The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"thy judgments," Hebrew mishpatekha (מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ). The psalm prays first not for the king's wealth, armies, fame, or length of days, but for God's own justice to be given him. A throne is only as good as the character that sits on it.

"righteousness," tzidqatekha (צִדְקָתְךָ). Paired with the judgments, and equally God's own. The king is not asked to invent a standard but to receive one, so that his rule is a channel for God's righteousness rather than his own will.

"the king's son," ben-melekh (בֶּן־מֶלֶךְ). The prayer looks past the present reign to the succession. What is asked for is not one good ruler but a righteous royal line, which is why the psalm keeps straining toward a greater Son of David.

"thy poor," aniyyekha (עֲנִיֶּיךָ). Now the psalm names the true measure of a kingdom, and it is a surprising one: not the splendour of the palace or the size of the borders, but how the King treats the lowest. A kingdom is measured from the bottom.

"save the children of the needy," yoshia livnei evyon (יוֹשִׁיעַ לִבְנֵי אֶבְיוֹן). The powerful can fend for themselves; the test of a good reign is whether the needy are saved. This is God's own priority written into the ideal king.

"break in pieces the oppressor," vidakke oshek (וִידַכֵּא עוֹשֵׁק). The other side of the same justice: to defend the poor is to crush the one who preys on them. But no earthly king ever fully lived up to this prayer; Solomon began well and ended in oppression and heavy taxes, so the psalm is reaching from its first lines for a greater King.

Explanation

Notice what the psalm asks for the king first, and what it makes the test of his reign. It does not open by praying for the king's riches, his armies, his fame, or the length of his life; it prays, "Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness." Before anything else, the king needs God's own justice and righteousness, for a throne is only as good as the character that sits on it. And then the psalm names the true measure of a kingdom, and it is a surprising one: not the splendour of the palace or the size of the borders, but how the King treats the lowest. "He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor." A kingdom is measured from the bottom. The powerful can fend for themselves; the test of a good reign is whether the poor are defended, the needy saved, and the oppressor broken. This is God's own priority written into the ideal king, for God Himself is the defender of the poor and the enemy of the oppressor. But here is the sober truth: no earthly king ever fully lived up to this prayer. Solomon began well and ended in oppression and heavy taxes. The prayer describes a reign too perfect for any mere son of David, a King who would truly and always defend the poor and crush every oppressor. The psalm is reaching, from its first lines, for a greater King than Solomon.

Gospel Focus

"He shall judge the poor of the people... and shall break in pieces the oppressor", the perfect King of righteousness and mercy is the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Son of David, in whom this prayer is fully answered. Isaiah foretold Him in the same terms, "with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth" (Isaiah 11:4); His is the reign where justice and mercy meet. He came preaching good news "to the poor" (Luke 4:18), gathering the needy and the outcast, and He will at last "break in pieces the oppressor," destroying every tyranny, and Satan himself, the great oppressor, whom He came to bind and cast down. His kingdom is the one where the lowest are lifted, "he hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree" (Luke 1:52). And His righteousness is not merely the standard He enforces but the gift He gives, for He "of God is made unto us... righteousness" (1 Corinthians 1:30). So the psalm's prayer, "give the king thy righteousness," is answered in a King who both rules in righteousness and clothes His people in it. Look to Jesus, the King who defends the poor, crushes the oppressor, and reigns in a justice no earthly throne could match, and take refuge in His righteous and merciful reign.

Word Study

"dominion," Hebrew veyerd (וְיֵרְדְּ), he shall rule. The King's rule spreads outward, and the psalm at once begins measuring its borders. What it measures will prove far too large for any throne Solomon ever sat on.

"from sea to sea," miyyam ad-yam (מִיָּם עַד־יָם). Not from Dan to Beersheba, not even the wide reach of Solomon's empire at its height, but ocean to ocean. This is a reign without borders.

"the river," nahar (נָהָר), the Euphrates. "The river" without further description meant the Euphrates, the great boundary of the known eastern world. The psalm begins from the farthest landmark Israel knew and then goes further still.

"ends of the earth," afsei-aretz (אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ). Here the measuring stops, because there is nothing beyond. The language is simply too large for Solomon; it strains, deliberately, past him toward a King whose dominion really would be universal.

"bring presents," yashivu minchah (יָשִׁיבוּ מִנְחָה). "The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts", a scene that would find a striking echo when wise men from the east came to a King greater than Solomon and "presented unto him gifts" (Matthew 2:11).

"fall down before him," yishtachavu-lo (יִשְׁתַּחֲווּ־לוֹ). The word is of prostration, the posture of worship as much as of homage. Solomon received tribute from many kings, but "all kings" never bowed to him.

"all nations shall serve him," kol-goyim ya'avduhu (כָּל־גּוֹיִם יַעַבְדוּהוּ). Note the repeated "all." Solomon's empire shrank and split within a generation of his death; this is a portrait of a coming King before whom every earthly crown will bow.

