If you would turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 82, Psalm 82, you'd be shocked to have a God-free preach on a psalm to you tonight, I'm sure. Psalm 82, a psalm of Asaph. This psalm occurs in book 3 of the Psalter. If you'll remember that the psalms are divided up into five books, book 3 in the middle, and And Psalm 82 is right after the middle psalm of book 3. So this really is the first psalm of the second half of the Psalter. We're going to read all the verses and consider this psalm together tonight. Let us read God's own word. Psalm 82, a psalm of Asaph. God presides in the great assembly. He gives judgment among the gods. How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They know nothing. They understand nothing. They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, you are gods, you are all sons of the Most High, but you will die like mere men, you will fall like every other ruler. Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance. Thus far the reading of God's word may bless it to us. Well, I mentioned the fact that this psalm occurs in book three because there is a tendency for us to think that the psalms are just a general collection of poems with no real order, no real structure. It's helpful to know that there is a structure in the Psalter and we can learn things from the psalms that are around other psalms. If you begin to look at the psalms of book three that go back to Psalm 73 is where book three starts, you begin to see an emerging pattern, an emerging pattern of things that are happening in this book. A number of years ago when the adult Sunday school went through the Psalms, this book was given sort of the title, The King's Crisis Over God's Promises. And that is indeed what you see over and over again, a crisis unfolding. And that crisis is given expression in the Psalter. Psalm 77 verse 8 talks about will the Lord spurn forever and never again be favorable has his love ceased has he forgotten to be gracious has he in anger shut up his compassion cries out to God Psalm 79 how long oh Lord will you be angry forever Psalm 80 how long will you be angry with your people's prayers why have you broken down our walls these are cries of god's people in the midst of crisis and it's interesting that these psalms all lead up to psalm 81 the central psalm really of the whole psalter a psalm that asks god's people to listen to listen to what god has to say and now here in psalm 82 god responds god responds to the calls of His people. And I think we'll see tonight how God responds is laid out in this psalm. How does God respond to the complaints of His people? Well, in the first place, we see the Lord appears as judge. He appears as judge. Look again with me at verse 1. God presides in the great assembly. He gives judgment among the gods. Now, sometimes we have a tendency to run down the NIV a little bit, but I think it's very helpful for us here. It puts gods in quotation marks, doesn't it? Cues us into the fact that we need to understand what does the psalmist mean by gods? What does it mean that God is taking his stand, that he is sitting in the great assembly to give judgment? And I think scripture over and over again gives us a picture of what this means. And we could look at any number of passages. I thought we'd look at two familiar ones, both one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament about these throne room scenes of God. God sitting on His throne. Think of Isaiah's commission. When Isaiah sees that vision of heaven, sees the Lord sitting on His throne surrounded by His holy angels. And he asks that question, who will go for us? It's a divine courtroom scene. It's Isaiah seeing the Lord surrounded by His angels sitting on His throne. And the question's asked, who will go for us? And then that decision that's reached that Isaiah will go. Think of a New Testament example from Revelation 4 and 5. I'm going through Revelation in the adult Sunday school class too, haven't you? That great throne room scene in heaven. The Lord on His throne surrounded by the four living creatures and the elders. And the heavenly host is gathered. And again, the question is asked, who will open the scroll? And that lovely answer that's given, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, he has conquered. He can open the scroll. But you see, it's a picture of that throne room. It's a picture of God sitting on his throne and in the council of his holy angels and the council of his holy ones coming to decisions. Maybe for a more modern example, we can think of a judge in a courtroom. The judge has a chambers, we call it, where he sits and studies. But when it's time to hold court, he puts on his robe and he walks out. And when he comes out, the bailiff tells everyone to rise for the judge is presiding. And that's really the picture we have here in Psalm 82, verse 1, of the Lord coming in to preside in judgment over these complaints. These complaints that have been raised up to his throne. Has the Lord forgotten his promises? Has he left his people? Because it's not just any old promises that the people have been worried about. It's the large and great promises of Scripture, the promises to Abraham. We no longer love this people, the promise to David. Will there no longer be a king to sit on David's throne? And over and over again, that question comes up, how long? Why is this happening? and now the lord is coming in to appear in judgment psalm 81 has said listen to him and now in 82 here he is sitting on his throne sitting in the seat of the judge as it were to give his judgment and that's our second point we see the lord appearing as judge and now he answers in judgment he answers these calls that the people have given to him isn't it interesting that in verse 2 he answers the way he's been questioned. How long, Lord, will you forget your promises? How long? Remember when Job questioned the Lord, how was Job answered? Job was answered with some questions, wasn't he? Some difficult