Psalms 82:1

lmist calls upon God for immediate help against a multitude of confederate enemies who had risen up against Judah, Psa 83:1-5 . He mentions them by name, Psa 83:6-8 ; shows how they were to be punished, Psa 83:9-17 ; and that this was to be done for the glory of God, Psa 83:18 . The title, A Song or Psalms of Asaph, contains nothing particular. Among a multitude of conjectures relative to the title and occasion of this Psalm, that which refers it to the confederacy against Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, mentioned 2 Chronicles 20, is the most likely. The following reasons make it probable: 1. The children of Ammon, that is, the Ammonites and Moabites, were the principal movers in the war. 2. The Idumeans came to their assistance, 2Chr 20:22 ; with certain Ammonites or Meonians, referred to here in Psa 83:8 , and in 2Chr 20:1 . 3. There were also in this confederacy many strangers of Syria, and from beyond the sea, most likely the Dead Sea, which seems to indicate the Assyrians, Hagaranes, and Ishmaelites, designed expressly here, Psa 83:7 , Psa 83:8 . 4. In that transaction there was a prophet of the race of Asaph, named Jahaziel, who foretold to Jehoshaphat their total overthrow, 2Chr 20:14 , etc., and probably this Jahaziel is the same with Asaph, the author of this Psalm. In the course of the notes we shall see other circumstances relative to the war of the Moabites and Ammonites against Jehoshaphat, which illustrates several particulars in this Psalm. See Calmet. Verse 1 Keep not thou silence - A strong appeal to God just as the confederacy was discovered. Do not be inactive, do not be neuter. Thy honor and our existence are both at stake. Verse 2 Thine enemies make a tumult - They are not merely the enemies of thy people, but they are the enemies of thyself, thy worship, ordinances, and laws: "They make a tumult," they throng together. They - have lifted up the head - They have made an irruption into the land of Judea, and encamped at En-gedi, by the Dead Sea, 2Chr 20:1 , 2Chr 20:2 . Verse 3 Consulted against thy hidden ones - צפוניך tsephuneycha, Thy hidden things; places; persons. "The hidden things in thy treasures." - Chaldee. "Thy holy ones." - Syriac. "Thy saints." - Vulgate and Septuagint; and so the Ethiopic and Arabic. The people of Israel are probably meant. Or perhaps the temple, the ark, and the treasures of the temple, are intended. Verse 4 Let us cut them off - Let us exterminate the whole race, that there may not be a record of them on the face of the earth. And their scheme was well laid: eight or ten different nations united themselves in a firm bond to do this; and they had kept their purpose so secret that the king of Judah does not appear to have heard of it till his territories were actually invaded, and the different bodies of this coalition had assembled at En-gedi. Never was Judah before in greater danger. Verse 5 They have consulted together with one consent - With a united heart, לב יחדו leb yachdav, Their heart and soul are in the work. They are confederate against thee - "They have made a covenant," ברית יכריתו berith yachrithu, "they have cut the covenant sacrifice." They have slain an animal, divided him in twain, and passed between the pieces of the victim; and have thus bound themselves to accomplish their purpose. Verse 6 The tabernacles of Edom - The tents of these different people are seen in the grand encampment. Tents are probably mentioned because it seas the custom of some of these people, particularly the lshmaelites, to live a migratory or wandering life; having no fixed habitation, but always abiding in tents. Their posterity remain to the present day, and act and live in the same manner. Hagarenes - These people dwelt on the east of Gilead; and were nearly destroyed in the days of Saul, being totally expelled from their c

Standeth - To observe all that is said or done there. Mighty - Kings or chief rulers. By their congregation he understands all persons whatsoever of this high and sacred order. Judgeth - Passes sentence upon them. The gods - Judges and magistrates are called gods, because they have their commission from God, and act as his deputies.

