Psalm 82

Do some around us ever try to be "little gods''?

Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh…

A Psalm of Asaph

¹      God presides in the great assembly—He gives judgment among all other “gods”:

                                   ² “How long will you defend the unjust

                                    and show partiality to the wicked?     Selah

³     Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless — maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

⁴     Rescue the weak and needy — deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

⁵     “They know nothing, they understand nothing.  They walk about in the dark, while all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶     “I said, ‘You are “gods” — and you are all sons of the Most High.’

⁷     Nevertheless, you will die like mere men.  You will fall like any other prince.”

⁸     Rise up, O God — judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.

To help understand this psalm, I have included scripture from the Book of John. Jesus is speaking to some of the rulers, as they are questioning His authority in claiming to be the Son of God.

 Jesus  Rebukes the Unjust Judges

 John 10: 22-36

 22 At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem:

 23  It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.

 24 The Jews where gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name,
      these testify of Me.

 26 “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 

 27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me—

 28  I give eternal life to them and they will never perish; and no one will snatch 
      them out of My hand.

 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all — and no one is able to snatch them
      out of the Father’s hand.

 30  “I and the Father are one.”

 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.

 32 Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”

 33 The Jews answered Him, “For your good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy— and because you, being a man, make yourself out to be God.”

             34 Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?

            35 “If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture 

          cannot be broken),

            36 do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’  because I said,
             ‘I am the Son of God’?

Asaph knew the Book of the Law. There were problems with kings and rulers during this time period, one being hypocrisy.  Even in today’s society, human authority feeds on a desire to please men rather than God—which results in a conformity to human standards and values rather than God’s law.  

What man will praise, Jesus spoke of in a very different light.  Many of those in authority today try hard at being “their own gods.”  Sadly our nation is over run with these personalities.  Some of our Judges who operate in our courts of law no longer abide by the Law given in God’s Holy Word—known as the Ten Commandments.  God’s word emphatically states there will be no real, complete, and ultimate justice here on the earth until Christ does return and establishes it. 

God is righteous and just. God has promised to bring about justice by His saints—and He will by His love of justice, His love for His own, and His compassion for the oppressed. This aspect of His character is what promotes the perseverance of His people in prayer.  The character of God is our motivation that we do not to lose heart and to press on for His coming and for the establishment of justice on the earth.

                    

Philippians 3:2-14

Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh…

If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more…

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ…

I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith…

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.