Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Would you please turn again in your Bibles to Psalm 82. Psalm 82, this is where we will be focusing our attention this morning. Let me read to you again this inspired poem. Psalm 82, a Psalm of Asaph. God stands in the congregation of the mighty, He judges among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy. Free them from the hand of the wicked. They do not know, nor do they understand. They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are unstable. I said, you are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all nations." May God's blessing be on the reading. of his holy word. Would you join me as we pray? O Lord our God, we bow our heads in token of humility before you, Father, Son, and Spirit, surrounded by the holy angels, receiving the worship of your people around the world on this day. Draw near to us now. Send your spirit to us. Let us hear and understand your holy word. Give us grace that we might accurately expound this word and understand it and apply it to our lives. We ask that you would be pleased and that you would be glorified in what is said and done. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we come to you. Amen. On the 25th of April in 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the mountains of Nepal. It devastated villages. It destroyed hundreds of buildings in the capital city, Kathmandu. And many of these demolished structures were ancient temples, which had stood for centuries in the city. After two long minutes of intense ground shaking, these buildings were reduced to rubble. After the quake, A documentary film was produced. It was fascinating to watch. Eyewitnesses described the experience of enduring this event and experts provided commentary on the topographical, psychological, and cultural effects that have resulted in Nepal. One of these specialists, his name is Krishna Parth Pradhan, spoke of the consequence of the destruction of the temples. When I heard these things, I was so amazed by them that I actually had to rewind the TV and write them down. I was so astounded by what he said. Listen to his words. He's talking about the destruction of the temples. He said this, where do gods live? The gods live in temples. Now there is no temple. meaning there is no God. What a bleak view of religion. The existence of a God depends on his earthly dwelling place? Did the God come into existence because someone constructed the temple? Does this make the builder of the temple the creator of the God? Is the deity's power limited to its own house? Of course, from a Christian perspective, the entire theology makes no sense. Well thankfully, scripture presents to us a very different view of the one true living God. Paul says, he does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by any human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. Psalm 82 is a striking example of this point, because what it does is employ a picture that was common to Canaanite religion in order to demonstrate the fact that there is one sovereign God and all must answer to him. The pagan nations that surrounded Israel had what probably seems to us to be a very strange belief system. This belief system centered on a multi-layered view of God and the gods. For example, They worshipped local gods who each ruled over certain places, valleys, or hills, or mountains. And they worshipped limited gods who ruled certain things such as storms or rain. And all of these gods, whether of the terrain or of the weather, were subject to one great god to whom they all answered. And this great god was called El in the Canaanite language. He held counsel on the high places of the land, and the lesser gods appeared at his counsel in order to report their actions and to deliberate together. El would listen to them, and El would act. But at the same time, El could be overthrown by these other deities, and a new El could be installed upon the throne. Now, in scripture, the idea of a divine counsel appears occasionally, but not in the same sense as it is used among the Canaanites. Rather, the writers of the Bible employ this as part of the arsenal of material to demonstrate that the God of Israel is the only true God, and all pretenders are but nothing. In fact, that's what the word idol means. It means nothing. The idea of a divine council is only one of many common cultural and religious arrows in the quiver of the writers of God's word. In no way was the use of this imagery intended to validate a tiered system of God and the gods. Though this idea is popular today, we must reject it completely. Psalm 82 employs a culturally familiar metaphor in order to make a very important point, and we'll see what that point is. Now, we will do this, we'll examine the psalm under three very simple headings. Three questions, where, who, and what. I just want to ask those questions and answer those questions, where, who, and what. And hopefully that will give us an understanding of what Asaph writes in this psalm. So let's think of the first question, where. Well, the picture presented to us in the first verse points to heaven. not to an earthly high place, not to the mountaintop, but to a place in heaven where God himself dwells." Now, the translation of verse 1 is acknowledged by some to be quite different. And if you have a different translation to the one that I've read, maybe you notice the difference. Let me give you examples of how some English translations render the Hebrew words into English. I read the New King James, the authorized version, the 1611 King James, basically the same. It says, God stands in the congregation of