Psalm 82 serves as a profound exploration of divine judgment, specifically regarding the treatment of the marginalized and the responsibilities of those in positions of power. In our discourse, we unravel the complexities of this passage, illustrating how it critiques unjust leadership and the neglect of the weak and needy. We contend that the essence of divine judgment transcends mere belief systems, emphasizing the imperative of actions that reflect love and justice. As we examine the implications of this Psalm, we prepare to transition into the forthcoming discussions on Revelation, where the themes of accountability and moral responsibility will continue to resonate. Thus, we invite you to engage deeply with the text as we navigate the intricate relationship between spiritual authority and ethical conduct in our society.

Psalm 82 serves as a profound exploration of divine justice and the responsibilities of authority, as articulated by The Foul-Mouthed Preacher in this episode. The preacher navigates the complexities of the text, which depicts a cosmic courtroom where God addresses the 'gods'—interpreted as rulers, judges, or even spiritual beings—tasked with upholding justice. This examination reveals a stark indictment against those who fail to protect the vulnerable and marginalized. The preacher emphasizes that the essence of God’s judgment centers not merely on belief but on the actions taken—or neglected—by those in power. This perspective challenges traditional notions of salvation, positing that true faith is evidenced by active engagement in justice and mercy.

The discussion delves into various interpretations of the psalm, highlighting its ambiguity regarding the identities of the 'gods.' The preacher encourages listeners to critically engage with the text, exploring how these interpretations resonate with contemporary societal issues. The episode serves as a clarion call for moral accountability, urging listeners to reflect on their roles in perpetuating or challenging systems of injustice. By linking the themes of Psalm 82 with the forthcoming discussions on the Book of Revelation, the preacher establishes a continuity in the biblical narrative concerning God’s concern for the oppressed and the ethical responsibilities of those in positions of authority.

In conclusion, this episode not only enriches our understanding of Psalm 82 but also challenges us to embody the principles of justice and mercy in our lives. The preacher’s insights compel us to consider how our faith informs our actions in the world, emphasizing that the call to justice is central to the biblical narrative. As we transition into exploring Revelation, listeners are invited to carry forward these themes of moral accountability and responsibility, ensuring that our engagement with the world reflects the love and justice that God embodies. This profound exploration of Psalm 82 ultimately serves as a powerful reminder of the ethical imperatives that accompany our faith, urging us to advocate for those who are marginalized and oppressed.

Takeaways:

1. In Psalm 82, God calls for justice, urging the protection of the weak and marginalized.
2. The concept of divine judgment in Psalm 82 emphasizes moral accountability for leaders and rulers.
3. Jesus' interpretation of Psalm 82 highlights that true belief is demonstrated through righteous actions.
4. Understanding the plural usage of 'gods' in Psalm 82 opens discussions on spiritual and moral responsibilities.
5. This episode transitions from the Psalms to Revelation, emphasizing the importance of justice in understanding divine judgment.
6. The podcast critiques the transactional view of salvation, advocating for a faith expressed through actions toward the needy.

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In worship, we all like to say Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. And that's why we should have the power and authority in this country to say what is good and right.

And we should treat anyone who doesn't say Jesus, Jesus, Jesus poorly. Cause they're going to hell anyway, so.

So if they say Dios or Allah or Buddha instead of Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, then we don't need to worry about justice for them or showing mercy to them, or even being kind or caring for them at all. Amen. This is the Bible after hours.

Can you hear me? Is this thing on? Okay, good. I am the foul mouth preacher and this is the underground church.

The word vulgar originally just meant to speak the language of the people. It's what Jesus did, it's what the apostles did. And that's what we're going to do here today.

So if you have young children around that you don't want to hear stronger language, maybe listen to this some other time.

The church above teaches that it's all about knowing Jesus's name and believing the right stuff to get into heaven and to like, get others into heaven by telling them to say the right words or some like, magic code. Right? Some bullshit. They act like conversion at any cost is justified.

