Would you turn to Psalm 82? Psalm
82. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty. I'm sure when we read that, we're
thinking, who are the mighty? Who's he talking about? Well,
look in verse six of the same psalm, I have said you are gods. That's the same word. Remember when the Lord told Moses
with regard to Aaron, you're going to be the hymn of God,
and he'll be your mouthpiece. He'll be your prophet. God standeth
in the congregation of the gods, small g, the reference being
authorities. That's the meaning, authorities. God standeth in the congregation
of the mighty. He judges among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly?
He's speaking to the small g gods, the authorities. How long will
you judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? Defend the poor and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and
needy. Deliver the poor and needy. Rid
them out of the hand of the wicked. Now this is what these authorities
are called upon to do. They know not, neither will they
understand. They walk on in darkness. All
the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said,
you are gods. And all of you are children of
the Most High, but you shall die like men. and fall like one
of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth,
for thou shalt inherit all nations. Let's pray. Lord, how thankful we are for
your son. How thankful we are for the salvation
that's in him. How thankful we are for your
word. How thankful we are for your
grace that salvation is utterly by thy grace. Lord, we ask in
Christ's name that you would meet with us as you promised
you would in your word, where two or three are gathered together.
And Lord, we wouldn't presume on your presence, but we trust
for your presence. Speak in power for Christ's sake.
Forgive us of our sins. We pray for your blessing upon
this church. We pray that you'd unite our
hearts together to fear your name. We pray for all your people
wherever they meet together. Lord, we pray for our friends
that are sick. We pray for your blessing upon them according
to your will. In Christ's blessed name, we pray. Now, if I was going to give this
psalm a name, I would call it the authority psalm. The authority
psalm. And when we read these words
of God, God's, small g, this is not talking about small deities. This is talking about authorities. And that is exactly what the
Lord said to Moses concerning Aaron. He said, you'll be to
him a God. What you say is the same thing
as me saying it. You'll be to him a God. And he'll
be to you a mouthpiece. And this is actually a rebuke
to those who don't use authority properly. He says in verse one,
God standeth in the congregation of the gods. He judges among
the gods. He judges these authorities. And here's the rebuke to these
authorities. How long will you judge unjustly and accept the
persons of the wicked? Here's what you're supposed to
do. Defend the poor and fatherless. Do justice to the afflicted and
needy. Deliver the poor and needy and rid them out of the hand
of the wicked. Now, authority. Authority. Any authority, God placed it
in that position. Do you remember when Pilate said
to the Lord, don't you know I have power, I have authority to release
you, and I have authority to have you crucified? And what'd
the Lord say? He said, you could have no power
or authority at all over me, except it be what? Given thee
from above. Turn with me for a moment to
Romans chapter 13. Verse one, let every soul be subject under
the higher powers, the authorities, government. Let every soul be
subject under the higher powers for there's no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained
of God. You know who the president is
this morning? The one God ordained to be. Do
you know who the governor of the 50 states are? The one who
God ordained to be. You know who's heading Russia
right now? The one God ordained to be. The powers that be are ordained
of God. Every authority is their God
place. Now let's go on reading. Verse
two, whosoever therefore resists the power, resists the ordinance
of God. And they that resist shall receive
to themselves damnation, condemnation. For rulers are not a terror to
good works, but to the evil. Will thou not be afraid of the
power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of
the same, this one who's in authority. For he, the one in authority,
is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that
which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain.
For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon
him that doeth evil. Wherefore, ye must needs be subject,
not only for wrath, not only to avoid punishment, but also
for conscience sake, because it's the right thing to do. For
this cause pay ye tribute, taxes, for they are God's ministers,
attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore
to all their dues, tribute to whom tributes do, custom to whom
customs do, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is
due. Owe no man anything but to love one another. For he that
loveth hath fulfilled the law of God.
