Commentary on Ezra Nehemiah Ester Job and Psalms, Commentary 5 · Psalm 82
PSAL. LXXXII
VEerſ. 1. God ſtandeth in the Congregation of the Mighty] There God is preſent and preſident by a particular providence, as Lord Paramount, and chief Magiſtrate,Ut praeſes Synodi. Locus …raeſ…dis eſt medius locus in caetibus. higher than the higheſt, Eccleſ. 5.8. Job 31.14. Epheſ. 6.9. The Etheopian Judges, they ſay, do ever leave the chief ſeat of Judicature empty for him; and Solomon, for like reaſon; calleth that ſeat The holy place, Eccleſ. 8.10. There Elohim (that is, the Judge and Avenger) ſtandeth, or ſetteth himſelf, to behold the actions and affections of Judges, and to paſs a cenſure upon their ſentences. Good therefore was the counſel of Jehoſaphat to his Judges when to ride circuit, 2 Chron. 19.6. Take heed what ye do, for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord who is with you in the Judgement. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord your God be upon you; take heed and do it, &c. Judges ſhould ſit in as great (though not ſo ſlaviſh) a fear of offending, as Olanes in the hiſtory did upon the flayd skin of his Father Silannes nailed by Cambyſes on the tribunal, or as a Ruſſian Judge,Turk. hiſt. 728. that feareth the boyling caldron, or open battocking; or the Turkiſh Senate, when they think the great Turk to ſtand behind the Arras at the dangerous door.
He judgeth among the Gods] i. e. Among the Magiſtrates (as our Saviour interpreteth it, Joh. 10.34, 35.) who are called gods. Firſt, By analogie tanquam Deum imitantes, ſaith Theodoret, as reſembling God by having the power of life and death. Secondly, By participation, tanquam lumina illuminata, ſaith Auſtin; as ſtars participate their light from the Sun; ſo do Rulers their authority from the ſupreme Majeſty. Thirdly, By deputation from God, whoſe vicegerents they are, and to whom they muſt be accountable for their mal-administration.
Verſ. 2. How long will ye judge unjuſtly?] viz. Thorough a cyclopicall contempt of Gods ſenerity. Ne pecces, Deus ipſe videt.
Will ye repreſent and expreſſe God to the World as a corrupt, crooked, and unrighteous Judge?
And accept the perſons of the wicked?] Heb. Lift up their faces, and ſhew them more favour than others that are much honeſter? Barrabbas oft is releaſed, and Chriſt crucified; Alter habet aequum, ſed alter habebit equum, ſaid that partiall Emperour. This man hath the right on his ſide, but the other ſhall carry the cauſe, for all that.
Verſ. 3. Defend the poor and Fatherleſs] Theſe are Gods clients, and this is Gods counſell worthy to be written with letters of gold on the walls of all Judicatories, as having in it better direction for a Stateſman than all Lipſim his Bee-hive, or Machiavels Spider-wed. Theſe two Latine verſes are ſaid to be written over the Judgement-ſeat in Xant.
Hic locus odit amat, punit, conſerv at, honorat,
Nequitiam, pacem; crimina, jura, bones.
Verſ. 4. Rid them out of the hand of the wicked] Heb. Of the turbulent, who make a do, as the Devil doth, and vex others.
Verſ. 5. They know not, neither will they underſtand] q. d. There's no good to be done upon theſe uncircumciſed vice-gods, as they may in the worſt ſenſe be beſt ſtiled; 'tis bootleſs to adviſe them to better, for they are ſet; they are as good every whit as ever they mean to be; and as for their duty, nec cogitant, nec curant, they neither know it, nor care to know it, but blunder on in the dark, and are led blindling by their baſe luſts, which ſo they may ſatisfy, they paſs not what becomes of the weal publick,Peſſimi dantur, & ruunt omnia. but oppoſe with creſt and breſt whatſoever croſſeth-their ſinfull deſigns. Hereby they cauſe mighty concuſſions, and draw down heavy judgements, Iſa. 24.18, 19.
Verſ. 6.foreign. A…iſt. Polit. l. 3. c. 13. Niceph. l. 18. ſcribit ſummum principem gentis. Turcicadictum fuiſſe Taifau i.e. f…lium D…i. I have ſaid ye are Gods] As verſe 1. but doubly ſo, if good too; if they excell both in vertue and power, as Ariſtotle joyneth them; I have ſaid, is vox poteſtatis conſtituentis, whence that of the Apoſtle, All power is of God, Rom. 13.2.
And all of you are children of the moſt High] Inveſted (as Princes ſons and heirs are oft) with part of my power, and intruſted with the adminiſtration of mine earthly Kingdome by the exerciſe of vindictive and remunerative Juſtice. The Chaldee paraphraſeth, As the Angels of the High; and Kimchi, As the Stars, which have dominion over theſe inferiour bodies, Confer Job 38.7.
Verſ. 7. But ye ſhall dye like men] Yea, if wicked, like beaſts; but only for their pillow and bolſter. Super cubilia for ſan in honore mor…untur, quo a beſtiis differunt, ſed non in morte, ſaith Kimchi. God who had ſo highly advanced ſuch, will lay them low enough; even in the ſlimy valley (if not in hell) where are many already like them, and more ſhall come after them, Job 21.31, 32. Our Henry the eight was told on his death-bed that he ſhould go to the place of Princes; which was no great comfort, if the old Proverb be true, that Hell is paved with the Crowns of Princes, and helmets of ſouldiers. The Spaniſh Frier uſed to ſay, there were but few Princes in hell; for why? there were but few in all.
And fall like one of the Princes] Of the Heathen Tyrants, which are oft ſlain by the People, as moſt of the Ceſars before Conſtantine were. Ad generum Cereris, &c. Some of the Fathers, Arnobius, Chryſoſtom, Theodoret, &c. underſtand it of Beelzebub and his fellows, qui acerbiſſimis & exquiſitiſſimis tormertis cruci…ntur, who are moſt tormented in hell, 2 Pet. 2. Potentes potentur torquebantur. Some read it, And ye, O Princes, ſhall fall as one, i. e. as others do. A neceſſary conſideration for great ones, who are apt to dream of an immortality, or at leaſt to drive off the thoughts of death.
Verſ. 8. Ariſe O God, judge the earth] Take the matter into thine own hand, for it is but time, all things here being ſo ill ordered by thy ſubſtitutes; nam alioqui prae judiciorum conſtupratione terra tota videtur collapſura, all will bee naught elſe.
For thou ſhalt inherit all Nations] Thou Lord Jeſus ſhalt, Pſal. 2.8. Heb. 1.2. Rev. 11.15. Come therefore, yea come quickly.