Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 72:1
[A Psalm] for Solomon. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
1. God is the source of all judgement (Deu 1:17); the king is His representative for administering it. May God therefore grant him such a knowledge of the divine laws and ordinances by which he is to govern Israel, and endow him with such a divine spirit of justice, as may make him a worthy ruler. Just judgement is the constant characteristic of the ideal king (Isa 11:3 ff; Isa 16:5; Isa 28:6; Isa 32:1). The words of this verse and the next are the echo of God’s offer to Solomon, “Ask what I shall give thee;” and of Solomon’s answer, “Give thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people;” and a prayer for the effectual realisation of the promise, “Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart.” (1Ki 3:5 ff.).
the king the king’s son ] Not, to the king and his heir, for the Psalm speaks of but one ruler; but, to a king who is a king’s son, the legitimate successor to the throne.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1 7. A prayer that God will confer upon the king the gifts which he needs for the right exercise of his office. Then righteousness will bear the fruit of peace; redress and repression of wrong will promote the fear of God; under his beneficent rule the righteous will flourish.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Give the king – Supposing the psalm to have been composed by David in view of the inauguration of his son and successor, this is a prayer that God would bestow on him the qualifications which would tend to secure a just, a protracted, and a peaceful reign. Though it is to be admitted that the psalm was designed to refer ultimately to the Messiah, and to be descriptive of his reign, yet there is no impropriety in supposing that the psalmist believed the reign of Solomon would be, in some proper sense emblematic of that reign, and that it was his desire the reign of the one might, as far as possible, resemble that of the other. There is no improbability, therefore, in supposing that the mind of the psalmist might have been directed to both in the composition of the psalm, and that while he used the language of prayer for the one, his eye was mainly directed to the characteristics of the other.
Thy judgments – Knowledge; authority; ability to execute thy judgments, or thy laws. That is, he speaks of the king as appointed to administer justice; to maintain the laws of God, and to exercise judicial power. It is one of the primary ideas in the character of a king that he is the fountain of justice; the maker of the laws; the dispenser of right to all his subjects. The officers of the law administer justice under him; the last appeal is to him.
And thy righteousness – That is, Clothe him, in the administration of justice, with a righteousness like thine own. Let it be seen that he represents thee; that his government may be regarded as thine own administration through him.
Unto the kings son – Not only to him, but to his successor; that is, let the administration of justice in the government be perpetuated. There is no improbability in supposing that in this the psalmist may have designed also to refer to the last and the greatest of his successors in the line – the Messiah.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 72:1-20
Give the king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the kings son.
The world-wanted king
Society cannot exist without laws: these laws require to be expressed and enforced, and whoever does this is ruler. Again, whilst the millions have the instinct of obedience, and lack the faculty to rule, there are always some, on the other hand, in whom there is the tendency and the power to govern. Let us look at the reign of this ideal king as here sketched.
I. It is characterized by righteousness and compassion (Psa 72:1-4). This compassion, this tender, practical sympathy for the woes of the indigent and oppressed, is not something opposed to righteousness. It is but a modification of righteousness, or rather, another phase of righteousness. Justice is but love sternly opposing all that is injurious to the universe, and benevolently encouraging all that is promotive of happiness. Justice is like some Alpine hill, when the sun is descending in the West on one side it is dark, frowning, terrific, on the other side it glows in brightness, disports in beauty. This compassion, this mercy, becomes the throned monarch better than his crown.
II. It is characterized by the highest national blessings (Psa 72:3; Psa 72:7).
1. General peace. The prevalence of universal good-will is essential to universal peace. Men not seeking their own as the grand end, but seeking the good of each other.
2. Spiritual vitality.
3. The prosperity of the righteous. Men will be considered great, useful, and honourable in proportion to the amount of rectitude that lives in their hearts and comes out in their daily life.
III. It is characterized by its moral command over all peoples (Psa 72:9-11). Moral worth is always mighty; like the sun, no man can ignore it, no man can disregard its influence, or deny its value. But moral worth in a king is especially mighty, it is seen, and wherever seen is felt. Moral worth is moral sovereignty.
IV. It is characterized by its expansibility and duration (Psa 72:8; Psa 72:16-17). The language does not mean that the king himself is to live and reign for ever, but that his name, his moral character, will be held in everlasting remembrance and will work on the earth for good as long as the sun and moon shall last.
V. It is characterized by its Divine establishment (Psa 72:18-19). For such a king as this the mighty Sovereign of the universe deserves the devoutest praises of men. He alone can form the character of such a king. (Homilist.)
Messiahs reign
I. Characteristics.
1. Righteousness (Psa 72:2). (Isa 11:1-5; Isa 32:1; Isa 32:17). Not till He comes whose right it is to reign will there be on earth a king whose judgments shall be based on an absolute knowledge of men, independent of the sensual judgment of sight and hearing. Then, and then only, will the people have righteousness meted out to them; then only will the poor be perfectly defended from the oppression of the rich.
2. Strength (Rev 12:10). In the day of Christs reign oppression shall not only come to an end, but the saints shall inherit the kingdom and the oppressor shall be cast out of power.
3. Gentleness (Psa 72:6). Not with the sword does Christ win His kingdom, nor by such means will He execute righteousness in the deliverance of His poor and in the breaking of the tyrants power, but by the almighty strength of truth itself.
4. Peace and prosperity (Psa 72:8; Psa 72:10; Psa 72:16). This can only indicate an abundance of every supply, both for the people in country and city, and for all purposes of state and kingdom.
II. Extent.
1. Duration. An everlasting reign (Psa 72:15; Psa 72:17). His Kingship, as well as His Priesthood, is in the power of an endless life (Psa 21:4; Psa 61:6-7).
2. Subjects. Not only of all nations, but of every class of men in all nations.
3. Territory (Psa 72:8). What a heaven this earth will be with the curse removed, all wickedness and evil taken out of the hearts and lives of all people; waters shall break out in the desert, and the very beasts of the field and the forest shall rest at peace each side with the others.
III. Universal adoration.
1. Prayer. Prayer shall be made to Him continually. Every want shall be presented to Him, in the spirit of constant and humble, yet confident supplication, and no good thing will be witheld from those who pray.
2. Praise. And daily shall He be praised. Eternity will not be too long wherein to praise Him who shall have delivered our souls from death, from the deceit and oppression of the wicked, especially from the power of our great enemy, the devil; to praise Him for the unspeakable blessings of forgiveness, justification, regeneration, sanctification.
3. Gifts. To Him shall be given the gold of Sheba. The people will themselves be a free-will offering to their Lord and King; all that they are and have shall be laid at His feet as being worth nothing apart from Him and His blessing. Who shall say that in the age of glory there shall not be vast fields and unknown opportunities for the employment of all the redeemed and sanctified powers of man? (G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)
Jesus both King and Kings Son
The king–the kings son. We see that our Lord is here termed both king and the kings son; both as respect to His human nature and also as to His Divine origin; for the Father of the universe may, of course, be properly denominated King. Agreeably to this designation we find on Turkish coins the inscription, Sultan, son of Sultan. (George Phillips.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
PSALM LXXII
David prays to God for Solomon, 1;
prescribes Solomon’s work, 2;
the effects of his administration, 3-7;
the extent of his dominion, 8-11;
his mercy and kindness to the poor, and the perpetuity of his
praise, 12-17.
God is blessed for his power and goodness; and the psalmist
prays that the whole earth may be filled with his glory, 18-20.
NOTES ON PSALM LXXII
The title lishelomoh, we translate, A Psalm for Solomon. The Chaldee says, “By the hand of Solomon, spoken prophetically.” The Syriac, “A Psalm of David, when he had constituted Solomon king.” All the other Versions attribute it to Solomon himself. But in the conclusion of the Psalm it appears to be attributed to David. “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” It is most probably a Psalm of David, composed in his last days, when he had set this beloved son on the throne of the kingdom. “Then,” says Calmet, “transported with joy and gratitude, he addressed this Psalm to God, in which he prays him to pour out his blessings on the young king, and upon the people. He then, wrapped up in a Divine enthusiasm, ascends to a higher subject; and sings the glory of the Messiah, and the magnificence of his reign. Hence it is that we may see in this Psalm a great number of expressions which cannot relate to Solomon, unless in a hyperbolical and figurative sense; but, applied to Christ, they are literally and rigorously exact.”
Verse 1. Give the king thy judgments] Let Solomon receive thy law, as the civil and ecclesiastical code by which he is to govern the kingdom.
And thy righteousness unto the king’s son.] Righteousness may signify equity. Let him not only rule according to the strict letter of thy law, that being the base on which all his decisions shall be founded; but let him rule also according to equity, that rigorous justice may never become oppressive. Solomon is called here the king, because now set upon the Jewish throne; and he is called the king’s son, to signify his right to that throne on which he now sat.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The king; Solomon, who was now anointed king, his father yet living, 1Ki 1:39. And this Psalm may seem to be made for that great and solemn occasion.
Thy judgments, i.e. either,
1. Thy statutes and precepts, which are oft called Gods judgments; which as thou hast given already in thy book, so give them to him a second and a better way, by writing them upon his heart, or by giving him a solid knowledge of them, and a hearty love and obedience to them. Or rather,
2. Thy manner of government or administration, which is oft called judgment, as Psa 94:15; Isa 28:6, &c.; that he may follow thy example in governing thy people, as thou governest them, to wit, in
righteousness, as it follows. He saith judgments, in the plural number, because though the office of judging and ruling was but one, yet there were divers parts, and branches, and acts-of it; as to acquit the innocent, to condemn the guilty, &c.; in all which he begs that Solomon may be directed to do as God doth, or would have him to do in such cases.
Thy righteousness; that grace of righteousness which is a part of thine image, and is absolutely necessary for good government.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. Give the king, c.a prayerwhich is equivalent to a prediction.
judgmentsthe acts, and(figuratively) the principles of a right government (Joh 5:22Joh 9:39).
righteousnessqualificationsfor conducting such a government.
king’s sonsame personas a kinga very proper title for Christ, as such in both natures.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Give the King thy judgments, O God,…. A prayer of David, or of the church he represents, to God the Father concerning Christ; for he is “the King” meant; which is the sense of the old Jewish synagogue: the Targum is,
“give the constitutions of thy judgments to the King Messiah;”
and so their Midrash m interprets it. He is “the King”, by way of eminence, as in Ps 45:1; not only the King of the world in right of creation and preservation, in conjunction; with his Father, having an equal right with him; but of saints, of the church and people of God, by the designation and constitution of his Father; hence he was promised and prophesied of as a King, Jer 23:5 Zec 9:9; and he came into the world as such, though his kingdom did not appear very manifest in his state of humiliation; yet at his ascension it did, when he was made and declared Lord and Christ; and it is for the manifestation of his kingdom, and the glory of it, the psalmist here prays. For by “judgments” are meant not the statutes and laws of God, given him to be shown, explained unto, and enforced on others, which rather belongs to his prophetic office, or as the rule of his government; nor the judgments of God to be inflicted upon wicked men, which is only one part of his kingly office; but of all power in heaven and in earth, which was given him by his Father upon his resurrection, and about the time of his ascension, Mt 28:18; and is the same with “all judgment” committed by him to his Son, Joh 5:22; and which explains the clause here, and is the reason why it is expressed in the plural number here; which takes in the whole of the power and authority, the kingdom, and the greatness of the kingdom, delivered to Christ; and which chiefly lies in the government of the church, which is on his shoulders, and is committed into his hand; exercised in enacting laws, and delivering out ordinances, to be observed by the saints, and in the protection and defence of them; and also includes his judgment of the world at the last day, to which he is ordained and appointed by his Father, and will be managed and conducted by him;
and thy righteousness unto the King’s Son; who is the same with the King, as Jarchi well observes; for only one single person is afterwards spoken of, and designs the Messiah; who, as a divine Person, is the Son of the King of kings, the only begotten of the Father, the true and proper Son of God; and, as man, the Son of David the king. And so the Targum,
“and thy righteousness to the Son of David the king;”
a known name of the Messiah, Mt 1:1. And by “righteousness” is meant, not the essential righteousness of God; this Christ has by nature equally with his divine Father, and is not given or communicated to him; but the fulness of the graces of the Spirit, and perfection of virtues, which he received without measure; whereby, as Mediator, he is abundantly qualified to judge with righteousness, and reprove with equity; and not as other judges do, after the sight of the eyes, or hearing of the ears; see Isa 11:2. Unless it can be understood of the everlasting righteousness, which Christ has wrought out, called his Father’s, because appointed in council and covenant, approved of and accepted by him, and imputed to his people. To work out this righteousness was not only given to Christ in covenant, but he was sent in the fulness of time to do it; and had a power given him, as Mediator, to justify many with it, Isa 53:11; and which may be here prayed for. Jerom, by the “King’s Son”, understands such as are regenerated, and taken into the adoption of children; and to such the righteousness of God is given. This is a truth, but not the sense of the text.
m In Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 112. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The name of God, occurring only once, is Elohim; and this is sufficient to stamp the Psalm as an Elohimic Psalm. (cf. Psa 21:2) and are only used without the article according to a poetical usage of the language. The petition itself, and even the position of the words, show that the king’s son is present, and that he is king; God is implored to bestow upon him His , i.e., the rights or legal powers belonging to Him, the God of Israel, and , i.e., the official gift in order that he may exercise those rights in accordance with divine righteousness. After the supplicatory teen the futures which now follow, without the Waw apodoseos, are manifestly optatives. Mountains and hills describe synecdochically the whole land of which they are the high points visible afar off. is used in the sense of Eze 17:8: may be the fruit which ripens upon every mountain and hill; universal prosperity satisfied and contented within itself. The predicate for Psa 72:3 is to be taken from Psa 72:3, just as, on the other hand, , “in or by righteousness,” the fruit of which is indeed peace (Isa 32:17), belongs also to Psa 72:3; so that consequently both members supplement one another. The wish of the poet is this: By righteousness, may there in due season be such peaceful fruit adorning all the heights of the land. Psa 72:3, however, always makes one feel as though a verb were wanting, like suggested by Bttcher. In Psa 72:4 the wishes are continued in plain unfigurative language. in the signification to save, to obtain salvation for, has, as is frequently the case, a dative of the object. are those who are born to poverty, just like , one who is born a king. Those who are born to poverty are more or less regarded, by an unrighteous government, as having no rights.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Prayer for Solomon. | |
A psalm for Solomon.
1 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
This verse is a prayer for the king, even the king’s son.
I. We may apply it to Solomon: Give him thy judgments, O God! and thy righteousness; make him a man, a king; make him a good man, a good king. 1. It is the prayer of a father for his child, a dying blessing, such as the patriarchs bequeathed to their children. The best thing we can ask of God for our children is that God will give them wisdom and grace to know and do their duty; that is better than gold. Solomon learned to pray for himself as his father had prayed for him, not that God would give him riches and honour, but a wise and understanding heart. It was a comfort to David that his own son was to be his successor, but more so that he was likely to be both judicious and righteous. David had given him a good education (Prov. iv. 3), had taught him good judgment and righteous, yet that would not do unless God gave him his judgments. Parents cannot give grace to their children, but may by prayer bring them to the God of grace, and shall not seek him in vain, for their prayer shall either be answered or it shall return with comfort into their own bosom. 2. It is the prayer of a king for his successor. David had executed judgment and justice during his reign, and now he prays that his son might do so too. Such a concern as this we should have for posterity, desiring and endeavouring that those who come after us may do God more and better service in their day than we have done in ours. Those have little love either to God or man, and are of a very narrow selfish spirit, who care not what becomes of the world and the church when they are gone. 3. It is the prayer of subjects for their king. It should seem, David penned this psalm for the use of the people, that they, in singing, might pray for Solomon. Those who would live quiet and peaceable lives must pray for kings and all in authority, that God would give them his judgments and righteousness.
II. We may apply it to Christ; not that he who intercedes for us needs us to intercede for him; but, 1. It is a prayer of the Old-Testament church for sending the Messiah, as the church’s King, King on the holy hill of Zion, of whom the King of kings had said, Thou art my Son,Psa 2:6; Psa 2:7. “Hasten his coming to whom all judgment is committed;” and we must thus hasten the second coming of Christ, when he shall judge the world in righteousness. 2. It is an expression of the satisfaction which all true believers take in the authority which the Lord Jesus has received from the Father: “Let him have all power both in heaven and earth, and be the Lord our righteousness; let him be the great trustee of divine grace for all that are his; give it to him, that he may give it to us.”
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Psalms 72
A Psalm For Solomon
This is a Messianic Psalm in which either David or Solomon desires that five things be in the midst of the people of God, as follows: 1) Prosperity, 2) Power, 3) Preservation, 4) Perpetuity and 5) Praise. This Psalm concludes the second book of the Psalms, as each book concludes, with a doxology.
Scripture v. 1-20:
Verse 1 is a petition either of or for Solomon, requesting that God grant the king His judgments, or let legal sentences come to the king from Him. The essence of righteous judgment comes from God, the Lord of justice, Gen 17:18; Deu 1:17; 2Ch 19:6; Pro 8:15. The appeal, “Give,” is asked in anticipation that such wise judgment would be given from on high, Jas 1:6. Solomon asked for an understanding heart, to judge the people of God, in his prayer at Gibeon, 1Ki 3:9; 1Ki 3:28. Jesus Christ received this gift from God, “without measure,” as the anti-type Joh 3:34.
Verse 2 asserts “He (this king of the gift of righteous judgment) shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment,” Psa 75:6-7; Isa 11:2; Isa 32:1; Isa 33:15; Rev 19:11; Isa 9:7.
Verse 3 Indicates that the real king was the Christ, who is to come again, not just Solomon. At His coming “The mountains (great governments) shall bring peace to his people and the “Little hills” shall also experience righteousness and peace, even as the name Solomon means peaceful. Peace will be the dominant characteristic of the millennial era, brought by our Lord, over all the earth, Isa 45:8; Lev 26:3-6; Leviticus 2 Ki5:4.
Verse 4 declares that He, the Messiah King will, 1) Judge the poor, 2) Save the children of the needy, and 3) break in pieces the oppressor, 1Sa 30:24; Isa 11:4; Psa 82:3. He will vindicate the cause of the afflicted, expanding v. 2 and introducing v. 5.
Verse 5 declares they, “the oppressors,” will fear God as long as the sun and the moon endure, throughout all generations, Isa 9:7.
Verses 6, 7 add that “He shall descend like rain upon the new-mown grass, as (desired) showers that water the earth,” Deu 32:2; Eze 34:26; Hos 6:3.
Verse 7 continues that “In his days shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace as long as the moon endureth,” Job 36:7; Psa 92:12; Isa 2:4; Dan 2:44; Luk 1:33.
Verse 8 certifies that “He shall have, hold, or possess dominion from sea to sea and from river to the end of the earth,” Exo 23:31; Num 24:19; Zec 9:10; Psa 2:8; Psa 2:8; 1Ki 4:21-22.
Verses 9, 10 foretell that those who dwell in the wilderness or desert area will bow before Him, and His enemies will lick the dust, an oriental symbol of absolute submission, Isa 49:3; Psa 22:9; Isa 53:12; Job 40:12.
