New Light on the 82nd Psalm by Rev. Christine Emmerling, D.D. 10/04/2026

Today I’m speaking on New Light on the 82nd Psalm. I’m referencing from writings of Neville Goddard, the Metaphysical Bible Dictionary by Charles Fillmore, and the Aramaic Bible translation by George Lamsa.

I shall read the 82nd Psalm in its entirety: “God stands in the congregation of angels; he judges among the angels. How long will you judge unjustly, and be partial to the wicked? Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I have said, You are gods; all of you are children of the most High. Henceforth you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.”

As I metaphysically interpret the 82nd Psalm, to remember that it is about our relationship to God as within us. It is the divine aspect of our consciousness that is speaking within us.

Verse 1: “God stands in the congregation of angels; he judges among the angels.”

This Psalm is read as a drama that is going on within our psyche. It is a psychological council meeting where our higher consciousness stands apart, witnessing the array of inner voices, our states of mind. The timeless I Am, God or Christ is the conscious witness, the observer self within, is amid the many characters that constitute a single psyche.

The psalm’s opening claim, that God judges among the angels, names a hierarchy within consciousness: the pure self, the witness, has the authority to correct or ratify the rulings made by the lesser powers of fear, pride, rationality, memory, longing, guilt, and the social self.

Metaphysically “angels” are God’s messengers and represent our spiritual thoughts, divine ideas, inner guidance, intuition and inspiration. To stand in the congregation of these divine thoughts is the observer-self the “I Am” within. Our judgement is the awareness of the discrepancy going on in one’s internal kingdom of thoughts.

Verse 2: “How long will you judge unjustly, and be partial to the wicked?”

The observer-self interrupts our internal dialogue with a question. We are being asked, why are we giving so much of our time dwelling on our misery, and being so focused on what is wrong rather than what is right with us and our world. It is seeing the glass half-empty rather than half-full. This is about how we have been judging ourselves falsely by accepting a false identity derived from fear, scarcity, blame and doubt as our truth. Letting our frightened voices to silence our creativity and spiritual truth.

This is a wake-up call to take control of our thoughts, reevaluate our beliefs, and do something good with our lives.

Verses 3-4: “Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy out of the hand of the wicked.”

We are now being asked to validate and give support to those abandoned aspects of our self; our orphaned hopes, the creative inner child, inner strength and worthiness. We are to stop giving power over to the false beliefs and change our perspective from negative to positive. To nurture daily by being focused on the truth of who we are and that of our world.

Verse 5: “They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.”

All the false fearful judgements are signs of a mind being unconscious to what is real and true. It’s about living life in a daydream state of mind; living life in ones head focused on the internal images and dialog. This is giving up reality for illusion, and being unaware of what is truly going on within and around themself. This is the total opposite of being fully present living in the here and now.

Verse: 6: “I have said, You are gods; all of you are children of the most High.”

Our “I Am” observer-self is reminding us of our true nature, that we are made in the image and likeness of God. Telling us to wake up from our dream state, and to own who we are in Truth. To recognize our At-One-Ment with God, and Oneness with each other and all of life. To honor the Divine within us and of everyone.

Gods create, and take care of their creations. Our children are the thoughts we have, our emotions and feelings that we express. The children of the most high, are the inspirational divine creative thoughts of Truth, love, mercy and generosity.

We are told here to lift our vision from the physical world. Instead of looking outside of our self for salvation, look within to the Divine, the Christ, to the real power to overcome any obstacle in life.

True seeing or knowing is from within - therefore we are to go within. Silent the mind, then the light comes and the still small voice within makes its presence known. True guidance, the way is given to be of service, to be kind, loving, and a light unto the world.

Verse 7: “Henceforth you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.”

Unless we wake-up and change our ways, we shall continue to live life as an unconscious mortal being believing in a sense of separation from God, and from our true inheritance as a spiritual being. A fallen prince is one solely focused on earthly power and material gain while forgetting to let their spiritual nature rule. When we allow our false beliefs and judgements to rule our life, we shall die by the same. As within so without, which means that which goes on within us is manifested in our earthly experiences.

Verse 8: “Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.”

This is the summons to spiritual awakening. To “arise” is to awaken the witnessing “I” within, the observer-self, to take sovereign responsibility.

Metaphysically the word “nations” represents an aggregation of thoughts that are to be instructed by our spiritual powers. We are to judge the earth, the material world rightly, and bring all are thoughts into alignment with what is true of life’s spiritual nature.

We are to call forth the Christ in us, and acknowledge the Christ within every person of our country and entire world. Then we can witness the world through new eyes that can truly see God’s good works. Some of my favorite salutations are to say silently within, “Christ in me greets the Christ in you,” “Christ in me speaks to the Christ in you,” and “Christ in me sees the Christ in you.”

We also hear Christ Jesus in John 31-34 refer to Psalm 82:6. Jesus Christ was speaking to the Pharisees and declared “I and my father are of one accord. Then the Jews again took up stones to stone him. Jesus then said to them, I have shown you many good works from my Father; for which one of them do you stone me? The Jews said to him, It is not because of the good works we stone you, but because you blaspheme; for while you are only a man, you make yourself God. Christ Jesus said “Is it not written in your law, I said, You are gods?”

We are reminded in Psalm 82:2-4 it reads, “How long will you judge unjustly, and be partial to the wicked? Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy out of the hand of the wicked.”

Jesus was referring to the Pharisees as judging unjustly, and should be helping the poor and needy, and teaching spiritual truth. Metaphysically the term Pharisee represents a state of consciousness that observes the forms and neglects the spirit of the Law. They lack love and mercy, the higher consciousness of Truth. The intellect must be enlightened by the Christ mind, in order that it may be saved from the woes that are brought upon it by the reaction of the condemnation that it has bestowed upon others.

Pharisee is a self-serving state of mind produced by the intellect. It is this self-satisfied mental attitude that causes people to lose sight of the real needs of soul and body, and finally results in dissolution of its own false structure, often at the expense of their own body. To overcome the Pharisee in ourselves we need to cleanse our subconscious mind of fear and false beliefs and replace with love and Truth. Then by receiving inspiration from within, we follow in kind by putting forth good works.

When enlightenment comes, the spirit of mercy and forgiveness enters into the spiritual ideas of the intellectual person and the mind of reason will then no longer be inclined to condemn; neither will it lie in wait to assault the Spirit of truth at every point.

The following is a guided meditation I invite you to partake in: Get comfortable, close your eyes, and turn within to your sacred temple. We shall use our imagination to visualize and see a door. We now open it to see a large round table. Seated at the table are the 12 Divine aspects of our inner Kingdom - radiant rays of light, the living energies within us. They have taken recognizable form and have assembled as our self presiding. As you enter the room, you are greeted with a standing ovation. Take a moment to feel the energy of love, joy and celebration. Approaching the table the first divine aspect of our inner Kingdom introduces itself saying:

The 1st says, “I am your love” and you two embrace.

The 2nd one says “I am your knowledge” and embrace.

The 3rd one says “I am your wisdom” and embrace.

The 4th one says: “I am your understanding” and embrace.

The 5th one says: “I am your Power” and embrace.

The 6th one says: “I am your abundance” and embrace.

The 7th one says: “I am your health” and embrace.

The 8th one says: “I am your peace” and embrace.

The 9th one says: “I am your harmony” and embrace.

The 10th one says: “I am your strength” and embrace.

The 11th one says: “I am your creativity” and embrace.

The 12th one says: “I am your Joy” and embrace.

There is much joy and gladness, for you have successfully embodied each one into your life. So it is!