They act like God is just gonna judge solely on the basis of their beliefs of knowing the right name.

He's not gonna judge on actions, he's not gonna judge behavior, he's not gonna judge how we treat others, but only if we have the right questions or their bullshit theology questions. Right? I used to kind of believe in this theology quiz. Transactional bullshit salvation model myself.

I used to think it was all about knowing the right stuff, believing Jesus the right way, believing that God is our God and not some other God, whatever, right? Like I used to believe that fuck all. If it means you're gonna go to hell if you believe the wrong things.

Yeah, I'm gonna find a way to try and get you to believe the stuff that I believe. Because I think that's how to keep you from going to hell. I'll be damned if I let you be damned. I understand the sentiment.

I love those with a passion, who care, who are trying to just keep souls out of hell. That's a bullshit model of conversion. It's not biblical and is nowhere near the heart of a God who claims to be love himself.

Which is why I never understood the kind of nationalism or model or this like, justification to not be loving and kind to those who believe differently. Like, I actually never got that. There was a lot that I was like, yeah, the theology quiz, the transactional.

Believe the right thing, say the right name of God, boom, you're gonna go to heaven. Where they lost me even younger was when they use that stuff like justify.

And that's why we need power in this country to make everyone believe like we do. Because I'm like, that's.

The Bible seems to be a lot about freedom, a lot about honoring others and even people with other beliefs having something valuable to say. Think of Jethro going to Moses. Moses didn't say, hold up, convert to our God first. Then I'll listen to your advice.

He listened to his advice to his culture, like, he was respectful. I never understood this idea that we don't have to respect other people.

That always lost me this justification for not being loving and kind to those who believe differently. Or maybe they broke the law, they're here illegally in our country. You know, whatever the bullshit that always lost me, I don't know what it was.

Even. Even younger, there was a lot of stuff that I was on board with that I look at now, and I'm like, that was awful.

But for some reason, that one was never quite there because it's just so fundamentally not biblical, not of God. I just don't know where it comes from. I think what we do is we like to justify ourselves.

And when we see other people justifying ourselves, it seems like, oh, this is obviously okay because they're doing it like. But I really. I just don't know where that shit comes from. None of us want to believe we're responsible for the injustice or wrongdoing in the world.

Taking moral responsibility for our part in the world is really fucking hard. It's difficult.

A lot of psychologists, I've learned, will say that taking moral responsibility for some people, for a lot of people is just as difficult as facing the idea that you will one day die. That existential crisis. Apparently this whole idea of taking moral responsibility, it is just as difficult for a lot of people.

No one wants to think they're partaking in the evil. And more. So we're going to get spiritual this episode.

No one wants to think that they're partaking in a spirit that's going to be part of God's ultimate judgment. I'm saying a lot of stuff. This episode, that's going to upset.

As always, those are more conservative listeners tend to be upset because I tend to think the Bible isn't in favor of this transactional model of salvation. I tend to think that the Bible isn't in favor of treating Our neighbors like shit.

And that makes conservatives mad, sometimes traditionalist, however you want to word it. I'm also going to upset some progressives.

You know, a lot of times this gets labeled as the progressive reading of the Bible because a lot of progressives want to act like the spiritual realities aren't reality. The Bible seems to talk a lot about spiritual reality. I am not a biblical inheritance. I don't think everything in the Bible has to be 100% true.

But I think it foolish to ignore the fact that spiritual stuff fucking exists. I know people who grew up in Pentecostal environments, and they've seen stuff with their eyes of, like, arms being healed.

They've seen people with demons. And, you know, some of that stuff probably is bullshit. Some of that stuff is probably some psychological stuff and people need to go get help.

But it also seems when I see people who've grown up with it today, how it's real for a lot of people today, how people in the past have believed in this stuff heavily. It seems foolish to just throw it out like none of this is real. I think we have to acknowledge some form of spiritual reality is happening.

