English, however, the word “charity” conveys a good but optional activity. Charity cannot be a requirement, for then it would not be charity. But this view does not fit in with the strength or balance of the biblical teaching.

In the Scripture, gifts to the poor are called “acts of righteousness,” as in Matthew 6:1-2.

Matthew 6:1–2 ESV

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Not giving generously, then, is not stinginess but unrighteousness, a violation of God’s law. In the book of Job, we see Job call every failure to help the poor a sin, offensive to God’s splendor (Job 31:23) and deserving of judgment and punishment (v. 28). Remarkably, Job is asserting that it would be a sin against God to think of his goods as belonging to himself alone. To not “share his bread” and his assets with the poor would be unrighteous, a sin against God, and therefore by definition a violation of God’s justice.

Despite the effort to draw a line between “justice” as legal fairness and sharing as “charity,” numerous Scripture passages make radical generosity one of the marks of living justly. The just person lives a life of honesty, equity and generosity in every aspect of his or her life.

If you are trying to live a life in accordance with the Bible, the concept and call to justice are inescapable. We do justice when we give all human beings their due as creations of God. Doing justice includes not only the righting of wrongs but generosity and social concern, especially toward the poor and vulnerable.