Against these junkers this Psalm is made. It says: V.1. God standeth in the congregation of God And is judge among the gods. He confesses, and does not deny that they are gods. He will not be seditious or lessen their honor or power, as the disobedient rebels do, and the mad saints, the heretics and fanatics. Nevertheless he makes a true distinction between God’s power and theirs. He will let them be gods over men, but not over God Himself, as if he were to say, “It is true that ye are gods over all of us, but not over the God of all of us. For God, who appointed you as gods, surely wills that He Himself shall be an exception and that His Godhead shall not be subjected to your godhead. He does not allow you to be gods, in order that He may not remain God; but He wills to remain Supreme God, a judge over all gods.” But Moses calls them gods because all the offices of rulership, from the least to the highest, are God’s ordinance, as St. Paul teaches in Romans 13:1; and King Jehoshaphat, in 2 Chronicles 19:6, says to his officials, “Consider, and judge rightly, for the judgment is God’s.” Now because this is not a matter of human will or devising, but God Himself appoints and preserves all rulership, and if He no longer held it up, it would all fall down, even though all the world held it fast, therefore, it is rightly called a divine thing, a divine ordinance and such persons are rightly called divine, godlike, or gods, especially when, beside the institution itself, we have a word or command of God for it, as among the people of Israel, where the priests, princes, and kings were appointed by the oral command and word of God. From this we see how high and how glorious God will have rulers held, and that men ought to obey them, as His officers, and be subject to them with all fear and reverence, as to God Himself. He who would resist them or be disobedient to them or despise them, whom God names with His own name and calls gods, and to whom He attaches His own honor; he, I say, who despises, disobeys, or resists them, is thereby despising, disobeying and resisting the true Supreme God, who is in them, and speaks and judges through them and calls their judgment His judgment. What they win by it St. Paul shows, in Romans 13:1, and this is abundantly shown by experience. All this is written because it is God’s will to establish and maintain peace among the children of Adam for their own good; as St. Paul says, in Romans 13:4, “It is God’s minister to you for good.” For where there is no rulership, or where rulers are not held in honor, there can be no peace. Where there is no peace, no one can keep his life, or anything else, in the face of another’s outrage, thievery, robbery, violence, and wickedness; much less will there be room to teach God’s Word, and to raise children in the fear of God and in discipline. Because, then, God will not have the world desolate and empty, but has made it for men to live in and till the land and fill it, as is written in Genesis 1:29; and because this cannot happen where there is no peace; He is compelled, as a Creator, preserving His own creatures, works, and ordinances, to institute and preserve rulership, and to commit to it the sword and the laws, so that He may slay and punish all those who do not obey it, as men who strive also against God and His ordinance, and are not worthy to live. But again, as, on the one hand, He keeps down the disorder of the rabble and therefore subjects them to the sword and the laws; so, on the other hand, He keeps down the rulers, that they shall not abuse His majesty and power according to their own self-will, but use them for that peace for which He has appointed and preserves them. Nevertheless, it is not His will to allow the rabble to raise their fist against the rulers or to seize the sword, as if to punish and judge the rulers. No, they must leave that! It is not God’s will, and He has not committed this to them. They are not to be judges and revenge themselves, or resort to outrage and violence, but God Himself will punish wicked rulers and impose statutes and laws upon them. He will be judge and master over them. He will find them out, better than anyone else can, as indeed, He has done since the beginning of the world. This is what this first verse says: “God standeth in the congregation of God, and is judge among the gods.” As if to say: Let no one undertake to judge the gods, to punish them, or master them, but be quiet, keep the peace, be obedient, and suffer. But neither are the gods to be proud and self-willed, for they are not gods among the people and overlords of the congregation in such a way that they have this position all to themselves and can do as they like. Nay, not so! God Himself is there also, and He will judge, punish, and master them, and if they do not obey, they shall not escape. “He standeth in His congregation,” for the congregation is also His; and “He judgeth the gods,” for the rulers, too, are His; and because both are His, it is right for Him to take the part of both; and