When I look at my country here in America, see the anger, the avarice, the polarization, to act like there's nothing spiritual going on in all that shit seems foolish. So I'm gonna upset some of my more progressive leaning listeners and just acknowledge spiritual realities are reality.

Before we get to any of that, though, we do have to take a break and let our good friend Stephen Crosby tell us another story.

Hey, guys, have you ever heard of Job? Yeah, this guy in the Bible, right? His story is phenomenal.

So one day God was hanging out in the court of other gods, just hanging out with their little courtroom stuff. And then the cosmic lawyer shows up and goes, hey, the world fucking sucks. What are we doing up here? And God was like, no, look at Job. He's good.

So the world's fine. Job's, you know, nice, married, good to his family, goes to church on Sundays. He's a great guy.

And the cosmic lawyer was like, well, that's because you're nice to him. What if we just fucked his life up? And God was like, yeah, let's fuck him up.

So then he let the cosmic lawyer take his kids away and then give him a bunch of diseases and ruin his livelihood. And then Job was like, oh, what the fuck?

And then his friends came and said, well, it's because you're not going to church enough and you're not listening to these things in the Bible. And Job was like, yes, I am. What the fuck? And then God was like, okay, but you weren't there at the beginning of times.

And then God just did some weird flexes about like some cool creatures he created. And Job was like, God, that's not what I'm talking about. And then God was like, oh yeah, I guess you have a point.

And then he gave him his family back and then was nice to him. And then. And then we still argue about what this story means today. What's up with that?

So back to today's stuff.

We're going to be talking about Psalm 82 and then we're going to do one more psalm after this before transitioning into our getting ready for revelation. So this is still some of the psalms that are going to help us start for revelation.

After we finish with Psalms, we'll go into some of the other parts of the Bible that's going to help us understand the book of revelation. Psalm 82 is very much a cosmic end of times kind of story. It's a big one. Before we read it, I think we need to do some pretext stuff.

So when we read it, I want you to keep some different things in mind. There's a lot of different beliefs of what the Bible means when it talks about other gods and stuff, right?

Some people are going to say that this is just figurative because people worshiped other gods. God knows that there's no other gods. So of course there isn't any. There's just God.

And some people say, well, the other gods maybe they're talking about like higher angels or something. Some people say, no, God does have divine counsel. These are other beings other than angels that he created that are under him.

Some people are gonna say the other gods are actually demons posing as God. People worship.

Some people will say that the lowercase G gods a lot of times in the Bible and talks about is talking about the kings of other nations because a lot of times they would call themselves God or like the sons of God. So that's what they called themselves. There's a lot of different ways of reading this. Specifically of Psalm 82.

There's two different things I want to look at before we get into the crux of one is in Deuteronomy 32, 8, the Bible actually says that God divided up the land. He gave the other gods the other land. He took Israel for himself. Now we're not sure exactly how that's supposed to be read.

There's a lot of arguing about that of like, did he mean that, like, he gave up on the other lands and he's focusing on Israel. Did it mean, like, is it figurative of some sort? There's a lot of confusion.

Or is it just talking about, like, the other lands took up other gods and Israel was God's people? It's hard to really say.

It could be that there legitimately are other gods and God was trusting them over other lands and they didn't do their job, which Psalm 82, in a lot of ways, seems to support that theory. There's Also, though, John 10 that we have to read verses 34 through 38.

So this is Jesus talking, and he's kind of explaining his own take on Psalm 82. Those of us here kind of like this Jesus guy. So it's probably important to see what he had to say about this. Jesus answered them.

Isn't it written in your law, talking about the Bible, I said you are gods. If he called those to whom the word of God came gods, and the Scripture cannot be broken.

Do you say you are blaspheming to the one the Father sent apart and set into the world? Because I said, I am the Son of God. If I am not doing my Father's works, don't believe me.

But if I am doing them and you don't believe me, believe the works.

Works this way you know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father, we'll have to revisit that because I think a lot of this is going to show that, like, judgment isn't just about, did you say Jesus or believe the right things? It's a little bit about the works. Now, works cannot save you, but it still seems pretty important.

