If the Bible is clear about anything it is the exclusivity of God. “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God” (Is. 45:5; cf. Deut. 6:4). So what is going on in Psalm 82? “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment” (1).
The “Most High” (6) invites us to imagine him calling to order a court of lower magistrates whom he calls “gods.” Jesus referred to this verse to say that people might be “gods” in the sense that we are descended from the one true God (John 10:34–36). But “gods” who “judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked” (2) will, themselves, fall under God’s judgment.
God’s commands in verses three and four both explain God’s expectations and the reasons for his displeasure. The wicked were exploiting a class of people least able to advocate for themselves: “the weak and the fatherless” (orphans, NLT), “the afflicted and the destitute” (3), and “the needy” (4), all of whom are easy targets for human scavengers. In a twisted world where money, power, and influence determines one’s place on the social ladder the godly, like Job (Job 29:12–13, 16–17), must look out for those clinging to the lowest rungs.
This is how God judges. “He has pity on the weak and the needy” (Ps. 72:13). Jesus offered this sign that he was the promised Savior: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them” (Luke 7:22). He urged those who throw feasts to “invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” (Luke 14:13); this is the gospel’s invitation!
At the start of the Psalm Asaph pictures God as one of many “councilmen.” At the end he is clearly in a different class. “Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!” (8). We all—even the highest human judge—will die (7) and stand before God at the final judgment. Everyone who clings to the just judge Jesus, and begins to judge like him, can expect to be vindicated.

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