the mighty. He judges among the gods. The NIV, the New International Version, renders it like this. God presides in the Great Assembly. He renders judgment among the gods. The New American Standard Bible says, God takes his stand in his own congregation. He judges in the midst of the rulers. The English Standard Version says this, Now think about these different translations. There are three different ways that God's presence is expressed. Two of them say he stands, One of them says, he presides. One of them says, he takes his place. He stands, he presides, he takes his place. There are differences between the three. And then there are four different ways that the scene is described. He stands or presides or takes his place in the council, in the congregation of the mighty, in the great assembly, or in his own congregation. four different ways that this is rendered among the different translations. Now, to be honest with you, the Hebrew text is actually quite straightforward. And most of these translations are really interpretations to help readers understand what the translator thinks the text is saying. That's not really what we want our Bibles to be, is it? We don't want the Word of God to be mediated through a translator's interpretation. We need to hear what it says as best as we are able to bring it over into our own language. And so, literally, Asaph's words read like this, God stands in the assembly of God. It's that simple. God stands in the assembly of God. Or, to be even more specific, and to use the Hebrew names, now remember what I said in the introduction. This is what it reads using the Hebrew names. Elohim stands in the assembly of El. Remember I said that the Canaanite, the great God of the Canaanites is called El? Well that's what Asaph says here. Elohim stands in the assembly of El. Now we've said that this psalm uses language that would be familiar to Israel, but also to the nations around Israel. And in doing so, Asaph emphasizes something that is quite unusual. Think about this with me. What is God's usual posture when he is presented to us, when the throne room scene of heaven is given to us? What is the divine posture? Well, almost always, normally, when we are given depictions of God's heavenly court, God sits. Let me give you some examples. 1 Kings 22.19. Then Micaiah said, therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the hosts of heaven standing by on his right hand and on his left." God sits, and the host of heaven stands by. Isaiah 6-1, very familiar words. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Daniel 7 verses 9 through 10. I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. The Holy One sits. Psalm 2, verse 4. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall hold them in derision. And if we were to come over to the New Testament, we would read in places like Revelation 4-2 these words, I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne sat in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And yet when we come to Psalm 82, God stands. We ought to ask the question, why is this? Why does Asaph say, God stands in the congregation of God? Elohim stands in the congregation of El? Well, the reason is, and it fits some of these passages that I've just read to you, this is a courtroom scene. And God, or Elohim, is presented to us in the courtroom as the prosecuting attorney. It is the attorney who stands and makes charges against the defendants. We have quite a parallel of that in our modern jurisprudence, don't we? If any of you have ever been on a trial, you know that when you're in the jury box and the trial begins and the lawyers begin to speak, they stand up and present their case to you and to the court. Well, that's what is going on here. The one who stands is the prosecuting attorney who brings charges against those who are in his presence. You know, we have an exact parallel to this in Isaiah chapter 3, verses 13 through 15. Listen to these words from the prophet Isaiah. The Lord stands up to plead and stands to judge the people. The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and his princes. He says, for you have eaten up the vineyard. The plunder of the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor, says the Lord God of hosts. Very similar in its contents and in its depiction of what happens in Psalm 82. You see, the scene of Psalm 82 is intended to be a picture in heaven of what God does on earth. Look at verse 8. You have it open in your Bibles. Look at verse 8, where we read, Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all nations. Now we will come back to verse 8 a little bit later on. But the entire Psalm is leading to this point. There is a judgment that is coming to the earth and that judgment will affect all nations. And it is for this reason that it's important to take heed to Psalm 82. It speaks of the important role that is carried out by human judges and the direct interest that God takes in their actions. You know, traditionally, at least since the Reformation, Psalm 82 has been a text that has been used to preach to kings and to political authorities, reminding them of their responsibilities. Now, I didn't get to see anything of the coronation of King Charles III yesterday. I have wondered if Psalm 82 was at all present in that ceremony, because traditionally in England, this would be the psalm that would have been read at the coronation to remind the king of his responsibility to act justly for the people over whom he rules. I have no idea if they did that. Maybe some of you saw it. I didn't. Now, there may be a broader application from Psalm 82. Perhaps it tells us that God