I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High;
Psalm 82 shows God standing among the rulers He appointed, calling them to account for crooked judgments. Verse 6 gives them a startling title, and the next line takes it away — so what does it mean for God to call a man "god"?
Jesus Himself defined the word "gods" when He quoted this psalm.
He is there for judgment among the "gods." The Lord defines that term for us from this very psalm (v. 6) as "those to whom the word of God came" (John 10:35) — that is, the judges of Israel, commissioned to represent Him. In this way they were identified with the One they represented. They carried the most solemn responsibility: to represent Him in His character too, both in His righteousness and in His love to men.
Calling a judge "god" was not flattery. It pointed past the man to the source of the verdict he handed down.
Scripture sometimes gives the judges of Israel the name of God (see Ex. 22:8-9, 28). This points more closely and strongly to the source of their authority as the guides and directors of His people. The word of God came to them (John 10:35). They sat to administer justice in the name of Jehovah and according to His declared mind. The award they pronounced was not their own but His.
God gave the title, and God can take it back. That shows what the man is worth on his own.
Any honour God confers on men lifts them out of obscurity, and once it is taken away it sinks them back into their own proper nothingness.
The second half of the verse lifts them higher still. The next line brings them down.
God had called these judges "gods," for they had been set to represent Him. In their outward position they were greatly blessed as "sons of the Most High." But they would "die like men," reduced to the level of sinful men. They would fall as princes who dishonour their own position as well as dishonouring God.
High office gives no immunity in God's court.
God is not indifferent to this unrighteousness. Those who pervert judgment will themselves come under judgment. The high position that God had given them, as His representatives, will not protect them from His just judgment. They will fall like any earthly prince who rules without fear of God.
Jesus quoted this line in John 10. What God said of those judges and what is true of Him stand worlds apart.
The word of God had only come to those others: "I said, 'You are gods.'" They had no dignity at all in themselves; they belonged to the earth, and God lifted them into official dignity. But He was the SON. He had been "sanctified and sent into the world." He was "the Lord from heaven." So Jesus the Son of God is infinitely different from all those of whom God has said, "You are gods." The moment their conferred dignity was taken away, they would die like the common run of men. They had no essential, inherent power or dignity.
The Lord rested a whole argument on one clause of one psalm — and stated why He could.
"Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). Our Lord is quoting what some might be tempted to call an obscure passage from the Psalms (Ps. 82:6). Now our Lord says this Scripture cannot be broken — cannot be set aside. Men might say it is an obvious explanation of no great importance. Yet our Lord declares it cannot be ignored. It is part of a perfect whole.
Does the title stop with Israel's judges? One writer says it reaches every government.
The word "gods" stands for those in high positions — the mighty, who have authority and power. The reference in the first place is to the judges in Israel, as the Lord's citation of this Psalm shows (John 10:34-35). But the powers that be in all nations are also included, for "there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God" (Rom. 13:1). They are His representatives in government, however little they realise it. Scripture calls them His ministers. He will hold them responsible for the way they use the power He entrusted to them.
- Given. The title is a commission, not a nature: God names as "gods" those "to whom the word of God came," set to judge in His place.
- Borrowed. The authority is His, not theirs — "the award they pronounced was not their own but His."
- Tested. Representing God binds them to His character, in righteousness and in love, and He will hold them responsible for the power He entrusted to them.
- Forfeited. Strip the conferred honour away and nothing is left: they die like men and sink back into their own nothingness.
- Fulfilled. The Son needs no borrowed title. The Father sanctified Him and sent Him, and the verse that dignified men only measures the distance between them and Him.
But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
The psalm has just given Israel's judges the highest title a man could carry. Verse 7 now says they will die like anyone else, which leaves two questions: what was that title worth, and who will judge the earth when its judges fail?
The word behind "gods" is not a figure of speech. It is a term the law itself uses for men appointed to settle cases in God's name.
The word for "gods" in Psalm 82:6 is Elohim. In this Psalm, as in other places, it stands for the men God set to judge in Israel (Exodus 21:6; 22:8, 9, 28). They were God's representatives. Their work was to judge for the Lord, in His fear, and to bring the revelation God had given in His Word to bear on each case brought before them.
Does a commission from God protect the man who holds it? The psalm says it does not.
God is not indifferent to this unrighteousness. Those who pervert judgment will themselves come under judgment. The high position that God had given them, as His representatives, will not secure them against His just judgment. They will fall even as any earthly prince who rules without fear of God.
Their dignity was never their own. God placed it on them, and if He takes it back, nothing is left underneath. With the Son it works the other way.
Any honour God gives to men brings them out of obscurity; take it away, and it sinks them into their own proper nothingness. Honour given to the Son, on the other hand, adds nothing to Him. If man takes it from Him or refuses it, that only leads to God exalting Him to every office in which man has failed, "that in everything He might be preeminent."
Two pictures close the verse: dying like men, and falling like princes.
God had called these judges "gods," because He had set them to represent Him. In their outward position they had great blessing as "sons of the Most High." But they would "die like men," brought down to the level of sinful men, falling as princes who dishonour their own position and dishonour God.
Darby reads the fall the same way. He also names what God demands, and what the psalm then asks God to do:
They were men, and would die like men, and fall like one of the princes of this world outside Israel. God, who had given the authority, judged among the gods — He must have righteousness. The Spirit of prophecy then calls for this judgment in the one who understands: "Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!"
This is not only about a few corrupt men. God gave power into human hands, and human hands failed with it.
Take power, for example. God ordained that it should be in the hands of man, who in a certain sense was God's representative... "Like men you shall die, and fall like any prince." Now when God judges among the gods, what does this show? They have failed completely, and God carries out immediate judgment... Christ then, according to the purpose of God, takes the full power of the kingdom.
Jesus faced the charge of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God. He answered from this psalm.
Quoting from Psalm 82:6, the Lord asks, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'?" God set those men apart as judges in Israel, to stand as His representatives, and His word came to them. If they are called gods, can it be blasphemy for the Son, whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, to claim to be a divine Person?
- Given — the title "gods" was a loan, not a nature. God gave it to men He set to judge in His place, and His word came to them.
- Abused — the men who twisted judgment came under judgment. Their high place did not shield them.
- Withdrawn — honour from God lifts men out of obscurity. Take it away, and they sink back into their own nothingness.
- Fallen — they die like men and fall like the princes of this world.
- Replaced — human authority has failed, so the psalm calls God to arise, and the full power of the kingdom passes to Christ.