Please turn with me in the Word of God to Psalm 82, Psalm 82. Let us hear God's own Word. God has taken His place in the divine counsel. In the midst of the gods, He holds judgment. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? give justice to the weak and the fatherless, maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute, rescue the weak and the needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness, all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you. Nevertheless, like men you shall die and fall like any prince. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit the nations. So far the reading of God's Word. Well, last week, Pastor Gordon preached to us on the importance of not worrying, a most useful topic. And as I left church, I thought, but this is an election year. How can we not worry? And so I thought it might be helpful to try to connect the call to not worry to reflections on things political. The truth, of course, is that the Scripture doesn't tell us who to vote for in an election. Indeed, what the Scripture tells us about politics is relatively limited. But there is one place where God turns to the nations and speaks to the rulers of the nations and speaks in a very profound and very powerful way about what His will is for the nations, and that's in Psalm 82. And I was puzzled a little about that. You may wonder what preachers do in their studies. Why is Psalm 82 where it is in the Bible? Psalm 81 is really the central psalm in the whole Psalter. I won't get into the reasons why I think that. It's the central psalm in the central book. It's the central psalm in the book about the calamity of Israel. Book 3 in the Psalter talks about the hatred of the nations for Israel. It talks about the invasion of Israel by the nations. It talks about how the nation has been destroyed, how Jerusalem has been conquered, how the temple has been torn down. And so, it's a book that talks about the calamity of Israel and then points Israel towards the future with elements of hope. And in Psalm 81, it directs Israel's attention to the reason calamity has come upon it. Why do the people of God suffer in this world? Why is there calamity that can afflict the churches? And the answer is, in 81, very clearly given, because my people will not listen to my Word. Because my people will not listen to My Word. And when you study the history of the church, that's one of the recurring themes, that people at one time are drawn to the Word, are renewed by the Word, are built up in the Word, and then over time drift away from the Word, become more interested in their own ideas and their own ways of serving the Lord. And so this cry from the heart of Psalm 81, from the heart of God, if my people would but listen, but I've given them over to follow their own counsel, God says in Psalm 81. What a terrible, terrible judgment that we be left on our own. And after this evaluation of the causes of the calamity that come on the people of God, it's as if Psalm 82 comes to say, I have used the nations, the Lord says, as the agent of my justice on my people. But the nations had better not forget that I have a word for them too. The nations had better not forget that I have a word for them as well. And that word, of course, is for the nations, but it's also for us. God intends that we should reflect with Him on what the nations ought to be, what He calls the nations to know and to do. There's perhaps a particular appropriateness to reflecting on this psalm on this Lord's Day in that in the last couple of days we've seen the rulers of the world, many of them, gathering in France for D-Day commemorations, for remembering the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Europe to bring the war against Germany back to the European continent. And there we see them, the powers of this world lined up to give thanks to God. Oh, apparently not. Very interesting article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday that talked about how, in planning the D-Day invasion, General Eisenhower had called on the troops to put their trust in Almighty God, and how on D-Day there had perhaps, at least one magazine suggested, there had perhaps been more prayers offered to God on that day than any day in human history. As churches were filled and people aware of how much hung in the balance that the D-Day invasion would be successful, they turned to God, and they asked for His mercy. And now we talk about D-Day, and it's all purely a human observation, entirely a human event, a human accomplishment. Now, it's right that the veterans should be honored. It's right that we think about all of the commitment and dedication that was involved, but apparently there was no time to think about God at all. And this psalm addresses this problem among the nations. This psalm says to the nations and to the rulers of the nations, who do you think you are? And what do you need to know? And what should you be doing? And so this is a vital psalm for us in our time and at this moment, I think, in history. And it begins with a declaration, God has taken His place in the divine counsel. What is God's place in the divine counsel? Well, in the psalm, it's perfectly clear. He's in charge. That's the first point here. Our God rules. That's the first teaching of Psalm 82. And down in verse 6, it's specified who this God is. He's the Most High. He's the one in charge. He's the one that supervises all things. And God, our God, rules. That's what this psalm wants the nations to know. He is the Most High. These rulers who style themselves as gods have an authority over them, the Most High God. Well, today most of our rulers don't call themselves gods. They just act that way. In the ancient world, they were more honest. Pharaoh said he was a god. Or we can read in Ezekiel 28, where God speaks to the prince of Tyre and says, Because your heart is proud and you have said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas, yet you are but a man and no God. Here in Psalm 82, God is saying, in effect, all right, you style yourself gods. You have authority. You're important. Your work is important. But how are you carrying it out? What are you doing? And do you recognize, first of all, however highly you value