Suffering and Belief in a Good God - Part Two

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During my second year of biblical Hebrew courses, I 'discovered' a Psalm which quickly became one among my favourites: Psalm 82

God takes His stand in His own congregation;
He judges in the midst of the rulers.

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

Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.

Rescue the weak and needy;
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.

They do not know nor do they understand;
They walk about in darkness;
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I said, "You are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High.

"Nevertheless you will die like men
And fall like any one of the princes."

Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For it is You who possesses all the nations.

At first, at least for me, this was a terribly confusing psalm.  Who is speaking to whom?  Who is the subject?  Is the psalmist accusing God of "judging unjustly" and of showing "partiality to the wicked"?  Is it the poor, the weak, the needy, who "do not know nor... understand", who "walk about in darkness"?  Is it them who are being told that they shall "die like men"?  What is going on here?

Understanding the first verse can clear up a lot of the mess.  The NASB (which is the translation used above) reads, "God takes His stand in His own congregation"; and the NIV reads, "God presides in the great assembly".  Reading alongside the Hebrew (BHS) we find something along the lines of:

God (Elohim) takes his stand/presides in the assembly of God (El)
In among the gods (elohim) he gives judgment.

In the Ancient Near Eastern understanding of the divine realm there were many gods.  Generally understood to be at the top of the pantheon was the god El; he was at the top of the ladder (though at some point Baal might have overthrown him and taken his consort/wife).  Anyway, if we can place this first verse within the context of the ANE cosmology, it begins to make a lot more sense.  If you can imagine a royal court with El sitting on the throne and all the many other ancient near eastern gods in attendance.  In walks Yahweh (here and in other places in the OT He is referred to as Elohim), who gives judgment over the many gods there. 

In v.2 Yahweh pronounces the accusation against them: they are charged with judging unjustly and giving preference to the wicked. 

V.3-4 comprise the nature of just rule; this is how the gods ought to have ruled; this is Yahweh's measure of justice.

V.5 is Yahweh's assessment: the gods do not know or understand true justice; they don't know how to rule properly, to judge properly.  The order of things, the cosmic order of divine beings, is being overturned.

In v.6-7 we hear Yahweh's judgement on the gods: a death sentence
I said, you are gods (elohim),
and all sons of the most high (Elyon - one of the names for El).
Nevertheless,like men you will die,
and like other rulers you will fall.

V. 8 is a joyous proclamation of Yahweh's ascent, his judgement on the gods, and his rule over all the nations.


In this psalm we find a clear declaration of the nature of the old religious system: the gods don't care about humans, they don't care about justice.  We also find an equally clear declaration of Yahweh's conception of justice: defending the vulnerable, rescuing those in need.  Also, we find some insight into the judgment of God.  We see that it is intrinsically linked with justice (this is always an important starting point for understanding many Old Testament passages, especially those which deal with God's wrath).

The ancients suffered because the various gods who were formerly in charge were ruling unjustly and didn't care for those whom they ought to have cared for (the poor, the orphans, etc...).  But now that Yahweh has stormed on the scene and declared what true justice is... why do people still suffer?  Wouldn't Yahweh, who is a good God, solve the problem of suffering?

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