Jesus even here is saying, if I'm not doing my Father's works, don't believe me. But if I'm doing them and you don't believe me, believe the works. Works seem to be important to Jesus anyway.

So even if they're not what saved you, we do have to understand that some part of God's judgment, some part of what Jesus did, does have to do with works. Now, when we're looking here, though, he's Talking about Psalm 82, says, Didn't I said you were gods? If he called those whom the word came God.

So what Jesus is kind of saying is that he's interpreting Psalm 82 as those who receive the word of God are like gods, and that's what he thinks Psalm 82 is about. Well, now, I don't think that's necessarily what Jesus thinks Psalm 82 is about? I think Jesus is telling them how they interpret Psalm 82.

This is your interpretation of Psalm 82. When it says that God called out the other gods, you're saying that the other gods are people who receive the word.

If I'm living out the word, what's the problem? So I think Jesus is acknowledging their interpretation of Psalm 82.

What's important to note when you're reading psalms, especially because they're poetry. And just like any art, it's subjective.

Now a lot of people, especially in your more conservative camps, are going to say, well, you know, each Bible scripture only has one meaning, kind of. I think when we're talking about biblical history, if we're talking about like a story or a narrative, that there is one point to the narrative.

When we're talking about poem, we're talking about art. Art's often subjective. Art often has multiple meanings in one. Even today when we look at a painting, there's multiple meanings in one.

Now what I do think is important that we're going to get to when we get to more some of the prophecies is when you start taking out the little details and saying that this detail means something that the rest of the psalm has nothing to do with. You're doing it wrong. You have to look at the painting as a whole. You can't take out little pieces here and there and say, this is what this means.

This is what this means. The pieces are going to be adding to the whole. What does the whole mean?

Once you understand that, you know all the pieces are in some way contributing to that meaning. So when we look at a psalm or we're looking at a priority prophecy, there might be as a whole different ways to interpret it.

But whatever you think that whole is, the parts should be supporting that they shouldn't have their own different meanings for each little part. That's. That's not how art works. So when we're looking at Psalm 82, we can think in a couple different ways.

I think this is important, that when he says talks about other gods, he could be talking about other gods. He could be talking about demons pretending to be gods. He could be talking about the kings of other nations.

He could be just talking about the judges of this world. He could be talking about those who receive the word of God.

There are many ways to understand what he means when he says gods, but I don't actually think that that's the point of the psalm. I think it's in a way, intentionally ambiguous. Now, one more thing.

When we go through this what's interesting is it talks about, if we're reading the Hebrew, it'll say Elohim and El when he's talking about God. Elohim is the plural for God, but it's talking about Yahweh, the God. The Bible does that a lot. It says Elohim for God a lot.

That's just one of God's name is God's. But then it also talks about the other gods, lowercase G. So when talking about God, capital G. I've interpreted as Elohim.

When we go to gods, lowercase G. I'm just going to say gods. Hopefully that'll help clear up some of the confusion as I read with a psalm.

And then at one point when he talks about the, the divine assembly in the, in the Hebrew, it'll be the court of L or just the court of God. So divine assembly is just another way that the New Jerusalem Bible has chosen to interpret that.

So that is what we're reading out of for the most part. One more thing.

So we talked some about like conservatives are going to be mad about me because I'm not going to be all about personal salvation or whatever. And it not just being that transactional believe the right thing model. Progressives might be a little upset at me for spiritual warfare.

I want to also acknowledge when we're thinking about these themes, which I think we should when reading the psalm. Spiritual warfare, personal salvation, or is it the nations that are being judged?

We also need to understand the orthodox has this model instead of original sin, where they talk about systemic sins, where the systems of our world have been just screwed up and it makes it really hard for even individuals to exist outside of sin. And that's why we need salvation. So just considering that also systemic sin point of view when we read the psalm, I think could be important.

