Psalms 82 – Defend the Poor and Fatherless
God judges unjust rulers and calls for justice for the powerless.
This chapter of the Psalms overview pictures God standing in judgment over corrupt rulers, addressed as "gods" because of their authority, following the warning about unheeded instruction in Psalms 81.
God, hath taken his place in the august assembly, In the midst of the gods, will he judge.
How long will ye judge perversely, And, the countenances of the lawless, uplift? [Selah.]
Vindicate the weak and the fatherless, The oppressed and the poor, see righted;
Deliver the weak and the needy, Out of the hand of the lawless, make rescue.
They know not, neither can they perceive, In darkness, they wander, All the foundations of the earth do shake.
I, said, Gods, ye are, Yea, sons of the Highest, are ye all;
But indeed, like the earth-born, shall ye die! And, like one of the princes, shall ye fall!
Arise! O God, judge thou the earth, For, thou, wilt inherit all the nations.