May 19th

Today's reading from One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Psalm 79-82.

John Deffinbaugh's commentary The Judgement of the "gods", is a great in-depth look at Psalm 82, and is important because Jesus quoted from this Psalm (John 10:34-36) as proof of His deity.

In Psalm 82 God is standing amongst the people of Israel, particularly the leaders who had been appointed to judge righteously in God's stead. However, instead of judging righteously, instead of defending and rescuing the weak, the poor and the oppressed, they were judging corruptly and God's patience was at its end.

v6 is particularly important as this is the verse Jesus quoted in the NT.

I said, ‘You are gods
The leaders were being reminded that they were appointed by God to lead in His place, in His name and according to His character and commands.

and all of you are sons of the Most High.
Not only were the leaders being reminded of this fact, but all the Israelites as well. The whole community was responsible to ensure that godly leaders were put in place. Further, everyone has a responsibility to be a leader when it comes to doing what's right.

Ultimately God will reign in the person of His Son, the Messiah. For now, He reigns through His “sons,” the “gods” who are appointed to reign in His stead. It must also be said, God is to reign in and through His people collectively. We who belong to Him are all His sons, destined to reign with Him in the future (cf 2 Tim 2:12, Rev 20:6),but also to actively promote righteousness now. (from above commentary)

The psalmist knows that righteous rule will only be truly possible on the earth with the coming of the Messiah and concludes the psalm by petitioning God for exactly that.

So, when Jesus quotes from Psalm 82 He identities them as the fulfillment of v1-7 and Himself as the fulfillment of v8 - the Messiah.

This passage brings up several things.

First, of course, is to decide whether or not we believe Jesus to be the Messiah and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour.

Secondly, it's a reminder and warning to all leaders. Leadership is not due to our own power, but God's. Leaders represent God and they will be accountable for how they lead. Each one of us is a leader to some degree - most are parents, and if nothing else, we all are in relationships with other people and we are responsible to lead when it comes to doing what's right. We also need to remember that this power is given to serve - especially the weak, the powerless, the poor and the oppressed.

Third, it reminds us to respect those in position of authority over us, God has appointed them as leaders and we need to respect them.

Fourth, we need to choose carefully who we will follow. We are all leaders to some degree, and followers to some degree. We need to choose the right leaders to lead us. And we need to help hold them accountable.

And last, but certainly not least, we can look forward to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when His perfect righteous rule will last forever.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Tomorrow's passage: Psalm 83, 1 Chronicles 29:23-25, 2 Chronicles 1:1, 1 Kings 2:13-3:4, 2 Chronicles 1:2-6, 1 Kings 3:5-15, 2 Chronicles 1:7-13. The more non-flipping version is Psalm 83, 1 Chronicles 29:23-25, 2 Chronicles 1:1-13, 1 Kings 2:13-3:15.