All the nations of the earth belong to God
Psalm 82
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgement:
2 ‘How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.’
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk around in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I say, ‘You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince.’
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth; for all the nations belong to you!
This psalm requires us to use our imaginations to understand what the psalm is about. The psalm imagines a gathering of the gods of all the nations. Maybe think “powers” or “authorities” of the nations –powers and authorities (governments) that think they are in charge. At this imaginary gathering, God who brought Israel out of Egypt and raised Jesus to life again, God who acts for justice for the poor and the oppressed, stands up and confronts the other deities, the other powers, in the world, asking them why they act unjustly, why do they allow the wicked to succeed?
God describes how the powers in the world should function in vs. 3 and 4 – giving justice to the weak and orphans, maintaining the rights of the lowly and the needy, and delivering these people from the hands of wicked people. God’s accusation is that the powers of the world (‘the gods”) do not act that way – the powerful (see vs. 5) have neither knowledge (that would be the facts) nor understanding (that would be wisdom to understand the facts). The powerful of the world are walking around in the dark. Vs. 6 and 7 make the point that the powerful of the world may think they are in control, but in fact they are mortal – limited – there will be a time when they are no more. The day is coming when God will judge all the powers in the world, for God alone is the ruler over all things.
In a world where threat and violence are ways of life. In a world where the powers believe they are in control. In that world, we are reminded that the powers that oppress poor and violate the rights of the weak will be held to account and overthrown. The world belongs to God and God will judge the rulers of the world according to what they have done.
PRAYER:
Lord of justice and compassion, we rejoice that you care for the weak and the downtrodden, and that you oppose the bully and the oppressor. Come and set the world right, we pray. For you alone can do that. In Jesus’ name. Amen.