Verse 10 adds that “the kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts,” those of the wealthy, both of the west and of the south of Israel, 1Ki 4:21; 1Ki 10:10; 1Ki 10:24-25; Psa 68:29; Psa 45:12; Isa 60:6-9. Gifts were then, in Solomon’s day, tributary presents, given by men who acknowledged allegiance to a superior ruler, 2Ki 3:4; 2Ki 17:3. The “isles” refers to distant Gentile realms, Isa 43:4; Mat 12:21; Sheba is a region ;n Arabia, called Yemen; and Seba is Ethiopia, in Africa, Isa 43:3; Isa 45:14. Seba also represents a Cushite settlement on the Persian Gulf.
Verse 11 adds “yea, all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him;” of whom Solomon,” in all his glory,” was but a symbol, 1Ti 6:15; Psa 59:13; Psa 103:19.
Verses 12, 13 declare that he (the Messiah king) will deliver the crying needy and the poor, and him that hath no helper,” being compassionate, showing mercy, Psa 35:10; Psa 74:21; Psa 22:11. He will not let the weak be trampled by the strong, Job 29:12. He will also “spare the poor and save the souls of the needy,” not permitting them to be oppressed, as the poor man’s king,, Psa 68:5; Heb 9:28; Luk 2:11; 1Sa 11:13; Mat 9:36.
Verse 14 relates that “He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence,” from oppression by “the man of sin,” whom He shall destroy, Psa 10:7; Psa 55:11; Psa 69:18; And their blood shall be “precious in His sight,” so that He shall shield them from death and harm thereafter, through the Messianic, millennial era that He shall establish, Psa 116:5; 1Sa 26:21; Mat 6:25.
Verse 15 adds that this Messiah-King shall live; to Him shall be given the gold of Sheba, the southern area of Arabia; “Long live the King,” shall be His loyal devotees’ cry, 2Sa 16:16; as He shall reign forever, 1Ki 1:31; Isa 9:7; Isa 53:1-10; Isa 60:6. Daily he shall be praised and prayers of gratitude will be offered to him continually, 1Ti 2:1.
Verse 16 prophesies that “there shall come to be an handful of corn on the top of the mountains; the fruit of it shall shake like Lebanon; and the city occupants shall flourish like grass of the earth.” The idea is that there shall be an abundance of produce, so that even the mountain tops will be covered, not merely by waving branches, like the cedars of Lebanon, but by waving sheaves of grain and the people of once desolate cities will be heavily populated again, Job 5:25; Isa 49:20; Zec 10:8; Pro 14:28. See also Gen 41:49; Isa 17:5; Deu 3:25; Isa 9:7. Some have interpreted this to be our Lord’s establishing His church, with the “handful of disciples,” on the mount of Beatitudes, Matthew 5, 6, 7, and Mat 8:1; and when He took the twelve apostles and ordained them, after praying all night in the mountain, with the blessing that band of His church has brought to the earth, Mat 6:12-13.
Verse 17 foretells that this Messiah-King’s “name shall continue forever, even as long as the sun,” by analogy, Psa 112:6; Isa 9:6. Men shall be blessed in His reign and all nations (races) shall call him blessed, as certified Gen 12:1; Gen 22:18; Luk 1:48. All shall acknowledge they are blessed because of Him, Isa 65:16; Gen 48:20; Gen 26:4.
Verse 18-20 constitute a doxology of praise for “Exodus,” deliverance, to close this second book of Psalms, that corresponds with Exodus, second book of the Pentateuch. This doxology is longer than that closed the first book, Psa 41:4.
Verse 18 extols the Lord God, the God of Israel, the covenant God, and the care taking God who only repeatedly does wondrous, gratuitous, marvelous things, 1Ch 29:11; Deu 10:21.
Verse 19 further extols “blessed be his glorious name forever, (adding) let the whole earth be filled (covered, permeated) with His glory; Amen, and Amen! or so may it ever exist, Neh 9:5; Exo 24:17; Rth 4:22.
Verse 20 concludes “the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended,” or concluded; This does not imply that he prayed no more or that he composed all of the previous prayer-psalms; But the implication is, that as a body, the Psalms of this book were in the nature of prayers, and that He was the inspired compiler or author of them.
TALE OF TWO POETS
About a thousand years before Christ, Homer, the Greek “prince of poets” and an inveterate traveler, is said to have learned the history of Ulysses on the island of Ithaca, from which sprang his great work, The Odyssey. He went blind after that, but continued as a wandering minstrel, writing the Iliad and composing hymns for the festivals of the gods and singing his poems in religious and public assemblies.
There lived around the same time another poet, a Hebrew. Rather than great adventures, this poet sang of suffering and glory and touched upon every emotion the human soul is capable of having. Projecting into the future, he celebrated in holy song what is yet to be. Though three millenniums have passed, his jubilant hymns of praise and worship still lift human hearts into the realm of the unseen. This was the psalmist David, Israel’s shepherd-king.
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey have great poetic value and appeal to some intellects, but comparatively few have read them; after a time their charm is gone and the heart is left empty. David’s psalms, however, are read by millions, in hundreds of languages, year after year, their charm and power increasing with use. True, Homer was a genius. But the Spirit of God came upon David, and his productions are God-given revelations. Homer’s works are but the works of time: David’s works are eternal.
-From Dr. Proppe’s Scrapbook
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. O God! give thy judgments to the king. (124) While David, to whom the promise had been made, at his death affectionately recommended to God his son, who was to succeed him in his kingdom, he doubtless endited to the Church a common form of prayer, that the faithful, convinced of the impossibility of being prosperous and happy, except under one head, should show all respect, and yield all obedience to this legitimate order of things, and also that from this typical kingdom they might be conducted to Christ. In short, this is a prayer that God would furnish the king whom he had chosen with the spirit of uprightness and wisdom. By the terms righteousness and judgment, the Psalmist means a due and well-regulated administration of government, which he opposes to the tyrannical and unbridled license of heathen kings, who, despising God, rule according to the dictates of their own will; and thus the holy king of Israel, who was anointed to his office by divine appointment, is distinguished from other earthly kings. From the words we learn by the way, that no government in the world can be rightly managed but under the conduct of God, and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If kings possessed in themselves resources sufficiently ample, it would have been to no purpose for David to have sought by prayer from another, that with which they were of themselves already provided. But in requesting that the righteousness and judgment of God may be given to kings, he reminds them that none are fit for occupying that exalted station, except in so far as they are formed for it by the hand of God. Accordingly, in the Proverbs of Solomon, (Pro 8:15,) Wisdom proclaims that kings reign by her. Nor is this to be wondered at, when we consider that civil government is so excellent an institution, that God would have us to acknowledge him as its author, and claims to himself the whole praise of it. But it is proper for us to descend from the general to the particular; for since it is the peculiar work of God to set up and to maintain a rightful government in the world, it was much more necessary for him to communicate the special grace of his Spirit for the maintenance and preservation of that sacred kingdom which he had chosen in preference to all others. By the king’s son David no doubt means his successors. At the same time, he has an eye to this promise:
“
Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne,” (Psa 132:11.)
But no such stability as is indicated in that passage is to be found in the successors of David, till we come to Christ. We know that after the death of Solomon, the dignity of the kingdom decayed, and from that time its wealth became impaired, until, by the carrying of the people into captivity, and the ignominious death inflicted upon their king, the kingdom was involved in total ruin. And even after their return from Babylon, their restoration was not such as to inspire them with any great hope, until at length Christ sprung forth from the withered stock of Jesse. He therefore holds the first rank among the children of David.
(124) “In other places, those events which God himself brings to pass in defending the righteous, and in punishing the wicked, are called his judgments, as in Psa 36:7; but the statutes promulgated by God for the regulation of human conduct are also styled his judgments. In this sense, the judgments and laws of God may be considered as synonymous terms, Psa 119:20. The clause is justly explained by Jarchi: ‘ Knowledge of the judgments — to wit, of the particular rules of right — which thou hast commanded in the law. ’ The explication given by Kimchi is suitable also: ‘That he may not err in giving forth sentences, give him knowledge and understanding, that he may judge with judgment and justice.’” — Rosenmüller on the Messianic Psalms, Biblical Cabinet, volume 32, pp. 232, 233.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
INTRODUCTION
Superscription.A Psalm for Solomon. Margin: Of Solomon. Hengstenberg: Solomon is named in the title as the author of the Psalm. Attempts have been made, to no purpose, to interpret here, as in Psalms 127, in another sense. The , when it occurs as in the titles, without anything to limit its application, always indicates, as here, the author. In favour of the announcement in the title, we have first the remarkably objective character of the Psalm, common to it with the other writings of Solomon, and in striking contrast to that flow of feeling which forms such a marked feature in the Psalms of David. And, in the second place, there is also the fact that it is the circumstances of Solomons time that form the groundwork of the Psalm.
We have in the Psalm a picture of the character and extent of the sovereignty of the Messiah. Solomon, when at the height of his own power, says Canon Liddon, sketches a Superhuman King, ruling an empire which in its character and in its compass altogether transcends his own. The extremest boundaries of the Kingdom of Israel melt away before the gaze of the Psalmist. The new kingdom reaches from sea to sea, and from the flood unto the worlds end (Psa. 72:8). It reaches from each frontier of the Promised Land to the remotest regions of the known world in the opposite quarter. From the Mediterranean it extends to the ocean that washes the shores of Eastern Asia; from the Euphrates to the utmost West. At the feet of its mighty Monarch, all who are most inaccessible to the arms or the influence of Israel hasten to tender their voluntary submission. The wild sons of the desert (Psa. 72:9), the merchants of Tarshish in the then distant Spain, the islanders of the Mediterranean, the Arab chiefs, the wealthy Nubians (Psa. 72:10), are foremost in proffering their homage and fealty. But all kings are at last to fall down in submission before the Ruler of the new kingdom; all nations are to do Him service (Psa. 72:11). His empire is to be co-extensive with the world: it is also to be co-enduring with time (Psa. 72:17). His empire is to be spiritual; it is to confer peace on the world, but by righteousness (Psa. 72:3). The King will Himself secure righteou judgment (Psa. 72:2; Psa. 72:4), salvation (Psa. 72:4; Psa. 72:13), deliverance (Psa. 72:12), redemption (Psa. 72:14), to His subjects. The needy, the afflicted, the friendless, will be the especial objects of His tender care (Psa. 72:12-13). His appearance in the world will be like the descent of the rain upon the mown grass (Psa. 72:6); the true life of man seems to have been killed out, but it is yet capable of being restored by Him. He himself, it is hinted, will be out of sight; but His Name will endure for ever; His Name will propagate; and men shall be blessed in Him to the end of time (Psa. 72:17). This King is immortal; He is also all-knowing and all-mighty. Omniscience alone can hear the cry of every human heart; Omnipotence alone can bring deliverance to every human sufferer.
Looking at the Psalm homiletically we see in it A Prayer for Kings (Psa. 72:1), The Glorious Reign of the Messiah (Psa. 72:2; Psa. 72:17), and the Doxology.
A PRAYER FOR KINGS
(Psa. 72:1.)
This brief prayer for the king suggests
I. The character of a true king. It is clearly implied that he should be righteous. Give Thy righteousness unto the kings son. Kings should be righteous in heart, in aims, in actions. They are bound to this,
1. By obligations which are common to all men. Kings as much as their subjects are required to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. The eternal and immutable laws of God for moral beings are as binding upon the mightiest sovereign as upon the meanest subject.
2. By obligations which are special to men of high position. Their example is incomparably more influential than that of those who occupy less conspicuous, or obscure positions. The people are fashioned, says Claudian, according to the example of their king; and edicts are of less power than the model which his life exhibits.
A sovereigns great example forms a people;
The public breast is noble, or is vile,
As he inspires it.Mallet.
Hence kings are under special obligations to wear the white flower of a blameless life.
King-becoming graces
Are justice, verity, temperance, stableness,
Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness,
Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude.
Shakespeare.
Hes a king,
A true right king, who dares do aught, save wrong;
Fears nothing mortal, but to be unjust;
Who is not blown up with the flattring puffs
Of spongy sycophants; who stands unmoved,
Despite the jostling of opinion;
Who can enjoy himself, maugre the throng
That strive to press the quiet out of him;
Who sits upon Joves footstool as I do,
Adorning, not affecting, majesty;
Whose brow is wreathed with the silver crown
Of clear content.Marston.
He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
II. The function of a true king. It is implied that his business is to administer justice. Give the king Thy judgments, O God. The judgments are the legal decisions, or sentences. The judgments of God are contrasted with those which the king gives independently. The essence of all justice lies in the conformity of the decisions of the earthly judge to the decisions of the heavenly Lord of Justice. Barnes: It is one of the primary ideas of the character of a king that he is the fountain of justice; the maker of the laws; the dispenser of right to all his subjects. The officers of the law administer justice under him; the last appeal is to him. The true administrators of justice are persuaded that justice is Gods own work, and themselves His agents in this business,the sentence, of right, Gods own verdict, and themselves His priests to deliver it. (Comp. Deu. 1:17; 2Ch. 19:6; Pro. 8:15.)
A monarch should be
Heavens true vicegerent, whose superior soul
Raised high above the tyrants selfish poorness,
Pants but for power of doing good, rejects
All power of doing ill; who makes no war
But to revenge his peoples wrongs; no peace
But what secures their safety; courts no fame
But from their happiness: a parent he,
The public parentthey not slaves, but sons.
Mallet.
Or, as Tennyson portrays him
Who reverenced his conscience as his king;
Whose glory was, redressing human wrong;
Who spake no slander, no, nor listend to it;
Who loved one only, and who clave to her.
The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever. The kingdom whose rulers are not characterised by righteousness, and whose judges are not just, must hasten to its overthrow.
III. The need of a true king. It is implied in the text that he needs
1. Divine guidance. Give the king Thy judgments, O God. If kings are to exercise the functions of their high office truly and wisely, they must be instructed and strengthened from above. When the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord rests upon kings, their rule shall be righteous, their throne secure, and their subjects happy. (Comp. Isa. 11:2-5.)
2. Divine grace. Give Thy righteousness unto the kings son. Righteousness is not innate in kings. There is none righteous, no, not one. Righteousness must come to them as the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, and must be sought and obtained by faith, &c. Very great is the need of kings of the constant help of God. Their temptations are many and very powerful; they stand in slippery places; their exaltation has a tendency to unsettle their moral equilibrium, &c. They need the guidance and support of the Divine hand.
IV. The duty of subjects. We may make this our prayer for our rulers:Give the king Thy judgments, O God, &c. Every subject ought to pray for the blessing of God upon his sovereign. M. Henry: Those who would live quiet and peaceable lives must pray for kings and all in authority, that God would give them His judgments and righteousness. Let us pray God with His favour to behold all the rulers of men, and so replenish them with the grace of His Holy Spirit, that they may alway incline to His will and walk in His way.
THE GLORIOUS REIGN OF THE MESSIAH
(Psa. 72:2-17.)
That these splendid utterances cannot be applied merely to the kingdom of Solomon, or of any of his successors, must be obvious even to the most superficial reader. That they are prophetic of the kingdom of the Messiah will also be obvious, we think, to every one who thoughtfully regards them. Consider
I. The blessings of His reign. Several of these are here specified.
1. The administration of justice. He shall judge Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgment. He shall judge the poor of the people. He shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. (See remarks in the preceding sketch on the function of a true king.) Eloquently has Isaiah portrayed the character of the Messianic administration (Psa. 11:1-5).
2. The enjoyment of peace. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills by righteousness. Mountains and hills are characteristic features of Palestine. In ancient times these were terraced and cultivated as far up as possible. In the representation of this peace by the Psalmist we have three ideas.
(1) Prevalence. The mountains and hills by reason of their number and prominence are well fitted to express the idea that the land everywhere shall be full of peace. There shall be abundance of peace. The war drum shall no longer throb, and the battle flag shall be for ever furled. Men shall beat their swords into ploughshares, &c. Strife and bitterness between different classes of society shall be no more. Peace in mans own being. Peace between man and man. Peace between God and man.
(2) Reality. Peace by righteousness. The peace which is not rooted in righteousness is spurious and deceptive. True peace is the product and consequence of righteousness. It is so in the individual. Being justified by faith we have peace with God, &c. It is so also in society and in nations. Christ is the Prince of Peace, because He reigns in righteousness.
(3) Permanence. The spurious peace which is not rooted in righteousness is of short duration. The true peace, which is by righteousness, shall last. Like its Author, it is abiding, everlasting. What an unspeakably precious boon is this Divine peace!
3. The progress of religion (Psa. 72:5-7). We have three conspicuous features of true religion.
(1) Reverence towards God. They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. One of the blessed effects of the glorious reign of the Messiah is that God will be regarded by man with the deepest reverence. And this reverence shall be perpetual. Generations of men come and go
Like the snowfall in the river,
A moment whitethen melts for ever.
But the sun and moon remain and shine through all generations while they remain, God shall be reverenced by man. And when they are no more, even for ever, shall He be feared.
(2) Refreshment from God. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth. A beautiful illustration of Divine influences
As rain on meadows newly mown,
So shall He send His influence down;
His grace on fainting souls distils,
Like heavenly dew on thirsty hills.Watts.
The showers that water the earth tend to produce life, beauty, and fruit. In this they symbolise the gracious influences of the reign of Jesus Christ.
(3) Growth towards God. In His days shall the righteous flourish. As the mown grass springs into vigorous and beauteous growth after genial showers, so the righteous in His day shall grow and prosper; they shall bring forth fruit unto holiness. If they have been depressed, by His blessing they shall be revived and strengthened. Their faith and love and obedience, their consecration and zeal and sanctity, their truth and tenderness and power, all shall increase. What an inspiring and glorious prospect this is! Evil shall not always lord it over good, &c.
4. Beneficent government. We have already made some remarks on the righteousness of His administration, but we return to it, because the Psalmist gives special prominence to His treatment of the poor and the oppressed. Three characteristics at least of that treatment he sets before us.
(1) He regards the cry of the needy and helpless. He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. Not even the most obscure or despised of men shall cry to Him in vain.
(2) He champions their cause. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence. He will befriend the friendless, will be the Helper of the helpless, and the Protector of the defenceless. His administration will have special respect to those who are commonly overlooked, and who are exposed to oppression and wrong.
(3) He prizes their life. And precious shall their blood be in His sight. In His sight men are precious not in proportion to their rank or wealth or power, but according to their character. The Lord knoweth them that are His, and holds them dear to Him. He guards His subjects well because He loves them well. Christ is the poor mans King.
