A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Asaph’s Introduction
Elohim stands in the assembly of El; in the midst of elohim He judges:
2-7 God Speaks
“How long will you judge unjustly and lift the faces of the wicked?” Selah 3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. 5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I said, ‘You are elohim and sons of the Most High are all of you.’ 7 Nevertheless, like Adam you shall die, and fall like any prince.”
8 Asaph’s Prayer
Arise, Elohim, judge the earth; for You shall inherit all the nations!
John 10:34-36 Yeshua answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If He called them gods to whom the Word of God came – and Scripture cannot be broken – do you say of Him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?”
REFERENCES:
Verse 1
Isaiah 3:13 Adonai has taken His place to contend; He stands to judge peoples.
Verse 2-4
Deuteronomy 1:17 “You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.”
Verse 5
Pirkei Avot 1:18: The world stands on three things: on justice, on truth, and on peace. As it is said, “Administer truth and the judgment of peace in your gates.” (Zech. 8:16)
Verse 6
Exodus 22:8-9 If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to the judges (אלהים, elohim) to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s property. For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before the judges (אלהים, elohim). The one whom the judges (אלהים, elohim) condemn shall pay double to his neighbor.
R’ Samon R. Hirsch: “Asaph had thought that the judge should be the embodiment of the unfolding of the higher aspects of human nature that are akin to the Divine. For the office of judge is the calling closest to God. As a matter of fact, the judge is actually called Elohim.”
b.Shabbos 10a (on Exodus 18:13): Any judge who judges a true judgment truthfully, even if he sits in judgment only one hour, the verse ascribes to him as if he became a partner to the Holy One, Blessed be He, in the act of Creation, as by means of a true judgment he upholds the world.
1Corinthians 6:3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
Numbers 16:11 “Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against Adonai. But as for Aaron, who is he that you grumble against him?”
Numbers 26:9 … These are the Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who contended against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against Adonai.
Verse 8
Isaiah 1:27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
Conclusion
He has high expectations of us, knowing that we have the potential to be godlike beings … ‘sons of the Most High.’ … The central message is that He is present, right there in our midst, in the pews of our houses of worship, and in the chambers in which we listen to the complaints of the weak and the cries of the helpless … the scope of His interests is universal. Thus our psalm concludes by calling for God himself to compensate for our failures to achieve justice. [The Koren Tehillim, pp.416-418]
