Commentary - Psalm 82:8

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 82 is a startling and potent bit of courtroom drama. God Himself stands up in the divine council, in the assembly of the mighty, and He brings a blistering indictment against the corrupt rulers of the world. These are the elohim, the gods, a term that refers both to the angelic principalities and powers assigned to the nations, and to the human judges and magistrates who represent them on earth. Their charge was to execute justice, to defend the weak and the fatherless, and to uphold the cause of the poor. But they have failed spectacularly, judging unjustly and showing partiality to the wicked. As a result, the very foundations of the earth are shaken. God pronounces sentence: though they were called gods, they will die like mere men. The psalm culminates in this final verse, which is a glorious, Spirit-inspired summons for God to take His throne, to execute His perfect judgment, and to claim His rightful inheritance, which is all the nations.

This is not a prayer for the world to be vaporized. It is a prayer for it to be set right. It is a profoundly optimistic, postmillennial petition. The entire psalm builds to this climax, moving from indictment to sentence to this final plea for the true King to assume His authority universally. The failure of all lesser authorities, human and angelic, simply clears the deck for the reign of the one who is worthy. This verse is the great turning point, where the people of God, having seen the bankruptcy of the world's systems, cry out for the public establishment of Christ's kingdom over every square inch of the globe.

Outline

Context In Psalms

This psalm, one of the psalms of Asaph, is unique in its direct address to the corrupt rulers, the elohim. It pulls back the curtain on the spiritual realities that undergird earthly politics and jurisprudence. Throughout the Psalter, we see pleas for God to judge the wicked and vindicate the righteous. But here, the judgment is aimed at the judges themselves. This psalm functions as a foundational text for a biblical theology of government. It establishes that all authority is delegated authority, accountable to the God who stands in the assembly. The final verse, then, is not an isolated cry but the logical and theological conclusion of the whole book. When human and angelic authorities fail, the only recourse is to appeal to the Supreme Authority. It is a prayer that flows naturally from the laments over injustice we see in other psalms, but it moves beyond lament to a confident and demanding summons for the King to take His inheritance.

Key Issues

Verse-by-Verse Commentary

v. 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth! For it is You who will inherit all the nations.

Arise, O God, judge the earth! After the denunciation and sentencing of the corrupt celestial and terrestrial rulers, the psalmist now turns his attention directly to God. This is not a timid suggestion. This is a robust, confident, and urgent plea. The word "Arise" is a call to action. It is what you say when the rightful king has been sitting still long enough, and the time has come for him to show everyone who is in charge. Think of a slumbering lion being called to wake up and deal with the hyenas. The state of the world, as described in the preceding verses, demands this kind of divine intervention. The foundations are shaking, the poor are being crushed, and the judges are walking in darkness. The only solution is for God Himself to step into the fray.

And what is He being asked to do? He is asked to "judge the earth." Now, in our modern therapeutic culture, the word "judgment" has all the wrong connotations. We think of sour-faced deacons and harsh, vindictive condemnation. But biblically, judgment is good news for the righteous and the oppressed. For God to judge the earth means He is going to set things right. It means He is going to call things as they are. He will put down the proud, corrupt potentates from their thrones and He will lift up the humble. This is a prayer for the great audit. It is a plea for God to come and sort everything out, to untangle the mess that wicked men and fallen angels have made of His world. This judgment is the culmination of the gospel. The good news is not that we get to escape a world spiraling into chaos, but that the rightful King is coming to restore order and righteousness to the whole earth.

For it is You who will inherit all the nations. Here is the ground and basis for the plea. This is why we can, and must, ask God to arise and judge. It is because the whole earth belongs to Him. He is not a foreign invader; He is the landlord coming to evict the squatters. The nations are His inheritance. This is covenant language. In Psalm 2, the Father says to the Son, "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your possession." This psalm is the Church taking the Son up on that offer. We are asking Him to take possession of what is rightfully His.

The corrupt elohim, the angelic princes and their human counterparts, were supposed to be stewards of God's property. They have proven to be wicked tenants. So the psalmist, speaking for the people of God, is calling on the Owner to come and claim His property directly. This is not a call for a merely "spiritual" rule in the hearts of men. This is a prayer for the manifest, public, and global reign of God in Christ. He will inherit all the nations, not just Israel, not just a handful of elect individuals. Every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation, every parliament, every courtroom, every school board, it all belongs to Him. The prayer of this psalm is that God would make His ownership plain for all to see. It is a prayer for the success of the Great Commission, for the discipling of all nations, and for the establishment of justice and righteousness from sea to shining sea.

Application

This verse is a bucket of ice water for all forms of pietistic retreatism. There are many Christians who look at the mess in Washington D.C., or in the United Nations, or in their local city council, and they throw up their hands in despair. They conclude that the only thing to do is hunker down, try to be nice, and wait for the rapture bus. This psalm slaps that kind of thinking in the face. The proper response to systemic, high-level corruption is not despair; it is a full-throated prayer for God to arise and judge.

We are to look at the corruptions of our own day, the wicked judges, the compromised politicians, the godless ideologies that have captured our institutions, and we are to pray this psalm with gusto. We are to pray, "Arise, O God! Judge this earth! Sort out this mess in our nation's capital. Bring justice to our courts. Expose the wicked." And we pray this not as wishful thinking, but with the solid confidence that the earth and all its nations are Christ's inheritance. He has already purchased them with His blood. History is simply the process of Him taking possession of His inheritance.

This means our political and cultural engagement is not a fool's errand. It is an outworking of this prayer. We work, we speak, we build, and we contend, all the while praying for the King to come and set things right. We are not trying to build the kingdom in our own strength. We are acting as loyal subjects of the King, demanding that His rights be recognized in His own territory. This verse, then, should be the Christian's daily political prayer. It reorients our hope, away from the false promises of secular saviors and toward the certain victory of our God and His Christ.