God is the authority over authority. Psalm 62, 11 says, power belongeth
unto the Lord. And any authority that any man
has is because God gave him. Power belongeth unto the Lord. He's the only one who inherently
has power and he has put authorities in place. And to resist the authority
is to resist God himself. That's the teaching of scripture.
Now, somebody says, what if the authority is wrong? Well, that's
true a lot, isn't it? What if the authority's wrong? Any authority that tells me to
do what God tells me not to do is to be resisted. Any authority that tells me not
to do what God tells me to do is to be resisted. Other than
that, The authority is to be obeyed. The laws are given to
be obeyed, and to not obey them is to not obey God himself. That's so important. Parents, the most important responsibility
you have toward your kids is to teach them to respect authority. I can't emphasize the importance
of that. If your kids do not respect authority,
they're going to be failures in life. They're going to not
do well in school. They're going to not do well
on the job. They're going to be trouble. Respect authority. The Lord has placed authority,
the authority in the home. The man is the head. Now that
doesn't mean the man's a tyrant, but the man's to take the lead.
in the home, and it's his responsibility to do so. And to not do so is
to resist what God tells you to do. The man is to be the authority
in the home. Parents have authority over their
children. Employers have authority over
their employees, the boss at work. If you disobey him, you
disobey God. It is that simple. Authority
is so important. It's what God has placed. There's
authority in the church. Let me show you something in
Hebrews chapter 13. I want you to look at this. Hebrews chapter 13, verse seven. Remember them, Hebrews 13 verse
seven, remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken
unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the
end of their conversation. And here's what the end is, Jesus
Christ the same. If I am a pastor after God's
own heart, this is the end of my conversation, to believe and
to preach Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today, and forever. And there's so much implied in
the immutability of Jesus Christ. Oh, the changelessness of Jesus
Christ. He's the same. And I'm to point
you, if I have the rule over you, you know, that doesn't mean
if I give you a command, you need to obey it. No, it doesn't
mean that. It's obey them that are your
guides. that are your leaders, that preach
to you the word of God. Remember the end of their conversation?
Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today, and forever. And if I
am doing my job as a pastor, that's what I'm pointing to you
to look to constantly. Jesus Christ the same, yesterday,
today, and forever. Look in verse 17. Obey them that have the rule
over you. Now, does that mean, here's how
much you need to give, give this much, don't go here, buy this,
don't buy that. No, it doesn't mean that. It
means be persuaded. Be persuaded. You know, Peter,
when he was talking to the elders, he said, don't try being a lord
over God's heritage, but be an example to the flock. Be persuaded. by them that have the rule over
you, that are your guides and submit yourselves. This is talking
about submission to authority. For they watch for your souls
as they must give account that they may do it with joy and not
with grief. For this is unprofitable to you.
So in everything, job, home, church, whatever it is, there
is authority. The powers that be are ordained
of God. I wanna show you a passage of
scripture in Ephesians chapter six, if you'll turn there, before
we get back to Psalm 8, Ephesians chapter six. Parents teach your children to
respect authority, teach them to respect adults. It flips me
out the way some kids have such little respect for adults. Don't
let your kids get by with that. Teach them to respect all authority. Teach them to respect their teachers.
Teach them to respect police officers. Teach them to respect
whatever position of authority it is. Now look in Ephesians
chapter 6. Obey your parents and the Lord. There's a submission to authority. Obey your parents and the Lord
for this is right. It's the right thing to do. Honor
thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with
promise. Remember he said, you live a long life on the earth.
Now the point is, is if you respect authority, you're going to do
well. You're going to do well in school. you're going to do
well when you get a job. People who do not respect authority
always struggle. There are problems everywhere
they go. And that's why, you know, disrespect
for authority is disrespecting people when it comes right down
to it. Treat everybody with respect. Treat everybody with dignity.
