““I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’” Psalms 82:6 NIV
If you need a recap, you’ll have to re-read part one here… 😀
Applying the Psalm
What sometimes saddens me about this Psalm is that the contention about whether “Christians are gods” distracts from the sober, emphatic lessons in the chapter.
Notice I have still not identified the gods. This is intentional. The most important thing for these posts is to help us to literally reject vehemently an identity with the gods in this psalm. This psalm is bad news for whoever the gods are here, whoever you end up believing they are. Just so long as it is not you, or any true Christian you know.
But allow me to leave you with these applications of the psalm.
- The Christian God, the one who is the Trinity, is He who presides in the affairs of the entire universe (v1). If there is a great/heavenly/divine/mighty (different English translations use different words to describe this scene) court/assembly somewhere, and there is, He is the one who is over it and over all. Even “gods” are judged by Him in His court.
These gods, visible or invisible, either they be so by status, by money, by position, by election of democracy, by the seizing of power by coup d’etat, by family succession, even if created as an angel with great might, or maybe they are founders of a company, appointed as a CEO, a pastor, bishop, commissioner, whoever, and whatever reason people have looked at themselves and/or thought of themselves as “gods” or special or a ruler, or a judge, and see themselves as above common judgment, criticism, questioning, if ever they thought that if assemblies were called, they wouldn’t belong to the lower ones but the great/mighty/honorable assembly, the inner of the inner circles, it is God who presides there in judgment, and that, depending on how you’re living now is either good news or bad news.
- If you make a habit of defending the unjust and show open or covert partiality to people who do actions the bible and even common sense know to be wicked/evil, and you defend them because you have come to have “godlike” status, or you now occupy a position high enough where people look up to you and want to hear what you have to say. Maybe you’re a politician and security personnel bow to you and carry your bag; you’re a CEO to whom everyone looks to for the final say; or you’re a pastor or deacon to whom people give honor, and therefore consciously or otherwise, spend a great deal of time defending evil actions of others in authority, either because they are your comrade or friend, this is your time to reconsider and hear the word of the Lord in v3-4: “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” This is what God expects of us all, especially you, the “gods” amongst us. To run societies, churches, families, and companies justly.
This “social justice” is properly basic to the nature of the God of the Bible. Psalms 146:6-9 says of God that “He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked” (emphasis mine). Another Psalm, a Psalm of Solomon, about Jesus says of Him in chapter 72:12-14 that: “For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sigh.” (Emphasis mine).
- As Christians, we shouldn’t centre our conversations and be impressed by wealth, minor economic growth, and macroeconomic data of our country, when the poor, the weak, the marginalized, the voiceless, the widows, the orphans are still not being cared for–they are not even left alone to suffer, but get brutally murdered with no consequence. There is no justification, no data, no macroeconomics in my opinion (and I dare say the bible’s too) that should encourage any of us to speak with any admiration of the current government. God isn’t, neither should you. God’s voice echoes through this psalm to the current government and future ones that defending the weak, widows, fatherless, maintaining the rights of the poor and oppressed as far as our borders go, delivering them from the hand of the wicked, is the most pressing thing God is asking and will judge them by. These are the values of His kingdom.
And we, the church, need to know as well that Yahweh aches over oppression, cringes at brutality, does not will that members in our churches, under whatever guise, be treated with a high hand and oppressive tactics. As the church of Christ, we are the ones who should, as often as possible, bring justice and well-being for victims of injustice. How then can we be found perpetrating it ourselves?
Whatever church government we worship under, our churches must be a safe haven for the oppressed and not a place where Christians experience it. We have the Prince of peace as our Lord, church members must enjoy that especially in their church family. Injustice and oppression must always be addressed and kicked against together.
- Did you notice what the failure of not upholding the values of God’s kingdom caused in v5? “All the foundations of the earth are shaken.” This is serious! Injustice, wicked acts, and tacit or overt support of such acts assault the very fabric of our created world. When a nation like ours, and our churches, do not uphold justice, the core, the foundation, is rocked, as we can plainly see in our country and in our churches. Criminality, injustice, and social irresponsibility upset the stability and goodness of creation. “The earth will shake and quake in revulsion to this kind of human unfairness” (W. Dennis Tucker, Jr., Psalms, Volume 2).[o1]
- Let me allow the words of verse 7 to speak directly to those who continue to defend the unjust, wicked, and perpetrate injustice themselves. “But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.”” You will one day lose your godlike status and be demoted to mere man, either in this life or definitely in the next. You will not reign with Christ but will, as the Devil, suffer in the belly of the earth forever (what a demotion!). Remember Lazarus and the rich man. At the end, the rich man descended too low at his death, though he was a god on the earth, for any help to get to him.
The psalm closes beautifully, though. It has become my favorite verse in this chapter, “Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.” Our rulers, governors, president, CEO, pastors, bishops, and deacons may have failed to secure justice, but we are not without recourse; we can ask God to rise to do what these “gods” have not done. He is the one true and just King who can and will secure justice for the poor, needy, marginalized, widows, orphans, and oppressed in any and every society when He comes in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)
Brothers and sisters, rather than contend and debate about whether we are gods or not –and we are not– let this Psalm remind us that Yahweh hates the arrogance of the strong against the weak. The strong are not free to abuse with impunity. The strong who continue to oppress will, eventually, face the anger of Yahweh. Let us also, in our own sphere of influence, “gods” or not, and in the spirit of this psalm, make sure, as much as we can, that practical and spiritual help is given to all those who are afflicted more than we are. Justice is the issue in this psalm, and we would do well if we paid attention.
[o1]The church doesn’t seem to fit there. Give it it’s own paragraph pr leave it out.
