Psalm 72 A Psalm Of Solomon.

 ¹Give the king Your judgments, O God,

And Your righteousness to the king’s Son.

²He will judge Your people with righteousness,

And Your poor with justice.

³The mountains will bring peace to the people,

And the little hills, by righteousness.

⁴He will bring justice to the poor of the people;

He will save the children of the needy,

And will break in pieces the oppressor.

⁵They shall fear You

As long as the sun and moon endure,

Throughout all generations.

⁶He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing,

Like showers that water the earth.

⁷In His days the righteous shall flourish,

And abundance of peace,

Until the moon is no more.

⁸He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,

And from the River to the ends of the earth.

⁹Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him,

And His enemies will lick the dust.

¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of the isles

Will bring presents;

The kings of Sheba and Seba

Will offer gifts.

¹¹Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him;

All nations shall serve Him.

¹²For He will deliver the needy when he cries,

The poor also, and him who has no helper.

¹³He will spare the poor and needy,

And will save the souls of the needy.

¹⁴He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;

And precious shall be their blood in His sight.

¹⁵And He shall live;

And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him;

Prayer also will be made for Him continually,

And daily He shall be praised.

¹⁶There will be an abundance of grain in the earth,

On the top of the mountains;

Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon;

And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

¹⁷His name shall endure forever;

His name shall continue as long as the sun.

And men shall be blessed in Him;

All nations shall call Him blessed.

¹⁸Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,

Who only does wondrous things!

¹⁹And blessed be His glorious name forever!

And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.

²⁰The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

Preamble: This is the only Psalm that we have through Solomon. Nonetheless it is a Premiere Psalm, a most excellent Psalm as it foretells the Lord Jesus Christ’s Reign and Rule. Read it then and enjoy it, because His righteousness Reign and Rule on earth will bring the justice and peace that all of humanity longs for.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “Give the king Your judgments, O God,

And Your righteousness to the king’s Son.”

Solomon begins this Psalm with a prayer that God would grant him His judgments, that He would also grant His Righteousness to the king’s son, in essence Solomon is asking for His understanding of what is just and right, so that he himself may be a just judge while awaiting upon the Most Just Judge’s Reign and Rule. And in asking for His Righteousness to the king’s son, as the son of David, whose throne was established for the Lord Jesus Christ’s Reign, Solomon wants to bear this immense responsibility well during his tenure while reigning as king on it. To know then the Word of God well is to have the ability to do both, and in this the Word of God Himself is Supreme.

Vs. 2 “He will judge Your people with righteousness,

And Your poor with justice.”

Solomon immediately moves away from himself and looks forward to Christ, prophesying now of the Lord Jesus Christ’s Reign and Rule, seeing Him judging God’s people with righteousness and God’s poor with justice will then be the foundation of His Throne. No longer then will God’s people be exploited or exploit each other, nor will they be corrupted by unjust and immoral verdicts and decrees given through those of this world. For God's poor will never again be exploited, used, neglected or abused by individuals or governments, for where they were once disdained, now they will be honored. 

Vs. 3 “The mountains will bring peace to the people,

And the little hills, by righteousness.”

Here a metaphor is being used to describe how all ruling authority on earth will be subject to the Lord Jesus Christ, for they will render His Righteous verdicts. Mountains then are a metaphor for the highest authorities in the land, while little hills would be the local authorities and magistrates. Therefore, they will no longer serve their own personal, political, or corporate and rich friends agendas. Nations will not then make war with other nations trying to satisfy their own ambitions, or self serving agendas, at the expense of their own peoples, or anyone else lives and blood. Nor will there be any more corruption, or bribes, or showing of partiality to anyone, for the Lord Jesus Christ shall oversee them all. Therefore, there will be peace on earth, for they will all be under His watchful eye when He Reigns.

Vs. 4 “He will bring justice to the poor of the people;

He will save the children of the needy,

And will break in pieces the oppressor.”

The Lord Jesus Christ then will bring justice to the poor of the people, He will save the children of the needy, and all those exploiters and oppressors who have made this world so unfairly tilted in their favor, whether by force of arms or otherwise, will all be broken. No more will the poor, whether individuals or nations be their victims. 

Vs. 5 “They shall fear You

As long as the sun and moon endure,

Throughout all generations.”

Therefore, they shall fear Him, the Lord Jesus Christ as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations, for His Reign and His Rule shall be in Righteousness. And as the prophet Isaiah foretells, He shall rule the world with a rod of iron, therefore even before the wicked and the unjust can begin to hatch their evil plot or their scheming scheme, He will strike them down!