That's so important. I want to treat you in a way
where I respect you, not where I look down on you, but I respect
you. And that's what obedience to
authority is. It's a respectful attitude. There's
nothing more ugly than disrespect. Let's go on reading. That it
may be well with thee, verse three, that thou mayest live
long on the earth. And you fathers, provoke not
your children to wrath. But bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to them
that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling,
in singleness of your heart as unto Christ." Remember, you're
serving Christ, not with eye service as men pleasers, not
just doing it when they're looking at you doing what's right, but
when they're not looking at you doing what's right. Not with
I services, men pleasers, but as the servants of God doing
the will of God from the heart with goodwill doing service as
to the Lord and not to men. Knowing that whatsoever good
thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord,
whether it be bond or free. You masters, do the same things
unto them, forbearing threatening, not mistreating them and threatening
them, knowing that your master is also in heaven. Neither is
the respect of persons with him." Isn't that glorious, the way
the Lord gives us this valuable instruction? with regard to authority. Now back to Psalm 82. Verse one. God standeth in the congregation
of the mighty. He judges among the gods, those
he has placed in authority. He watches what they do. They're
accountable to him. How long, now here is the complaint. How long will you judge unjustly
and accept the persons of the wicked? This is the accusation
that's being made and there's plenty of that. Now here is the
purpose of government and authority. He says, defend the poor and
fatherless. Because men are depraved, because
men are sinful. The poor, those that can't help
themselves, will be smashed by those who have power. That's
just the way it is. It's not right, but it's the
way it is. And the government, the authorities
are called upon to defend the poor and the fatherless, to do
justice to the afflicted and to the needy, to deliver the
poor and needy out of the hand of the wicked. And if I don't
do that, if I have some place of authority and I don't do that,
Here's what's going to happen, verse 5. They know not, neither
will they understand. These people who do not do their
responsibility and their positions of authority, they walk on in
darkness and all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, you are gods. Remember when the Lord quoted
that in John chapter 10? when they got angry with him because
he said, you've made yourself equal to God. And then he quoted
this scripture. And I'll be honest with you,
I don't really understand why he quoted this scripture. There
was a good reason, I just don't know what it is. He said, does
not the scripture say, you are gods? And not too long ago, Lynn,
you asked me what that meant. It's been several months ago,
you might not even remember it. I said, I don't know. And you said, well,
you're supposed to tell me. Well, I said, oh, I don't know that
one. But this is the scripture he
quotes. Uh, have I not said you are gods
and all of your children are the most high, but here's the,
um, the, uh, result of not using your authority properly. You
shall all die like men and fall like one of the princes. Arise,
O God, judge the earth. You take care of all these wrongs,
for thou shalt inherit all nations. Now, everything I've said is
true. Everything I've said is important.
Have I preached the gospel yet? No. No. The gospel is so powerful. in
this passage of scripture, and this is the first application.
Now, like I said, the other stuff is very important, very important. I wouldn't want to take away
from them, but if this is all I got out of this song, I missed
it. So I told you to teach your kids
to respect authority. That's a good thing, but where's
the gospel here? Verse one and two, God standeth
in the congregation of the mighty. He judges among the gods. How
long will you judge unjustly except the persons of the wicked?
Now, the gospel is a thing of absolute justice. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. For it's the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. For therein in the gospel is
the righteousness of God revealed." Now the point, I don't even know
what word to use. The gospel is about the righteousness
of God. It's about how God can be just. and justify the ungodly. That's the message of this book,
how God can be just, absolutely just, and look at somebody like
me, who in and of myself, I am ungodly, I'm sinful, and say
he's just, and it'd be true. You know, I would say in most
churches, in Lexington, Kentucky, in Kentucky, in the United States,
this is not even an issue. How can God be just and justify
somebody like me? That is the issue. That is the
issue of the gospel. And here's what happens when
people, when the authorities don't preach the gospel, how
long will you judge unjustly and accept the persons of the
wicked? You know what that's talking about? Accepting somebody
that doesn't believe the gospel. turning all the gospel and say,
well, they're accepted, they've done this, they've done that,
and it's a complete denial of the gospel. That's the point. If I look at somebody and say,
you're accepted by God, you're pleasing to God, when they haven't
believed the gospel, I'm denying the truth of the gospel. Now
how long will you judge unjustly and accept the persons of the
wicked? Now in verses three and four, I think this is a clear
description of the believer there. Four, it says, defend the poor
and fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and needy. This
describes a believer poor. Poor. Blessed are the poor in
spirit. They don't have anything to bring
to the table to save them. Fatherless. You know what that
means? I know God is our father, but that's talking about not
only are they poor, they don't have any means of getting anything.
