Psalms 82:1-6

1 God stands in the congregation of the mighty; he judges among the gods.

2 How long will ye judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

3 Do right concerning the poor and fatherless; do justice to the poor and destitute.

4 Deliver the poor and destitute; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.

5 They do not know, neither do they understand; they walk in darkness; they move all the foundations of the earth.

6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are sons of the most High.

Psalms 82:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 82

\\<>\\. This psalm was written for the use of persons in power, for the instruction of kings and princes, judges and civil magistrates; according to Kimchi, it was written about the times of Jehoshaphat, who appointed new judges throughout the land; those that were before having been very corrupt, to whom he gave a charge agreeably to the purport of this psalm, 2Ch 19:5-7, but it seems rather to be written by Asaph, in the times of David, under a spirit of prophecy, and has respect to the times of Christ, when there was a great corruption among the judges and rulers of the Jews, both civil and ecclesiastic. The Syriac version calls it, "a reproof of the ungodly Jews"; our Lord cites a passage out of it in vindication of himself from their charge of blasphemy, Joh 10:34-36.