There is one more thing this passage adds to our enjoyment of good things that sets the enjoyment of God's people off from that of hedonists. It is the most obvious thing of all: the knowledge that all we have is from God and the heartfelt giving of thanks to him for it. That is why Nehemiah reminded the people that “this day is sacred to our Lord” and that “the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

But here is the important thing. Even though Nehemiah unquestionably welcomed this repentance and desired the revival—later on in the story he encourages it—he did not take advantage of the moment to promote the revival of the nation at this time. Why not? Because it was a time to enjoy and give thanks.

In a judicial setting as significant as this one seems to be, we might anticipate a thunderous judgment of eternal death being passed upon Israel's unjust judges. And indeed, there are some who take the sentence of verses 6 and 7 in this way, death being understood as eternal death or damnation. Yet the psalm does not actually say this, though it might be inferred as a final consequence of the ruler’s sin. Instead, it seems to speak temporally only, reminding the rulers that they are human after all, that they will die in time, just like anybody else, and that they will fall from their exalted position just like any other ruler.

We have already looked at the first verse, but we need to return to it again briefly because it sets the scene for what follows. It is a convening of the court. It is God calling the "gods” before him to render judgment.

On one occasion Jesus’ enemies came to him with a trick question: “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not” (Matt. 22:17)? They thought that if he said it was right to pay taxes, they could discredit him in the eyes of those who hated Rome and for whom taxes were a much-resented burden. On the other hand, if he said that the Jews should resist Rome by refusing to pay their taxes, then they could denounce him to the Roman authorities as an insurrectionist who was trying to overthrow Caesar.