They're like orphans. They're fatherless. They don't
have anybody to provide for them in and of themselves. They're
fatherless. Not only are they fatherless, they're afflicted. Afflicted. Oppressed. With a sense of their
own sinfulness. Depressed. With a sense of their
own sinfulness. This is what the Lord's talking
about when he talks about blessed are they that mourn. They mourn
over their sin. They hate their sin. They hate
themselves. They're afflicted. And they're
needy. They have great needs. I need God's mercy. I need for
God to elect me. I need Christ to die for my sins
and put them away. I need for God the Holy Spirit
to give me a new heart to believe his gospel. I need God to justify
me. I need God to redeem me. I need
God to preserve me. I'm needy. David described him. described himself this way so
often, I'm poor and I'm needy. Now, here's what I need. I need
the Lord to defend me, defend the poor and fatherless, do justice. Now that do justice, you know
what it is? It's justified. It's justified. I need the Lord
to justify me. Oh, I need the Lord to justify
me. I need him to be just and yet justify me. I need that more
than anything. I need the Lord to justify me.
Deliver, verse four, deliver the poor and the needy and rid
them out of the hand of the wicked. Now where that's not going on,
the gospel's not being preached, they know not. Neither will they
understand. If the gospel is not preached,
somebody's not going to know these authorities, these gods,
these supposed preachers. If the gospel is not preached,
here's all that's going to happen. They're going to know not. Neither
will they understand. They'll walk on in darkness.
All the foundations of the earth are out of course that way. I
mean, there's nothing going right when the gospel is not preached. When we don't tell how God can
be just and justify the ungodly. Now, the Lord says to these people,
I've said your gods and all of you are children of
the most high, but if you're not doing what Verses
three and four say, but ye shall die like men and fall like one
of the princes. You're going to die a horrible
death. You're going to fall like one of the princes. Now here,
this verse, Arise O God. What's that talking about? That's
talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Arise, O God,
be raised from the dead. And there's where judgment takes
place. The resurrection of Christ, there's
judgment. All everybody Christ died for
is justified. There's judgment. And everybody
else is condemned, and it's a just condemnation. Judgment is seen
most clearly from the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from
the dead. Arise, O God. Judge the earth,
and he does. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? Don't you love that verse of scripture? I love what
Abraham said when he was asking the Lord to spare 50, then he
got down to 40, then 30, 20, 10. If you can find 10 believers, I hope, and the Lord said, I'll
spare them for 10, but I love what Abraham said. Shall not
the judge of the earth do right? Now listen to me. We don't need to worry about
anything. The judge of the earth shall do right. All of the time. And we have nothing to worry
about. And we don't have to worry about
our salvation because he rose from the dead. My sin was put
away in a way that justifies and honors God's justice. He
rose from the dead to save me. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. Arise, O God, judge the earth,
for thou shalt inherit all nations. You know, I love Romans 14, 9,
where it says, for this end, Christ both died and revived,
that he might be Lord of the dead and the living. He's everybody's
Lord. They don't know it, but he's
everybody's Lord. Every unbeliever, he's their
Lord. He's in control of them. Every believer, willingly, he's
our Lord. We love him being our Lord. The difference between an unbeliever
and a believer, the believer loves his Lordship. The unbeliever
hates it, but that doesn't change the fact he's everybody's Lord. Arise, oh God.