5. Abundant prosperity. There shall be an handful 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 field. The wordtranslated handful, is rendered abundance by Conant, Gesenius, Hengstenberg, Moll, et al. Fuerst gives as its meaning, superabundance. Abundance of corn is the sign of abundant prosperity. As the mountains are prominent and picturesque, so the signs of the prosperity would be conspicuous and beautiful. The cities also shall be populous and prosperous. Beauty, plenty, and joy, shall be universally diffused throughout the dominions of the Messiah. An historical basis of the ideas of prosperity presented in this verse is found in the time of Solomon, and recorded in 1Ki. 4:20. (For further treatment of Psa. 72:16, see below.) Such, in brief, are some of the more prominent blessings of the reign of the Christ. Consider
II. The universality of His reign (Psa. 72:8-11).
1. He shall reign over all classes. The wanderers of the desert and the kings of wealthy and famous cities shall bow to the sway of the Lord Jesus. Rich and poor, learned and illiterate, distinguished and obscure, great and small, men of all ranks and conditions, shall loyally call Jesus Lord.
2. He shall reign in all places. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. For an historical basis of the statements in Psa. 72:8-10, see 1Ki. 4:21. Applying the words of Psa. 72:8, to the kingdom of the Messiah we are not, it seems to us, to fix upon any particular sea or river. M. Henry: No sea, no river, is named, that it might, by these proverbial expressions, intimate the universal monarchy of the Lord Jesus. Hengstenberg: The dominion of this king extends from any one sea to any other sea, and from any river even to the ends of the earthit is a kingdom of boundless extent. All nations shall serve Him. (Comp. Rev. 11:15.)
And His dominion shall be as secure as it is wide, as real as it is extensive All His foes shall be completely subdued unto Him. His enemies shall lick the dust, in token of reverence and submission to Him.
Mark the reason of this universal and complete sovereignty. The Psalmist gives it in Psa. 72:12-14. Perowne: The reason is given why all kings and nations should thus do homage to Him who sits on Davids throne. He has merited such submission by the exercise of every royal virtue, by the justice and the mercy of His sway, by His deep sympathy with, and compassion for, the poor, by the protection which He extends to them against the ministers of fraud and violence. It is not that He merely covers with the shadow of His throne all neighbouring nations, and is acknowledged as their political head, but that the bright example which He sets, the majesty of righteousness enthroned in His person, compels all to bow before Him.
III. The perpetuity of His reign. They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. His name shall endure for ever; His name shall be continued as long as the sun. Margin: Shall be as a son to continue his fathers name for ever. Conant: As long as the sun shall His name flourish. Moll: Before the sun let His name sprout. The idea seems to be that the name of the king would be always acquiring fresh renown by His new deeds on behalf of His subjects. Through all the coming generations of men new glories shall break forth for His name, in which all nations may bless themselves. The reign of Jesus will be perpetual. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation. The perpetuity of His reign is guaranteed by
1. The declarations of Gods Word (Psa. 45:6; Psa. 89:36; Isa. 9:7; Dan. 4:3; Rev. 11:15).
2. The character of His sovereignty. He rules in the hearts of His subjects, by the force of truth, righteousness, and love. The loyalty and service which they render to Him are voluntary and joyous.
IV. The praise of His reign. The Psalmist represents this as presented to the king in various forms. It is expressed by
1. Rendering homage to Him. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him, and His enemies shall lick the dust. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him.
2. Rendering service to Him. All nations shall serve Him. His subjects will praise Him not only by forms and expressions of homage, but by loyal obedience also. Their hearty submission to Him will be manifest in their devoted service.
3. Paying tribute to Him. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. To Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba. The day is surely coming when men everywhere shall gladly lay their best and most treasured possessions at His feet. Genius, eloquence, power, riches, shall all be heartily rendered to Him.
4. Ascribing blessing to Him. Prayer also shall be made for Him continually, and daily shall He be praised. And men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him blessed. The prayer is made not for Him personally, but for the success of His reignfor the extension of His kingdom. Prayer made for that is made for Him, for He is identified with that. Instead of men shall be blessed in Him, many render: Shall bless themselves in Him; and interpret it as the expression of admiration of His blessedness, and desire to be blessed as He is. Daily men praise Him. And the time approaches when men of every nation shall constantly ascribe to Him all power, and dominion, and glory, and blessing; their lives shall become grateful, adoring, and songful; from all peoples, and from all places, praise shall ascend to the Saviour-King.
CONCLUSION.
1. Let the enemies of Christ submit themselves cheerfully to Him as their King. Manifestly it is both their duty and their interest to do so.
2. Let His loyal subjects take encouragement from the sure and glorious prospect of His reign. The sin and strife and sorrow of the race will have an end. The kingdom of holiness, peace, and joy will be universal and perpetual. Here is encouragement to work and wait, to pray and hope.
Oer every foe victorious,
He on His throne shall rest:
From age to age more glorious,
All blessing and all blessd.
The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove:
His name shall stand for ever!
That name to us isLOVE.
Montgomery.
PEACE BY POWER
(Psa. 72:3.)
The mountains shall bring peace.
The writer of this Hebrew ode finds the peaceful in the grandrest in greatness. Our doctrine is, that the quiet of the human soul is to be honestly found, not in descending to its lower or lessforcible states, but in the freedom of its highest qualities, and through its stronger exercises: or, that Christian peace is an attainment of the spiritual energies, and not a mere acquiescence in inferiority.
When the Saviour speaks of the ultimate result of His religion in the single heart or in the world, He calls it Peace; Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you. But as soon as you look into the spirit and relations of His words, you see that in this peace there is something quite peculiar. He says, My peace. It is a peace obtained by the drops of blood and the cross; Gethsemane and Calvary; by a life in which there was no place to lay the head. It is not a mere constitutional, negative, nor any superficial peace: it is not what we call pleasure, nor a happy temperament, nor gratified sensibilities, nor satiated appetites. It is something deeper and stronger. It is an attainment; it is a victory; it is tribulation overcome. It is the mightiest powers of our nature balanced, reconciled, and harmonised at last, though we know not by what struggles and sufferings, till, by the perfect sway of one supreme principle of faith, there are the equipoise and serenity that pass all understanding.
The three obvious attributes of mountains are elevation, magnitude, and permanency. Out of these three several characters comes an influence of peace. In just such attributes of strength, human character, also, is to find its moral balance, its real peace, viz., in its aspiration, its largeness, its constancy. Man is high with his devotional affections, his prayers; wide with his practical principles; and steadfast with his convictions. Or, he is high with his spirit, wide with his will, and steadfast with his reason. With these three properly adjusted, you will have a general effect of serenity; because such a man will live in a certain equipoise within himself, centred and completed according to the grand designs of his Creator, as a creature belonging both to the world and heaven. He reaches up into the infinite mystery that broods like a sea of conscious life about him. He reaches out, in all liberal fellowships, to mankind, with a love that cannot narrow into hatred, nor be fretted into war; and he rests firmly on eternal foundations. And thus, on all sidesGod-ward, and man-ward, and self-wardso far as man can, he resides in the securities of a well-defended peace.
Spiritual serenity, then, is spiritual strength. It comes in by no softness of sentiment, but by thorough work. It comes by a faith that emboldens and energises the whole soul, a penitence that searches and strains it, and often a secret fight of afflictions. Christianity is a robust religion. It was planted in the world by a race of heroes.
Take any one of these three traits just mentioned away, and, besides what other ruin you make, you most disastrously disturb the peace. On whichever side you enfeeble man, you unbalance and torture him.
Proceed to some examples, in other regions of life, how peace depends on power.
In literary expression, the effect of pathos is finest in thinkers habitually severe. What saves sentiment from sentimentality is the feeling of a firm intellectual fibre through the emotion.
Persons who have been in the strain and peril of some moral or civil revolution, wounded with real weapons, and compacted by times of terror, if they have benignant qualities, impress us in that way far more than is possible for men of softer discipline. Tenderness is doubly tender when we know a rugged and aggressive temper has been subdued to it by that rule over the spirit which is mightier than the taking of cities.
It is familiar how bereavements, which are the storms of the soul, prepare the way for religious tranquility. Crosses bring calmness. In the solemn portrait-galleries of history, the serenest faces are the saddestwhere peace has not been inherited, but conquered.
We have this union of power and tenderness eminently in such as Luther;
Again, in the great pacifications of empires, the same rule prevails. It takes the strongest heads to bring peace. Diplomacy has to summon her stoutest, clearest-sighted, and farthest-sighted ministers. The most intrepid are most pacific. Magnanimity makes no quarrels.
Hence we come to discover in what order of persons we are to look for the noblest charity and the real consolation. We want our consolers to be, not only the subjects of pain, but its conquerors through their suffering. The more masculine your pity, the more it moves and melts.
And when we speak of comfort, we are directed up to the Comforter. What is the whole doctrine of that Spirit, in the New Testament, and in Paul? They represent Him as not only Comforter, but also and first, Rebuker, Renewer, and Sanctifier.
All our peace is in God, who is not only the strongest, but Almighty. The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.
Personal applications.
1. Learn never to be afraid of rugged and even painful experiences.
Great souls snatch vigour from the stormy air,
While weaker natures Suffer and despair,
Grief not the languor but the action brings,
And spreads the horison but to nerve the wings.
2. A rule for strengthening the brethren. As we would comfort one another, we must try, with the apostles earnestness, to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
3. Of how sterling worth is a form of religious belief which holds fast the stringent as well as the soothing doctrine of Christs evangelical teaching. The order of the universe is poised between justice and mercy; and it is not kindness, but the bitterest cruelty, which would unsettle that order, by giving us a Deity too doting to punish, and too fond too judge.
4. Learn the way of making our own eternal life secure. The New Testament speaks continually to us of salvation. By salvation Christ means such safety as lies in a sturdy and athletic power of character, will, heart, conscience, and intellect, got by daring to attempt great virtues and by incessant intrepidity. He holds up no lower standard than to be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. He wins confidence by the very immensity of His demands.
5. We disturb the true spiritual order and invert Gods plan for us, whenever we go in search of peace first, and not holiness. First pure, then peaceable: that is the clearly-pronounced order and everlasting law of a disciples way.F. D. Huntington, D.D. Abridged from Christian Believing and Living.
THE GOSPEL THE POWER OF GOD
(Psa. 72:16.)
Such figurative language as that of the text is frequently employed to describe the Gospel as a mere system of means, unlikely to accomplish the purpose contemplated, and yet as certain of ultimate success. Considering this language as referring to the Gospel, let us notice
I. The insignificance of its commencement. In Ezekiels vision of the waters issuing from the sanctuary, it is but a little rill, which takes its rise at the south side of the altar, just where the blood of the sacrifices overflow. In the vision of Nebuchadnezzar it is a little stone, cut out of the mountain without hands. And in the New Testament we find our Saviour comparing it to a grain of mustard seed; and to a little leaven hid in meal. In our text it is compared to a handful of corn.
1. Look at its commencement in the world. It was heralded by one who had not his abode in cities, who was not of the honourable of the earth, either as to wealth or learning; but one of stern and forbidding aspect, &c. Look at its Author; a poor carpenters son, belonging to the despised city of Nazareth; and to Him, He associates twelve of the poorest class of society. Yet to these twelve was committed the task of evangelising the world.
2. Look at the fewness of its doctrines. The first preachers of the Gospel went forth to proclaim a factthat Jesus Christ had died for sinnersand from that fact they drew various inferences, and urged various duties upon men, and with these, as all that was necessary to accomplish their purpose, they went forth.
3. Look at its commencement in the heart. How insignificant are some of the means made use of. Perhaps it is a single word dropped from the lips of a preacher; sometimes it is the sight of a word in the Bible; sometimes even a look is enough; sometimes many are awakened by merely seeing others in concern, as in the great revival at Kilsyth, a century ago.
II. Its unlikelihood of success. An handful of corn in the earth on the top of the mountains. How unlikely, how impossible, for it to yield a crop there. Yet such is the figure employed to represent the Gospel in the world. This language may point out
1. The feebleness of its instrumentality. Soil found on the tops of mountains, both from its poverty and scarcity, would be a very unlikely instrument for yielding a crop of corn. So they who have been employed by God in diffusing the Gospel have not been such instruments as were likely in human estimation to accomplish its purposes. God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty. He hath put the treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God. The first preachers of the cross were a few fishermen.
2. The difficulties it has to surmount. Corn sown on the top of a mountain would not be likely to yield a crop, on account of the adverse influences it would have to encounter. There would not only be the unfitness and scarcity of the soil itself; there would be the want of solar heat, its exposed situation, open to every current of air and to all the storms of the sky; and as mountains are the first to attract the clouds, the teeming rain would likely wash down both seed and soil to the base beneath. The Gospel, in its first promulgation among men, had to encounter many obstacles.
(1) It had to contend with long-established forms of error, to encounter systems of superstition, which possessed a mighty influence over the minds of their votaries, because they had the argument of antiquity in their favour, and because they were the religious systems of their fathers.
(2) It had to encounter those errors in an age of great refinement. This was the Augustan age of literature. It was at this time that some of the greatest minds that ever adorned our planet were shedding the light of learning, philosophy, and poetry around them, much of which is resplendent to the present day. How unlikely was the Gospel to make progress in such an age as this. Yet this was the period chosen.
(3) The enmity of mans nature is another obstacle which would then as now be presented to the progress of the Gospel. There is nothing in the doctrines or duties of the Gospel which is at all congenial to mans fallen nature. Its truths are foolishness to him. Its purity excites his enmity.
(4) There is against the Gospel the combined powerful agency of the mighty and malicious prince of darkness and his numerous followers. This is a subject of frequent allusion to the early promoters of Christianity.
III. Its glorious results. The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, &c. These results are placed before us
1. In the fertility that attends it. Wherever the waters of the Gospel flow, it turns the wilderness into a fruitful field, and makes the desert as the garden of the Lord. Lovely tempers, fruits of grace, everywhere attend the proclamation of the Gospel of peace.
2. In the beauty that adorns it. Shake like Lebanon. How beautiful the change which the Gospel has effected in every place in which it has been introduced. It has been alike successful in demolishing callous systems of philosophy and sanguinary superstition. What are those buildings which rear their fronts where once Druid temples were erected? They are asylums for the wretched, the sick, the destitute, and the dying. And to what do we owe the change? To the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Witness its triumphs also in the islands of the South Sea, in Africa, &c.
3. In the triumphs which it is destined universally to accomplish. They of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. Count the numbers of the blades of grass which are spread over the surface of this earth of ours: ou cannot! Neither can you count the numbers of the future converts of Zion. This language may also point out its rapid progress in the latter day. Grass is proverbially speedy in its growth. The triumphs of the Gospel will very soon be equally rapid. The earth shall be made to bring forth in one day, and a nation be born at once.Abridged from One Hundred Sketches of Sermons.
HOPE OPENED TO THE WORLD
(Psa. 72:17.)
Men shall be blessed in Him; all nations shall call Him blessed.
Hope, with respect to the world, affords some comfort to us, when viewing its affecting condition since the fall; and this spring of consolation we have opened to us in Gods word of promise. What a glorious time is the Psalmist looking forward to here! Observe
I. The objects regarded. Men. Not angels. While we have abundant cause to admire the grace of God in this; it must obviously be looked upon as bearing a striking impress of sovereignty. Men participated with devils in their guilt; yet not one of the latter is ever to be blessed (Heb. 2:16; 2Pe. 2:4; Jud. 1:6).
II. The number included. All nations. How many nations are there in the world that never heard of Christ? How many, that have been deprived of the Gospel during a long series of ages? But this distinction among nations with respect to the means of salvation was never intended in the Divine mind to continue always (Mat. 24:14; Mat. 26:13; Mar. 14:9; Mar. 16:15). If little has been hitherto done for distant countries, it must be ascribed to the selfishness of men (Php. 2:21).
III. The exercise mentioned. Call Him blessed. The worth of Christ shall be universally sung; none shall be afraid to confess Him before men, or dare to offer any vain excuse for not yielding allegiance to Him; but from every tribe under heaven soldiers shall hasten to His standard and proclaim His honours.
IV. The certainty expressed. All nations shall call Him blessed. This certainty may be argued from prophetic representationfrom the dominion given to the Saviourfrom the facilities afforded in the present day to missionary exertionsfrom the desires and expectations of the saintsand from the Divine threatenings against the powers of darkness.W. Sleigh.
DOXOLOGY
(Psa. 72:18-20.)
Verses 18 and 19 do not belong to the Psalm, but contain the doxology which forms the conclusion of the second book. This doxology is fuller than that which is appended to Psalms 41, at the close of the first book.
The historical remark which constitutes Psa. 72:20 is no part either of the Psalm or of the doxology. It seems to have been attached to a collection of the Psalms of David, as distinguished from separate Psalms of his. Hengstenberg: All the Psalms of David in the last two books are inserted as component parts into the later cycles. The subscription at the end of the second book must have been designed to separate the free and the bound, the scattered and the serial Psalms of David, from each other. Analogous in some measure is the subscriptionAt an end are the speeches of Job, in Job. 31:40, which is not contradicted by the fact that Job appears again speaking, in chaps. 40 and 42; it should rather be regarded as serving to give us a light understanding of that formal conclusion. In this doxology there are four leading homiletic points
I. The comprehensiveness of the praise. God is praised because
1. Of what He is in Himself. Blessed be the Lord God, and blessed be His glorious name. Note the ideas conveyed by these terms. Jehovahthe existing, i.e., He who has come into existence by nothing outside Himself, the continuing, permanent, everlasting; its antithesis or opposite being the non-real, the transitory, the nought.Fuerst. God, Elohim, the Almighty. His glorious name, perhaps referring particularly to Jehovah. Still the prayer would be, that all the names by which He is known, all by which He has revealed Himself, might be regarded with veneration always and everywhere.
2. Of what He is to His people. The God of Israel. He had entered into covenant relation with them. (See p. 205.)
3. Of what He does. Who only doeth wondrous things. () In creation. () In providence, () In redemption. His wondrous redemptive work transcends even angelic intelligence. Which things the angels desire to look into.
The first-born sons of light
Desire in vain its depths to see;
They cannot reach the mystery,
The length and breadth and height.
His works are wondrous
(1) In their power.
(2) In their wisdom.
(3) In their kindness. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
(4) In their significance. No man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Therefore, Blessed be the Lord God, &c.
II. The perpetuity of the praise. For ever.
My days of praise shall neer be past,
While life and thought and being last,
Or immortality endures.
He is the author of eternal salvation; He calls us to His eternal glory; He promises an eternal inheritance; therefore, let His praise be eternal.
But O! eternitys too short
To utter all His praise.
III. The universality of the praise. Let the whole earth be filled with His glory. (Comp. Num. 14:21.) This brief prayer involves two things
1. That the whole earth may be filled with His blessing. It is not a little favoured spot that the Psalmist regards; it is not an insulated portion of the globe that he would have fructified and converted into a paradise. It is not on his own garden or fields that he wishes the refreshing showers only to fall; but with a noble, expansive, and generous mind, he prays that the whole earth may be filled with Gods glory.
2. That the whole earth may be filled with His praise. Let every heart, and every mouth, and every assembly be filled with the high praises of God. (See Mal. 1:11.)
IV. The intensity of the praise. Amen and Amen. (See p. 205.)
May kindness, truth,
Wisdom, and knowledge, liberty, and power,
Virtue, and holiness oerspread all orbs;
the world be bliss and love;
And heaven above be all things; till at last
The music from all souls redeemed shall rise,
Like a perpetual fountain of pure sound,
Upspringing, sparkling in the silvery blue;
From round creation to Thy feet, O God!