is watching, and he expects human rulers politicians, elders in churches, teachers, fathers, employers. Perhaps he expects all those who are in authority to rule in a certain way. We'll come back to that thought later on. But keep that in your mind as we proceed. So that's the where. That's the answer to the where. A heavenly courtroom scene that depicts something that happens on earth. In fact, when I think through this, I'm reminded of the words that our Lord Jesus taught his disciples to pray in these words, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, a heavenly scene that depicts what goes on on the earth. We come to the second question then, who? Who? Well, in some ways, we've anticipated this question. But there is much more to say. As we examine the psalm, we will see that the identity of one person is certain. Another seems to be implied, and still others, the understanding of the third group of those who are present, is often disputed. So let's work our way through this and think about this. Who? The first, the certain person, is Elohim. I've already said that Elohim is the prosecuting attorney. God stands. We don't have to spend much time on that. But secondly, I want to suggest to you that there's another person here who is implied, and the person who is implied is the president or the judge of the court, the one who sits. The prosecuting attorney stands. It is necessary to have a judge who sits. Now, we've seen in many places in the Word of God that the heavenly throne room is portrayed to us in Scripture where God usually sits. Now, take a look at the psalm again. You know, there's a device that our translators use to help us to understand who specifically is being described in the text of the Psalm. Maybe you've noticed it. Have you ever noticed that when the word LORD appears, sometimes it's spelled in all uppercase or all capital letters? Well, that's a device that's used to tell us that the Hebrew word behind that word spelled or printed out in that way is the word Yahweh, Jehovah, the God, the covenant God who reveals himself to Israel. Sometimes you might see the word Lord spelled with a capital L and then lowercase O-R-D. That's what our translators use to tell us that the Hebrew word is Adonai. And it's a more generic word for Lord. A father in a house could be called Lord in that sense, though it is also used of God. Well, look at what we have here in Psalm 82. You won't notice Lord in all capital letters anywhere in the Psalm. Yahweh is absent. He's not here. But his presence is implied by the courtroom scene. In fact, in light of the rest of the passages of scripture, it's important for us to think that Psalm 82 implies the presence of the Lord seated and presiding in the assembly of El. In this case, El, the great judge, sits while Elohim stands before him as the prosecuting attorney. The picture is this. Yahweh, the Lord, is on the throne, and Elohim is standing. And this raises the question for us, who is speaking at various points in this psalm? I want to suggest to you that this psalm is actually a dialogue between two individuals. It's a conversation. It's dialogical. Now, remember that this psalm is poetry. And our culture has lost much of its understanding of the methods of poetry. And what makes it even more difficult is its Hebrew poetry, not traditional English poetry. And it's possible that we can miss out on subtle clues that are intended by the poet, in this case Asaph, to fill out the scene that he says. And so as we look at the psalm, we need to think through this question. Who is speaking at various points in the psalm? Follow along with me. I know I'm challenging you, but I want you to stay with me because this is fruitful. We look at verse 1. Verse 1 seems to be the words of Asaph, the inspired poet, because it gives to us the setting. God stands in the congregation of the mighty, he judges among the gods. Asaph, under the inspiration of the Spirit, sets the scene for us and helps us to understand we're looking into the heavenly courtroom. That's pretty clear, isn't it? Well, then in verses 2 through 4, we hear the first voice speaking. And the one who is speaking is Elohim. It's the one who is standing. He's addressing the members of the council. And this seems most natural to be the interpretation of what Asaph intends for us to understand, because all of the verbs of address are plural. How long will you, plural, judge unjustly? How long will you, plural, show partiality to the wicked, Selah, etc.? One person is speaking to many, and in speaking to many is addressing them with an indictment. He asks them the question, why have you failed? And verses 3 and 4 describe what their failures are all about. Defend the poor and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy. Free them from the hand of the wicked. You see that? The scene is set. The prosecuting attorney speaks. This is Elohim. Elohim lays the charges out. And then Elohim describes how they have failed to keep those charges. That's the first voice that is speaking. But we come to verse 5. And verse 5 seems to change, because no longer is it the council members who are directly addressed, but rather a voice speaks about them. Notice the change in pronoun, verse 5. They do not know, nor do they understand. They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are unstable. Now, we might ask the question, is this a continuation of the same voice of Elohim who spoke in verses 2 through 4? If it is, it changes from accusation to evaluation. Or, I ask this question, is this another voice responding to the charges that have been made by the prosecuting attorney, Elohim, Is this