Psalm 82:1-4 God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the "gods": "How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Defending the weak is not a task that belongs solely to God.
Earlier I wrote about how God is our Ultimate Defender of the weak, but this psalm indicates that human beings have a part in that as well. According to the marginal reference in my Bible the "you" in verse two is plural. Most likely Asaph is referring to those "in the great assembly" the "gods", which as I found out in verses six and seven are actually men who hold high positions. In this psalm, Asaph is calling upon these leaders to stop showing favoritism towards the wicked and champion the cause of the weak.
Now how can we apply this verse to our everyday lives? Does this apply only to those in leadership positions, or is their a broader application? How far do we go in our defense of the weak? Who are the weak around us, and, for that matter, who are the wicked? Do we sometimes show favoritism to the wicked, if so, how do we do that?
Because there are so many variables here, I will not give my answers to those questions. I will leave everyone to come to their own conclusions. However, I will say this, we do have a role to play in defending the weak, and we all need to discover exactly what that role is.
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