God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
"How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?
Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked."They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.I said, "You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince."Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall inherit all the nations!--Psalm 82
Just exactly who are these "gods" that he's talking about??
This makes me wonder if all of those "mythical" Roman and/or Greek "gods" are really all that "mythical." Some interpretations indicate that these could be human judges in positions of great authority. I sure don't know, but it's intriguing.
Nevertheless, that distracts from the main point of the writing, which is to be fair and impartial in judgments. We are held responsible, especially those of us who are in power, for our judgments, most especially if we favor the wicked over the weak.
Ecclesiastes 11:9; 12:1-7
Heh. This passage is all about, well, what the title says. "Make the most of your youth." I'm rather amused, because one of the lines in the book says, "You are likely young, strong, healthy, and full of potential."
Hah.
Why on earth does he assume that? I'm middle-aged, weak from lack of activity, my health is so-so, but there is still potential.
The point of this passage is to not be wasteful of what you've been given. It can be depressing, because, to some degree, I have been. Not totally, because I am still using my gifts to praise God and lead others to do the same. But I could have done so much more.
I spend enough time beating myself up over that, though. So, I'm 50 years old. I could, potentially live another 50. So, theoretically, I'm only half done.
And...it's my theological opinion that
I will live as long as God has use for me. But it's up to me to live up to that potential, and that is what the "preacher" is telling us in this writing.