Psalm 72 — Praying for a Better Ruler

A Psalm of Solomon.

1 Give the king thy judgements, O God,
And thy righteousness unto the king's son.
2 He shall judge thy people with righteousness,
And thy poor with judgement.
3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
4 He shall judge the poor of the people,
He shall save the children of the needy,
And shall break in pieces the oppressor.
5 They shall fear thee while the sun endureth,
And so long as the moon, throughout all generations.
6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass:
As showers that water the earth.
7 In his days shall the righteous flourish;
And abundance of peace, till the moon be no more.
8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,
And from the River unto the ends of the earth.
9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him;
And his enemies shall lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents:
The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him:
All nations shall serve him.
12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth;
And the poor, that hath no helper.
13 He shall have pity on the poor and needy,
And the souls of the needy he shall save.
14 He shall redeem their soul from oppression and violence;
And precious shall their blood be in his sight:
15 And they shall live; and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba:
And men shall pray for him continually;
They shall bless him all the day long.
16 There shall be abundance of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains;
The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon:
And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
17 His name shall endure for ever;
His name shall be continued as long as the sun:
And men shall be blessed in him;
All nations shall call him happy.

18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,
Who only doeth wondrous things:
19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever;
And let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen, and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

This psalm and prayer of Solomon is for God to make the king of his people great. Solomon, himself the third king of Israel, was indeed made great. Yet, I wonder when he penned this psalm. Did he open his career with these ideals, or did he pray that his son might continue in this vein?

The stories of earthly kings are largely tragic. Try as they might, human rulers fail in human ways. Solomon sought the Lord's help so that the poor and needy would have justice and food. He prayed that oppressors would fail. He prayed that the peoples of the world would respect the king enough to bring gifts to him.

Solomon was, in turn, blessed by God and his life was no complete failure. However, he never lived up to the ideals in this psalm. His son Rehoboam failed even more. Kings in all nations and all times have tried and failed to stand straight before the rule of this psalm.

Yet, it stands almost as a perfect prophecy of God's Messiah, Jesus. He does indeed rule in such a way that lives up to the words of the psalm. Consider vs. 17 and ask, could they refer to any other than Jesus?

His name shall endure for ever;
His name shall be continued as long as the sun:
And men shall be blessed in him;
All nations shall call him happy.