Bible Commentaries
Psalms 82

Verses 1-8

This psalm is a cry for justice, born of a sense of maladministration of those in authority. It first announces the fact that God is the supreme Judge. This is a recognition of the perfect equity of the standard of justice. The judges in mind have erred in that they have shown respect for the persons of the wicked, and thus departed from that strict justice which ever characterises the dealings of God to Whom they are all responsible.

The singer then sets forth what are the essential functions of the judges. They are specially to care for all those who are in circumstances of difficulty and danger. This had not been done, for such people were without knowledge of guidance. The judges have had the name of authority, and its position, but through their failure they are to be degraded.

The song ends with an appeal to God to arise and judge the earth. This is every the cry of the man of faith when he stands in the presence of the wrongs and oppressions obtaining among the poor and afflicted. There is nothing the world needs today more than the administration of strict and impartial justice, and there is no greater comfort to the heart than the conviction that the prayer of the psalmist, multiplied ten thousand fold in the passing centuries by all who have been and still are, conscious of prevailing injustice, will yet be answered. God’s day of Judgment will be a day of mercy in the largest sense.