Psalm 82: Is It a Psalm or Is It the Law?

Yes!

In John 10:35, Jesus, referring to Psalm 82, explained the Psalms are Scripture and cannot be broken. However, did you catch what He said as He quoted Psalm 82:6?

Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?”

John 10:34 (ESV)

He didn’t say, “Is it not written in the Writings…?” Neither did He say, “Is it not written in your Wisdom Literature…?” Nor did He say, “Is it not written in one of the psalms…?” He said, “Is it not written in your Law…”

No doubt, the term “Law” sometimes referred to the 10 Commandments, sometimes to the Pentateuch, sometimes the collection of rules the Jews took as their Law. However, notice how Jesus uses it here. The Psalms were not an appendix to the Law, they were not an addendum or an adjunct. Jesus says the Psalms were Law to the Jews. That is, what they learned from the Psalms was just as binding on them as what they learned from Leviticus. Sometimes, the Law referred to the entirety of Old Testament Scripture whether from the Torah, the Prophets, or the Writings.

At the same time, this reminds us of something. “What was written in former days was written for our instruction”(Romans 15:4, ESV). Paul said that about Psalm 69:9. Just like all of the Law, we learn from it. We learn about the nature of God. We learn how God keeps covenant and how He expect His people to keep covenant. We learn many aspects of what God approves and what He disapproves. Most of all, we learn His plan to save His people through the coming Messiah. We learn a great deal from the Law, but it is not our covenant. It is not our agreement with Yahweh. We have a new covenant, a new agreement (see Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:8-13). We learn a great deal from the Psalms and the rest of the Law, but let us remember to use it lawfully. Let us remember to rightly divide and rightly apply the Law and the Psalms. Let us remember we have a covenant with God through Jesus Christ that fulfills all that was written beforehand.

Tomorrow’s reading is Psalm 82.

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How does Psalm 82 prompt or improve your hope in God?