questions. Here the Lord very pointedly in verse 2, how long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Now just as in verse 1, we had to figure out who are the gods. We saw that that's the heavenly throne room, the heavenly council. We have to ask, who is this you? Again, the NIV is helpful. In my NIV Bible, I have a little footnote that says the Hebrew is plural. So you know that the you is more than one person. And I think this is being a focus judgment. It's going more to the heart of the matter. Who are these people who are charged with justice? Who was to be just for God's people? Who were to be the protectors of the people? Well, it was God's kings, wasn't it? The kings were charged with justice. The kings were the ones who had been appointed to see that justice was done for God's people. And God's law was very clear on what the kings were supposed to do. The judges are supposed to judge justly. Deuteronomy 16. 18 through 20 lays out the kind of judges that there are to be among the people. And there are to be judges who show no partiality, who do not accept bribes because bribes blind justice. And the command that's given there is follow justice and justice alone. That is what you are to do. That is how you are to judge. And we see a picture of how it is when a king responds rightly. The kind of zeal that a king is supposed to have for the law of the Lord. And it's maybe in an unexpected place. Think of when the prophet Nathan comes to David. He comes to David to reveal to David his sin and tells him that story of the rich man who has many sheep and the poor man who has but one. And the man who has only one sheep, it's like a member of his family. It sleeps in his arms. It's like a daughter to him. And the rich man who has many sheep has a visitor. And instead of slaughtering one of his own, he goes and steals from the poor man and takes his lamb. Remember what we're told when David hears this story. It says he burned with anger and said, surely whoever did this deserves to die and has to pay back fourfold what he took. Then the horror that David is brought to realize by Nathan, you are the man. You are the one who's stolen. You are the rich man who's condemned by your own word. But see, David there demonstrates the zeal a king was supposed to have for the law of the Lord, a concern that it was done. He burned with anger when he heard of this injustice. And he knew it had to be punished. That's why it's so strong when Nathan then turns it on David. But we see there exhibited what a king was supposed to do. The concern that the king was supposed to have for justice. You see what the Lord is saying here is that the kings have completely abdicated their responsibility. Now it's the unjust that are defended. It's the wicked who are shown partiality. the psalmist is saying this is how the kings have failed in their calling they have failed to be zealous and why what's been the cause of the king's failure why have they failed to do what the lord has told them to do because they've forgotten his law because they've neglected his law that was another thing the kings were not supposed to do deuteronomy 17 verse 18 well before the Israelites ever had kings the Lord laid down laws for the king this is what the Lord says in Deuteronomy 17 18 through 20 when he takes the throne of his kingdom he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law taken from that of the priests who are Levites it is to be with him and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord as God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. You see, it's as if the Lord is saying to his people, don't ask me why. You should know why. You should have committed this law to your hearts. It should have been the guide for your life. And then you would not need to ask me why. because my law has told you clearly what I expect my law has told you clearly what you're to do they've perverted God's law because they haven't really remembered they haven't really been listening that's what you see in verse 5 there they know nothing they understand nothing they walk around in darkness because they've neglected the word of the Lord. And now the people are crying out because they're finding that all the foundations of the earth are shaking. Everything that they thought was solid and secure seems to be crumbling down around them. We see this in Isaiah 24, this foundations of the earth shaking. It's a symbol of judgment. It's as if the Lord is saying, you know, the kingdom is coming in around your heads. And you're asking me why? When the poor are downtrodden, when the weak are neglected, when justice is perverted, you're asking me why? That's why. Because you have not done what I've commanded you to do. Perhaps the worst indictment of all comes in verse 6. I said you are gods. You are all sons of the Most High. But you will die like mere men. you will fall like every other ruler. Here we have that again, don't we, gods? What are we to make of that? Of course, the Mormons make a lot of it. They say, you are a god. But that clearly is against what Christ says in his own words. Because Christ helped explain this psalm. In John 10, he was being attacked for claims of deity. They were accusing him of blaspheming. and making himself equal with God. And this is how Jesus defended himself, John 10, 34. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I have said you are gods? Here he's citing Psalm 82. Listen to what he says next. If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken, what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said I am God's son? You see what Jesus does there? He connects that saying, I said you are gods, to the ones to whom the word has been given. Who are the ones to whom God says you are gods? It's the ones to whom the word has been given. And this is a particular indictment against the kings because the Lord is saying, I gave you my word. And I gave you my word for a purpose. that purpose was so that you could be like God to my people. That you could take this law and know what it means to be just. Know what it means to be righteous. Know what God would have you do. And how often do we see in the Bible God described as that just judge, that righteous one, that rescue, that refuge. And he gave the law into the hands of his kings and he said, Go now and be God to my people. Be like God to my people. Be their rescue. Be their refuge. Be their just judge. Defend them. You see what the Lord says here. I made you gods. I gave you my word. But you've chosen to neglect that. You've chosen to turn that away and you've chosen to live like every other ruler who exalts himself above all and does whatever it's in his own power to do. Notice what the Lord says to that. Verse 7, if you want to act like men, you'll die like men. If you want to act like rulers of the world, then you'll pass away like rulers of the world. You will be gods to my people or you will die. You will do justice or your reign will be cut short. The Lord's saying, don't ask me why. I've told you why. You are to be gods to my people and you've neglected them. That's the judgment with which the Lord answers. Of course, this would be a rather bleak psalm if all we had was God appearing as judge and answering in judgment, but we have something else. We have a more glorious response from the Lord. Because our third point is the Lord himself arises for justice. The psalm does not end with verse 7, with death like the rulers of the world. But look at verse 8. Rise up, O God. Judge the earth. For all the nations are your inheritance. We're reminded today of all days that the Lord has arisen. That the Lord has come forth triumphantly as king. Because that's the cry of the psalmist here. The cry is, if God's kings will not be God to his people, then rise up, O Lord, and be God to your people. If your kings are unfaithful, then, Lord, you come. You come be God to your people. And today we're reminded of that triumphal entry, and the king does come in. The king who does what's required in verse 3 and verse 4. Jesus Christ, defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless, maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed, rescue the weak and needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked. Is that not what our Lord came to do? To deliver, to rescue, to be the just judge of His people. And to do so in such a way that we're not consumed by His justice, but comes in a way that we are brought into His kingdom, where His justice is done on the cross. But there where His justice is, is also our rescue. That our penalty has been paid. That we've been ushered into that kingdom of our God. It's that wonderful promise of delivery that we know so well from Isaiah 9, 6 and 7. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. See, that's the kingdom that we celebrate being ushered in. A kingdom of justice and righteousness and not just now, but forever. Because the king has arisen. He has come into his kingdom. He rose up and went to Jerusalem. When he went there, he was raised up on a cross. He went to his grave, but he arose from the grave. And he rose up into heaven, where he is seated at the right hand of his Father. And he will rise up again and come back in glory to judge the living and the dead. to bring in that kingdom fully where peace and justice reign. There's one more part of this psalm because for now we've been considering the call for God's people, for Israel. But that's not where this psalm ends because the call is not just issued for God to rise up and protect His people in Israel. The call is, Rise up, O Lord, judge the earth for all the nations are your inheritance you see how this has expanded the kings of Israel are condemned for their conduct and now this king that will rise up will reach out beyond just his people and go out to the ends of the earth and don't we see that when our Lord rose up from the grave he said now all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me and I have gone out into all the world now you go out into all the world and gather my people wherever they might be found remember Peter having that experience of seeing the Holy Spirit being at work among the Gentiles and going back to tell the other disciples and they were amazed in Acts 11.18 saying so then God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life that's the glorious truth we celebrate that the king has arisen that the king goes forth for his people. That the zeal of the Lord has compelled him to do all that was necessary to defend the weak and needy. To be justice and righteousness for a people that had no hope apart from him. To defend the cause of the weak and to rescue us from the judgment that would have come. People of God, lean on that truth. Know that your king has arisen. Know that he will rise again and come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and to bring you home to be with him forever in a nation where righteousness and justice dwell. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you that we have the opportunity today on your Lord's day to consider your triumphal entry. Christ entered into his kingdom. Lord, we thank you that it was more than just an earthly kingdom in Jerusalem and more than just for an earthly people in a particular place, but an earthly people in all the world. So many of us partake of your promises as being those nations gathered in. We thank you that the king has gone forth. We thank you that he was zealous for us even though we should have been consumed by your justice. But he made it possible for justice and mercy to meet on the cross that he might defend us, that he might be our rescue and our refuge. And in light of that truth, Lord, may we seek to go forth in your name to help the poor, to help those in need, to be like gods to the people around us so they might see the love of Christ in all we do, that we might show our gratitude gloriously for such a rich salvation. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.