He wills to be respected and feared by both, so that the congregation may be obedient to the rulers for God’s sake, and the rulers may administer justice and peace, also for God’s sake; thus the things of this life will go along finely, in the fear of God and obedience to Him. But if one party or the other will not do its duty, if the congregation be disobedient and the rulers self-willed, then both are guilty of death in God’s sight, and both are punished — the congregation by the rulers, the rulers by God, who can put down the mighty from their seats and tear them up by the roots, destroying their name and their memory, as the illustrations show. Observe that he calls all communities or organized assemblies “the congregation of God,” because they are God’s own, and He accepts them as His own work, just as, in Jonah 3:3, He calls Nineveh “a city of God.” For He has made, and makes, all communities; He still brings them together, feeds them, increases them, blesses and preserves them, gives them fields and meadows, cattle, water, air, sun and moon, and everything that they have, nay, body and life, as it is written in Genesis 1:29. For what have we, and what has all the world, that is not got unceasingly from Him? But even though experience ought to teach us this, He has to say it in plain words, and openly confess and boast that the communities are His; for mad Reason, in its shrewdness, and all the worldly-wise know not at all that a community is God’s creature and His ordinance, but have no other thought about it than that it has come into being by accident, by people holding together and living side by side in the same way that murderers and robbers and other wicked bands come together to disturb the peace and the ordinance of God; and these are the devil’s congregations. It is only believers that know the articles about creation from Genesis 1:29, though even their faith in it is weak, and many of them never think of it or speak of it. But David knows it very well, when he says in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and they that dwell therein; for He hath founded it upon the seas and built it upon the waters”; and his son Solomon says, in Psalm 126:1, “Except God keep house and city, the builder and the watchman build and watch in vain.” What should the worldly-wise know of heavenly things, when they do not know these things, amongst which they live and move? Since such communities are God’s work, which He daily creates, supports and increases, so that they can sit at home and produce children and educate them: therefore this word is, in the first place, a great and pleasant comfort to all those who find themselves situated in such a community. It assures them that God accepts them as His work and His creation, cares for them and protects and supports them, as we can, in fact, see with our own eyes. For who could have or keep a cow or a heller, if God did not give it and help and guard it? Therefore, everyone ought to admonish himself to be thankful for everything that is offered him by his rulers, and be glad that, in such a community, he is worthy to eat his bread and live. For this word “congregation of God” is a precious word, and anyone who is in it ought to be ten times more glad than if he were enrolled as a Roman citizen, which was once a great honor on earth. But Reason does not consider this. In the second place, it is a terrible and threatening word against the wicked, self-willed gods, or rulers, for it tells them that they are set over, not wood and stone, not swine and dogs (about which God has made no commandments) but over the “congregation of God”; and they ought to fear lest the wrong that they do be done against God Himself. For the congregations are not their own, as are the swine and dogs, which God has given them as their own property; but He is, and wills to be, in them, and they are to be called His congregation. On both sides, then, everything will go well, in the fear of God and in humility. Subjects will have regard to God and gladly be obedient for His sake, and rulers will also have regard to God and do right and keep peace for His sake. But especially ought this fear and humility to be in that congregation which was not only first founded and created by that word in Genesis 1, but which was established and ordered by a special word of God. Thus the communities of the people of Israel were confirmed in many ways through Moses, and chosen before all others, and separated from them. It is especially of these communities that this Psalm speaks, and it calls them, above all others, “God’s congregations,” just as they are called in all the prophets His heritage, His possession, His kingdom, His priesthood; though it was in these very “congregations of God” that the worst and most ravenous gods were found, and the most self-willed and proudest rebels that could be upon the earth, as this Psalm indicates and history testifies. The same thing is true of our rulers, under the New Testament. Beside their creation by the word