Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 82:5

"They know not, neither do they understand; They walk to and fro in darkness: All the foundations of the earth are shaken." — Psalms 82:5 (ASV)

They know not, neither will they understand – This is designed still further to characterize the magistrates at the time referred to in the psalm.

They not merely judged unjustly and were not merely partial in the administration of justice (Psalms 82:2), but they did not desire to understand their duty and the true principles on which justice should be administered.

They made no effort to inform themselves, either about those principles or about the facts in particular cases.

All just judgment must be based on:

• a true knowledge of what the law is, or what is right; and
• a knowledge of the facts in a particular case.

Where there is no such knowledge, of course, there must be a maladministration of justice.

One of the first requisites, therefore, in a magistrate is that he should have a proper knowledge of the law. His duty is to ascertain the exact facts in each individual case that comes before him and then impartially to apply the law to that case.

They walk on in darkness – in ignorance of the law and of the facts in the case.

All the foundations of the earth – (see Psalm 11:3, note; Psalms 75:3, note). This refers to all settled principles, all the things on which the welfare of society rests, and all on which the prosperity of the world depends.

The manner in which justice is administered is as if the very foundations of the earth should be disturbed, and the world should move without order.

Are out of course – Margin, as in Hebrew, moved. That is, they are moved from their proper place; the earth no longer rests firmly and safely on its foundation.

This language is taken from the idea, so often occurring in the Scriptures and in the language of people generally, that the earth rests on solid foundations – as a building does.

The idea is derived from the stability and fixedness of the earth, and from the fact that when a building is fixed and stable, we infer that it has a solid foundation.

The thought here is that a proper administration of justice is essential to the stability and prosperity of a state—as essential as a solid foundation is to the stability of the edifice built on it.

The effect of a real-administration of justice in any community may be well compared with what the result would be if the foundations of the earth should be removed, or if the laws that now keep it in its place should cease to operate.