P. J. Bailey.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psalms 72
DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
A Peoples Prayer for a Perfect King.
ANALYSIS
Stanza I., Psa. 72:1-4, Prayer for King of Royal Descent, that the Divine Attributes of Justice and Righteousness may be Given Him, and that he may exercise them with Fruitfulness and Efficiency. Stanza II., Psa. 72:5-8, Unlimited Continuance, Penetrating Gentleness, Abounding Fruitfulness, and Universal Extension, desired for his reign. Stanza III., Psa. 72:9-11, The Submission to Him of All Enemies and Rivals, is besought. Stanza IV., Psa. 72:12-15, these Petitions are based upon the Kings Effective Interposition for the Needy and Helpless. Stanza V., Psa. 72:16-17, Material Prosperity and the Brightening of City Life, entreated; as Rebounding to the Perpetual Praise of the King, and as Realising Ancient Covenant Blessing. Benediction: Closing this Second Book of Psalms, and therewith associating the God of Israel and his wondrous doings with all the Earth, which is thus filled with his glory.
(Lm.) By Solomon.
1
O God! thy justice[834] to the King do thou give,
[834] So Sep. and Jerome in accordance with the parallel righteous.Br. M.T.: just decisions (rightsDel.)
and thy righteousness unto the son of a king;
2
May he judge thy people with righteousness,
and thy humbled ones with justice:
3
May the mountains bear[835] tidings of welfare to the people,
[835] The mountains are personified for the messengers who come over them, proclaiming: from all parts the prevalence of peace and righteousnessBr. Otherwise, if the verb be rendered bear=bring forth: May peace or well-being be the fruit that ripens upon all mountains and hillsDel.
and the hills in righteousness:
4
May he vindicate the humbled of the people,
bring salvation to the sons of the needy;
and crush the oppressor.
5
May he continue[836] as long as the sun,
[836] So Sep. (sunparamenei).
and in presence of the moon,
to generation of generations.
6
May he come down as rain on meadows to be mown,
as myriad drops replenishing the earth.
7
May there be a springing forth in his days of righteousness,[837]
[837] So in some cod. (w. Sep., Syr., Vul.)Gn.
and an abundance of welfare until there be no moon.
8
And may he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9
Before him may adversaries[838] kneel
[838] So most modernsO.G. 850. Reading zarim for zum. M.T.: desert dwellers.
and as for his foes the dust may they lick!
10
The Kings of Tarshish and the Coastlands a gift may they render,
the kings of Sheba and Seba a present bring near.
11
And may there bow down to him all kings,
all nations do service to him.
12
Because he rescueth the needy from the mighty,[839]
[839] So it shd. be (w. Sep., Syr., Vul.)Gn. M.T.: him that crieth out.
and the humbled when there is no helper for him:
13
Hath pity on the weak and the needy,
and the lives[840] of the needy saveth:
[840] U.: their souls.
14
From oppression and violence redeemeth their life,[841]
[841] U.: their soul.
and precious is their blood in his sight:
15
Let him live then! and let there be given to him of the gold of Sheba;
so will he pray for him continually,
all the day invoke on him blessing![842]
[842] The poor man is he who revives and is endowed, who intercedes and blesses; while the king is the beneficent giver. It is left for the reader to supply in thought the right subjects to the separate verbsDel.
16
May there be an expanse[843] of corn in the earth unto the top of the mountains,
[843] An abundance that occupies a wide spaceDel. Expanse(?)Dr.
and the fruit thereof rustle like Lebanon;
and they of the city bloom like fresh shoots of the earth.
17
Be his name to the ages,
in presence of the sun fruitful[844] be his name!
[844] Ml.: propagate, or be propagated. Some cod. (w. Aram., Sep., Vul.)be establishedGn.
May all the families of the ground[845] bless themselves in him
[845] So it shd. be (w. Sep., Vul.)Gn. Cp. Gen. 12:3.
all nations pronounce him happy.
18
Blessed be Jehovah God of Israel,[846]
[846] M.T.: Jehovah God, God of Israel; but some cod. (w. Sep., Syr., Vul.) omit first occurrence of GodGn.
who doeth wondrous things by himself alone;
19
And blessed be his glorious name to the ages,
and filled with his glory be all the earth:
Amen and amen!
20
Ended are the prayers of David son of Jesse.
(Lm. None; unless Psa. 72:20 be one.)
PARAPHRASE
Psalms 72
O God, help the king to judge as You would, and help his son to walk in godliness.
2
Help him to give justice to Your people, even to the poor!
3
May the mountains and hills flourish in prosperity because of his good reign.
4
Help him to defend the poor and needy and to crush their oppressors.
5
May the poor and needy revere You constantly, as long as sun and moon continue in the skies! Yes forever!
6
May the reign of this Son[847] of mine be as gentle and fruitful as the springtime rains upon the grasslike showers that water the earth!
[847] The reference seems to look beyond Solomons son to Jesus the Messiah.
7
May all good men flourish in His reign with abundance of peace and to the end of time.
8
Let Him reign from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
9
The desert nomads shall bow before Him; His enemies shall fall face downward in the dust.
10
Kings along the Mediterranean coastthe kings of Tarshish and the islandsand those from Sheba and from Sebaall will bring their gifts.
11
Yes, kings from everywhere! All will bow before Him! All will serve Him!
12
He will take care of the helpless and poor when they cry to Him; for they have no one else to defend them.
13
He feels pity for the weak and needy, and will rescue them.
14
He will have them from oppression and from violence, for their lives are precious to Him.
15
And He shall live; and to Him will be given the gold of Sheba, and there will be constant praise[848] for Him. His people[849] will bless Him all day long.
[848] Literally, men shall pray for him continually.
[849] Implied. Literally, they or he.
16
Bless us with abundant crops throughout the land, even on the highland plains; may there be fruit like that of Lebanon; may the cities be as full of people as the fields are of grass.
17
His name will be honored forever; it will continue as the sun; and all will be blessed in Him; all nations will praise Him.
18
Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, Who only does wonderful things!
19
Blessed be His glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and amen!
20
(This ends the psalms of David, son of Jesse.)
EXPOSITION
If we assume that behind this psalm lay many prayers by David taking effect in the mind of Solomon his son by fostering a worthy ideal of what a good king might do for his people and a determination to fulfil that ideal; and that the youthful heir to the throne himself embodied that ideal and that determination in a prayer to be used by his people on his accession to the throne,we shall probably form a correct conception of the origin of the psalm. The deep and wide desire here expressed is worthy of David; the form it assumes is Solomonic to a marked degree; and if, beyond this, there are conceptions going far beyond any which we should have thought it likely that Solomon would entertain,these we may attribute in part to the educative influence which we have elsewhere seen cause to attribute to the Davidic Kingly covenant communicated through Nathan the prophet, and partly to the free action of the inspiring Spirit on the psalmists mind. There is certainly one element in the psalm, which might have seemed at first sight better suited to a later reign, such as that of Hezekiahfollowing the declension of King Ahazs days, or even of Josiahsucceeding to the corruptions of the reigns of Manasseh and Amon; namely, a background of existing oppression and wrong, loudly calling for relief, and which we can with difficulty imagine David to have bequeathed to his son Solomon. If, notwithstanding this, we feel, as well we may, that at no later period than that immediately succeeding Davids day, could there have been, in the atmosphere, such a constellation of bright hopes, ready for recognition and psalmody, as here bursts upon our view, then we must needs see, once more, the Antitype breaking loose from the Type, and going beyond it. And this is, in all probability, what we are here called upon to recognise; for, if, with the Targum, we hold that this Ideal King is ultimately the Messiah, and if we look for Messiahs manifested reign to follow upon the evil domination of Antichrist, it is easy to see what a throng of wicked deeds of oppression, the world over, will be waiting for relief and redress when the Messiah himself ascends the Throne of David.
Not only in respect of manifold oppressions needing royal interposition in order to their removal, do we here perceive an element carrying us beyond Solomon, but in other ways besides; for example, in the universality of his dominion, in the peerless glory of his name, and in the realisation through the Ideal King of the worldwide blessing promised to Abraham. Leaving the thoughtful reader to conceive, as best he may, how mighty the Messianic impulse of the psalm thus appears, it may serve a useful purpose to emphasise one or two of the more obvious characteristics of the Ideal King as here portrayed.
The central position and causal efficacy of Stanza IV. are remarkable. This stanza is introduced by the only Because of the psalm. And here let us note what it is that leads up to this stronghold of the logical sensethat it is nothing less than the Imperial Supremacy which is desired for the Ideal King. Let his adversaries kneel before him; let his foes lick the dust; let distant kings come to render him homage with their rich gifts; in short, let all kings bow down to him and all nations do him service; BECAUSE he deserves itbecause he deserves it in a peculiar way, with a worth proved by deeds, deeds of pity and love and matchless generosity; for note how the verbs are accumulated in support of this one strong because: because he rescueth, hath pity, saveth, redeemeth, and finally, if Delitzsch is correct in the striking climax to which he brings this stanza, endoweth, out of his own royal treasury, the lives that he spareth:THEREFORE let all kings and nations do him willing homage and service, gladly acknowledging that never such a king bare rule before. Not by doings of power, but by deeds of love, is universal dominion here desired.
And yet there is power behind and along with the love: power wielded by love, power giving effect to loveno pity for the perverters of justice, to the extent of sparing them to be perverters again. No! the implied threats to those who wrong their poor neighbors, are strong as iron, fitted to strike terror into cruel hearts. In order that he may vindicate the humbled and bring salvation to the needy, let himso it is expressly desiredlet him crush the oppressor! May his foes lick the dust. Language like this ought to stand high and clear above the possibility of mistake.
Nevertheless, this Ideal King knows how to be gentle. It is desired that his beneficent influence be like rain coming down on a mowing, bringing the crop to perfection before it is cut. How much that beautiful phrase, coining down, suggestsof efficacious gentleness, descending into all the nooks and crannies and crevices of actual lowly life. Nor does the psalmist shrink from pointing to actual temporal benefits, anticipated to result from this gentle yet strong kings dominion. In language which it would be a sin to spiritualize, he prays, that, instead of uncultivated wastes, agriculture may carry her triumphs, terrace above terrace, to the summits of the mountains; and then, while the breezes of Lebanon are still upon his cheeks, he thinks of the pale-faced city-dwellers, and desires that they may bloom like the fresh shoots of the earth.
Such is the picture. It is Messianic. But it is unfulfilled. It does not correspond with the spiritual and invisible reign of the Messiah in heaven. It is a mockery of the down-trodden of earth, to treat this psalm as if it were now in course of fulfilment. It is valid, but it is in reserve. It has never yet been fulfilled; but it will be fulfilled in the letter and in the spirit. Why its accomplishment has been so long delayed, must be sought elsewhere. Meantime, a comprehensive study of all the psalms which have a direct bearing on the Kingdom of God, will assist the student to get upon the high-road of correct and successful interpretation. When men are ready to do ungrudgingly honour to the God of Israel, then will the time not be far distant when the whole earth shall be filled with his glory. Cp. Intro., Chapter III., Kingdom.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
There seems to be at least two ideal kingswho are they?
2.
All of the characteristics of Gods ideal king cannot find fulfillment in anyone in the history of Israelwhat is important about this thought?
3.
What shall we say of existing oppression and wrong, loudly calling for relief if we relate this psalm to the time of Solomon? Discuss.
4.
There is the wonderful promise of the universal reign of this kinghis adversaries will kneel before him; his foes will lick the dust, distant kings will come to do him homageand to give him giftswhy will there be such a response to this king?
5.
Give five blessings granted because of this king. Discuss
6.
When will all these grand descriptions become a reality? Discuss.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) The king . . . the kings son.The article is wanting in the Hebrew.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(1, 2) The order of the words should be noticedjudgments, righteousness, righteousness, judgmentas offering a good instance of introverted parallelism. With regard to the meaning of the words we are placed on practical ground; they refer to the faculty of judging in affairs of government, of coming to a great and fair decision. In fact, whether Solomon be the intended subject of the poem or not, the prayer made in his dream at Gibeon (1Ki. 3:9) is the best comment on these verses. (Comp. Isa. 11:4; Isa. 32:1.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Judgments righteousness The latter the principle, the former the act or sentence, of justice. The one implies the discernment of the will of God, or wisdom to govern; the other, the executive energy to adjust the administration of government to that standard. This was partially fulfilled in the early part of Solomon’s reign, (see 1Ki 3:28; 1Ki 10:9,) but the state of society here described is realized fully only under King Messiah’s government, and is represented (Rev 20:4) as belonging to the millennium: “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.”
The king the king’s son The one a designation of office, the other of royal descent, and hence of hereditary right to reign.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psalms 72
Introduction – The verses in Psalms 72 are a two-fold prophecy. They describe both the reign of King Solomon over the nation of Israel, and they describe the coming reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psa 72:1 (A Psalm for Solomon.) Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
Psa 72:1
1Ki 4:32, “And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.”
Psa 127:1, A Song of degrees for Solomon. “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”
Psa 72:1 “and thy righteousness unto the king’s son” – Comments – Solomon was well known at the king’s son, following in the footsteps of King David.
Psa 72:7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
Psa 72:7
1Ch 22:9, “Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.”
1Ki 4:24, “For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.”
Psa 72:7 is also a divine prophecy of the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psa 72:8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
Psa 72:8
1Ki 4:24, “For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.”
Psa 72:9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
Psa 72:10 Psa 72:10
2Ch 9:21, “For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.”
Psa 72:10 “the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts” – Scripture Reference – Note:
1Ki 10:1-2, “And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.”
Psa 72:18-20 Comments – Psa 72:18-20 serves as the closing of book 2. They do not necessarily apply to Psalms 72 only, but rather to Psalms 42 through 72 of book 2.
Psa 72:18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.
Psa 72:20
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Majestic Reign of the Messiah.
v. 1. Give the King Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the King’s Son. v. 2. He shall judge Thy people with righteousness, v. 3. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness, v. 4. He shall judge the poor of the people, v. 5. They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations, v. 6. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, as showers that water the earth, v. 7. In His days, v. 8. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, v. 9. They that dwell in the wilderness, v. 10. The kings of Tarshish, v. 11. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him. v. 12. For He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also and him that hath no helper. v. 13. He shall spare, v. 14. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, v. 15. And He shall live, v. 16. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains, v. 17. His name shall endure forever, v. 18. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things, v. 19. and blessed be His glorious name, v. 20. The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE “title” attributes this psalm to Solomon, and the contents of the psalm are very favourable to his authorship. The prayer in Psa 72:1-4 is an echo of that recorded in 1Ki 3:9. The stress laid upon “peace” (1Ki 3:3, 1Ki 3:7-16) accords with the peaceful reign (1Ki 4:20-25) of “the peaceful one.” The local allusions (1Ki 3:10, 1Ki 3:15) suit the circumstances of Solomon’s time. The tone, cheerful, equable, and objective rather than subjective, is Solomonic. The psalm is thought to have been composed early in Solomon’s reign for liturgical purposes. It is a prophetic prayer for a blessing on the king and on his reign, which is represented in colours and with circumstances, that make it typical of the reign of Messiah (see especially 1Ki 3:8, 1Ki 3:11, 1Ki 3:17). The concluding verses (18, 19) are a doxology, marking the end of the Second Book (compare the comment on Psa 41:13).
Psa 72:1
Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son. God had established in Israel, in the person of David, hereditary monarchy (2Sa 7:12-16), such as was usual in the East, and suited to Oriental notions. In speaking of himself, not only as “the king,” but also as “the king’s son,” Solomon makes appeal to the sentiment of respect for hereditary royalty. Compare the inscription of Mesha, “My father was king over Moab thirty years, and I became king after my father” (line 1). In praying God to give him “his judgments,” he is desiring a “spirit of judgment” which will enable him to deliver decisions as righteous as God’s.
Psa 72:2
He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. Then will he have wisdom to judge thy people aright. The wish is in the closest possible agreement with the prayer in 1Ki 3:6-9.
Psa 72:3
The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. Through the general establishment prominent features.
Psa 72:4
He shall judge the poor of the people. Not exclusively, but especially. The unjust rulers and judges of Israel neglected this duty. They judge not the fatherless and the right of the needy do they not judge” (Jer 5:28; see also Isa 1:23; Zec 7:10). He shall save the children of the needy. He shall preserve them, i.e; from oppression and wrong. And shall break in pieces the oppressor. (On God’s hatred of oppression and oppressors, see Exo 3:9; Le Exo 25:14; Job 27:13; Psa 12:5; Isa 16:14, etc.)
Psa 72:5
They shall fear thee (i.e. God) as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. The righteous government of the king shall spread abroad the “fear of God,” and establish pure religion in the land, while the world continues. Here the psalm first becomes distinctly Messianic, passing on from the reigning monarch to the ideal king whom he typifies.
Psa 72:6
He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; i.e. softly and gently, bringing refreshment (comp. Deu 32:2; Isa 55:10, Isa 55:11; and perhaps 2Sa 23:4). As showers that water the earth. The same idea as in the preceding clause (comp. Hos 6:3).
Psa 72:7
In his days shall the righteous flourish. In Messiah’s days, when his kingdom is fully established, the righteous will flourish and prosper, since the wicked will not be suffered to hinder them (comp. Psa 72:4; and see Butler’s ‘Analogy,’ pt. 1, Psa 3:1-8). And abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth; literally, till there be no longer a moon (comp. Psa 72:5).
Psa 72:8
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea. It does not appear that any particular seas are meant, as in Exo 23:31 and Num 34:3, Num 34:6; rather, the idea is that the earth is set in the midst of the sea, and that Messiah’s dominion will reach from shore to shore. And from the river (i.e. the Euphrates) unto the ends of the earth. Israel’s promised dominion extended only as far as the great river (Gen 15:18), which was also the boundary of Solomon’s kingdom eastward (1Ki 4:21, 1Ki 4:24); Messiah’s was to reach indefinitely beyond the river to the world’s end.
Psa 72:9
They that dwell in the wilderness shall how before him (for the meaning here assigned to tsiyyim (), see Psa 74:14; Isa 23:13). The wild tribes of the Syrian and Arabian deserts are probably intended (comp. Isa 60:6, Isa 60:7). And his enemies shall lick the dust; i.e; prostrate themselves at his feet with their faces in the dust. See the Assyrian representations of Oriental prostrations.
Psa 72:10
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents. “Tarshish” here is probably Tartessus in Spain, so well known to the Israelites in the days of Solomon (1Ki 10:22; 2Ch 9:21). According to Herodotus, Tartessus, when it first became known to the Greeks, was governed by kings (Herod; 1:163). By “the isles” are to be understood the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean generally. All these have, at one time or another, paid homage to Christ. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. “Sheba” and “Seba” are distinguished by the writer of Genesis (Gen 10:7), and appear not even to have been very near the one to the other. Sheba was in Southeastern Arabia, and was known to the Greeks and Romans as the country of the Sabaeans (Diod. Sic; 3.45; Strabo, 16.4, 19; Pliny, ‘Hist. Nat.,’ 6.23). Saba was in Africa, on the Middle Nile, and the Sebaeans () are closely connected by Isaiah with Ethiopia and Egypt (Isa 43:3; Isa 45:14).