El, the judge who is speaking from his seat, ruling the council? He's heard the charge that is made against the rulers, he's heard how they have failed, and now he speaks from his throne and says, they don't know, they don't understand, they walk in darkness, and everything is falling apart. You, they, I. Notice now in verses six and seven, it's not you, it's not the prosecuting attorney speaking to the council members, it's not they, it's not the one who's seated presiding over the council making an evaluation about them, rather it is I now. I said you are gods and all of you are the children of the Most High, but you shall die like men and fall like one of the princes. The pronoun has changed. Well, if verse 5 presents a voice that differs from verses 2 through 4, verses 6 and 7 continue with that voice, or perhaps they return to the voice of verse 2 through 4. We're asking the question, do we hear here Elohim, or do we hear El? How can we decide? Well, we compare scripture with scripture. Deuteronomy 17.7 helps us tremendously at this point. Listen to what Moses wrote in the law, Deuteronomy 17.7. It says, The hands of the witnesses shall be the first among him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. So you shall put away the evil from among you." The law says that it's the one who testifies against them, who describes their claims, who is the one who must speak at this point to pronounce the judgment that comes upon them. Thus, it would seem that this is Elohim rather than El. You see, we have a conversation going on back and forth. Asaph sets the stage. Elohim stands and makes the charges. El responds, and then Elohim comes back by speaking of the judgment that will come upon them. And then we come to verse eight, where God, Elohim, is addressed. This is not the prosecuting attorney. This is a different voice. I would suggest it's the voice who sits upon the throne. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit the nations. Now, this is a little bit complicated, but I want to explain to you. This is what seems to be happening here. Verses two through four are the words of the one who stands, the prosecuting attorney, making his charges against the council members. It's Elohim. Elohim stands in the counsel of El. Elohim speaks. Verse 5 is the voice of the judge, the one who sits on the throne, expressing his verdict. That's El. In verses 6 and 7, we return to the one who stands, to Elohim, in which he pronounces the sentence against these sinners. And in the final verse, it returns to the president of the court, who is El, who gives a reward to Elohim. And so we can understand Psalm 8 like this. This is the flow of the thought. Verse 1, God prosecutes in the presence of God, and a dialogue between them is introduced. Or, let me put this in explicitly Christian terms, the Son makes charges that are expressed to us in verses 2 through 4. The father confirms these charges in verse 5, the son executes the sentence in verses 6 and 7, and at the end, he receives the right to rule from the father. The father presents the son with his reward in verse 8. You see, verse 8 is definitely, without question, a messianic text. It speaks to us about the gift that is given to Messiah. He will judge the earth. The earth will belong to him. This is where the psalm is leading. And it's exactly what we find in many of the other messianic psalms, Psalm 110 and in other places as well. So that's what we have here. We have a dialogue between Elohim and El, or, though it's not used in the psalm, between Elohim and Yahweh. or in Christian terms, between the Son of God and the Father who sits upon the throne. That's what we have in this place. Now, there's one more who that we have to ask. To whom does Elohim, the Son, address himself in verses two through four? Who are these council members? Who are the ones who are present? Well, there are three basic views that you'll find in the literature. Some say that they are gods in the Canaanite sense. And sadly, this is a very common interpretation today, and it's aggressively promoted by some who profess to be evangelicals. But to quote one internationally famous and highly respected Bible scholar, he said, this is unlikely. And I agree wholeheartedly. To interpret the psalm in that way is to base an interpretation on an idea that is a faulty application of cross-cultural principles and crass literalism. We need to reject that idea. This is not a council of lesser gods. Some have suggested that they are human judges, and I would say this is probable based on the language of the text, based on parallels in places such as Isaiah 3, which we've read, and this is probable if this is a heavenly portrait of an earthly scene. But there's a third possibility, and some suggest that they represent Israel as a whole. that Elohim is making accusations against the nation of Israel, thus making this psalm a condemnation, which is familiar from many other places in the scriptures, especially among the prophets, of the injustice and wickedness which often characterized the nation of Israel. Well, brothers and sisters, I would suggest to you that we must reject the first option, You have to wait until the next hour to get the full interpretation, because this is a two-part sermon. There is an inspired interpretation of Psalm 2, and we will look at that inspired interpretation in the next hour. Time makes it necessary right now to hold off. We come to the third question, the what. Well, the what should be clear by now. This Psalm is about judgment and about justice. First, it's about unjust judgment. Look again at verses 2 through 4. