Psalms 82:6 - Meaning and Application

We have here earthly rulers humbled and brought low, in verses 6 and 7. Their high rank is admitted: “I have said, You are gods.” God himself gave them that title in the law about treasonous speech, “You shall not revile the gods” (Exodus 22:28). If God, the source of all honor, has given them this name, who can argue with it?

Still, what is man, that he should be so greatly honored? They were called gods because the word of God came to them, as Jesus explains (John 10:35). They had authority from God. He appointed them to protect the public good, to keep peace, and to punish wrongdoers (Romans 13:4). In this sense, all of them are children of the Most High. God has placed some of his honor on them and uses them in his rule over the world, as David made his sons chief officials.

Or the meaning may be this: because God said, “You are gods,” they carried that honor too far and imagined themselves to be children of the Most High. That is the pride of the king of Babylon, who said, “I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14), and of the king of Tyre, who set his heart as the heart of God (Ezekiel 28:2). It is hard for people to receive great honor from God, and honor from others as well, without becoming proud and thinking too highly of themselves.

Then comes the humbling truth: “You shall die like men.” This may mean the punishment of bad rulers, those who judge unfairly and throw the world into disorder. God will call them to account and cut them off in the middle of their power and success. They will die like other wicked people and fall like one of the heathen princes. Being Israelites will not save them any more than being judges will. Or they may be said to die like men in a broader sense, because this is the end of all rulers in this world. Let them not be lifted up by their honor or neglect their duty. Let their mortality humble their pride and stir up their work.

They are called gods, but they have no right to immortality. They will die like ordinary people, and one day they, O princes, will fall like everyone else. Kings, princes, and all judges of the earth are gods to us, but they are men before God. They will die like men, and all their glory will return to dust. Death puts scepters and spades on the same level.

Then the psalm turns to the God of heaven, exalted above all. The psalmist sees that it is of little use to argue with these proud oppressors. They refuse to listen and keep walking in darkness. So he looks up to God, appeals to him, and asks him to take his great power: “Arise, O God, judge the earth.” And as he prays, he trusts that God will do it: “You shall inherit all nations.”

This points, first, to God’s rule in providence, his wise care and government over the world. He sets up rulers and brings them down as he pleases. He inherits all nations, meaning he has full authority over them and can dispose of them as a person handles an inheritance. We should believe this and take comfort in it. The earth is not handed over to the wicked, or to wicked rulers, as we are sometimes tempted to think (Job 9:24). God has kept the power for himself, and he overrules them. With that faith, we should pray, “Arise, O God, judge the earth,” appear against those who judge unjustly, and appoint shepherds over your people after your own heart. There is a righteous God to whom we can turn, and from whom we may expect real relief when unjust judges wrong us.

It also points to the kingdom of the Messiah, the promised King. This is a prayer for that kingdom to come quickly, for Christ to come and judge the earth. The promise is claimed that God will give him the nations for his inheritance. “You, O Christ, shall inherit all nations, and be ruler over them” (Psalm 2:8; Psalm 22:28). Let Christ’s second coming put all these disorders right. There are two words that can comfort us and help us comfort one another when power is misused among people: “Hallelujah, for the Lord God Almighty reigns” (Revelation 19:6), and “Surely, I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:20).