yourself, that there is someone higher to be valued than yourself? And that is the Most High God, the Most High God. You remember what we read in Daniel chapter 4 when the Most High God drove Nebuchadnezzar from his throne. God said, you were driven until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will. God rules the nations, and He gives it to whom He will. Do we believe that? I think often when we look at history, we think we could manage history better. There are people we would not have raised up to power. But God knows what He's doing, this psalm tells us. He rules. He rules over the powers of this world. He is sovereign, and He wants His people to know that as much as He wants the nations to know that. He wants us to have that confidence in our hearts that even when things are not going well, God remains in charge. God is accomplishing His purpose. There's a mystery in providence. We don't know why in the providence of God Hitler was raised up for a time. We don't know why in the providence of God Stalin was raised up for a time. We don't know why the rulers who bring wars in our time have been allowed to be raised up. But perhaps some of the purpose is for us to pause and to reflect on the real character of mankind. It's a little hard to visit the concentration camps even now all cleaned up in Europe and come away smiling and saying, but people are basically good. No, people have huge problems that requires a Savior, and have we called upon that Savior? There's a mystery to providence. One of my favorite verses in the Psalter is Psalm 77, verse 19. It's a verse that reflects on calamity in history. It's a verse that reflects on how difficult it is sometimes not to have great questions of what God is doing in history. But it closes with this reflection, God led His people out of Egypt and through the sea to redeem them, yet your footprints were unseen. I've always thought, that's fascinating. Israel stood on the shores of the Red Sea with Egypt and Pharaoh and his host behind them and looking through the waters that had separated that would lead them on to the promised land. And Israel was told, walk through it. I will go before you, said the Lord. And they looked at that dry ground between the walls of the sea. And they didn't see God's footprints ahead of them. They had to believe that God was going before them. They had to accept God's word that He was going before them. They had to trust Him even though they couldn't see. And they did. And He saved them. And that's the message for us, too. Our God rules in this world, and He rules through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Scriptures declare to be King of kings and Lord of lords. This King who is building His church, even though the world seeks to defeat it, even though the world ignores it, our God rules, and He rules through His Son. And then, the psalm goes on to rebuke the nations. You see that? We're still in verse 1. He holds judgment. He holds judgment over these gods who proclaim themselves to have authority. He rebukes them. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? give justice to the weak and the fatherless, maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute, rescue the needy and the weak, deliver them from the hand of the wicked. Verses 3 and 4 may be the best summary of what governments are called to do and be that we have anywhere. It's amazing, really. What are governments called to be and to do? They are called to do justice, and they are called to show compassion. They are called to do justice, and they are called to show compassion. If governments really dedicated themselves to those two goals, how different life might be, how different the world might be. And to do justice particularly, it says, to the weak. Governments are to bring justice to those who would otherwise be denied justice. It's interesting, they say, to give justice to the weak and the fatherless. Points our attention particularly to children and the plight of children. no one is weaker than children left on their own, and government has a particular call to justice for those weak ones. This is why we have been so eager to see a great reduction in abortion. Who are the weakest of the weak? Those not yet born. But this psalm calls us to think differently about the world, about the function of government. The function of government is not to make the richer richer. It is not to make the stronger stronger. It is not to be a collusion of power, but it is to be a pursuit of justice. And as we think about politics and as we think about voting, we have to ask ourselves, who will promote justice. That's what the Lord calls us to. Who will promote compassion? Verse 4, rescue the weak and the needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked. Are the hearts of government turned towards those in need, those in real need? So, the Lord talks about the duty that governments have. And we need to think carefully about that because it's so important. It's so simple, isn't it? Serve. Serve others. That's what the rulers of the world are called to do. But of course, this psalm is an indictment of those who take divine honors on themselves, that most of the time they serve unjustly. They are failures. Sin has ruined everything, and sin has made selfishness central. Seems to me in the years I've lived in this country, there's a huge change that has taken place. When I was young, there was at least some notion that people went to Washington to serve. Now, I was probably naive to a certain extent about that, but at least that was a public rhetoric. And now that seems to be profoundly fading away, and everyone knows everyone in Washington is out for their own good and the good of a small coterie of people that support them. maybe not everyone. But we have to think about that. We have to reflect on that. Partiality to the wicked. Government making the strong stronger. That's a failure. And it's a failure this psalm explains very simply and very directly. Verse 5, what's gone wrong with these rulers? They have neither knowledge nor understanding. They walk about in darkness. They don't get it. They don't understand. They don't have the light to enlighten them. That's what this psalm says is the problem. And that's