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? And then that little Hebrew word, silah, which means pause and meditate. Defend the poor and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy. Free them from the hand of the wicked. The Lord commands his people to maintain righteousness and justice to all classes of people, especially to those who are vulnerable. This idea occurs over and over again in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Let's try to place this psalm into a context. Here's a strange question for you. You probably have never thought of this question before. If you have, you win the prize for beating me to it. But here's the question. Why is this Psalm 82? Why is it 82? Why isn't it 12 or 135 or any other number? What causes it to be placed right here in the Psalter? Did you ever think about that? You know, the Psalms are not haphazardly placed together. Someone didn't sit down one day and say, well, we have 150 divine poems, let's just put them together. You know from reading them that there's a structure to the Psalms. There are five books. You probably have noticed that they are divided up into five different books. Each of the books of the Psalms ends similarly with a doxology to the glory of God. So there's a purpose to them. The first book of Psalms is entirely written by David. But later on in the books of the Psalms, we find different authors. Why is this Psalm 82? Well, the purpose of compilation, according to one theory, and I think it's a really good one, is that the first two books of the Psalms, that's 1 through 41 and 42 through 72, speak of the kingdom of God during the heyday of David and Solomon. But book three speaks to the dissolution of the kingdom because of the sins of the people. And it's actually really interesting when you come to Psalm 89, which is a psalm that speaks about the glory of the Davidic covenant and the failure of the nation of Israel, and then a benediction, a doxology to God, then all of a sudden you come to Psalm 90 and everything changes. because Psalm 90 is the Psalm of Moses, the man of God. And it turns our attention from David and the failures of the kingdom of Israel. It turns our attention to God and helps us to realize that God alone is the one who is able to succeed and to bring his purposes to pass. Book 3. addresses injustice and oppression and greed, which are the sins of the wicked in Israel. Notice verse 5. They do not know, nor do they understand. They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are unstable. One commentator says this about the word foundations. When faithless people ignore or oppress the poor, and no one does anything to rescue them, the very structure of human existence is imperiled. Another Psalm, the first one in the third book of the Psalms, says this. The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved. I set up its pillars firmly, Selah. I said to the boastful, do not deal boastfully. And to the wicked, do not lift up the horn. Do not lift up your horn on high. Do not speak with a stiff neck. You see, when we come to this third book of the Psalms, everything is failing. So that from a human perspective, all seems hopeless. But the Psalm doesn't conclude with darkness and destruction, because there is righteous judgment. And Asaph wants us to recognize the righteous judgment that is to come. In fact, we can see this in two ways in the psalm. In verses 6 and 7, we have the sentence that is passed on these so-called gods. I said you are gods and all of you are children of the Most High, but you shall die like men and fall like one of the princes. Because of their wickedness, because of their participation in oppression and injustice, they will themselves face a righteous judgment. But take a look at verse 7. This verse 7 is one of the difficult verses because people ask the question, how can this be about men, about human judges, if they're told that they'll die like men? Well, I want to suggest an alternative translation here. What we have is fine. It is accurate. But it also could read like this. Like Adam, you will die. This could be a statement that reminds the judges of Israel that they will be like Adam. Now, like men is possible. It's a collective noun. But literally, the words to be translated here are, like Adam, you will die. Sends our thinking back to the original sin of Adam, his violation of the commandment not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When he did this, he brought death upon himself and all of his descendants. This is probably a clue to help us understand the identity of these people. They are humans who will, like Adam, die. But verse 8 turns our attention to the hope of the righteous rule of Messiah. If I'm correct that we have a dialogue here, and verse 8 is the language, the words of the one who sits upon the throne addressing Elohim, they give us a great deal of hope. because they teach us that God's sovereign purpose is to make right all the injustice and wickedness and unrighteousness in the world by sending God to judge and to make the earth his own. This is what we look forward to. Someone has said, this is a momentous proclamation of a new grant bestowed upon Messiah by God. God's commission of Messiah is reminiscent of the commission of the king in the royal Psalms. This is hope. In the midst of darkness, in the midst of difficulty, God's purpose and God's intention is to send Messiah who will bring all things to right. He will undo injustice. He will bring judgment upon those who have wickedly held down others. He will bring all things to right. So then, what do we see in this psalm? Well, this is what we see. Simply, That God holds sinners