God judges the nations

God stands in the congregation of the mighty;
He judges among the gods. – Psalm 82.1

This is an interesting psalm. It doesn’t seem to have a lot of practical instruction and no encouragement and it even seems a little out of place.

He God stand in judgement of all the powers of men on earth. He examines the nations and their rulers to see how they measure up to His standards.

Here are some things that God says about the nations that sound a lot like the nations we know today.

How long will you judge unjustly,
And show partiality to the wicked?

And here are some things nations are supposed to do

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.

Instead of giving hope I think this psalm points out the fact that nations are always going to fail us. It reminds me that politics and leaders and nations are not answer. That means that the only hope is with God’s intervention.

Our job is to introduce people to Christ as the only hope and remember that ‘this world is not our home.’