# 8 2020 Dev. Psalm 82:5. Understanding Love! Read all of Ps. 82. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
Ps. 82:5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.”
Ps. 82 addresses the issue of unjust rulers. God is the one who rules the rulers, “gods”, they are to rule in God’s place and God judges the rulers of the earth. The cry of the Psalmist: how long rulers “will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked”? He calls instead “defend the cause of the weak and fatherless.” Rescue the poor and needy, deliver them from exploitation.
The New Testament confirms the universal truth of supporting the repressed, the underdog, as Jesus did, James tells us: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (Jas.1:27). This is the understanding that the psalmist is teaching us: the poor, the disenfranchised, the repressed, the rejected, the disabled are those God wants followers of Jesus to pay attention to, to help, to support and comfort, that is what the Bible calls justice!
The issue of justice is misunderstood in many churches; justice has become political but the Scriptures tells us it is spiritual. God’s intention is to reconcile all people and creation back to Himself; what is unjust is when we are not committed to God’s program of reconciliation. We agree with the Psalmist: “rise up, O God, judge the earth”. We, the church are in danger of judgment as well. Amen!
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