accountable for their responsibilities to others and he brings sinners to judgment by his son. who earns the right to rule in their place. Consider these things as we think about Psalm 82. First, we can see how important justice is to God. The morality of justice is the morality of God. In fact, this is what the ninth commandment is primarily about. The ninth commandment, thou shalt not bear false witness. It's not merely about lying, it's about being in a courtroom. and unjustly and wickedly saying that which is not true, so that the innocent are condemned or the guilty are set free. That's primarily what the ninth commandment is about. God commands that our words and our actions are always true and right, especially when it comes to moments like this. Psalm 89, 14, the final Psalm in this third book of the Psalter says this, righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne, mercy and truth go before your face. Brothers and sisters, we live in a world of injustice. We see this in many ways, but especially, I'm gonna say something that unbelievers wouldn't recognize and perhaps would laugh at. But we see this injustice especially in the way that the people of God are abused and rejected. Though the forces of evil conspire against us, yet God watches and God sees. And our response to that which happens around us is not to be like theirs. Whatever our outward circumstances, justice and righteousness guide our words and actions. And so we trust in the God of heaven and earth to do what is right and to bring justice upon us. We live in a world of darkness. We live in a world that opposes us. But we have a God who will watch over and protect us and bring us safely to the end. So secondly, we may see how much the Lord values the poor and the needy. And he expects us as his people, who often are themselves poor and needy, poor in spirit, in need of forgiveness and refreshment from the opposition of the world, the flesh, and the devil. He calls us to trust in him as our protector and our sustainer. But he also sees the oppression that is aimed at us, and he holds people to account for it. They will be judged when they speak against God's people. So I ask you the question, when you look at yourself, can you say that you are poor and needy? Are you poor and needy? Well, here is a psalm to encourage you. If you're comfortable, out of your comfort, you aid those who are poor and needy. That's what this psalm calls you to do. calls you to live justly in the world. Don't be an oppressor. Be an assister. Come to the rescue of others. Thirdly, this psalm helps us to see how important godly leaders are. They must protect and preserve justice. They must aid the poor and needy. They must resist the wicked and punish them. And this is why we pray for those in authority over us. Whoever they are, whatever their character might be, we are to pray for them. Now, it seems that our governments are falling to the enemy. They reward and protect evil. They murder infants. They oppress the poor through deceptive practices like gambling or the permission for and promotion of many kinds of immorality. We'll see it on our TV screens next month, won't we? When Pride Month comes around again. Oh, we ought to be deeply disturbed by these things. But the answer is to pray for them. even while we despise the evil that they permit. Do you believe in God in heaven? Do you believe that he is able to change the heart of the king and make it do what is right? Seek his face. Ask God to work in those who are over us and ask him to give us principled godly leaders who will seek true justice and true righteousness in the earth where we live. Fourthly, We can see here in this psalm how serious it is to hold positions of authority. So I ask you this question, in what sphere do you hold authority? Every one of us does in one way or another. Is it at home? Is it on the job? Are you in a public service position? In some sense, whatever that might be, this psalm applies to all of us. Whatever your sphere of authority, you are called to glorify God by exercising it with godly care. Seek the good of those who are around you. Protect and provide for them. Pray that the Lord keeps you from falling into the pit of oppression, because power is dangerous. We all need the grace of humility best to serve the Lord and serve others. But finally, the last thing that we should say is that we ought to thank God for the promise of Messiah with which this psalm ends. The Messiah is Jesus Christ, our Lord. Maybe we live in a world where there are strong enemies, but the heavenly courtroom teaches us that we may have hope. The Lord will punish his enemies and vindicate his people. If you have been subject, if you have yourself given yourself over to the sins that are described here, I call you to repent and to know that the God of heaven and earth will forgive you because Jesus Christ has paid the price that you might be forgiven. Depend on him and trust in him. You see, unlike the destroyed temples of Kathmandu, which are no longer inhabited by gods, we have an eternal temple in the heavens, an eternal God who dwells there. So I call you to look up and trust in him, not in human rulers. Thanks be to God. Let us pray. Oh, Father, this psalm, though difficult, It gives us hope because it turns us to you and helps us to know that your purpose through Jesus Christ is to bring judgment upon the wicked and because of his imputed righteousness to welcome us forever into your kingdom. Write these words in our hearts and help us whenever we have responsibility over others to do so in a way that pleases you. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.