Psa 72:11
Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him (comp. Isa 49:7, Isa 49:23; Isa 60:3-14). This prophecy has not yet been fulfilled in the letter; but it may one day be exactly accomplished. Or it may not have been intended to be understood literally. General truths are often expressed by the sacred writers universally.
Psa 72:12
For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper (comp. Psa 72:4); rather, and the poor who has no helper. Two classes of persons are spoken of, not three (comp. Job 29:12).
Psa 72:13
He shall spare the poor and needy; or, the weak and needy. And shall save the souls of the needy. He shall not merely deliver them from their cruel oppressors in this life (Psa 72:4), but also give health and life to their souls.
Psa 72:14
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence. Messiah’s especial tenderness towards the poor and lowly is a main feature in all descriptions of his kingdom (see Isa 11:4; Isa 29:19; Isa 41:17, etc.), and was emphasized by our Lord when he came upon earth (Mat 11:5; Luk 4:18). And precious shall their blood be in his sight. Worth, therefore, a mighty ransom (comp. Psa 116:15).
Psa 72:15
And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba. He (i.e. Messiah) “shall live”shall live on, and reign on, in his everlasting kingdom; and men shall bring to him of the gold of Sheba (1Ki 10:10; Eze 27:22), giving him of their best and rarest, in grateful acknowledgment of his goodness and protection. Prayer also shall be made for him continually. His subjects shall offer prayer for him continually, as Christians do when they pray, “Thy kingdom come” (Hengstenberg). And daily shall he be praised; rather, all day long shall they praise him.
Psa 72:16
There shall be an handful of corn in the earth; rather, as in the Prayer book Version, an heap of corn; or, abundance of corn (Revised Version), “Abundance of corn” is put for general prosperity. Upon the top of the mountains. In flourishing times of agriculture, the very tops of the mountains were cultivated all over Palestine, as appears by the remains of terraces. The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon. Canon Cook’s seems to be the best exposition: “The ripened corn on the heights shall rustle in the wind like the foliage on Lebanon.” And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. “They of the city” are the inhabitants of the “New Jerusalem” (Rev 21:2), the citizens of Messiah’s kingdom.
Psa 72:17
His Name shall endure forever (comp. Psa 45:2, Psa 45:6; Psa 102:12; Isa 9:7). “The eternity of the Name is based upon the eternity of the kingdom” (Hengstenberg). His Name shall be continued as long as the sun (comp. Psa 72:5); or, his Name shall be renewedshall spring again to fresh life. Dr. Kay compares an expression of Renan’s, “Son culte se rajeunira.“ And men shall be blessed in him; literally, men shall bless themselves in him (comp. Gen 22:18; Gen 26:4). All nations shall call him blessed. With these words the psalm, properly speaking, ends. The doxology (Psa 72:18, Psa 72:19) and the note (Psa 72:20) were probably appended by the arranger of the book.
Psa 72:18, Psa 72:19
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel (compare the other doxologies, which begin similarly (Psa 41:13; Psa 89:52; Psa 106:42). Who only doeth wondrous things (comp. Psa 86:8, Psa 86:10; and Job 5:9). And blessed be his glorious Name forever (comp. Psa 29:2; Psa 34:3; Psa 46:2; Psa 69:30; Psa 113:2, etc.). And let the whole earth be filled with his glory. The whole earth can no otherwise be filled with the glory of God, than by men everywhere glorifying him, and bowing clown in adoration before his Son. The promise had been made that so it should one day be (Num 14:21); and the psalmist anticipates the fulfilment of the promise. Amen, and Amen (comp. Psa 41:13; Psa 89:52; Psa 106:48).
Psa 72:20
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. This is a note appended, either by the collector of the first two Books of the Psalms, or by the collector of the Third Book, who thus marked the difference between the previous collection and his own, the former containing sixty psalms ascribed to David in their titles, and the latter one only (Psa 86:1-17).
HOMILETICS
Psa 72:17
Messiah’s reign.
“Men shall be blessed in him.” This great promise looks back to the glorious and amazing assurance thrice given to the Patriarch Abraham (and repeated to his son and grandson, Gen 12:3; Gen 18:18; Gen 22:18). St. Paul says the gospel was thus “preached before” (Gal 3:8). In the third of these passages, and in the text, the Hebrew word is strictly “bless themselves” (margin, Revised Version); but the sense is governed by the other two passages (so Gen 26:4 compared with Gen 28:14). As we are said to wash ourselves in water, though it is the water that cleanses; or to feed ourselves, though it is the food that nourishes; or to rest ourselves, though it is the resting place which yields us rest; so we bless ourselves when we take the blessings God gives us, and find cleansing, food, rest, in Christ. Ancient Hebrew expositors took this glorious psalm as a prophecy of Messiah. Modern Christian critics have spent great learning and ingenuity in dethroning Christ, and leaving Solomon in his stead. If Solomon really wrote this psalm concerning himself, it must be pronounced such a piece of self-glorification, with such Eastern exaggeration, as we nowhere else find in Scripture. Yet we may regard the peaceful glory of Solomon’s reign, unlike anything before or since, as an earthly and typical fulfilment, in part, of this majestic, prophetic picture, taking it to refer not to Solomon personally, but to David’s royal line, crowned and consummated in Christ (so of Abraham’s line St. Paul says, “which is Christ,” Gal 3:16).
I. GOD‘S WORD PROMISES BLESSING IN WHICH ALL NATIONS ARE TO SHARE. This wondrous chain of promises, stretching across, thousands of years, holds out a hope which has no root but in the Biblethe universal equal happiness of all nations of mankind. Men may discard the Bible, and yet cling, in the name of progress and civilization, to this splendid hope. But whence did it spring? National happiness or welfare, or, in the strong Bible word, “blessedness,” depends on six thingsjustice, freedom, virtue, knowledge, distribution of wealth, peace (Psa 144:15).
1. Justice is the first office and object of government (Rom 13:1-5), the first condition of national welfare (Deu 4:8). Great Charters, Petitions of Right, Declarations of Independence, and the like, are the outcry of oppressed peoples for this prime necessity of national life.
2. Freedom is really implied in justice, the only real guardian of right and nurse of true virtue.
3. Virtue is no less essential to real national happiness and greatness. Fraud, intemperance, impurity, covetous greed, wild love of pleasure, sloth, cowardice, suck the vitals and sap the roots of national life.
4. Knowledge is the parent of all progress. Not mere labour, but wisely directed labour, is the source of wealth. The mind that invents and foresees must guide the hand which toils.
5. Right distribution of wealth is the most urgent national problem of our own day in our own and all civilized nations. No nation is blessed in which immense wealth stagnates in a few hands, and the toiling millions are wretched and joyless.
6. Peace is the fence and crown of all the other elements of national welfare. War is a short name for all calamities, cruellest of misfortunes, if necessary and just; if unjust, avoidable, the greatest of crimes.
II. ALL NATIONS ARE TO BE BLESSED IN CHRIST.
1. Possibility and reasonableness of this. It is not open to question that if even the bulk of a nation, its rulers, legislators, and individual citizens became real Christians, such as may be found by thousands, loving God truly and their neighbour unselfishly, hating vice, dealing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God,that nation would soon be the envy of all nations. Let every nation undergo such a transformation, and war would be impossible; slavery and tyranny would be things of the past; social problems would be solved, not by legislation, but by every one’s sense of what is due to others; mutual help would take the place of fierce competition; labour would become faithful, and wealth beneficent; even secular knowledge of all kinds would receive a mighty impulse from the new value given to each human life and the high moral tone of society. These things the gospel can certainly do, if only all men would believe.
2. Hopelessness of such a condition, except from the kingdom of Christ. Human nature has not in itself the tendency to produce such a state of things. Knowledge and progress do not change human nature, do not give life; Christ alone gives life (Joh 10:10).
3. Hopefulness of this prospect.
(1) God has provided for nothing less. What the gospel effects on a small scale it is equally fitted to effect on the largest scale. What Jesus Christ is actually doing forevery sinner who believes in him, every disciple who truly follows him, he is able to do for mankind.
(2) God has promised no less. In the Lord’s Prayer we tray for the coming of his kingdom “on earth” (Psa 2:8; Isa 2:4).
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH
Psa 72:1-20
The glory of Christ’s kingdom.
It is written that Satan took our Lord “up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them” (Mat 4:8); but they had no charm, for him. In this psalm we are, so to speak, taken up by the Spirit, and shown the kingdom of Messiah; and as its glory opens to our sight our hearts are thrilled with admiration and delight. With renewed ardour we cry, “Thy kingdom come.” Consider some things testified here as to the glory of Christ’s kingdom.
I. THE GREATNESS OF THE SOVEREIGN. David and Solomon were in some respects great kings; and their greatness, so far as it was real, arose from their feeling their dependence upon God, and that it was their first duty to rule themselves and their people according to God’s Law. We know how in many things they offended. But here is a King spoken of whose greatness is of a nobler kind, and who comes short in nothing of God’s glory. As respects his nature, his character, his relationships, he is supremely fitted to rule. In him “righteousness” and “judgment” are found as in God. The will of God, on the one hand, and the welfare of his people are his highest ends. “God is light;” and this King saith, “I am the Light of the world.” “God is love;” and this King’s advent was proclaimed by angels as the Saviour who should bring down love to men: “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, good will to the children of men.”
II. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE ADMINISTRATION. (Psa 72:2-4.) David, in his last words, describes Messiah’s manner of government (2Sa 23:1-4). It is characterized by justice; there is no respect of persons; friends are not unduly favored, nor enemies unfairly punished (Isa 11:4, Isa 11:5); the condition and interests of all are considered, and the poor are specially regarded; but justice is blended with mercy. It is the glory of Christ’s government that it provides for the return of the rebellious, and for the restoration of the fallen.
III. THE HAPPINESS OF THE PEOPLE. (Psa 72:6, Psa 72:7.) The laws of the kingdom are not only adapted to the nature and necessities of man, but designed for the welfare of those who obey them (Deu 32:47; Isa 48:18); they are not arbitrary, but. founded in truth; they are not alterable, but eternally fixed. Earthly governments so far regulate their laws according to circumstances, and there may be improvements made and reforms carried out from time to time for the greater advantage of the people; but the laws of this kingdom do not need improvementthey are perfect as God is perfect. We see the result in the character and privileges of the people (Isa 43:21; Mat 5:1-10). They are enlightened, contented, law-abiding; they strive to mould their lives according to the will of their King, and in loyalty and devotion to him they find their highest honour and their highest happiness. In this kingdom alone can liberty, equality, and fraternity, in the truest sense, be enjoyed.
IV. THE FUTURE TRIUMPHS THAT MAY BE CONFIDENTLY EXPECTED. This kingdom is destined to grow from more to more; it has an unlimited power of expansiveness (Psa 72:8, Psa 72:13); it is also marked by stability. Earthly kingdoms have their rise and fall; but this kingdom is unshakable and eternal. It begins on earth, but is carried up to heaven. Other kings may have successors, though often the direct succession fails; but this King has no successor, but will reign forever and ever.W.F.
Psa 72:15
Christ on the throne.
If it may be said of the twenty-second psalm that it lets us see Christ on the cross, it may be said of this that it shows us Christ on the throne. Instead of humiliation, there is exaltation; instead of the mockery of “the purple robe,” there is the homage of angels; instead of the wicked cries of envious priests and a deluded people, “Crucify him!” there is the joyful song of the redeemed, “Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!” The saints on earth, as well as the saints in heaven, are partakers of this joy; they know whom they have believed, and they have had experience of his benign and righteous rule. We learn here
I. THAT WHERE CHRIST REIGNS THERE IS LIFE. He is the Source and the Giver of life. Where the waters that Ezekiel saw came, there was life; and so where the gospel of Christ comes, there is life. The mind that before was dark has the life of truth; the conscience that before was dormant has the life of righteousness; the heart that before was dead in sins is quickened to the new life of love and holiness. Christ’s rule ever tends to the well being of his people.
II. THAT WHERE THERE IS LIFE THERE WILL BE PRAYER. The first sign of infant life is breathing; and the first sign of the soul’s life is the breathing of prayer to God. The life within expresses itself in accordance with its nature and needs. The mind that has light cries for more light; the conscience, awakened to a sense of sin, seeks deliverance; the heart that has been touched with the love of God yearns for more love and nearer fellowship. So it was with Paul. “Behold, he prayeth!” and so onward, through all the toils and struggles of his noble life, he continued instant in prayer.
III. THAT WHERE THERE IS PRAYER THE SUPREME DESIRE WILL BE THE GLORY OF CHRIST. Self will be lost in love. Concern about ourselves will be merged in concern for the glory of Christ our Lord. “Prayer shall be made for him.”
1. For his cause. What interests him will interest us; what lies nearest his heart will be nearest ours. There is unity of life.
2. For his people. He identifies himself with them. He regards what is done to them as done to himself. When “prayer was made of the Church” for Peter, they were, in a sense, making prayer for Christ. Our sympathies should be as broad as the sympathies of Christ.
3. For his second coming. His first coming was the hope of Israel; his second coming is the hope of the Church of the gospel (Rev 22:20; Tit 2:13). “Prayer for Christ” increases our love to him, binds us in closer union with the brethren, and enables us to transmit the blessed hope to future generations. Think of the prayers made every Lord’s day! What cause for thankfulness and joy! Yea, “daily” prayer shall be made till prayer is consummated in praise.W.F.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT
Psa 72:1-7
The effect of the anger of a perfectly righteous King.
Most probably put into form by Solomon, even if David suggested the substance of it. It is the portrait of an ideal King, never yet realized completely by any earthly monarch, and finds its perfect fulfilment only in Christ and his kingdom. Solomon did not fulfil it. It shows the effects of the reign of a perfectly righteous King such as Christ.
I. HE PROCLAIMS AND ADMINISTERS ONLY RIGHTEOUS LAWS AND JUDGMENTS. (Psa 72:1, Psa 72:2.) In opposition to the injustice of the despot. but the true King has a passion for justice.
II. THE REIGN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BRINGS IN THE REIGN OF PEACE. (Psa 72:3.) “Mountains and hills are mentioned as being characteristic features of the country.” Peace is always spoken of in the Scriptures as the fruit of righteousnessin public and in private.
III. IT UPHOLDS AND VINDICATES THE RIGHTS OF THE POOR AGAINST ALL OPPRESSION. (Psa 72:4.) Those who are born to poverty are more or less regarded by an unrighteous government as having no rights. Christianity expresses the cause of the poor, and vindicates their rights against all injustice and selfishness.
IV. RIGHTEOUS RULE TEACHES THE PEOPLE THE FEAR OF GOD. (Psa 72:5.) Corrupt government encourages licentiousness and irreligion among the people.
V. RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT QUICKENS AND FERTILIZES ALL THE AFFAIRS OF A NATION. (Psa 72:6.) As rain quickens and fertilizes the dry earth.
VI. GOOD MEN PROSPER AND HAVE PEACE UNDER RIGHTEOUS GOVERNMENT. (Psa 72:7.) But are mostly persecuted and despoiled of their liberty and rights under a tyrannical rule. It is the office of a righteous king to defend the righteous; but it is Christ’s work to make men righteous by fashioning their minds anew by his Holy Spirit.S.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Psalms 72.
David praying for Solomon, sheweth the goodness and glory of his kingdom in type, and in truth of Christ’s kingdom: he blesseth God.
A Psalm for Solomon.
Title. lishlomoh, For Solomon This psalm was composed by David when he placed Solomon on the throne, and caused his subjects to acknowledge him as their sovereign, 1Ch 29:24. The sight of this raised the spirits of the good old king, and he indited this poem upon the occasion; when the Spirit of God directed him to use some expressions in it, which are properly applicable to the Messiah only, of whom Solomon was a type. Many of the Jewish rabbies themselves interpret these expressions of the Messiah.
Psa 72:1. Give the king thy judgments, &c. I do not apprehend, says Dr. Chandler, with the generality of interpreters, that by the king, and the king’s son, David means himself and his son; but Solomon only, to whom both the titles agree. As he was David’s son, and anointed by him king during his life-time; and as the first part of the psalm is precatory, the verbs in general should be rendered in that form throughout, except where the sense and connection require a different translation.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psalms 72
A Psalm for Solomon
1Give the king thy judgments, O God,
And thy righteousness unto the kings son.
2He shall judge thy people with righteousness,
And thy poor with judgment.
3The mountains shall bring peace to the people,
And the little hills, by righteousness.
4He shall judge the poor of the people,
He shall save the children of the needy,
And shall break in pieces the oppressor.
5They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure,
Throughout all generations.
6He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass:
As showers that water the earth.
7In his days shall the righteous flourish;
And abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
8He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,
And from the river unto the ends of the earth.
9They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him;
And His enemies shall lick the dust.
10The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents:
The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
11Yea, all kings shall fall down before him:
All nations shall serve him.
12For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth;
The poor also, and him that hath no helper.
13He shall spare the poor and needy,
And shall save the souls of the needy.
14He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence:
And precious shall their blood be in his sight.
15And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba:
Prayer also shall be made for him continually;
And daily shall he be praised.
16There shall be a handful of corn 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.
17His 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 blessed.
18Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who only doeth wondrous things.
19And blessed be his glorious name for ever:
And let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen, and amen.
20The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Its Contents and Title.The Psalm begins with supplication for a king who is at the same time a kings son, who thus is of a royal race or birth, that his government may be righteous and a blessing to the land (Psa 72:1-4); then follows the wish that his rule may be of everlasting duration and bloom (Psa 72:5-7); then it is promised that his kingdom shall embrace the whole world (Psa 72:8-11); next the reason for this universal homage is disclosed in the character of his government as benevolent, merciful and righteous (Psa 72:12-14); finally the duration of his gracious activity, of the blessings which descend upon his land and the everlasting praise of his name is implored in prayer and is predicted (Psa 72:15-17). The doxology of Psa 72:18-19 did not belong originally to the Psalm, but is a liturgical addition (comp. Introd., 4), with especial reference to the Elohim Psalms of this second book, and it is placed before the historical remark, Psa 72:20, in order to be read in the church service. The contents of this Psa 72:20 show that it is older than the entire collection of the Psalms. Yet it does not follow from this that David is likewise the author of this Psalm (comp. Introd., 2 and 8), and that we have to regard the title as: about Solomon (Sept., Vulg., Aben Ezra, et al.), or composed for Solomon (Kimchi: by David on his deathbed), and designed to be his song (Clauss), as the mirror of his government (Stier). The must be interpreted here as usual. The usage of the titles demands this, which excludes the many references which are in themselves possible (Stier), among which the most suitable would be the respectful reference=to Solomon. Then the contents demand so much the more a decided advance beyond the supposition of a poetic congratulation (De Wette) of some king of Israel. We must at least recognize the fact, that the Psalm is a prayer whose expressions flow forth from the ideal character of the Hebrew monarchy as the kingdom of God (Hupfeld). Then these expressions are not merely poetical, but prophetical, and thus have a Messianic character, so that the wishes and hopes are not, as it were, extravagant (Hupfeld), but take the form of definite promises, and that these promises not only have as their contents the universal extent and the everlasting duration of this kingdom, but at the same time the righteous, peaceful and saving government of the theocratic king as well as the perpetual blessing of all nations by the power of his name. By their personal bearing they transcend the reference to the kingdom of Solomon (according to the promise, 2 Samuel 8 developing itself as the kingdom of God throughout history) (Calvin), or the Davidic dynasty (Hofmann), and find in the circumstances of the time of Solomon a historical support and occasion (most recent interpreters), which is overlooked or undervalued by the exclusive Messianic interpretation (Chald. and most of the older interpreters). There is no reason either in the contents or in the language to put the Psalm in the time of king Josiah, or even later (Ewald). The reference to Ptolemy (Olsh.), particularly to Ptolemy Philadelphus, as the benefactor of the Jews (Hitzig) is far fetched and untenable. The ancient church, on account of the reference of the Psalm to David, Solomon and the Messiah, made it the chief Psalm of Epiphany as the *festum trium regum.
