Selected Psalms

God is the Judge of the judges!

“God will hold the responsible, responsible...” – Psalm 82

Introductory Thoughts:

• I invite you to open your Bible to Psalm 82...

• In between our series on Revelation, which will take up the bulk of our evening services throughout the year, there will be some prayer evenings and we will look at some selected Psalms. Tonight we will have a look at Psalm 82.

We live in a time and in a country where many of us are greatly frustrated with all the injustice that is taking place, especially when it comes to people in positions of authority and leadership...

• We see civil leaders who are not ruling and leading the country for the sake of the good and benefit of the people, but who are rather enriching themselves through corruption, all kinds of unfairness and abuse of their authority...

• We see employers who are in the business of increasing their gain margin at any cost, and then mostly at the cost of their employees, where they are unfair and unreasonable in their expectations and workload, and also practise favouritism in the workplace where they are not consistent in how they deal with their employees...

• We see church leaders in the church at large that are not leading their churches for the spiritual maturity and good of the people that God entrusted to them, but rather to get fame and fortune and the attention of females...

• We see fathers who are not leading their families as loving servants, but as hard and abusive men who then use their families for their pleasure, comfort, and convenience...

We see all this injustice taking place where people in positions of authority are misusing and abusing their authority, and what frustrates us is that people are getting away with it...! Justice is not done...!

Now, we are not the first, and we will not be the last people to experience and see this...

Asaph, who wrote this Psalm, most probably also saw and experienced this, and he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this Psalm, this song, about it...

Asaph writes this Psalm as a song to be sung about the Government... the ruling authorities and leaders of Israel at that time... staying true to the text, we will have to say that the primary interpretation of who this Psalm is about, is the unjust ruling authorities of Israel... but, the application of this Psalm is much wider, namely, this Psalm is applicable to any and every person who received some form or level of authority to lead or rule that has been given to them by God.

The theme for this song we can put down as:

God is the Judge of the judges! God will hold the responsible, responsible...

This is then a Psalm of great encouragement and comfort in that we will see that God is very interested and involved in all forms of human leadership and authority – He holds the responsible, responsible... people who misuse and abuse their positions of authority, will not get away with it...!

It is therefore also a Psalm of great warning and exhortation for everyone who holds a position of authority, how big or small it may be, for God will hold us responsible for how we have used that authority.

Here is a principle that this Psalm highlights for us:

With leadership comes authority...
With authority comes responsibility...
With responsibility comes accountability...!

Let's then read Psalm 82...

Teaching Points:

This Psalm divides into three sections:

• Verse 1 forms the first section.

• Verses 2-7 form the second section.

• Verse 8 forms the third section.

• In the first and third section, verses 1 & 8, we find that the Psalmist is speaking.

  • In verse 1 he gives an opening announcement.

  • In verse 8 he gives a final plea or petition.

• In verses 2-7, God Himself is speaking, and He is addressing and dealing with those who have positions of authority and rule. He is admonishing them, putting them in their place, holding them responsible and accountable.

• We will be confronted with three truths concerning God who is the Judge of the judges, who holds the responsible, responsible namely:

  1. God has the final authority over all people in positions of authority. (v1)

  • God takes His place as the One who has the highest and final authority.

  • He takes His place as the One who is the all-knowing and all-present God... He is the overlooker who from His own point of view, sees all that is done by the ones in places of authority... (cf. Heb 4:13)

  • He is the One who is able and who has the right to judge all the “gods”... (cf. Jam 4:12)

  Who does “the gods” refer to...?

  • Some have taken it to refer to angels or demons or even the pagan gods, but the verses that follows reveals that it is simply referring to human leaders... people in positions of authority...

  • God is the One who appoints people to positions of authority in which they are then considered as “gods” among the people... they are to act as representatives of God and the authority with which they are to act, is a delegated authority...

  • Whatever position of authority you and I may have, we have received it from God... He has appointed us... (cf. Rom 13:1-2; Dan 2:20-21)

  • We are to be His representatives in those positions...!

  • He is the One who holds us responsible and accountable before Him for what we do with the position and the authority that He has given us...!

  2. God deals authoritatively, accurately and severely with people who misuses and abuses their positions of authority. (v2-7)

  • In verse 1 God has entered the courtroom and now in verse 2, court is in session and God, the Judge of the judges, is the One doing the speaking…

  2.1 God’s accusation... (v2)

  • They were unfair and they were partial...

  • They were not consistent in their practising of their judgements and this has been going on for quite some time...

  • They favoured the wicked... those who were ungodly but most probably were people of wealth and influence... they did not let justice happen but for reasons not given, they were willing and did even declare the wicked right and the right guilty...

  Are you consistent...?
  Are you unpartial...?