why it's so important that the church be about the business of helping the light to shine in this dark world. That's what we need to reflect on. That's what we need to pursue so that the foundations of the world won't be shaken. And then comes that remarkable pairing of verses, verses 6 and 7, as the Lord continue His rebuke. You are gods. I think there's some irony here. You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you. Nevertheless, like men, you shall die and fall like any prince. Here's what the gods don't think enough about, the psalmist is saying. Here's what the rulers don't think enough about. They're going to die. All of their amassing of wealth, all of their amassing of power is going to die with them. Do they think about that? Do they ponder what that really means? Do they allow the reality of death to shape the way they think about the world and what they're doing in the world? That's what God presses here. You may call yourself gods, but you're going to die like men. And what will that say about your life? Psalm 146, verses 3 and 4 elaborates on this point. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth. On that very day, his plans perish. Who were the strong men of the 20th century? Hitler, Stalin. They get the prize for murdering the most. And where are they today? They are dead. They died and faced the judgment of God for their wickedness. And God says, what does it make us think about? It makes us think about the true and faithful king, Jesus, who was never rebuked because he always listened to his father. Because on the cross, he joined justice and compassion together for the salvation of his people. Because he always lives to care for his people. This is our hope. This is the light that we want to shine in our hearts and to shine in our world and perhaps even to penetrate the darkness of rulers in our time. So, this psalm talks about God ruling and talks about God rebuking the nations, and then that closing verse, that powerful closing verse, arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all the nations. God rules, God rebukes, God rises. Now, that's poetic language. God doesn't actually need to sit down, and God doesn't actually need to stand up. What does that language mean? It means that sometimes, in our experience, our perception is that God doesn't seem very active because we don't see what He's doing behind the scenes. And then at other times, God seems to rise, to go into action. And then we see His salvation manifested in this world. Rise, O God, judge the earth. judge the earth. Judge the earth in justice. If there were no judgment and there were no justice, life would be only a matter of power, amassing power, exercising power, serving the self. And that's one of the great truths that Christianity has to proclaim in this increasingly skeptical and cynical world. There is justice, and there is a God of justice who will bring justice into this world. Arise, O God, judge the earth, For you shall inherit all the nations. You know, in a kind of bleak psalm, this is a great promise right at the end, isn't it? God will inherit all the nations. That's declared to us powerfully in Psalm 86, verse 9, All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. All the nations you have made shall come and worship you and glorify your name. Psalm 87 says that even the nations that were your greatest enemies, Egypt and Philistia and Babylon, shall come and worship you. And how is that fulfilled? Well, it's fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ giving the Great Commission, isn't it? Make disciples of all nations, the Savior said. Make disciples of all nations. That's the promise we hold to. God will arise. God will judge. God will save those who hear the message of salvation. And how will this happen? Well, God uses many agents. But here in verse 8, we're reminded that the great agency to which He calls us is the agency of prayer. That's what verse 8 is. It's a prayer. It's a prayer that God will arise. It's a prayer that God will judge. It's a prayer that God will inherit all the nations. And so it turns out, surprisingly enough, Pastor Gordon was right last week. We don't need to worry. We don't need to worry. But we do need to pray. And how wonderful it is that we can pray to the God who rules all things, to the God who rebukes the nations for their faithlessness, to the God who has promised to arise with healing in His wings for His people and for the world. Psalm 77 verse 14 says, You are the God who works wonders. You have made known your might among the peoples. Let us, in this political season, be a people of prayer. Let us pray that God will give us rulers who will exercise justice and exercise compassion, who will seek to walk in the light instead of in the darkness. who will recognize their ignorance and seek the knowledge of the truth instead. And let us listen to the Lord. Let us trust the Lord. Let us be a people who, out of our trust in Him, pray. And the God of wonders may do great things among us, but He'll be in charge no matter what happens, and He will accomplish His purpose to the glory of His name and to building up of the church of Jesus Christ. Amen. Let us pray. O Lord our God, how thankful we are for Your Word that comes to us with such clarity and such power to declare who you are, that you are most high over all the powers of this world. And that your will for us, as you have revealed it, is to see justice and compassion manifested in this world. And we acknowledge, O Lord, that we see so little of that as the genuine concerns of governments. And we pray, O Lord, that we might be surprised and thrilled to see a greater seeking after truth and after justice and after light, that there might be a greater recognition that Jesus is the light of the world, that Jesus is the one who brings justice and compassion through His saving work. and that some of that might be manifested in our land and in lands around the world. Liberate us, O Lord, from seeking power for ourselves. Liberate the rulers of this world from that. And rather, might You be glorified and You be recognized as our only hope, our only justice, our only compassion. Hear us, help us, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.