Psalms 82:2-7
Verse 2. Accept the persons of the wicked?] "Lift up their faces," encourage them in their oppressions. Selah.] "Mark this:" ye do it, and sorely shall ye suffer for it. Verse 3. Defend the poor] You are their natural protectors under God. They are oppressed: punish their oppressors, however rich or powerful: and deliver them. Verse 5. They know not] The judges are not acquainted with the law of God, on which all their decisions should be founded. Neither will they understand] They are ignorant and do not wish to be instructed. They will not learn; they cannot teach. Happy England! How different from Judea, even in the days of Jehoshaphat! All thy judges are learned, righteous, and impartial. Never did greater men in their profession dignify any land or country.-(1822.) All the foundations of the earth] "All the civil institutions of the land totter." Justice is at the head of all the institutions in a well regulated state: when that gets poisoned or perverted, every evil, political and domestic, must prevail; even religion itself ceases to have any influence. Verse 6. Ye are gods] Or, with the prefix of ke, the particle of similitude, keelohim, "like God." Ye are my representatives, and are clothed with my power and authority to dispense judgment and justice, therefore all of them are said to be children of the Most High. Verse 7. But ye shall die like men] keadam, "ye shall die like Adam," who fell from his high perfection and dignity as ye have done. Your high office cannot secure you an immortality. And fall like one of the princes.] Justice shall pursue you, and judgment shall overtake you; and you shall be executed like public state criminals. You shall not, in the course of nature, fall into the grave; but your life shall be brought to an end by a legal sentence, or a particular judgment of God.
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