Now let's go ahead and jump into Psalm 82. Elohim takes his stand in the divine assembly. Surrounded by the gods, he gives judgment.

How much longer will you give unjust judgments and uphold the prestige of the wicked? Let the weak and the orphan have justice. Be fair to the wretched and the destitute. Rescue the weak and needy.

Save them from the clutches of the wicked, ignorant and uncomprehending. They wander in darkness while the foundations of the world are tottering. I had thought, are you gods? Are all of you sons of the most high? No.

You will die as human beings do as one man princes, you will fall. Now again, there are several different readings of this. So that's all of Psalm 82. The last few verses here I want to also read, like numeric.

Give you what? A lot of your other Bibles will probably interpret this a little bit different.

They might say something like, I have called you gods, but you will die as a human, as one man, you will fall, arise God, judge the world, for all nations belong to you. So the ending of being the same, but a lot of versions, and I think this is probably the more correct.

I think New Jerusalem Bible is doing a lot, a little bit of extra work here and they're interpreting here, but I think it says, I've called you gods, but you will die as a human. I think it's important that we understand why that's a little bit closer to the exact Hebrew.

When we think about what the art form of the poem is trying to do here we read this as nations, as kings, as spirits. What does it mean when he's talking about gods? I don't think it matters. God's taking this divine court. He's going to his court once.

And words like the book of Job that Stefan Crossberry was telling us about a minute ago, just like what it talks about. 82, 4, whatever that means. What is God judging?

He's not judging them for their spiritual warfare, which I do think is real, but he's saying, I gave you land, I gave you reasonable authority. So whether it be humans, spirits, gods, whatever, here's what they're being judged for.

Here's what they're being judged for, which I think is the important part. Not who is being judged, but what they're being judged for. They're being judged because they've allowed for unjust judgments.

They've allowed the wicked to be upheld like they're important, like they're good. They've let the weak and orphaned be without justice.

They let the wretched, the destitute, the poor, the lonely, the marginalized be treated unfairly. The weak and needy among them were in need of rescue, but were not rescued. That's what they're being judged for.

So I don't think it matters if it's kings, gods, whatever. What we need to understand is what God is judging has to do with those four things.

And if you look at how, if you have your Bible in front of you, if you can go grab a Bible, you'll see it's structured with like, the good Bible will be structured with these words at the front of each line. Let me read another version here that might make this a little bit more sense.

So this is 82 verses 3 and 4, defend the cause of the weak and fatherless. Defend. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Maintain the rights. Number two, rescue the weak and needy. Rescue.

Number three, deliver them from the hand of wicked. Deliver. Number four. God is judging whether or not the weak and fatherless, the orphans, the needy, are being defended.

He's judging whether or not that the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, if someone is maintaining their rights, he's judging whether anyone's doing anything to rescue the weak and needy. He's judging whether or not anyone delivering people out of the hands of the wicked.

When harm is being done to others, who is trying to deliver them, the objects might be interesting. Is it spiritual? Is it about the kings? Is it who's about fuck all that for a minute.

I see people being ripped from their homes and no one defending them. I see the marginalized, the poor, poor, the people who are in this country may be illegally, no one doing anything to maintain their rights.

Yeah, they don't have a right to be here illegally. Okay. They also do have a right to not be treated the way that they're being treated. I think no one doing anything to rescue the weak and needy.

Now, when I say no one, I don't literally mean there's a lot of people doing good work out here, but I'm talking about our leaders. I see people not being delivered from the hand of wicked.

Whoever, if it's spirits, if it's nations, if it's judges, if it's people who receive the word and aren't doing shit.

What I know is that God's going to judge on the basis of who is or is not defending the cause, who is or is not maintaining the rights of the marginalized, who is or is not rescuing the poor, who is or is not delivering people from the hand of wicked. That is what God will be judging. Who, I'm not sure what is pretty clear.

Ultimately, God's going to judge those who defended the wicked and did not do the four things above. God's going to be judging those who acted like people, like Donald Trump, who is clearly, clearly acting wickedly.