Vs. 6 “He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing,

Like showers that water the earth.”

His very Presence then will bring blessings to all the earth, people will be joy filled and prosper, no longer then will people labor in vain, for the Lord will make all the work of our hands to prosper!

Vs. 7 “In His days the righteous shall flourish,

And abundance of peace,

Until the moon is no more.”

In the Lord Jesus Christ’s reign the righteous will flourish, and people will no longer fear being victims of crime or war, for none shall exist! Therefore, the righteous shall flourish, and everlasting peace shall fill the earth when the Prince of Peace Reigns, until the moon is no more! 

Vs. 8 “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,

And from the River to the ends of the earth.”

The Lord Jesus Christ’s shall reign be over all nations, from sea to sea, from the great River Euphrates to the ends of the earth they shall all be subject to Him!

Vs. 9 “Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him,

And His enemies will lick the dust.”

Even all those far off peoples who dwell in the wildernesses, in places uncivilized and undeveloped by man will bow before him, for they will all be subject to Him. And His enemies who will not submit to Him will be brought low, they will all lick the dust, their humiliation and defeat is assured.

Vs. 10-11 ¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of the isles

Will bring presents;

The kings of Sheba and Seba

Will offer gifts.

¹¹Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him;

All nations shall serve Him.

Such will be the Lord’s honoring that from the ends of earth all kings will come bringing most precious gifts to Him, yes, all kings, all the rulers of this world, shall fall down before Him, for all nations shall serve Him! For the Lord Jesus Christ will be honored as no other has ever been!

Vs. 12-14 ¹²For He will deliver the needy when he cries,

The poor also, and him who has no helper.

¹³He will spare the poor and needy,

And will save the souls of the needy.

¹⁴He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;

And precious shall be their blood in His sight.

Now His being honored so highly is not just for His Person's Status, but for what He does as King. "For He will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him who has no helper. ¹³He will spare the poor and needy, And will save the souls of the needy. ¹⁴He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; And precious shall be their blood in His sight." Throughout the Holy Scripture God’s defense of the poor and needy is proclaimed and commanded. And so here we see the Lord Himself putting God's Word into action. For He will be their Deliverer, their cries will be heard by Him and immediately He shall respond for them. Indeed, everyone who is oppressed or abused or mistreated or used will find a strong Savior in Him. Therefore, He will spare them all, they will never again be helpless against.... for their victimization, their suffering...,  will all end with Him! For their blood shall be precious in His sight. No one will ever again dare raise their hands against them, for all who do so will find themselves as the object of His everlasting wrath! This then is what true leadership looks like.

Vs. 15 “And He shall live;

And the gold of Sheba will be given to Him;

Prayer also will be made for Him continually,

And daily He shall be praised.”

His life and tenure then shall be continually hallowed and honored, gifts of the finest gold shall be given Him. Prayer also shall be continually made for Him. And daily we shall praise Him, for He alone has proven Himself worthy of our praise!

Vs. 16 “There will be an abundance of grain in the earth,

On the top of the mountains;

Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon;

And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.”

When the Lord Jesus Christ reigns, the earth will bring forth grain in abundance, even mountain tops shall yield a bountiful harvest; for droughts and floods and insects and all manner of natural disasters and diseases that destroy drops and harvests simply will not be, and such will be the earths bounty that the crops will wave in the breeze like Lebanon. Even those in the cities will flourish, dilapidated neighborhoods will not be seen, inner city poverty and crime will not be known by anyone.

Vs. 17 “His name shall endure forever;

His name shall continue as long as the sun.

And men shall be blessed in Him;

All nations shall call Him blessed.”

Jesus Christ’s Name shall endure forever, it shall continue as long as the sun. For all people shall be blessed in him, and every nation shall call Him blessed. There then will be no other Name so Honored as His! What a vision the Holy Spirt and God’s Word has given us through Solomon to look forward too!

Vs. 18-29 ¹⁸Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,

Who only does wondrous things!

¹⁹And blessed be His glorious name forever!

And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.

Truly one cannot but bless the the Lord God of Israel, for what He has done, and now what we know He is going to do! For He alone does wondrous things! He alone makes all things new! Therefore, let us all bless His glorious Name forever, for it is by His Name, by faith in Him, that we have now become citizens of His Kingdom! Therefore, let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen

Vs. 20 “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.”

This psalm ends with a note that the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. Now we know that there are more Psalm to come in the Book of Psalms that came through David. Therefore, as the believers Bible Commentary holds I too believe that this Psalm likely represents the fulfillment of David’s prayers for the Messiah’s Regin, for here we get to see them fulfilled!

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.