Explanation

Measure the borders of this kingdom, and you will see at once that it outruns any throne Solomon ever sat on. "From sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth", not from Dan to Beersheba, not even the wide reach of Solomon's empire at its height, but the whole world, ocean to ocean, to the very ends of the earth. And the reach of homage matches: "all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him." No son of David ever held such a dominion. Solomon received tribute from many kings, and his glory was great, but "all kings" and "all nations" never bowed to him, and his empire shrank and split within a generation of his death. The language of this psalm is simply too large for Solomon; it strains, deliberately, past him toward a King whose dominion really would be universal and everlasting. Notice, too, the detail of the kings bringing gifts, "the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts", a scene that would find a striking echo when wise men from the east came to a King greater than Solomon and "presented unto him gifts" (Matthew 2:11). The whole section is a portrait of a coming King before whom every earthly crown will bow, a dominion that begins small, "an handful of corn" (v16), and grows until it fills the earth. Solomon's reign was a faint sketch; the psalm is painting the Messiah.

Gospel Focus

"Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him", this universal dominion belongs to Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and it shall surely come to pass. To Him it is promised, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession" (Psalm 2:8), and the risen Christ declared, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18). The wise men who brought gold to the infant Jesus were the firstfruits of the kings of this psalm, and the day is certain when "the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15), when "every knee should bow... and... every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2:10-11). His kingdom, like the handful of corn, began small, a manger, twelve disciples, a mustard seed, and it is growing to fill the earth, gathering "all nations" to serve Him. So the borders of Christ's reign are the ends of the earth, and no crown stands outside them. Bow to Him now, gladly, as King and Saviour, and join the nations who will one day fall down before Him; for the dominion of the Lord Jesus has no end.

Word Study

"his name shall endure for ever," Hebrew yehi shemo le'olam (יְהִי שְׁמוֹ לְעוֹלָם). A claim far too great for any mortal king. Names do not endure for ever; the greatest kings are forgotten in a few generations, their monuments crumble, their fame fades. A name that truly outlasts the sun belongs to no son of Adam, only to One whose life has no end.

"continued," yinnon (יִנּוֹן), be propagated, flourish, have offspring. The word pictures a name that keeps putting out new growth, "as long as the sun." It does not merely survive; it goes on producing, generation after generation.

"men shall be blessed in him," veyitbarekhu vo (וְיִתְבָּרְכוּ בוֹ). Listen closely, for these words come straight from the promise God made to Abraham, "in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 22:18). To be "blessed in him" is to identify this King as the promised Seed.

"all nations shall call him blessed," kol-goyim ye'ashsheruhu (כָּל־גּוֹיִם יְאַשְּׁרוּהוּ). No ordinary king is the fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant. The psalm that began by praying for a righteous reign and rose to a worldwide dominion ends by naming its King as the everlasting Seed in whom all peoples are blessed.

Explanation

Two claims in this verse are far too great for any mortal king. The first: "His name shall endure for ever... as long as the sun." Names do not endure for ever; the greatest kings are forgotten in a few generations, their monuments crumble, their fame fades. Solomon's name is remembered, but Solomon is dead, and his kingdom is dust. A name that truly outlasts the sun belongs to no son of Adam, only to One whose life has no end. The second claim is even more telling: "men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed." Listen closely, for those words come straight from the promise God made to Abraham, "in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 22:18). To say that "all nations" will be "blessed in him" is to identify this King as the promised Seed of Abraham, the one in whom the ancient blessing finally reaches the whole world. No ordinary king is the fulfilment of the Abrahamic covenant; only the Messiah is. So the psalm, which began by praying for a righteous reign and rose to a worldwide dominion, ends by naming its King as the everlasting Seed in whom all peoples are blessed. This is why the psalm can close, two verses later, with a doxology that fills "the whole earth" with God's glory: the King it has been describing is no mere man, but the One through whom God's glory and blessing flood the world. His name endures for ever because He Himself endures for ever, and in Him the nations are blessed at last.

Gospel Focus

"His name shall endure for ever... and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed", this is the name of Jesus Christ, the everlasting King and the Seed of Abraham in whom all nations are blessed. His name is the one name that endures for ever, "a name which is above every name" (Philippians 2:9), that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow"; and while every other name fades, His is the name that shall be praised as long as the sun and beyond it, "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Hebrews 13:8). And the promise that "all nations shall be blessed in him" is fulfilled in Christ, for "the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed" (Galatians 3:8), and that blessing comes "on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ" (Galatians 3:14). Every people that has ever been blessed with the knowledge of God has been blessed in Him. So Psalm 72 ends where all Scripture ends, with the everlasting King filling the earth with His glory, and it is fitting that Book Two of the Psalms closes with the doxology, "let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen." Bless the King whose name endures for ever, the Lord Jesus Christ, and be blessed in Him, and call Him blessed with all the nations of the earth.