of Genesis 1, they have been established anew, through Christ, by a special word. For He says, in Matthew 22:21, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”; and in 1 Peter 3:13, “Be subject to every ordinance of man”; and in Romans 13:1, “Let every man be subject to his rulers”; and there are many more passages. This Psalm, therefore, applies to our rulers, as well as to the Jews, just as every other Scripture of the Old Testament is given to us, as well as to the Jews. For this reason, in our communities, too, this fear and humility, both of gods and subjects, ought to be all the more in evidence. Nevertheless, our condition will continue to be that of which this Psalm sings; and it says nothing good about the gods and their virtues. Now in order that these proud gods may be deprived of their defiant boastfulness, when they think that no one is to judge them or rebuke them without being called a rebel, a little peg is driven into them and a club is laid by the dog, so that they may be properly rebuked, boldly spoken to, and hard and sharply threatened, as this Psalm does. For it says here, “God standeth in His congregation and judgeth the gods”; that is, He rebukes them. For He keeps the upper hand over them and the right to judge them, and does not make them gods in such wise as to abolish His own Godhead and let them do as they please, as if they alone were gods over God. On the contrary, it is His will that they be subject to His Word and either listen to it or suffer all misfortune. It is enough that they have rule over all else; but over God’s Word they are not to have it. For God’s Word appoints them, and makes them gods, and subjects everything to them. Therefore, they are not to despise it, for it is their institutor and appointer; but they are to be subject to it, and allow themselves to be judged, rebuked, made, and mastered by it. Where, then, is God, or how do we become sure that there is a God Who thus rebukes? Answer: You hear in this place that “He stands in the congregation.” Where His congregation is, there you will find Him. For there He has His appointed priests and preachers, to whom He has committed the duty of teaching, exhorting, rebuking, comforting, and, in a word, of preaching the Word of God. How it has been commanded to preach the Word of God in all the world and in every place, I cannot here tell, for I think that everybody sees the churches and pulpits, and all of them rest on this one foundation, in Matthew 28:19, “Go and preach to all the nations, and teach them to keep the commandments I have given you.” Would God that only faithful men had this office and administered it faithfully and purely, and that it were not abused so shamefully and hatefully! Nevertheless, abuse does not destroy the office; the office is true, exactly as temporal rule is a true and good office, even though a knave has it and abuses it. Observe, however, that a preacher, by whom God rebukes the gods, is to “stand in the congregation.” He is to “stand,” that is, he is to be firm and confident, and deal uprightly and honestly with it; and “in the congregation,” that is, openly and boldly before God and men. By this two sins are prevented. The first is unfaithfulness. There are many bishops and preachers in the preaching-office, but they do not “stand,” and serve God faithfully; on the contrary, they lie down, or otherwise play with their office. These are the lazy and worthless preachers, who do not tell the princes and lords their sins. In some cases they do not notice the sins; they lie down and snore in their office, and do nothing that pertains to it, except, like swine, take up the room where good preachers should stand; they form the great majority. Others, however, play the hypocrite and flatter the wicked gods, and strengthen them in their self-will; just now they are raging and raving against the Gospel, and are stirring up their princes and lords to slander and murder. Still others fear for their skins and are afraid that they must lose life and goods. All of these do not “stand,” and are not faithful to Christ. The other sin is called back-biting. The whole world is full in every corner of both preachers and laymen who bandy evil words about their princes and lords, and curse them and call them names, though not boldly, in the open, but in corners, and in their own companies. But that accomplishes nothing except to make the evil worse. It serves only to set a secret fire, by which people are moved to disobedience, rebellion, breach of the peace, and contempt for their rulers. If you are in the office, and are not willing to rebuke your gods openly and publicly, as your office demands, at least leave off your private back-biting, calling of names, criticizing, and complaining, or be hanged to you! But if you are not in office, then leave off all rebuking and criticizing, both public and private, or the devil is already your abbot and does not need to become so; for, in Matthew 7, God has forbidden secret judging, or judging where there is no