Str. I, Psa 72:1. Thy judgments.These are hardly the rights transferred by God as king of Israel to the theocratic king (Delitzsch), the Messianic authority (Geier, et al.) to rule; for the exercise of which the righteousness directly mentioned as the corresponding official endowment is then implored, but in accordance with the parallelism, the way of judging (De Wette, Hupf.), the decisions (Hitzig), the latter not in the sense of the commandments and directions given to the king, the norm of his judging and sentences (Olsh.), but as the sentences and decisions flowing forth from the Spirit of God (Chald., Hengst.), for which Solomon obtained wisdom for himself, 1Ki 3:9; 1Ki 3:28; comp. Isa 11:2 (Isaki, kimchi). There is no reference here to righteousness which avails before God (Seb. Schmidt).
Psa 72:2. May he judge Thy people, &c.It is better to regard the futures in this and the following verses as optatives.
[Psa 72:3. May the mountains bear peace for the people, and the hills, by righteousness.Mountains and hills are mentioned as the characteristic features of the land of Palestine. They were cultivated in ancient times, being terraced from top to bottom. Remains of these terraces are visible and in use at the present time not only for the vine and fig, but likewise for grain. It is unnecessary to supply a verb in the latter clause. Righteousness is the means by which this fruit of peace is to be produced by the mountains and the hills.C. A. B.]
Str. II, Psa 72:5. May they fear Thee.The supposition that here it is not God who is addressed, but the king (Hupfeld, Hitzig), cannot be proved from Psalms 89, and is against the context, which puts the constantly abiding fear of God as the blessed effect of the righteous rule in the closest connection with its other fruits.As long as (there is) a sun, and before the moon (through) generation of generation. is used of contemporaneous existence as Dan. 3:33. Before the moon, as Job 8:16=as long as it shines=exists (comp. Psa 72:7). The same may be said of before the sun (Psa 72:17), to be distinguished from the expression: in presence of the sun (Num 25:4)=as long as it is day; and from the phrase: before the eyes of the sun (2Sa 12:11)=in clear daylight.6
Psa 72:6. Let him come down as rain.The figure of the rain reminds us of 2Sa 23:4. is not the fleece of the sheep (the ancient versions, Luther, et al.), as Deu 18:4, here with a reference, perhaps, to Jdg 6:37 sq.; so likewise not the mown grass (De Wette, et al.), as Amo 7:1, as needing rain for the after-growth (Kimchi), or in order not to be dried up to the roots by the heat of summer (Calvin), still less the meadows eaten off by locusts (Chald., J. D. Mich.), but the meadows ready for the mowing (Hupf., Delitzsch).
Psa 72:7. Till there be no more moon. might mean: even to the destruction, the ruin (J. H. Mich.), as Job 14:12; Isa 38:17. The prevailing use of the word , however, is not as a substantive, but as a particle.
Str. III, Psa 72:8-11. From sea to sea.Since the reference here is to the extension of the Theocracy over the earth (Zec 9:10) and already in the time of Solomon the limits of the kingdom were no longer those of Exo 23:31, the meaning cannot be here of its extension between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. But it is not entirely indefinite: from every sea to every sea (Hengst.); but as the parallel member shows, it begins with a well known limit, namely, the Mediterranean and the stream, that is, the Euphrates, and from thence to the opposite sea which is parallel with the ends of the earth (Chald.). Amo 8:12 mentions as such far-off regions those from the north to the east, here at the same time those in the west and south, and indeed with reference to their riches, namely, the Phnician colony in southern Spain called by the Greeks Tartessos, with the islands, namely, of the Mediterranean Sea, and in south Arabia at the same time with in Ethiopia. Many understand by likewise, the Ethiopians after Sept., Aquil., and Symmach., it can only mean Arabic Beduins (Hitzig) or Nomads in general, unless we should accept a false reading instead of , that is to say, adversaries (Olshausen., Hupfeld), because the word of the text elsewhere does not seem to designate men, but beasts of the wilderness (Psa 74:14; Isa 23:13).
[Str. IV, Psa 72:12-14. For he delivereth.Perowne: The reason is given why all kings and nations should thus do homage to him who sits on Davids throne. He has merited such submission by the exercise of every royal virtue, by the justice and the mercy of his sway, by his deep sympathy with and compassion for the poor, by the protection which he extends to them against the ministers of fraud and violence. It is not that he merely covers with the shadow of his throne all neighboring nations, and is acknowledged as their political head, but that the bright example which he sets, the majesty of righteousness enthroned in his person, compels all to bow before him.Precious is their blood.Compare Psa 116:15 precious is the death of His saints. Their life is precious to God, and He will avenge their blood upon those who seek to injure them, and He will ward off injury from them.C. A. B.]
Str. V. Psa 72:15. And may he live and give him of the gold of Sheba, and pray for him continually, bless him all the day.It is disputed whether the subject is the same in all the clauses of this verse, or whether there is a change of subject, and in the latter case (in favor of which Delitzsch appeals to the Oriental style and his Geschichte der jdischen Poesie, S. 189), whether the Messianic king is the subject of live, and the following verbs are to be taken as impersonal or passive (the ancient versions, Isaki, Luther, Calvin, Umbreit), or whether the poor man is to be regarded the subject of live and bless, and the king as the subject of give and pray (J. H. Mich.), or yet of give (Maurer, Hofmann, Delitzsch). In the former case, on the other hand, it is again disputed whether the Messianic king is the subject of all the clauses (Cocc., De Dieu, Stier, Bhl), or the protected subject (Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Geier and most interpreters). The last supposition is not in opposition to the immediate context, even when the aim of sparing and delivering is not regarded as directly expressed, (Ewald, Olsh.), but the consequences of the deliverance, the life and the expression of thanks. The mention of the gold of Sheba, however, is difficult. For the delivered give this, not, as it were, as the most precious and best (Geier, J. H. Mich.), which would have been called the gold of Ophir, or because he was a native of Sheba (Hupf.) as the product of his land, which does not suit Psa 72:10 at all. We might rather suppose that the poor man (Psa 72:13) had been again restored by the king to his possessions (Hengst.); or since the singular then refers back to Psa 72:12 sq., that here as there the poor man is parallel to the miserable in the comprehensive and typical sense of Biblical usage (Hupfeld). Then we should have, not a return to Psa 72:4 (De Wette), but an expansion of the thought there expressed. But this is, to a still greater extent, the case if the king is regarded as the subject of this clause as of all the preceding.
Psa 72:16. Let there be abundance of corn in the land, even to the top of the mountains, let its fruit rustle as Lebanon.The derivation of is doubtful. The word seems to mean not only a crowd (Syr.), but after the Aramaic and the Arabic, a spreading out (Isaki). There is little probability in the derivation from in the meaning of: end, that is to say, the limits of grain on the top of the mountains (Hofmann), or: piece, handful (Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Calvin, Geier, most interps.)=there is a handful of corn, yet it will rustle. Besides the latter is against the accents. Abundance of corn as the sign of blessing (Deu 11:14; Jer 31:12; Zech. 10:17) in connection with the bloom of the people (Jer 27:6), whose increase as herbs of the land or grass of the field (Psa 92:8; Job 5:25) likewise belongs to the blessings of the Messianic time, Isa 4:1; Isa 9:2; Isa 49:20; Zec 2:8; Psa 110:3; Sir 44:21. A historical support in the time of Solomon is given in 1Ki 4:20. The comparison with Lebanon refers to the movement of its trees in the wind. The translation: its fruits culminate or tower above as Lebanon (Sept., Ewald), presupposes a different Hebrew verb.
Psa 72:17. Before the sun let his name sprout.This hardly refers to his posterity, through whom his name would transplant itself (Hupfeld), but to the occasions which would repeat themselves in the coming generations for the breaking forth of the glory of this name, in which all nations may bless themselves (Gen 18:18; Gen 22:18; Gen 26:4; Gen 48:20). The subject which is at first general and indefinite is finally very clearly expressed.
[The doxology which closes this book is fuller than that of the 1st Book. The use of Jehovah Elohim instead of Jehovah is characteristic, and is in accordance with the use of the Divine names in the two books.C. A. B.] The predicate of God, Psa 72:18 b, is like Psa 88:6; Psa 136:4; Job 9:8; His name bearing the impression of glory is as Neh 9:5, the construction and contents of Psa 72:19 b are from Num 14:21.
[The historical remark, Psa 72:20, was apparently attached to an original collection of the Psalms of David made by Solomon, or under his superintendence, to which Psalms of Solomon of a Messianic character formed the introduction and conclusion. Vid.Psalms 1, 2. This collection was composed mainly of the Psalms of the first two books, although changes in taking from and adding to may have been made in subsequent times, especially when the Psalter was completed in its present form. This historical remark may be compared with Job 31:40.C. A. B.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Nothing can be implored for a king more rich in blessing than the capacity and power for a righteous and mild government whose fruit is peace (Isa 32:17) and prosperity throughout the land. From the righteous king such a fructifying effect goes forth that the fear of God is spread abroad through the coming generations, and his rule gains an unlimited extent.
2. Yet this king will not extend his rule by the sword, but only by his righteousness and his helping love will he rule and conquer. Voluntarily other kings and their peoples will do homage to him, uneasy and hostile neighbors will sink impotent in the dust, those who have been delivered, protected and blessed by him will thankfully offer their gifts, prayers and homage. Thus will his rule endure in the power of the blessing of piety, his kingdom increase, his land prosper, his people bloom, and his name be a means of blessing from generation to generation, Psa 45:2; Psa 102:12.
3. Such wishes and hopes as these do not float in the air like human phantasies or empty dreams without prospect of realization; they have their sure ground in the promises of God respecting the son of David, their historical support in the Divine guidance of Israel and his kingdom, their constant type in the Theocracy, their transient type in Solomons peaceful rule, their final fulfilment by the Messiah and his kingdom of God, their lasting power in the faith in the blessings, by which God has decreed and promised to overcome in all generations the curse resting upon them.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Peace as the wholesome fruit of righteousness.The fear of God as the source of earthly and heavenly blessings.The welfare of nations: a, in what it consists; b, how it is gained; c, whereby it is assured.The blessing in the name of the Lord.When prince and people pray with and for one another, they are blessings to one another.Righteous judgment, mild government, and a pious mind are the jewels of the king, the happiness of the people, and are well pleasing to God.Willing obedience, thankful love, devoted trust as testimonies of the sprouting power of the name of the Lord.The prayers of believers have their yea and amen in the name of the Lord.The promises respecting the duration, extent, and the happiness of the kingdom, set up by Gods king, ruled and filled with blessings by him.
Starke : The office of the magistrate is not only to punish the wicked with righteous judgment, but likewise to protect the poor and miserable.Since God calls men to His service from all places and quarters, it is very clear that His will is that all men should be blessed.In the world those are helped who are the least needy, whilst those who are most needy are often allowed to sink into misery; but with Christ it is not so, the poor are the especial objects of His compassion and deliverance.Gods works have often to the reason a slight beginning, but afterwards a wonderful, blessed, and agreeable progress.As sure as the true mouth of the Lord has said, that all the world shall be full of His glory, it will be fulfilled in the most complete manner.
Selnekker: O thou poor reason, and miserable flesh and blood, what art thou frightened at, and why dost thou fear death and suffering? Is my blood precious with God, what wish I more?Renschel: The chief subjects of thanksgiving: 1) That God the Lord has done and still does such great wonders in the kingdom of Christ; 2) that He declares His name and gospel therein; 3) that He spreads it abroad in all lands; 4) that He will eternally preserve His word and His Church.Umbreit: The love of the king is the ground of the universal conversion of nations to Him. Because He helps the poor, all the rich bow before Him.Tholuck: As the eternal God wields the sceptre of His righteousness for the good of His oppressed congregation on earth, He has appointed His anointed to conquer the earth for His meek ones.Guenther: Heathendom will have an end, this kingdom of sorrow and misery will blossom into the glorious kingdom of peace.Taube : The kingdom of God comes in its royal glory only at the advent of the Lord; now are the times of preparation.
[Matth. Henry: As by the prayer of faith we return answers to Gods promises of mercy, so by the promises of mercy God returns answers to our prayers of faith.Christ is the poor mans King.Subjects ought to speak well of the government that is a blessing to them; and much more ought all Christians to praise Jesus Christ, daily to praise Him; for they owe all to Him, and to Him they lie under the highest obligations.Spurgeon: Each crystal drop of rain tells of heavenly mercy which forgets not the parched plains; Jesus is all grace, all that He does is love, and His presence among men is joy. We need to preach Him more, for no shower can so refresh the nations. Philosophic preaching mocks men as with a dust shower, but the gospel meets the case of fallen humanity, and happiness flourishes beneath its genial power.If we can do no more than cry, it will bring omnipotence to our aid. A cry is the native language of a spiritually needy soul; it has done with fine phrases and long orations, and it takes to sobs and moans, and so, indeed, it grasps the most potent of all weapons, for heaven always yields to such artillery.Christs subjects shall be as plentiful as blades of grass, and shall as suddenly appear as eastern verdure after a heavy shower.C. A. B.]
Footnotes:
6[Perowne: The sun and the moon are mentioned here, and again ver. 7, and in Psa 89:37, as witnesses to an everlasting order, and as it were figures of eternity, things fixed and unchangeable, compared with the fleeting, dying generations of men, as Jer 31:35; Jer 33:20; though as compared with God, themselves subject to decay and destruction, Psa 102:26; Isa 51:6; comp. Job 14:18.C. A. B.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
This Psalm is entitled a Psalm for Solomon; but under that title we are taught by the divine word that it is a prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus; and a greater than Solomon is here. It is indeed, take it altogether, a most beautiful description, typically considered, of the reign of the Lord Jesus, and the prosperity of his church, as to be accomplished in the times of the gospel.
A Psalm for Solomon
Psa 72:1
I cannot but suppose that David himself was conscious that the Holy Ghost was speaking in him, and by him, concerning that blessed Fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, which he knew God had sworn to him with an oath, that he would raise up to sit upon his throne: and therefore, with all the natural affection he had for his son Solomon, he perfectly well understood that all that is here said of the king, meant king Messiah, and him only. And if we read this Psalm wholly as referring to Christ, it is indeed most blessed. But if we allow it to have any secondary reference to Solomon, David’s son, we sadly enervate the scripture, and pass by the reverence wholly belonging to our God. Act 2:29-31 . Reader! my desire is to consider David as uttering these last words of his under the blessed inspiration of God the Spirit; and in this view is not this first verse, a prayer which God the Holy Ghost puts into the mouth of the church and every true believer, both under the Old Testament dispensation, and in the New? Our fathers prayed ardently that God the Father would send his King, his Holy One, and set him upon his throne in Zion; and what doth the church pray for now, but that, since he hath come and finished redemption work for his people, he would exercise his blessed reign in his people, and rule and govern in their hearts, the great and everlasting Lord of all! Hail! precious King, Lord Jesus! may thy kingdom come! may thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Missions: Growth of the Kingdom
Psa 72
The outlook seems dubious when we see (1) but a ‘handful’ of corn, (2) and that ‘in the earth’ one handful for a whole world, (3) and some on the top of the mountains. But it is reassuring when we know (1) that it is corn God’s good wheat, (2) that even on the top of the mountains its fruit shakes like Lebanon. What will it be in the richer valleys? What were the words of Jesus but a handful of corn, and that upon the top of the mountains? But it is the only seed that can produce its harvest in every land, in every corner of the world.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
The Kingship of Jesus
Psa 72
There has not been wanting a disposition to empty the so-called Messianic psalms, of their references to Jesus Christ. In a sense, it is not only right but spiritually profitable to get at the immediate and literal meaning of prophecy and psalm, and every other Scripture; at the same time, why should there be any other disposition to limit the signification of the sacred writers to local and transient events, when many of them are evidently charged with greater meaning than can be justly limited to any one occasion? As a rule of criticism we should determine in the first instance to find out the literal and grammatical meaning of every passage, and where possible to fix the local operation of its primary significance; but this being done it is open to the religious imagination to fill in all the larger meanings of which the sacred words are susceptible, and where the history justifies the application of larger meanings the critic should take his stand upon historical conditions and vindicate himself by realisations which may not have entered into the dream of the original writer. It is quite within the compass of easy proof that many of the writers of holy Scripture did not themselves know the full extent of their own meaning. As in nature, so in revelation; even a stone may be put to various uses; all the elements of the earth may be gathered up and shaped into unexpected significations and symbolisms: and so a man may have written words which he himself limited as to time and space, and yet the meaning of inspiration may reach infinitely further than the boundaries which he imposed upon himself in setting down what he supposed to be his own words. For my part, I cannot read this psalm without feeling that as applied and limited to Solomon it is an intolerable exaggeration. There is no reason why Solomon should not take his place in the psalm as being in some way prefigured by its symbolism and apocalypse, but being like ourselves only a man, there are expressions in the psalm which could not be literally applied to any human creature. If we are severely literal in one direction, we must be equally severe in the other; and according to this equal law we shall save ourselves from applying to King Solomon words which in their natural meaning would involve a species of idolatry and even blasphemy. In no profound sense should prayer be made to any man continually, nor daily should he be praised; nor should his name endure for ever in any other sense than what is generally understood by the term reputation or fame. It is evident, furthermore, that all nations could not call Solomon blessed, except in his relations to One greater than himself and his father. Allowing, therefore, that Solomon has his place in the references of this psalm, we still adhere to the holy conviction that the psalm is only fulfilled in all its emblems, metaphors, and prognostications, by the King of kings and Lord of lords. We are entitled to go back and interpret prophecy by history, and we know of no psalm which more readily yields itself to historical interpretation than this noble ode.
