HOW LONG?
How long will you judge unjustly, and show favor to the wicked?
— From Psalm 82
Psalm 82 begins with a powerful image:
God standing in the council—watching, listening, waiting.
Then comes the interruption:
“How long will you judge unjustly?”
It’s not rhetorical. It’s not abstract.
It’s a divine call-out—spoken to those in positions of influence, those with voices, those seated at tables where decisions are made.
This isn't just about ancient rulers or long-dead kings. It’s about now.
It's about school boards and leadership teams. Church elders and city councils. Online mobs and family texts.
And it's especially about what happens when someone speaks up—asks a hard question, calls out a contradiction, points to something that just doesn’t feel right.
Because far too often, the first instinct isn’t to listen, but to shut it down.
“Let’s move on.”
“This isn’t the time.”
“That voice doesn’t matter.”
Even in the quietest of rooms, that soft censorship can ring louder than truth.
And when the one speaking is uncredentialed, unpolished, or unfamiliar—a worker, a neighbor, someone on the outside—it becomes all too easy to laugh, dismiss, ignore.
But Scripture doesn’t laugh.
Amos was a farmer. David, a shepherd. Jesus, a carpenter.
The people most often silenced are often the very ones God sends to speak.
“How long will you judge unjustly?”
It’s a question for every leader, every influencer, every voice in power.
Because God still stands in the council.
And He still drops the plumb line.
And He still expects justice—not just in what is decided, but in who is heard.