And they're going to act like he is a righteous and good man.

God is judging those who are defending his prestige, the prestige of the wicked, and not defending, maintaining the rights, rescuing and delivering the marginalized, the poor, the weak, the orphans among us, the foreigners. The Bible talks a lot about caring for the foreigners among you. Where the fuck is that? When to put our ten Commandments up?

Why don't we have verses about defending the foreigners among us? This is an American politics episode.

But if we're going to talk about what God's judging in the end times, and this is what it says, I think we have to go there. Doesn't matter if it's nations, kings, spirits. Those of us who have participated in God's order will be judged.

Those of us who have been complacent when we could have done something will be judged. Those of us who helped gain prestige for the wicked will be judged. What does that judgment mean?

I don't necessarily believe in hell, but I do believe that God will judge that there is God who is love itself, that just simply cannot, it will not let this shit stand. Verse 7. What's interesting says, I've called you gods, but you will die as human. The word human is just. Adam could be interpreted as human beings.

Mankind could be human or singular, because Adam is just singular, right? Or it could be even a reference to Adam from Genesis 1:3. What happened when Adam sinned? He died.

He didn't necessarily immediately fall over physically dead. I think it was a spiritual death and then eventually a physical death. Maybe he would have never physically died. I'm not really sure on that point.

I don't believe in a literal Adam, so it's really hard for me to take the story that far. But I like the fact that that analogy could be there. I think that it probably was intended.

If you're not doing these things, if you're helping the wicked gain prestige and you're not, or you're not rescuing the poor and needy, defending the rights, the marginalized, delivering people out of the hands of wicked, you will have some form of spiritual death. You cannot be close to God to love. You cannot be close to light, to warmth.

If you don't give a shit about defending those who need it, about maintaining the rights of those who are being belittled, about rescuing those who are in harm's way or don't have food or water. You don't care about delivering people from the hands of people who wish to cause violence and harm harm. You will have Spiritual death.

You cannot know love, you cannot know God, whatever the Bible means by God's judgment. Again, I don't believe in hell, but I do believe it is impossible to know God and not give a about this.

I don't think it matters if we're talking about literal gods, demons posing as gods, the rulers of man. I really like what Jesus said, though. I'm going to go back to this. Isn't it written in your law? I said you were gods.

If you called those to whom the word of God came, God's and the scripture cannot be broken. Do you say you are blaspheming to the One the Father set apart and sent into the world? Because I said I am the Son of God?

If I am not doing my Father's works, don't believe me. But if I'm doing them and you don't believe me, believe the works.

This is what you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I am the Father. Context. Right before this, they're getting ready to stone Jesus because, like, oh, you're blasphemy because you said you're the Son of God, Jesus.

Like, oh, really? Well, the Bible says that there are other gods and people can be like sons of God.

And your way of interpreting it says that those people are just people who knew the Word. So if I'm doing the works of the Word, what's the problem?

Of course they still try to stone him after this because they don't like what he had to say. At the end of the day, reminding people, again, this goes back to. It's incredibly difficult. Take moral responsibility for your part.

And what Jesus was doing is reminding them. It's not about whether I say I'm Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. If I'm saying the right words or believing the right things. It's not about that.

Look at what's happening here. Jesus said, if I'm from the Father, if I'm not doing the works, don't believe me.

If you look at me and he's referencing Psalm 82, you don't see that I'm defending the weak, maintaining the right to the marginalized, rescuing people, delivering them out of the hands of evil. If you see that I'm not doing those things, don't believe me. Don't believe that I'm Jesus.

If you see that I am doing those things and you don't believe me, at least believe in those works.

Jesus seems to be prioritizing, believing that we need to defend the cause of the weak and fatherless, maintaining the Rights of the poor, depressed, rescue the weak and needy and deliver them from the hand of wicked.

Jesus is prioritizing these things, these works over them, believing him says, if you don't believe me, believe the works, then you'll know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. And of course, yeah, that's showing them Jesus is doing the right thing, but it also reminds them they're not.

