“Defend the poor and the fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and the needy. Deliver the poor and needy, free them from the hand of the wicked.” (vv.3-4)
This psalm addresses the injustice of earthly judges who were meant to protect and care for the weak and needy. It accuses them of social injustices that violated God's law. And because they had the power to sentence a man to death (Exodus 22:28), they were even called gods (v.6) - not because they were divine, but because they had been put in a place to judge and to execute justice among God's people.
Some modern day false prophets continue to misunderstand this verse and concept, and use it to lead others into great error. Wanting to be like God goes back to the Garden of Eden. It was there that Eve first believed the lie from Satan, and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in an effort to be like God (Gen. 3:5). She and Adam did indeed get first-hand knowledge of good and evil, and the world has never been the same.
At the end of this psalm when God said, “I said, ‘You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High, He followed that statement with, "But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes'” (Psalm 82:6–7). In other words, you might be judges, but you're not divine, you're going to die like every other man.
Today we often see that earthly justice is not righteous, but is mans best attempt at being so. However, when administered (at any level) to knowingly thwart justice and support injustice, wow to those who do so. For they will be held to God’s law for their failure to defend the the needy. And His justice is righteous!
The Truth: "For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14)
