Psalms 82:1 «A Psalm of Asaph. » God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. Ver. 1. _God standeth in the congregation of the mighty_] There God is present and president by a particular providence, as Lord paramount, _Ut praeses Synodi,_ and chief magistrate, higher t... [ Continue Reading ]
How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Ver. 2. _How long will ye judge unjustly_] viz. Through a cyclopical contempt of God's severity. _ Ne pecces, Deus ipse videt._ Will ye represent and express God to the world as a corrupt, crooked, and unrighteous judge... [ Continue Reading ]
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Ver. 3. _Defend the poor and fatherless_] These are God's clients, and this is God's counsel, worthy to be written with letters of gold on the walls of all judicatories, as having in it better direction for a statesman than all... [ Continue Reading ]
_Deliver the poor and needy: rid [them] out of the hand of the wicked._ Ver. 4. _Rid them out of the hand of the wicked_] Heb. of the turbulent, who make ado, as the devil doth, and vex others.... [ Continue Reading ]
They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. Ver. 5. _They know not, neither will they understand_] _q.d._ There is no good to be done upon these uncircumcised vice gods, as they may in the worst sense be best styled; it... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have said, Ye [are] gods; and all of you [are] children of the most High._ Ver. 6. _I have said, Ye are gods_] As Psalms 82:1, but doubly so, if good too; if they excel both in virtue and power, as Aristotle joineth them, κατ αρετην και την πολιτικην δυναμιν; I have said, _is vox potestatis cons... [ Continue Reading ]
But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Ver. 7. _But ye shall die like men_] Yea, if wicked, like beasts, but only for their pillow and bolster. _Super cubilia forsan in honore moriuntur, quo a bestiis differunt, sed non in morte,_ saith Kimchi. God, who had so highly advanced... [ Continue Reading ]
Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. Ver. 8. _Arise, O God, judge the earth_] Take the matter into thine own hand, for it is but time, all things here being, so ill-ordered by thy substitutes; _nam alioqui prae iudiciorum constupratione terra tota videtur collapsura,_... [ Continue Reading ]