No one wants to be faced with the fact that they have moral responsibility for the, the shit that's going down, whether in America, whether in Rome, back then, wherever you're listening to this, nobody wants to be reminded that they might have a part in taking moral responsibility for what's happening in the world right now around them. And that's what Jesus did. He reminded them, we all have a part, we've heard the scripture. That's what he said.

He said that Jesus said that those who are the gods here, the sons of gods, were those who heard, heard the scripture. You've heard the word of God, you know you should be doing these things.

If you're not doing them, Jesus here is implying that that's what God's judgment's coming for you. If you're not doing those things, look at the works. You want to know God's people? See who's defending the gods of the weak and fatherless.

Who is maintaining the right to the poor and oppressed? Who is rescuing the poor and needy? Who is delivering people from the hand of the wicked. Jesus said, alien, you'll believe me.

But if you don't believe me, believe the works, then you'll see God in me. If you don't believe what I'm saying today, cool. Believe the works. Believe those four things and when you see those, you see God.

When you don't see those, God's not there. God's not putting off these actions and saying whatever we got to do to make people say Jesus enough times and believe the right things, it's fine.

As long as we're getting them to believe the right things, it doesn't matter. No, God's saying, fuck that shit. What matters most, defending, maintaining the rights, rescuing, delivering.

When you look at the book of James, the brother of Jesus says, yeah, we're saved by faith. Faith alone doesn't does shit. That's what James says, basically says, but you'll know my faith by my works.

When you see me doing these works, you'll know that I believed in Jesus because I'm doing the shit. If you're just saying shit and you're not doing anything. I don't think you really believe it. That's what James said. I think that's a good point.

James also says that true religion is this. That they love the orphan and cared for the widow. Paul writes that our enemies aren't other humans.

The principalities and powers of darkness in this world.

I don't want you to take away from this the people who are not defending the cause of the weak and needy, who aren't maintaining the rights, who aren't rescuing the weak and needy, who aren't delivering people from the hands of wicked. The people who are adding prestige to the wicked. I don't want you to take away from this, that they're the bad guys and we need to get them.

They're not. They're fellow humans who need love, who can be brought into the spirit of God. The enemy is the spirits that are allowing us to fall for this shit.

Which is why it's important. Important that I think we use the word gods when we read this psalm. I love that this psalm says gods, even if it doesn't literally mean gods.

Because I want us to keep in mind we're not fighting these people. Because then what happens in war? More weak and fatherless are hurt. More poor and oppressed have their rights ignored.

More weak and needy need rescuing and there's no one there to rescue them. That's what war does. That's not what I'm calling for.

I think it's important that we notice that it's not the humans, it's the spirits that humans are falling for. People fall for the spirit of anger, the spirit of avarice, the spirit of bigotry, the spirit of just. Just all this shit. Look around you.

The people who are justifying treating people of different nationalities, of different skin color, whatever, as is just dog shit. Those people aren't the problem.

The spirit they're participating in that says it's okay to do that stuff, that anger, that fear that's got a hold of them, that's the enemy. Because yeah, they are hurting these other people. They're hurting in the name of that spirit. And that's bad and we need to stop it.

But they are also being hurt by the fear, by that anger, by the spirit that has a grip on their soul. And if we don't acknowledge the spiritual aspect of this, we can never help those people.

And the fact is, it's not just about helping the board to marginalize and those who are being bullied, but it's also about calling your Fellow man, out of these spirits of darkness, out of the grip of these other gods, and into the grasp of a God who is love itself, who gives a shit? They're hurt.

I think what we learn from the story of Jesus from front to back is that the weak, needy, the marginalized, the poor, they're not just those who we obviously and easily can see around us as marginalized, as poor, as needy, they're also those who think they have power, but whose soul is slave to these spirits of darkness.

