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Unjust Judgments Rebuked.

A Psalm of Asaph.

82 God stands in the divine assembly;
He judges among the gods (divine beings).

How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked? Selah.

Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice and maintain the rights of the afflicted and destitute.

Rescue the weak and needy;
Rescue them from the hand of the wicked.


The rulers do not know nor do they understand;
They walk on in the darkness [of complacent satisfaction];
All the foundations of the earth [the fundamental principles of the administration of justice] are shaken.

I said, “You are [a]gods;
Indeed, all of you are sons of the Most High.(A)

“Nevertheless you will die like men
And fall like any one of the princes.”

Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For to You belong all the nations.(B)

God Implored to Confound His Enemies.

A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

83 Do not keep silent, O God;
Do not hold Your peace or be still, O God.

For behold, Your enemies are in tumult,
And those who hate You have raised their heads [in hatred of You].(C)

They concoct crafty schemes against Your people,
And conspire together against Your hidden and precious ones.

They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation;
Let the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

For they have conspired together with one mind;
Against You they make a covenant—

The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Of Moab and the Hagrites,

Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.

Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot [the Ammonites and the Moabites] and have been an arm [of strength] to them. Selah.


Deal with them as [You did] with Midian,
As with Sisera and Jabin at the brook of Kishon,(D)
10 
Who were destroyed at En-dor,
Who became like dung for the earth.
11 
Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb
And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,(E)
12 
Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves
The pastures of God.”

13 
O my God, make them like [b]whirling dust,
Like chaff before the wind [worthless and without substance].
14 
Like fire consumes the forest,
And like the flame sets the mountains on fire,
15 
So pursue them with Your tempest
And terrify them with [the violence of] Your storm.
16 
Fill their faces with shame and disgrace,
That they may [persistently] seek Your name, O Lord.
17 
Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever;
Yes, let them be humiliated and perish,
18 
That they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord,
Are the Most High over all the earth.

Longing for the Temple Worship.

To the Chief Musician; set to a [c]Philistine lute. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

84 How lovely are Your dwelling places,
O Lord of hosts!

My soul (my life, my inner self) longs for and greatly desires the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

The bird has found a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.

Blessed and greatly favored are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence;
They will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah.


Blessed and greatly favored is the man whose strength is in You,
In [d]whose heart are the highways to Zion.

Passing through the Valley of Weeping ([e]Baca), they make it a place of springs;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.

They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power];
Each of them appears before God in Zion.


O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Listen, O God of Jacob! Selah.

See our shield, O God,
And look at the face of Your anointed [the king as Your representative].
10 
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else];
I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my God
Than to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.
11 
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord bestows grace and favor and honor;
No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12 
O Lord of hosts,
How blessed and greatly favored is the man who trusts in You [believing in You, relying on You, and committing himself to You with confident hope and expectation].

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 82:6 Most of the ancient rabbis understood the idea of “gods” referring to judges, but some applied vv 6, 7 to the Israelites at Sinai and maintained that they would have become immortal as a result of accepting the Law, if only they had not committed the sin of the golden calf.
  2. Psalm 83:13 Or tumbleweed.
  3. Psalm 84:1 A technical musical term, meaning uncertain.
  4. Psalm 84:5 Lit their.
  5. Psalm 84:6 Possibly a kind of plant.

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