Psalms 82:8

Arise, O God,.... These are the words of the prophet, or of the church, whom he represents, addressing Christ, who is God over all; that seeing there was such a corruption and degeneracy in the

Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

Seeing the state of the world is so universally corrupt and desperate, and thy vicegerents betray their trust, and oppress and ruin the nations of the earth, whom they were appointed to preserve, do thou therefore, O God, take the sword of justice into thine own hand, and maintain the cause and rights of the oppressed against their potent oppressors, and let truth and justice be established in all the parts of the earth. For as thou wast the Creator, so thou still art the supreme and unquestionable Lord, and Possessor, and Ruler of all nations, and therefore do thou protect and rescue them from all those who invade thine and their rights. And although at present thou seemest in some sort to confine thy care to Israel, and to neglect other nations; yet there is a time coming when thou wilt bring all nations to the knowledge of thyself, and the obedience of thy laws, and govern them by thy Son and Spirit, which thou wilt send into the world for that purpose. Do thou therefore preserve them in the mean time till that blessed day cometh, and hasten the coming of it.

Psalms 82:8 Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.Ver. 8. Arise, O God, judge the earth] Take the matter into thine own hand, for it is but time, all things here being, so ill-ordered by thy substitutes; nam alioqui prae iudiciorum constupratione terra tota videtur collapsura, all will be nought else. For thou shalt inherit all nations] Thou, Lord Jesus, shalt, Psalms 2:8 Hebrews 1:1-14 : 2 Kings 11:15. Come, therefore, yea, come quickly.

(8) Arise.—The psalm would have been incomplete had not the poet here resumed in his own person, with an appeal to the Supreme Judge to carry His decrees into effect against the oppressors of Israel. Here, at least, if not all through it, the affliction of the community, and the perversion of justice by foreign rulers, are the motives of the song. It is as if, despairing of the amendment of the corrupt magistrates, the poet, pleading for Israel, takes his case out of their hands, as Cranmer in the play takes his case out of the hands of the council, and entrusts it to the Great Judge of the world, to whom, as a special inheritance, Israel belonged, but who was also to show His claim to the submission and obedience of all nations.

Verse 8. Arise, O God, judge the earth] Justice is perverted in the land: take the sceptre, and rule thyself. For thou shalt inherit all nations.] Does not this last verse contain a prophecy of our Lord, the calling of the Gentiles, and the prevalence of Christianity over the earth? Thus several of the fathers have understood the passage. It is only by the universal spread of Christianity over the world, that the reign of righteousness and justice is to be established: and of whom can it be said that he shall inherit all nations, but of Jesus Christ? ANALYSIS OF THE EIGHTY-SECOND PSALM There are three parts in this Psalm: - I. The prophet's proclamation, Psalms 82:1. II. God's controversy with the judges of the land, Psalms 82:2-7. III. The prophet's prayer that God would rise and judge, Psalms 82:8. I. God's presence proclaimed in court. At an assize the judge sits in the midst of the justices: "God standeth in the congregation," c., Psalms 82:1. II. 1. He reproves them, Psalms 82:2. 1. For their unjust judgment: "Ye judge unjustly." 2. For their obstinate continuance in it: "How long will ye," c. Ye have not done it once, but often. 3. For their partiality: "they accepted persons," Psalms 82:2. 2. He exhorts them to do their duty. 1. "Defend the poor and fatherless." Do right to every man. 2. "Deliver the poor and needy," Psalms 82:3. 3. He acquaints them with the events that shall follow where justice is not done: all is out of order and the judges are the cause of it. 1. Through ignorance: "They know not the law," Psalms 82:5. 2. Through obstinacy: "They will not learn it," Psalms 82:5. 3. Through their determination to walk in their own way, Psalms 82:5: "They walk on in darkness." 4. They shall in consequence be brought, 1. To an untimely death: "Ye shall die like men." 2. To a shameful death: "Ye shall fall like one of the princes," ye shall have a mighty fall, Psalms 82:7. III. The prophet's prayer. Since judgment and justice have failed in the land, he says, 1. "Arise, O Lord! " He does not say, Arise, O people, and put down those unjust judges. No their function is from God, and God alone is to reform, or strip, or punish them. 2. "Judge the earth." Take the state of all people into thy consideration: there is much injustice in the earth. 3. For this petition he gives a reason: "For thou shalt inherit all nations," Psalms 82:8. Publish thy own laws, appoint thy own officers and let them in thy name dispense righteousness and true holiness throughout the world.

8. The Psalmist has watched the trial and condemnation of Israel’s judges; and the sight stirs him to appeal to God Himself to assume the office of Judge not only for Israel but for all the world. If Israel’s judges have failed so lamentably in their duty towards their own countrymen, how can Israel rule the world, though all the nations have been promised to its kings for their inheritance (Psalms 2:8)? Nay, God Himself—Thou is emphatic—must take possession of all the nations as their Sovereign and their Judge.

Arise, O God, judge the earth - That is, Since there is such a failure in the administration of justice by those to whom it pertains, and who are appointed to do it in thy stead, do thou, O God, come

8. Arise, O God, judge the earth—The king now speaks. As the earth is full of misrule and violence, God is invoked, as the blessed and supreme “judge,” to take into his own hands the disordered affairs of the world.