What Would God Have Me Do? (part 1)

God stands in the assembly of El; in the midst of the gods He renders judgment. – Psalms 82:1 (NET)

What is it that God would have me to do? It is one of the most important questions that we can put forth. So often, we speak of putting things in God’s hands, searching out the will of God for our lives, attempting to live within God’s plan for our lives, trusting in Divine providence, and so on. Each person that considers himself or herself a member of God’s covenant family, through belief in Jesus as Lord, must wrestle with such things. Too often, the response is to make a determination about things that we are going to do, or things that we are going to avoid, so that we can feel comfortable, in an inducement towards behaving in a certain way, that generally has far more to do with the perception of those around us than with an honest reflection on God’s true plans and purposes and intentions for His redeemed people.

Here in this Psalm, we are presented with some significant answers for the questions and concerns by which we are dogged in our attempts to live a “Christian life.” The Psalmist begins by writing that “God stands in the assembly of God.” Here, “El” is the high god of the Canaanites. Effectively, the Psalmist presents Israel’s God as supreme to all other supposed deities, and speaks of His power to enter into the assembly of other nation’s gods and render judgment. So not only is this applicable to the Canaanites that surround Israel, but it can be applied to any and all nations that look to an assembly of gods, whether Egypt, Greece, Persia, or Rome.

Israel’s God is supreme, so whether He is rendering judgment on the gods of the Canaanites, or on those who look to their gods in order to justify their actions, judgment is justly rendered. Of course, because there are actually no other gods on which to pronounce judgment, and no other gods to which Israel’s Creator God can approach in order to prove His superiority, we can know that God is speaking to the people who have created their gods in their own images (as opposed to the God that created man in His image). Therefore, here, when God speaks, though He is said to be in the assembly of “El,” we can be confident that He is speaking to the men behind the idols and false gods. God pronounces His judgment on all that men wrongly worship, whatever that may be. Not only is He then speaking to the people that looked to these gods, but without a doubt, God is pointedly speaking to His people as well.

With that said, we can return to the issue with which we began so as to determine what it is that God would have us do. In answering that question, God starts with a question, presented in a negative manner. He speaks and says, “How long will you make unjust legal decisions and show favoritism to the wicked?” (82:2) Here, because the question is posed as to why favoritism is shown to the wicked, and because what is wicked can only be understood in juxtaposition to that which is not wicked, we can assert that God is speaking to the people to whom He has provided a revelation of Himself. We can see a picture of God, entering into the pantheon of gods that are worshiped by the nations surrounding His people, all of which would, at some time, be worshiped by His people. He stands in the midst of representations of these gods, looks around, holds out His arms and says, “How long will you continue showing favoritism to what is wicked? How long will you worship these gods?”

To the leaders of His people, we can hear God saying, “How long will you attempt to live and rule based on the subjective whims presented in the stories of these fickle and always changing gods? If you are attempting to honor these gods, and to live and rule and judge by precepts that you believe will be pleasing to them, rather than based on the firm foundations of the covenant God that does not change, then you will forever be making legal decisions that are not just, but rather, unjust and capricious. Because these gods represent wickedness, with stories of their rule full of pragmatism and a self-serving ethic, then your decisions will favor that which is wicked, because you are doing nothing more than following in the patterns of the myths of man-created gods, who have sprung from the imaginations of men of wicked and deceitful hearts that have been corrupted by evil.” Clearly, this will not do for God’s people. God demands that His people act in justice.