Psalm 82
We are to favor the weakest members of society.
WE ARE TO FAVOR THE WEAKEST MEMBERS OF SOCIETY
A Psalm by Asaph.
VERSE 1. God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods.
the gods. The Hebrew word is אֱלֹהִ֣ים (“’ĕ·lō·hîm”). It means God or gods. The NLT translation renders it as “heavenly beings.”
VERSE 2. “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” Selah.
show partiality to the wicked. In our day the justice system in the United States is showing partiality to billionaires.
Many politicians are doing the bidding of billionaires. They are building structures of injustice into the fabric of society itself.
This leads to the favoring of billionaires and injustice for poor people.
In the Bible, rich people are the bad guys.
In a speech in 1964, Malcolm X said:
If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.
VERSE 3. “Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
This verse is fantastic! Would you consider memorizing it? More great verses to memorize from the Psalms and from the entire Bible.
weak … poor … fatherless … oppressed. These are the people the Bible calls us to show partiality to.
Not billionaires.
In the Bible, rich people are the bad guys.
VERSE 4. Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.”
VERSE 5. They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
VERSE 6. I said, “You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High.
You are gods. Psalm 82:6 says an unexpected thing: “You are gods.” Many centuries later, the Lord Jesus quotes this exact phrase. He does not correct it. Read more »
VERSE 7. Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.”
you shall die like men. If we were divine, we could prevent our own death. But we cannot.
VERSE 8. Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations.
PSALMS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150
Deuterocanonical chapter: 151
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, David’s Fasting
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.