Psalms 82:5

5. They know not “The judges are ignorant of their duty.” Ainsworth. They consider not the high dignity of their office, the fundamental laws of the theocracy, and that the existence of the nation depends on their fidelity. For more than sixty years, since the death of Solomon, the government had declined fearfully. We must understand God as still speaking to the judges, and Psalms 82:5 refers to such as are described Psalms 82:2, and will not practise the injunctions of Psalms 82:3-4. Compare Micah 3:1: “And I said,… O… ye princes of the house of Israel, is it not for you to know judgment.”

All the foundations of the earth are out of course The principles of just government are the pillars of society, and when they are perverted by corrupt and ambitious rulers the foundations of the social fabric are shaken, and must fall. The figure is that of an earthquake shaking and heaving the solid earth, and demolishing human habitations. Compare note on Psalms 75:3