The king often represented God to the Hebrew mind. The king was the medium through which the Hebrew poet and worshipper saw as much as possible of the divine nature and government; he was, indeed, a kind of incarnation of the divine righteousness and clemency: hence the veneration with which the very name of the king was regarded, and hence the confidence that it was impossible for him to be wicked, to pervert judgment, or to do wrong. The king was thus interpreted, not in his limited personality, but in the symbolism of his office, and so interpreted he became as god to the nations over which he reigned. The king referred to in this psalm is one who has peculiar regard for the poor and the children of the needy, and by virtue of that regard he sets himself in continual hostility to the oppressor and to those who live by unrighteousness. Surely this prophecy was fulfilled in the Son of God, whose words of recognition in reference to the poor were charged with the sublimest tenderness, and whose anger to those who were hypocritical and oppressive and selfish burned like an oven. The gentleness of Christ is beautifully represented by the words, “He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth,” there shall be nothing of tempest in his way of coming, nothing of violence; no storm shall follow in his track, as he moves forward to save and comfort the sons of men: he shall, so to say, be best represented by those processes of nature which are most gracious; he shall be part of the very grain that blesses the earth; he shall mingle with the light which brings the morning; he shall be within the warmth that comforts and fertilises the earth with gracious heat: no special chariot of thunder shall be created in which he may go forth; rather will he join the simplest and most familiar processes of nature, and come as one who attracts no attention except by the consciousness of fuller grace which he works in every heart that receives him.
The more active aspects of his ministry are shown in such words as “In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” These words are pregnant even with military meaning, for they signify that, stand in the way who may, or what may, all shall go down before the progress of the kingdom of Christ. There is no threatening of hostility, there is no defiance of evil powers; nothing of the nature of challenge enters into these solemn and gracious words; yet there they stand in all the solidity of a decree, in all the brightness of a prophetic hope “he shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth” how much is involved in this promise, what a lifting up of things that are cast down, what a smoothing of rough places, what an overturning of evil fortresses, what an implication of Omnipotence! All these things can only find their fulfilment, and the perfectness of their glory, in the rule of him who was made perfect through suffering. We are told, indeed, in more aggressive language, that “his enemies shall lick the dust”: this need not imply any violence being inflicted upon the enemies, although that also comes within the scope of the divine government and purpose; but it may mean that such shall be the progress of right, such the vindication of justice, such the comfort which the poor shall realise and enjoy and through which they shall be strengthened, that the enemies of Christ shall be bowed down with shame and confusion, and shall seek a dwelling-place within the very shadow of his feet.
Not only are the poor to be blessed, and all the humble to be sustained and nourished by the comforting grace of Christ, but all the great powers of the earth, as typified by kings and rulers, shall offer their crowns to the Son of God, “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.” Thus the Son of God does not rule along one line only, as if he were limited in grace or confined in power; he rules with both hands, he covers the whole space, he throbs in every pulse of time; nothing is kept back from him, for his right extends over all things, seeing that he made all things, and without him was not anything made that was made. How these kingdoms shall be brought into submission we are not told, but even here there are two processes by which kings and kingdoms, thrones and empires, may fall to the lot of the Son of man, as a part of his decreed and eternal possession. The mighty powers of the earth may be smitten down and crushed by irresistible force. Almightiness may breathe upon them, and cause them to lose all their pride, and to give up all that is defiant and hostile; or a great spiritual operation may take place within the heart of the mighty and the noble, and they may be lured from all that is ambitious, worldly, and selfish, and be brought in humble homage to the Son of man, uncrowning themselves before his majesty, and offering him the tribute of their worship and love. This is the supreme method by which Christ makes men known, by which he enlarges and consolidates his kingdom. He will not have kings or subjects merely chained to his throne as if they were slaves; he will have them bound to his person and to his purposes, by the consent of their love, by the homage of their hearts, by the yielding of their illuminated and sanctified judgment. He acquires his supreme and eternal power over men by delivering the needy when they cry, and the poor, and him that hath no helper; by sparing the poor and the needy, and saving the souls of the needy; by redeeming their souls from deceit and violence, and by counting their blood precious in his sight. He thus lays hold of the very foundations of society, and works his upward way to the very topmost stratum, taking with him all men, women, and children, poor, feeble, homeless, lost; and never resting until he has brought within the circle of his sovereignty, and the helpfulness of his benediction, men of every grade and quality. Predictions of this kind could never be fulfilled in any one merely human personality. They encompass too great a scope to be thus fulfilled. It is the glory of the Son of man that he knows every heart, speaks every language, is present in every clime, and that throughout all the days of time he grows upon the consciousness of men with ever-increasing and ever-brightening vividness. No language is foreign to him; no life is beneath his regard; no place is too remote for his visitation; all things lie before the vision of his love, and everything is touched by his redeeming power. The earth longs for some such ruler. All the rulers that have been, all the monarchs that have come and gone, have surely been charged with the meaning that there is yet to come a King whose right it is to reign and whose dominion shall extend over all the earth. Such a king we see in Christ Jesus. Blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. Oh that those who love the Saviour would arise, and clothe themselves with all their spiritual light, and proclaim to those who have never heard of the Son of man how great he is, how rich in promise, how richer still in all that can redeem, touch, and bless the heart of the world. Jesus Christ trusts himself to the love of his Church; he cannot but feel that a Church which loves him with all its heart will not keep silence respecting his name, but will go forth from land to land proclaiming it with all the emphasis of thankfulness and affection. It is for the Church to say what part it will take in bringing about the glad and heavenly time when the fruit of the handful of corn which God himself has sown shall shake like Lebanon and be a store of nutriment to all mankind. It is not enough to read poetry of this kind, to be charmed with its sweet cadences, and to regard it in a merely literary aspect; all that is poetical, tender, and charming in divine promise and prediction should be turned into nerve and power and courage, through which the Gospel shall be preached fearlessly in all lands, however great the obstructions, however bitter and resolute the hostility. We have a glorious King to proclaim. We need not be ashamed of his name, of his descent, of his decrees, of his power. If any man shall ask who he is, and what right he has to reign, let the inquirer find the answer in our lives, in our pureness, in our tenderness, in our charity, in our self-sacrifice; and let the world feel that any king who can make men so characterised is worthy of universal confidence, and is alone fitted to occupy with dignity and beneficence the throne of universal empire.
Prayer
Almighty God, if we are not afraid of thee, we owe our confidence and boldness to Jesus Christ thy Son, our Saviour and our Priest. By him we come to thee, boldly asking that we may find grace to help in time of need. We have no confidence in ourselves, but we have confidence in the Cross the key that opens heaven, the way into the broad universe, because the way into pardon and purity and peace. We come by that way time after time, and our feet delight to walk it, for in walking it our hearts glow with sacred fire. Jesus himself joins us, and makes our hearts burn with love, and sets before us in the furthest distance a light that makes us glad. We bless thee for the revelation of Christ Jesus, Son of man, Son of God, Physician of souls, Redeemer of sinners. He is our supreme joy, our infinite trust; in him we have peace, and in him we have eternal joy. Cleanse us in his most precious blood, purify our hearts by faith, drive away from our souls all temptations towards self-trust and forgetfulness of God, and comfort us with a sense of thy continual presence in the light and in the darkness, in all the beauty of summer, and in all the cold and bitterness of winter. May we always know thee to be near, and, knowing that, our souls shall have no straitness and narrowness, but shall live in an infinite liberty; and our joy, like our peace, shall be unspeakable. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XV
PSALM AFTER DAVID PRIOR TO THE BABYLONIAN EXILE
The superscriptions ascribed to Asaph twelve palms (Psa 50 ; 73-83) Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun presided over the Levitical singers in the time of David. Their sons also directed the various bands of musicians (1Ch 25 ). It seems that the family of Asaph for many generations continued to preside over the service of song (Cf. Ezr 3:10 ).
The theme of Psa 50 is “Obedience is better than sacrifice,” or the language of Samuel to Saul when he had committed the awful sin in respect to the Amalekites. This teaching is paralleled in many Old Testament scriptures, for instance, Psa 51:16-17 . For thou delightest not in sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou hast no pleasure in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
The problem of Psa 73 is the problem of why the wicked prosper (Psa 73:1-14 ), and its solution is found in the attitude of God toward the wicked (Psa 73:15-28 ). [For a fine exposition of the other psalms of this section see Kirkpatrick or Maclaren on the Psalms.]
The psalms attributed to the sons of Korah are Psa 42 ; Psa 44 ; Psa 45 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 ; Psa 49 ; Psa 84 ; Psa 85 ; Psa 87 . The evidence that Psalms 42-43 were one poem is internal. There are three stanzas, each closing with a refrain. The similarity of structure and thought indicates that they were formerly one psalm. A parallel to these two psalms we find in the escape of Christian from the Castle of Giant Despair in Pilgrim’s Progress .
Only two psalms were ascribed to Solomon, viz: Psa 72 and 127. However, the author believes that there is good reason to attribute Psa 72 to David. If he wrote it, then only one was written by Solomon.
The theme of Psa 72 is the reign of the righteous king, and the outline according to DeWitt, which shows the kingdom as desired and foretold, is as follows: (1) righteous (Psa 72:1-4 ) ; (2) perpetual (Psa 72:5-7 ); (3) universal (Psa 72:8-11 ); (4) benign (Psa 72:12-14 ); (5) prosperous (Psa 72:15-17 ).
Psa 127 was written when Solomon built the Temple. It is the central psalm of the psalms of the Ascents, which refer to the Temple. It seems fitting that this psalm should occupy the central position in the group, because of the occasion which inspired it and its relation to the other psalms of the group. A brief interpretation of it is as follows: The house here means household. It is a brief lyric, setting forth the lessons of faith and trust. This together with Psa 128 is justly called “A Song of Home.” Once in speaking to Baylor Female College I used this psalm, illustrating the function of a school as a parent sending forth her children into the world as mighty arrows. Again I used this psalm in one of my addresses in our own Seminary in which I made the household to refer to the Seminary sending forth the preachers as her children.
The psalms assigned to the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah are Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 . The historical setting is found in the history of the reign of Hezekiel. Their application to Judah at this time is found in the historical connection, in which we have God’s great deliverances from the foreign powers, especially the deliverance from Sennacherib. We find in poetry a description of the destruction and desolation of Jerusalem in the Lamentations of Jeremiah and in Psa 74 ; Psa 79 .
The radical critics ascribe Psa 74 ; Psa 79 to the Maccabean period, and their argument is based upon the use of the word “synagogues,” in Psa 74:8 . The answer to their contention is found in the marginal rendering which gives “places of assembly” instead of “synagogues.” The word “synagogue” is a Greek word translated from the Hebrew, which has several meanings, and in this place means the “place of assembly” where God met his people.
The silence of the exile period is shown in Psa 137 , in which they respond that they cannot sing a song of Zion in a strange land. Their brightening of hope is seen in Psa 102 . In this we have the brightening of their hope on the eve of their return. In Psa 85:10 we have a great text:
Mercy and truth are met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
The truth here is God’s law demanding justice; mercy is God’s grace meeting justice. This was gloriously fulfilled in Christ on the cross. He met the demands of the law and offers mercy and grace to all who accept them on the terms of repentance and faith.
Three characteristics of Psa 119 are, first, it is an alphabetical psalm; second, it is the longest chapter in the Bible, and third, it is an expansion of the latter part of Psa 19 . Psalms 146-150 were used for worship in the second temple. The expressions of innocence in the psalms do not refer to original sin, but to a course of conduct in contrast with wicked lives. The psalmists do not claim absolute, but relative sinlessness.
The imprecations in the psalms are real prayers, and are directed against real men who were enemies of David and the Jewish nation, but they are not expressions of personal resentment. They are vigorous expressions of righteous indignation against incorrigible enemies of God and his people and are to be interpreted in the light of progressive revelation. The New Testament contains many exultant expressions of the overthrow of the wicked. (Cf. 1Co 16:22 ; 2Ti 4:14 ; Gal 5:12 ; Rev 16:5-6 ; Rev 18:20 .) These imprecations do not teach that we, even in the worst circumstances, should bear personal malice, nor take vengeance on the enemies of righteousness, but that we should live so close to God that we may acquiesce in the destruction of the wicked and leave the matter of vengeance in the hands of a just God, to whom vengeance belongs (Rom 12:19-21 ).
The clearest teachings on the future life as found in the psalms, both pro and con, are found in these passages, as follows: Psa 16:10-11 ; Psa 17:15 ; Psa 23:6 ; Psa 49:15 ; Psa 73:23-26 . The passages that are construed to the contrary are found in Psa 6:5 ; Psa 30:9 ; Psa 39:13 ; Psa 88:10-12 ; Psa 115:17 . The student will compare these passages and note carefully their teachings. The first group speaks of the triumph over Sheol (the resurrection) ; about awaking in the likeness of God; about dwelling in the house of the Lord forever; about redemption from the power of Sheol; and God’s guiding counsel and final reception into glory, all of which is very clear and unmistakable teaching as to the future life.
The second group speaks of DO remembrance in death; about no profit to the one when he goes down to the pit; of going hence and being no more; about the dead not being able to praise God and about the grave as being the land of forgetfulness ; and about the dead not praising Jehovah, all of which are spoken from the standpoint of the grave and temporal death.
There is positively no contradiction nor discrepancy in the teaching of these scriptures. One group takes the spirit of man as the viewpoint and teaches the continuity of life, the immortality of the soul; the other group takes the physical being of man as the viewpoint and teaches the dissolution of the body and its absolute unconsciousness in the grave.
QUESTIONS
1. How many and what psalms were ascribed to Asaph?
2. Who presided over the Levitical singers in the time of David?
3. What is the theme of Psa 50 , and where do we find the same teaching in the Old Testament?
4. What is the problem of Psa 73 , and what its solution?
5. What psalms are attributed to the sons of Korah?
6. What is the evidence that Psalms 42-43 were one poem and what the characteristic of these two taken together?
7. What parallel to these two psalms do we find in modern literature?
8. What psalms were ascribed to Solomon?
9. What is the theme of Psa 72 ?
10. What is the outline according to DeWitt, which shows the kingdom as desired and foretold?
11. When was Psa 127 written and what the application as a part of the Pilgrim group?
12. Give a brief interpretation of it and the uses made of it by the author on two different occasions.
13. What psalms are assigned to the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah, and what their historical setting?
14. What is their application to Judah at this time?
15. Where may we find in poetry a description of the destruction and desolation of Jerusalem?
16. To what period do radical critics ascribe Psalms 74-79; what is their argument, and what is your answer?
17. Which psalm shows the silence of the exile period and why?
18. Which one shows their brightening of hope?
19. Explain Psa 85:10 .
20. Give three characteristics of Psa 119 .
21. What use was made of Psalms 146-150?
22. Explain the expression of innocence in the psalms in harmony with their teaching of sin.
23. Explain the imprecations in the psalms and show their harmony with New Testament teachings.
24. Cite the clearest teachings on the future life as found in the psalms, both pro and con.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
XVI
THE MESSIANIC PSALMS AND OTHERS
We commence this chapter by giving a classified list of the Messianic Psalms, as follows:
The Royal Psalms are:
Psa 110 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 72 ; Psa 45 ; Psa 89 ;
The Passion Psalms are:
Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 ;
The Psalms of the Ideal Man are Psa 8 ; Psa 16 ; Psa 40 ;
The Missionary Psalms are:
Psa 47 ; Psa 65 ; Psa 68 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 100 ; Psa 117 .
The predictions before David of the coming Messiah are, (1) the seed of the woman; (2) the seed of Abraham; (3) the seed of Judah; (4) the seed of David.
The prophecies of history concerning the Messiah are, (1) a prophet like unto Moses; (2) a priest after the order of Melchizedek; (3) a sacrifice which embraces all the sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament; (4) direct references to him as King, as in 2Sa 7:8 ff.
The messianic offices as taught in the psalms are four, viz: (1) The Messiah is presented as Prophet, or Teacher (Psa 40:8 ); (2) as Sacrifice, or an Offering for sin (Psa 40:6 ff.; Heb 10:5 ff.) ; (3) he is presented as Priest (Psa 110:4 ); (4) he is presented as King (Psa 45 ).
The psalms most clearly presenting the Messiah in his various phases and functions are as follows: (1) as the ideal man, or Second Adam (8); (2) as Prophet (Psa 40 ); (3) as Sacrifice (Psa 22 ) ; (4) as King (Psa 45 ) ; (5) as Priest (Psa 110 ) ; (6) in his universal reign (Psa 72 ).
It will be noted that other psalms teach these facts also, but these most clearly set forth the offices as they relate to the Messiah.
The Messiah as a sacrifice is presented in general in Psa 40:6 . His sufferings as such are given in a specific and general way in Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 . The events of his sufferings in particular are described, beginning with the betrayal of Judas, as follows:
1. Judas betrayed him (Mat 26:14 ) in fulfilment of Psa 41:9 .
2. At the Supper (Mat 26:24 ) Christ said, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him,” referring to Psa 22 .
3. They sang after the Supper in fulfilment of Psa 22:22 .
4. Piercing his hands and feet, Psa 22:16 .
5. They cast lots for his vesture in fulfilment of Psa 22:18 .
6. Just before the ninth hour the chief priests reviled him (Mat 27:43 ) in fulfilment of Psa 22:8 .
7. At the ninth hour (Mat 27:46 ) he quoted Psa 22:1 .
8. Near his death (Joh 19:28 ) he said, in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 , “I thirst.”
9. At that time they gave him vinegar (Mat 27:48 ) in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 .
10. When he was found dead they did not break his bones (Joh 19:36 ) in fulfilment of Psa 34:20 .
11. He is represented as dead, buried, and raised in Psa 16:10 .
12. His suffering as a substitute is described in Psa 69:9 .
13. The result of his crucifixion to them who crucified him is given in Psa 69:22-23 . Compare Rom 11:9-10 .
The Penitential Psalms are Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 . The occasion of Psa 6 was the grief and penitence of David over Absalom; of Psa 32 was the blessedness of forgiveness after his sin with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah; Psa 38 , David’s reference to his sin with Bathsheba; Psa 51 , David’s penitence and prayer for forgiveness for this sin; Psa 102 , the penitence of the children of Israel on the eve of their return from captivity; Psalm 130, a general penitential psalm; Psa 143 , David’s penitence and prayer when pursued by Absalom.
The Pilgrim Psalms are Psalms 120-134. This section of the psalter is called the “Little Psalter.” These Psalms were collected in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, in troublous times. The author of the central psalm of this collection is Solomon, and he wrote it when he built his Temple. The Davidic Psalms in this collection are Psa 120 ; Psa 122 ; Psa 124 ; Psa 131 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 133 . The others were written during the building of the second Temple. They are called in the Septuagint “Songs of the Steps.”
There are four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents,” viz:
1. The first theory is that the “Songs of the Steps” means the songs of the fifteen steps from the court of the women to the court of Israel, there being a song for each step.
2. The second theory is that advanced by Luther, which says that they were songs of a higher choir, elevated above, or in an elevated voice.
3. The third theory is that the thought in these psalms advances by degrees.
4. The fourth theory is that they are Pilgrim Psalms, or the songs that they sang while going up to the great feasts.
Certain scriptures give the true idea of these titles, viz: Exo 23:14-17 ; Exo 34:23-24 ; 1Sa 1:3 ; 1Ki 12:27-28 : Psa 122:1-4 ; and the proof of their singing as they went is found in Psa_42:4; 100; and Isa 30:29 . They went, singing these psalms, to the Feasts of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Psa 121 was sung when just in sight of Jerusalem and Psa 122 was sung at the gate. Psa 128 is the description of a good man’s home and a parallel to this psalm in modern literature is Burns’s “Cotter’s Saturday Night.” The pious home makes the nation great.