office. On the other hand, it is His will that those who are in office and are called to do it, shall rebuke and judge their gods boldly and openly. Therefore, this first verse goes on to say, “He is judge among the gods.” Judge He is, and He rebukes the gods, but He does it as a judge, to whom that office has been committed, not plotting like a hypocrite in corners among secret groups, but “among the gods” themselves. He dares to speak boldly in their presence. It does not say, “He is a slanderer or back-biter,” but “He is a judge among the gods.” Mark this well! The lords sit in high places, and everyone sees their sins and faults most of all. And because men see them most of all, there is no commoner sin than speaking evil of lords. Everyone loves to do it, for in so doing he forgets his own unrighteousness. Even though their lord had every virtue, and they could discover in him only one vice and small as a mote, while they themselves were full of vices as large as beams, yet they would see the mote in high places before they would see the virtues, and would not see the beams in the depths of all vices. So, then, this first verse teaches that to rebuke rulers is not seditious, provided it is done in the way here described; namely, by the office to which God has committed that duty, and through God’s Word, spoken publicly, boldly, and honestly. To rebuke rulers in this way is, on the contrary, a praiseworthy, noble, and rare virtue, and a particularly great service of God, as the Psalm here proves. It would be far more seditious, if a preacher were not to rebuke the sins of the rulers, for then he makes people angry and sullen, and strengthens the wickedness of the tyrants and becomes a partaker in it, and bears responsibility for it. Thus God might be angered and might allow rebellion to come as a penalty. The other way, — when the lords are rebuked as well as the people, and the people as well as the lords (as the prophets did), — neither can blame anything on the other, and they have to bear with one another, and be satisfied, and be at peace with each other. They are poisonous and dangerous preachers who take the side of one party alone and call the lords names in order to tickle the people, and court the peasants like Muenzer, Carlstadt, and other fanatics; or call the peasants names in order to flatter and please the lords, as our opponents do. The thing to do is to chop both parties in one bowl and make one dish out of the two of them. For a preacher is neither a courtier nor a slave of peasants. He is God’s servant and slave, and his commission is over lords and slaves; as the Psalm here says, “He judges and rebukes the gods.” That is the meaning of the word Judicet, “judge,” viz. judicio et jure. He is to do that which is right and proper, not with a view to favor or disfavor, but according to law, that is, according to God’s Word, which knows no distinction or respect of persons. V.2. How long will ye judge unjustly And prefer the persons of the godless?

I. God's supreme presidency and power in all councils and courts asserted and laid down, as a great truth necessary to be believed both by princes and subjects ( v. 1 ): God stands, as chief director, in the congregation of the mighty, the mighty One, in coetu fortis—in the councils of the prince, the supreme magistrate, and he judges among the gods, the inferior magistrates; both the legislative and the executive power of princes is under his eye and his hand. Observe here, 1. The power and honour of magistrates; they are the mighty. They are so in authority, for the public good (it is a great power that they are entrusted with), and they ought to be so in wisdom and courage. They are, in the Hebrew dialect, called gods; the same word is used for these subordinate governors that is used for the sovereign ruler of the world. They are elohim. Angels are so called both because they are great in power and might and because God is pleased to make use of their service in the government of this lower world; and magistrates in an inferior capacity are likewise the ministers of his providence in general, for the keeping up of order and peace in human societies, and particularly of his justice and goodness in punishing evil-doers and protecting those that do well. Good magistrates, who answer the ends of magistracy, are as God; some of his honour is put upon them; they are his vicegerents, and great blessings to any people. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king, Prov. xvi. 10 . But, as roaring lions and ranging bears, so are wicked rulers over the poor people, Prov. xxviii. 15 . 