And if we can't recognize spiritual warfare, call it out and try to fight it with love, then these people who are marginalized by the spirits, who are under attack from spiritual warfare, who are being harmed by anger, who are being harmed by fear, who are being harmed by pride, we can't help them, we can't rescue them, we can't deliver them, we can't deliver into them if we don't acknowledge spiritual warfare that's going on, act like we give a shit, get on our knees and pray sometimes. Show them love. Don't return anger for anger, darkness for darkness. Only light can defeat darkness.

Only love can call people out, rescue and deliver them from the spiritual powers that have a grasp on their soul.

Yes, I want us to give a shit and do something about those who are truly marginalized among us, who are being treated as less than for their skin color, who are being treated less than for who they love, who are being treated like dog for being in a country that they didn't pay enough taxes for or something. Yeah, let's give a damn about that. Let's do something.

Let's also give a damn about the people who think it's okay to attack those people because they're so scared. Fear has such a grasp on their souls that they don't see that they're a slave to a spirit of darkness. Let's give a damn about that too. Let's defend.

Let's rescue not only those who we can easily see needed, but also those whose fear and anger has grasped their soul in a way that sometimes it's hard to see that they need rescuing too. But they do.

And it's up to those who have heard the word of God, who've seen the light of Jesus, the love of the divine, to say, hey, let's step in and do something about this, to care to give a damn. I think we all have to ask if we voted for or against God's order in this stuff.

If you're in a country that's like a democracy, did I Vote for, divot against something that's going to allow us to maintain order, to defend, to maintain the rights of others, to rescue and deliver the marginalized. We have to ask if we have fought against the wicked or for the poor and needy.

To ask ourselves if we've participated in the spirit of judgment for the marginalized or in the spirit of power and suppression of the marginalized.

If we've fought anger with anger and maybe that spirit has a grip on us too, or if we're trying to fight the anger and fear in those around us with love, we have to ask ourselves that stuff. We need to do some serious self reflection here.

We have to take accountability for our own soul, for our spirits, for our participation or lack of participation in government, for our complacency in the face of evil around us, for whether or not we gave food to the hungry, for whether or not when someone was treating someone else shitty, we saw what had it grasped on their soul and tried to reach out. And love. We have to take accountability, moral accountability for ourselves. And if we do this, we can change. We can be better. The nations can change.

When the Bible uses the word judgment and talking about God, it's not always negative. It's not saying that God's going to just come fuck them up a lot of the times. Judgment in the Bible is a positive thing.

God wants to reward, to make right those who are doing, doing right. When it talks about judgment in the Bible, it's positive and negative depending on where we stand. Are we standing in love?

We fighting anger with anger? Are we defending the marginalized? Whether judgment is positive or negative really has to do with us. What choices are we making?

Do we want to feel that spiritual death that happened when we separate ourselves from love and we fight anger with anger? Do we want to feel that spiritual death that happens when we refuse to fight for the rights of the marginalized?

Or do we want to feel spiritual life by embracing love and giving it to him? Giving a damn about our neighbor there. He's the poor and marginalized, whether he's the one in power, but he's a slave to the spirit of fear.

We have to give a damn to have that spiritual life of God in us when we do. Things will change if God is love. We must stand with God in judgment of the spirits of hate, bigotry, fear, pride.

We stand with God in the judgment of these spirits, the judgment of these other gods. I don't want you guys to share this on your public social media accounts. If you think it might offend somebody.

If you think you can share it with somebody, or share it on your meeting and not offend anybody, that that's great. Or want to get the word out, that's awesome.

Mostly, though, I want you to share it with a family or friend, just one person who you think might benefit from hearing this or who might just honestly engage with you. What do we mean? We talk about other gods. Is there such thing as spiritual warfare? What does it mean for someone to be marginalized?

Is it just the poor physically, or is it also those who are enslaved to a spirit of fear? If you know someone who's willing to engage with you in these kind of conversations, share it with them. Talk about this stuff.

I think it's important, or I wouldn't be doing this. Let's bring the church back to the common people. Thank you for listening.