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.
-- A Psalm of Asaph. God hath stood in the company of God, In the midst God doth judge.
Till when do ye judge perversely? And the face of the wicked lift up? Selah.
Judge ye the weak and fatherless, The afflicted and the poor declare righteous.
Let the weak and needy escape, From the hand of the wicked deliver them.
They knew not, nor do they understand, In darkness they walk habitually, Moved are all the foundations of earth.
I -- I have said, `Gods ye `are', And sons of the Most High -- all of you,
But as man ye die, and as one of the heads ye fall,
Rise, O God, judge the earth, For Thou hast inheritance among all the nations!