  2.2 God’s commands... (v3-4)

  • Four commands that sort into two main things: look out for those who cannot care for themselves... and... defend those who cannot protect themselves...

  • Not to favour them – give justice and what is right...

  • Intervene where they are abused because they are easy prey and of little worth to society...

  • These commands makes us think of Micah 6:8

  • What God commands from civil authorities... they are to use their given authority for the benefit and welfare of all the people under their jurisdiction and especially for the weak and needy...

  • Here is the principle: The authority that is delegated to us to rule is not for our own benefit and gain, but for the good of those that have been entrusted to us...!

  Are you ruling and exercising your authority for the good of others...?

  2.3 God’s assessment... (v5)

  • Here we find the further assessment or findings of God about these rulers and people in places of authority that reveals that they are ungodly rulers who are misusing and abusing their authority...

  • Peoples leadership who are in positions of authority and who do not acknowledge God, who do not fear God, will be characterised by these three things then:

  • Ignorance – the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and those who do not fear Him will have no true knowledge or understanding of the ways of God... that what is pleasing to Him and what should be what they are leading their people in... They will be ignorant of the moral standards of God... Prov 3:5-7 is not true of them... when it comes to the ways and standards of God, ignorance is never bliss... but damning...!

  • Sinfulness – if people in authority are ignorant of the ways of God, they themselves will have a lifestyle of sin... they will be unrighteous themselves and they will lead others in the same lifestyle... their rules and standards by which they lead will be based on personal opinion and standards that is stained with their own sin and so their rule will be characterized by darkness... sinfulness, wickedness, hatred, schemes, corruption, slander, lying, etc...

• The result of this...?

• Chaos – when people in authority do not lead and rule and judge in line with God’s standards and His authority, then society will start to fall apart... businesses fall apart... churches fall apart... families fall apart... God has delegated His authority to people in positions of authority so that they should rule according to His instructions and precepts because that is good...! Life works when we do it God’s way...!

• If we are ignorant of His ways, we will increase in living in sinful ways before Him and that will lead to life falling apart...!

• Society, the economy, the church and families are becoming undone because of ungodly leadership...!

• But before we point the finger too easily at some other authority, let me ask us – what is God’s assessment of our leadership... of my leadership... of your leadership...?

• Are we leading with knowledge... in holiness... bringing order...? Or not...

• Remember that God’s assessment is 100% accurate and therefore His verdict is just and fair...

• 2.4 God’s verdict... (v6-7)

• Verse 6 affirms the reality that God is the one who appoints people to positions of authority and to rule as His representatives... it is a place of honour and we should have honour and respect for people in positions of authority... remember Rom 13:2...

• But verse 7 reminds all of us in whatever position of authority we may have that we are nothing but mere mortal men and women... when it comes to our standing before God, we are but men...

• Many may think that they are elevated above the rest of mankind, but they are mistaken...

• They may exalt themselves and become proud, but God resist the proud and he will dethrone them...

• The simple and absolute truth: No matter what someone’s position may be in this life, he/she will die just like the rest of mankind... and then will come the real and final judgement...! (cf. Heb 9:27)

• If a person in a position of authority misuses and abuses their authority, God will hold them responsible and they will be judged by Him...!

• They will not get away with their wickedness... with their unfair and partial judging and ruling...

• They will fall like any prince indicating a severe and even quick judgement that will come on them...

• No one is beyond or above God judging them and holding them accountable for how they have used His authority that He has entrusted to them... people can “get away” with things here on earth, but God will right every wrong...!

• We can therefore be encouraged by it that as we see leaders and rulers being corrupt and lying and doing all this evil and maybe get off the hook here, God will try and judge them...! Heb 10:31...!

• But we also need to be warned... we too will give an account of our delegated authority to God...

• 3. God will have the final judgement and rule over all people in positions of authority (v8)

• This is the Psalmist plea and petition that God will come and judge all people namely hold them accountable and then come and rule them...

• God is truly the God of gods... the Judge of judges... the King of kings... the Lord of lords... the Ruler of rulers... and it is when we are under His righteous and good reign one day when all wrongs will be righted and were there will never again be a wrong no more...!

• We should not place our hope in an earthly ruler to bring about true justice and fairness.

• We should be hoping and longing for the final judgement and rule of God to bring that about...!

• That will come about with the return of Jesus Christ...!

• Closing Thoughts:

• Jesus is the ultimate fulfilment of this Psalm:

• He is the One who will come to judge – Joh 5:22; Acts 17:30-31

• He is the One who will come to reign – Phil 2:9-11

• There is going to be injustice in this world until Jesus comes. But when the King of kings is reigning and the Lord of lords is supremely in control, we finally will have justice in this world.

• In spite of the world's injustice, God is in control, and He sees all that happens. Until Jesus comes to reign, we must live here.

• In the meantime, trust Him, obey Him and do His will.