June 13, 2018 (Wednesday)
From the Cambridge Bible Commentary: “This Psalm is a vision of judgment. It sets forth, in a highly poetical and imaginative form, the responsibility of earthly judges to the Supreme Judge, Whose representatives they are, and from Whom they derive their authority. The dramatic form, the representation of God as the Judge, and the introduction of God Himself as the speaker, are characteristics common to several of the Asaphic Psalms. See Psalms 50, 75, 81.”
Psalm 82
New International Version (NIV)
A psalm of Asaph.
I. A VISION OF GOD AS THE JUDGE OF JUDGES (1)
1 God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:
II. GOD SPEAKS, ARRAIGNING THE JUDGES FOR INJUSTICE AND PARTIALITY (2-4)
2 “How long will you defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
III. THE CHARACTER OF THESE JUDGES DESCRIBED AND THEIR SENTENCE PRONOUNCED (5-7)
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
IV. GOD HIMSELF MUST TAKE POSSESSION OF ALL THE NATIONS AS THEIR SOVEREIGN AND THEIR JUDGE (8)
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.
New International Version (NIV)
A psalm of Asaph.
I. A VISION OF GOD AS THE JUDGE OF JUDGES (1)
1 God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:
II. GOD SPEAKS, ARRAIGNING THE JUDGES FOR INJUSTICE AND PARTIALITY (2-4)
2 “How long will you defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
III. THE CHARACTER OF THESE JUDGES DESCRIBED AND THEIR SENTENCE PRONOUNCED (5-7)
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
IV. GOD HIMSELF MUST TAKE POSSESSION OF ALL THE NATIONS AS THEIR SOVEREIGN AND THEIR JUDGE (8)
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.
THE GREAT JUDGMENT MORNING
Words: Bertram H. Shadduck
Music: Leander L. Picket
1894
I dreamed that the great judgment morning
Had dawned, and the trumpet had blown;
I dreamed that the nations had gathered
To judgment before the white throne;
From the throne came a bright, shining angel,
And he stood on the land and the sea,
And he swore with his hand raised to Heaven,
That time was no longer to be.
Refrain:
And, oh, what a weeping and wailing,
As the lost were told of their fate;
They cried for the rocks and the mountains,
They prayed, but their prayer was too late.
The rich man was there, but his money
Had melted and vanished away;
A pauper he stood in the judgment,
His debts were too heavy to pay;
The great man was there, but his greatness,
When death came, was left far behind!
The angel that opened the records,
Not a trace of his greatness could find.
The widow was there with the orphans,
God heard and remembered their cries;
No sorrow in heaven forever,
God wiped all the tears from their eyes;
The gambler was there and the drunkard,
And the man that had sold them the drink,
With the people who gave him the license,
Together in hell they did sink.
The moral man came to the judgment,
But self-righteous rags would not do;
The men who had crucified Jesus
Had passed off as moral men, too;
The soul that had put off salvation,
“Not tonight; I’ll get saved by and by,
No time now to think of religion!”
At last they had found time to die.
Compare three translations side by side. Click here.
Words: Bertram H. Shadduck
Music: Leander L. Picket
1894
I dreamed that the great judgment morning
Had dawned, and the trumpet had blown;
I dreamed that the nations had gathered
To judgment before the white throne;
From the throne came a bright, shining angel,
And he stood on the land and the sea,
And he swore with his hand raised to Heaven,
That time was no longer to be.
Refrain:
And, oh, what a weeping and wailing,
As the lost were told of their fate;
They cried for the rocks and the mountains,
They prayed, but their prayer was too late.
The rich man was there, but his money
Had melted and vanished away;
A pauper he stood in the judgment,
His debts were too heavy to pay;
The great man was there, but his greatness,
When death came, was left far behind!
The angel that opened the records,
Not a trace of his greatness could find.
The widow was there with the orphans,
God heard and remembered their cries;
No sorrow in heaven forever,
God wiped all the tears from their eyes;
The gambler was there and the drunkard,
And the man that had sold them the drink,
With the people who gave him the license,
Together in hell they did sink.
The moral man came to the judgment,
But self-righteous rags would not do;
The men who had crucified Jesus
Had passed off as moral men, too;
The soul that had put off salvation,
“Not tonight; I’ll get saved by and by,
No time now to think of religion!”
At last they had found time to die.