2. A good form and constitution of government intimated, and that is a mixed monarchy like ours; here is the mighty One, the Sovereign, and here is his congregation, his privy-council, his parliament, his bench of judges, who are called the gods. 3. God's incontestable sovereignty maintained in and over all the congregations of the mighty. God stands, he judges among them; they have their power from him and are accountable to him. By him kings reign. He is present at all their debates, and inspects all they say and do, and what is said and done amiss will be called over again, and they reckoned with for their mal-administrations. God has their hearts in his hands, and their tongues too, and he directs them which way soever he will, Prov. xxi. 1 . So that he has a negative voice in all their resolves, and his counsels shall stand, whatever devices are in men's hearts. He makes what use he pleases of them, and serves his own purposes and designs by them; though their hearts little think so, Isa. x. 7 . Let magistrates consider this and be awed by it; God is with them in the judgment, 2 Chron. xix. 6 ; Deut. i. 17 . Let subjects consider this and be comforted with it; for good princes and good judges, who mean well, are under a divine direction, and bad ones, who mean ever so ill, are under a divine restraint. II. A charge given to all magistrates to do good with their power, as they will answer it to him by whom they are entrusted with it, v. 3, 4 . 1. They are to be the protectors of those who lie exposed to injury and the patrons of those who want advice and assistance: Defend the poor, who have no money wherewith to make friends or fee counsel, and the fatherless, who, while they are young and unable to help themselves, have lost those who would have been the guides of their youth. Magistrates, as they must be fathers to their country in general, so particularly to those in it who are fatherless. Are they called gods? Herein they must be followers of him, they must be fathers of the fatherless. Job was so, Job xxix. 12 . 2. They are to administer justice impartially, and do right to the afflicted and needy, who, being weak and helpless, have often wrongs done them; and will be in danger of losing all if magistrates do not, ex officio—officially, interpose for their relief. If a poor man has an honest cause, his poverty must be no prejudice to his cause, how great and powerful soever those are that contend with him. 3. They are to rescue those who have already fallen into the hands of oppressors and deliver them. ( v. 4 ): Rid them out of the hand of the wicked. Avenge them of their adversary, Luke xviii. 3 . These are clients whom there is nothing to be got by, no pay for serving them, no interest by obliging them; yet these are those whom judges and magistrates must concern themselves for, whose comfort they must consult and whose cause they must espouse. III. A charge drawn up against bad magistrates, who neglect their duty and abuse their power, forgetting that God standeth among them, v. 2 , 5 . Observe, 1. What the sin is they are here charged with; they judge unjustly, contrary to the rules of equity and the dictates of their consciences, giving judgment against those who have right on their side, out of malice and ill-will, or for those who have an unrighteous cause, out of favour and partial affection. To do unjustly is bad, but to judge unjustly is much worse, because it is doing wrong under colour of right; against such acts of injustice there is least fence for the injured and by them encouragement is given to the injurious. It was as great an evil as any Solomon saw under the sun when he observed the place of judgment, that iniquity was there, Eccl. iii. 16 ; Isa. v. 7 . They not only accepted the persons of the rich because they were rich, though that is bad enough, but (which is much worse) they accepted the persons of the wicked because they were wicked; they not only countenanced them in their wickedness, but loved them the better for it, and fell in with their interests. Woe unto thee, O land! when thy judges are such as these. 2. What was the cause of this sin. They were told plainly enough that it was their office and duty to protect and deliver the poor; it was many a time given them in charge; yet they judge unjustly, for they know not, neither will they understand. They do not care to hear their duty; they will not take pains to study it; they have no desire to take things right, but are governed by interest, not by reason or justice. A gift in secret blinds their eyes. They know not because they will not understand. None so blind as those that will not see. They have baffled their own consciences, and so they walk on in darkness, not knowing nor caring what they do nor whither they go. Those that walk on in darkness are walking on to everlasting darkness. 3. What were the consequences of this sin: All the foundations of the earth (or of the land) are out of course. When justice is perverted what good can be expected? The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved, as the psalmist speaks in a like case, Ps. lxxv. 3 . The miscarriages of public persons are public mischiefs. The Duty of Magistrates. 6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. 7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. We have here, I. Earthly gods abased and brought down, v. 6, 7 . The dignity of their character is acknowledged ( v. 6 ): I have said, You are gods.