Psalm 72[a]
[A Psalm] for Solomon.
1 Give the king [knowledge of] Your [way of] judging, O God, and [the spirit of] Your righteousness to the king’s son [to control all his actions].
2 Let him judge and govern Your people with righteousness, and Your poor and afflicted ones with judgment and justice.
3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the hills, through [the general establishment of] righteousness.
4 May he judge and defend the poor of the people, deliver the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor,
5 So that they may revere and fear You while the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
6 May he [Solomon as a type of King David’s greater Son] be like rain that comes down upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.
7 In [b]His [Christ’s] days shall the [uncompromisingly] righteous flourish and peace abound till there is a moon no longer.(A)
8 He [Christ] shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth.(B)
9 Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him and His enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the coasts shall bring offerings; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
11 Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him.(C)
12 For He delivers the needy when he calls out, the poor also and him who has no helper.
13 He will have pity on the poor and weak and needy and will save the lives of the needy.
14 He will redeem their lives from oppression and fraud and violence, and precious and costly shall their blood be in His sight.
15 And He shall live; and to Him shall be given gold of Sheba; prayer also shall be made for Him and through Him continually, and they shall bless and praise Him all the day long.
16 There shall be abundance of grain in the soil upon the top of the mountains [the least fruitful places in the land]; the fruit of it shall wave like [the forests of] Lebanon, and [the inhabitants of] the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
17 His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun [indeed, His name continues before the sun]. And men shall be blessed and bless themselves by Him; all nations shall call Him blessed!
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone does wondrous things!
19 Blessed be His glorious name forever; let the whole earth be filled with His glory! Amen and Amen!
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
Footnotes
- Psalm 72:1 “This psalm, in highly wrought figurative style, describes the reign of a king as ‘righteous, universal, beneficent, and perpetual.’ By the older Jewish and most of the modern Christian interpreters it has been applied to Christ, Whose reign present and prospective alone corresponds with its statements. As the imagery of the Second Psalm was drawn from the martial character of David’s reign, that of this is from the peaceful and prosperous state of Solomon’s” (Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown, A Commentary). “Jesus is here, beyond all doubt, in the glory of His reign, both as He now is and as He shall be revealed in the latter-day glory” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of David).
- Psalm 72:7 See footnote on Ps. 72:1. The ideal concept of the king and the glorious effects of his reign are described, the fulfillment of which is experienced in Christ.