Psa 133 is a psalm of fellowship. It is one of the finest expressions of the blessings that issue when God’s people dwell together in unity. The reference here is to the anointing of Aaron as high priest and the fragrance of the anointing oil which was used in these anointings. The dew of Hermon represents the blessing of God upon his people when they dwell together in such unity.
Now let us look at the Alphabetical Psalms. An alphabetical psalm is one in which the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are used alphabetically to commence each division. In Psalms 111-112, each clause so begins; in Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 145 ; each verse so begins; in Psa 37 each stanza of two verses so begins; in 119 each stanza of eight verses so begins, and each of the eight lines begins with the same letter. In Psa 25 ; 34 37 the order is not so strict; in Psa 9 and Psa 10 there are some traces of this alphabetical order.
David originated these alphabetical psalms and the most complete specimen is Psa 119 , which is an expansion of the latter part of Psa 19 .
A certain group of psalms is called the Hallelujah Psalms. They are so called because the word “Hallelujah” is used at the beginning, or at the ending, and sometimes at both the beginning and the ending. The Hallelujah Psalms are Psalm 111-113; 115-117; 146-150. Psa 117 is a doxology; and Psalms 146-150 were used as anthems. Psa 148 calls on all creation to praise God. Francis of Assisi wrote a hymn based on this psalm in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister. Psa 150 calls for all varieties of instruments. Psalms 113-118 are called the Egyptian Hallel. They were used at the Passover (Psalm 113-114), before the Supper and Psalm 115-118 were sung after the Supper. According to this, Jesus and his disciples sang Psalms 115-118 at the last Passover Supper. These psalms were sung also at the Feasts of Pentecost, Tabernacles, Dedication, and New Moon.
The name of God is delayed long in Psa 114 . Addison said, “That the surprise might be complete.” Then there are some special characteristics of Psa 115 , viz: (1) It was written against idols. Cf. Isa 44:9-20 ; (2) It is antiphonal, the congregation singing Psa 115:1-8 , the choir Psa 115:9-12 , the priests Psa 115:13-15 and the congregation again Psa 115:16-18 . The theme of Psa 116 is love, based on gratitude for a great deliverance, expressed in service. It is appropriate to read at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and Psa 116:15 is especially appropriate for funeral services.
On some special historical occasions certain psalms were sung. Psa 46 was sung by the army of Gustavus Adolphus before the decisive battle of Leipzig, on September 17, 1631.Psa 68 was sung by Cromwell’s army on the occasion of the battle of Dunbar in Scotland.
Certain passages in the Psalms show that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices. For instance, Psa 118:27 ; Psa 141:2 seem to teach very clearly that they approved the Mosaic sacrifice. But other passages show that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important and foresaw the abolition of the animal sacrifices. Such passages are Psa 50:7-15 ; Psa 4:5 ; Psa 27:6 ; Psa 40:6 ; Psa 51:16-17 . These scriptures show conclusively that the writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.
QUESTIONS
1. What are the Royal Psalms?
2. What are the Passion Psalms?
3. What are the Psalms of the Ideal Man?
4. What are the Missionary Psalms?
5. What are the predictions before David of the coming Messiah?
6. What are the prophecies of history concerning the Messiah?
7. Give a regular order of thought concerning the messianic offices as taught in the psalms.
8. Which psalms most clearly present the Messiah as (1) the ideal man, or Second Adam, (2) which as Prophet, or Teacher, (3) which as the Sacrifice, (4) which as King, (5) which as Priest, (6) which his universal reign?
9. Concerning the suffering Messiah, or the Messiah as a sacrifice, state the words or facts, verified in the New Testament as fulfilment of prophecy in the psalms. Let the order of the citations follow the order of facts in Christ’s life.
10. Name the Penitential Psalms and show their occasion.
11. What are the Pilgrim Psalms?
12. What is this section of the Psalter called?
13. When and under what conditions were these psalms collected?
14. Who is the author of the central psalm of this collection?
15. What Davidic Psalms are in this collection?
16. When were the others written?
17. What are they called in the Septuagint?
18. What four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents”?
19. What scriptures give the true idea of these titles?
20. Give proof of their singing as they went.
21. To what feasts did they go singing these Psalms?
22. What was the special use made of Psa 121 and Psa 122 ?
23. Which of these psalms is the description of a good man’s home and what parallel in modern literature?
24. Expound Psa 133 .
25. What is an alphabetical psalm, and what are the several kinds?
26. Who originated these Alphabetical Psalms?
27. What are the most complete specimen?
28. Of what is it an expansion?
29. Why is a certain group of psalms called the Hallelujah Psalms?
30. What are the Hallelujah Psalms?
31. Which of the Hallelujah Psalms was a doxology?
32. Which of these were used as anthems?
33. Which psalm calls on all creation to praise God?
34. Who wrote a hymn based on Psa 148 in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister?
35. Which of these psalms calls for all varieties of instruments?
36. What is the Egyptian Hallel?
37. What is their special use and how were they sung?
38. Then what hymns did Jesus and his disciples sing?
39. At what other feasts was this sung?
40. Why was the name of God delayed so long in Psa 114 ?
41. What are the characteristics of Psa 115 ?
42. What is the theme and special use of Psa 116 ?
43. State some special historical occasions on which certain psalms were sung. Give the psalm for each occasion.
44. Cite passages in the psalms showing that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices.
45. Cite other passages showing that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
PSALMS
XI
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS
According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:
1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.
2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.
3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.
4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.
5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.
6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.
7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.
At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.
The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.
The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.
They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”
The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:
1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.
2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.
3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .
In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.
It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.
There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.
The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.
The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.
The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:
Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)
Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)
Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)
Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)
Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)
They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.
There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:
Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.
Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:
1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.
2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.
3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.
4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.
5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.
All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:
In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).
In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).
In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).
In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).
The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .
QUESTIONS
1. What books are commended on the Psalms?
2. What is a psalm?
3. What is the Psalter?
4. What is the range of time in composition?
5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?
6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?
7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?
8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.
9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?
10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?
11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?
12. How many psalms in our collection?
13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?
14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?
15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?
16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?
17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?
18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?
19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?
20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?
21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?
22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?
23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?
24. How many of the psalms have no titles?
25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?
26. How do later Jews supply these titles?
27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?
XII
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)
The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:
1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).
2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).
3. The nature, or character, of the poem:
(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).
(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).
4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).
5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).
6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).
7. The kind of musical instrument:
(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).
(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).
(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).
8. A special choir:
(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).
(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).
(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).
9. The keynote, or tune:
(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).
(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).
(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).
(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).
(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).
(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.
(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.
(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.
10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).
11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)
12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).
The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.
The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.
David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:
1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.
2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.
3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.
4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.
5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:
1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.
2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.
3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.
4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.
5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.
6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.
The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.
Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.
Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:
I. By books
1. Psalms 1-41 (41)
2. Psalms 42-72 (31)
3. Psalms 73-89 (17)
4. Psalms 90-106 (17)
5. Psalms 107-150 (44)
II. According to date and authorship
1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )
2. Psalms of David:
(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).
(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).
(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).
3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).
4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).
5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).
6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )
7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )
8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)
III. By groups
1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.
2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )
3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)
4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )
5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”
IV. Doctrines of the Psalms
1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.
2. The covenant, the basis of worship.
3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.
4. The pardon of sin and justification.
5. The Messiah.
6. The future life, pro and con.
7. The imprecations.
8. Other doctrines.
V. The New Testament use of the Psalms
1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.
2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.
We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:
1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )
2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )
3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )
4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )
5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )
6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )
7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )
8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )
9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )
The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.
There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.
It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.
The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.
Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:
1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.
2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.
3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.
The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.
QUESTIONS
1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.
2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?
3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?
4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?
5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.
6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?
7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?
8. What other authors are named in the titles?
9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?
10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.
11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?
12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.
13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?
14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?
15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?
16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?
17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.
18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?
19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?
20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?
XVII
THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS
A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.
Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.
The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:
1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.
2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.
3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.
In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).
This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.
It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:
1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.
2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.
We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.
1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.
The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.
The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).
But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .
Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).
This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.
2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:
(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).
(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .
(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”
(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).
What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!
3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.
(1) His divinity,
(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;
(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .
(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .
(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .
(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .
(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .
(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.
(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .
4. His offices.
(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).
(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).
(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).
(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).
(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).
5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:
(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .
(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.
(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .
(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).
And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).
And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).
Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).
These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .
(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).
(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .
(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).
(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).
(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).
(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).
(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).
The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).
The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).
The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).
His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).
In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).
His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).
Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).
With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).
We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.
QUESTIONS
1. What is a good text for this chapter?
2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?
3. What is the last division called and why?
4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?
5. To what three things is the purpose limited?
6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?
7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?
8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?
9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?
10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?
11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.
12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?
13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?
14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?
15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.
16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.
17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.
18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Psa 72:1 [A Psalm] for Solomon. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
A Psalm for Solomon ] Whom his father David had crowned while yet alive; and now, at point of death, leaveth him this last bequeath as a basilicon doron, a direction in point of government, and a prediction of a most flourishing reign thereupon; this last he so describeth, that by a spirit of prophecy, attributing eternity thereunto, he riseth up from Solomon to Christ, of whom he was a type; like as also the promise made to David, concerning Solomon and Christ, was conceived in such terms by God himself, as if they had been almost one and the same person, 2Sa 7:13-14 1Ch 22:10 . (Beza).
Ver. 1. Give the king thy judgments, O God ] i.e. Give me, for that little time I have here to live and reign, skill and will to do it aright, and as thy law requireth.
And thy righteousness unto the king’s son] To Solomon, and his successors; for David’s great care was the welfare of God’s people after his decease, for which end he both prayeth, and principleth his son Solomon; and herein his great piety to the end appeareth. I could not but love the man (said Theodosius, the emperor, concerning Ambrose) who, while he lived he heartily wished that the contentions that were in the Church might be quenched, though it were with his blood; so when he died he was more solicitous of the Church’s welfare than of his own.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
This is simply “Of Solomon.” The close is strikingly suited. “Blessed [be] Jehovah Elohim, the God of Israel alone doing wondrous things. And blessed [be] the name of his glory for ever; and let all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.”
It is evident that the psalm closes with the millennial reign of David’s greater Son, the Messiah, to Whom God gives His judgments, and Who will glorify Him in His reign as He had in His rejection (72).
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 72:1-4
1Give the king Your judgments, O God,
And Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2May he judge Your people with righteousness
And Your afflicted with justice.
3Let the mountains bring peace to the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
4May he vindicate the afflicted of the people,
Save the children of the needy
And crush the oppressor.
Psa 72:1-4 This strophe prays for the godly manner in which the new king (i.e., Messiah) should reign.
1. judge (plural in MT possible, expresses quality) with righteousness, cf. Isa 9:7; Isa 11:2-5; Isa 32:1; for righteousness see SPECIAL TOPIC: RIGHTEOUSNESS
2. judge with justice (see SPECIAL TOPIC: JUDGE, JUDGMENT, and JUSTICE () IN ISAIAH ), cf. Psa 82:3
3. bring peace (the righteous king’s reign will cause the land to prosper, i.e., Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30)
4. vindicate, cf. Isa 11:4
5. save
6. crush the oppressor
Notice the different terms used to describe God’s people.
1. Your people, Psa 72:2
2. Your afflicted, Psa 72:2; Psa 72:4 (JPSOA, lowly ones)
3. the children of the needy, Psa 72:4
All of God’s family will be protected and encouraged.
There developed a tension within the covenant community between the rich and poor. This tension was transferred after the exiles to believing, faithful followers and the pagan invaders/occupiers. It is the afflicted/poor/needy who will be restored. YHWH will care for and defend them (development of Deuteronomy themes). He is their only hope and savior (cf. Psa 103:6; Psa 146:7).
Psa 72:3 This imagery can have several meanings.
1. mountains. . .hills refer to godly leaders
2. mountains. . .hills are functioning as personified messengers of prosperity (i.e., covenant blessings)
3. mountains. . .hills refer to the permanent stability of the Promised Land
water This word (BDB 284, KB 283) is found only here in the OT. It seems to be from the Hiphil verb dripping; in Arabic the root means tears flow.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Title. for Solomon. Not of, but concerning. See Epilogue by David for his son Solomon, and for his “Greater Son”, the Messiah. Written after Solomon’s second investiture, 1Ch 29:23 (921 B. C). The year before David’s death.
the king: i.e. David himself.
judgments = just decisions (of David regarding Solomon).
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
righteousness: i.e. in all his (Solomon’s) judgments, according to 1Ki 3:5-9. 1Ch 29:19, and 1Ch 28:5, 1Ch 28:7.
king’s son = Solomon; but to be yet fulfilled in Christ.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 72:1-20
Psa 72:1-20 is entitled, “A Psalm for Solomon.” As we read this, we find that it goes far beyond Solomon and actually is a prophecy of that Son that was promised to David, even Jesus Christ, who would sit on the throne of David and rule it and establish it in order, in justice, and in righteousness, from henceforth forever. And so Psa 72:1-20 transcends beyond just David’s prayer for his son Solomon, and it becomes an expression of Jesus Christ in the Kingdom Age upon the throne of David. And so, there is that dual interpretation of Psa 72:1-20 .
Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son ( Psa 72:1 ).
When Jesus Christ comes again, the first order is that of judging the earth, gathering together the nations for judgment. “Give judgment unto thy king, and thy righteousness to the king’s son.”
He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and the poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and the abundance of peace so long as the moon endures ( Psa 72:2-7 ).
So you see even by the words of the psalm. “They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and the moon endure, throughout all the generations.” So it carries far beyond Solomon to that righteous King that God had promised to sit upon the throne of David, and to establish it from henceforth even forever, as long as the moon endures.
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the eaRuth ( Psa 72:8 ).
Again, the kingdom of God covering the entire earth.
They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him ( Psa 72:9-11 ).
“Every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father” ( Php 2:10-11 ). And the kings of the earth will gather, bring gifts from all over the world where His kingdom extends, and will bring the praises of the people unto Him in Jerusalem. The glorious Kingdom Age.
Now when you read of the kings of the earth coming and gathering and paying their homage and bringing their gifts, who are those kings of the earth? Revelation, chapter 1, verse Psa 72:5-6, “Unto Him who loved us and who hath made us unto our God a kingdom of priests, and we shall reign with Him upon the earth.” Revelation, chapter 5, the song of the redeemed saints in heaven, “Worthy is the Lamb to take the scroll and loose the seals, for Thou was slain and have redeemed us by Thy blood, out of every nation, tribe, tongue, kindred, and people, and hath made us unto our God, kings and priests. And we shall reign with Thee upon the earth.” The church. So this mention of the kings falling down before Him is actually a reference to you, His church, and your place with Him in the Kingdom Age.
For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. There shall be a handful 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. His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: and all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended ( Psa 72:12-20 ).
So this brings us to the end of the second book of the psalms. As we mentioned to you, the psalms are actually divided into five books, and each of the books ends with a doxology. And here we find the doxology, “The whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.” Just sort of, you know, the capstone on the thing, the conclusion. And thus, the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
So as we enter into Book Three of the Psalms, we now get into a series of psalms that are ascribed to Asaph. Now Asaph was the chief musician. He was appointed by David as head over the musicians. Whether it is the name of an actual person or the title for the chief musician is not known. It is quite possible that Asaph is just the title for the chief musician, and thus, the psalms of Asaph would be the psalms of the chief musician, and not necessarily of the same person. Some of these psalms ascribed here to Asaph are psalms that definitely go beyond the Davidic period of reign, even into the areas of the desolation. Psalms that were written after the nation of Israel was devastated by their enemies, which, of course, goes then beyond Solomon’s reign. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Psa 72:1. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the kings son.
Give the king thy judgments, O God. The right to reign was transmitted by descent from David to Solomon, but not by that means alone: Israel was a theocracy, and the kings were but the viceroys of the greater King; hence the prayer that the new king might be enthroned by divine right, and then endowed with divine wisdom. Our glorious King in Zion hath all judgment committed unto him. He rules in the name of God over all lands. He is King Dei Gratia as well as by right of inheritance. And thy righteousness unto the kings son. Solomon was both king and kings son; so also is our Lord. He has power and authority in himself, and also royal dignity given him of his Father. He is the righteous King; in a word, he is the Lord our righteousness. We are waiting till he shall be manifested among men as the ever-righteous Judge. May the Lord hasten in his own time the long-looked-for day! Now wars and fightings are even in Israel itself, but soon the dispensation will change, and David, the type of Jesus warring with our enemies, shall be displaced by Solomon the prince of peace.
Psa 72:2. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment,
He shall judge thy people with righteousness. Clothed with divine authority, he shall use it on the behalf of the favoured nation, for whom he shall show himself strong, that they be not misjudged, slandered, or in any way treated maliciously. His sentence shall put their accusers to silence, and award the saints their true position as the accepted of the Lord. What a consolation to feel that none can suffer wrong in Christs kingdom; he sits upon the great white throne, unspotted by a single deed of injustice, or even mistake of judgment: reputations are safe enough with him. And thy poor with judgment. True wisdom is manifest in all the decisions of Zions King. We do not always understand his doings, but they are always right. Partiality has been too often shown to rich and great men, but the King of the last and best of monarchy deals out even-handed justice, to the delight of the poor and despised. Here we have the poor mentioned side by side with their King. The sovereignty of God is a delightful theme to the poor in spirit; they love to see the Lord exalted, and have no quarrel with him for exercising the prerogatives of his crown. It is the fictitious wealth, which labours to conceal real poverty, which makes men cavil at the reigning Lord, but a deep sense of spiritual need prepares the heart loyally to worship the Redeemer King. On the other hand, the King has a special delight in the humbled hearts of his contrite ones, and exercises all his power and wisdom on their behalf, even as Joseph in Egypt ruled for the welfare of his brethren.
Psa 72:3. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
The mountains shall bring peace to the people. Thence, aforetime, rushed the robber bands which infested the country; but now the forts there erected are the guardians of the land, and the watchmen publish far and near the tidings that no foe is to be seen. Where Jesus is, there is peace, lasting, deep, eternal. Even those things, which were once our dread, lose all terror when Jesus is owned as Monarch of the heart: death itself, that dark mountain, loses all its gloom. Trials and afflictions, when the Lord is with us, bring us an increase rather than a diminution of peace. And the little hills, by righteousness. Seeing that the rule of the monarch was just, every little hill seemed clothed with peace. Injustice has made Palestine a desert; if the Turk and Bedouin were gone, the land would smile again; for even in the most literal sense, justice is the fertilizer of lands, and men are diligent to plough and raise harvests when they have the prospects of eating the fruit of their labours. In a spiritual sense, peace is given to the heart by the righteousness of Christ; and all the powers and passions of the soul are filled with a holy calm, when the way of salvation, by a divine righteousness, is revealed. Then do we go forth with joy, and are led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills break forth before us into singing.
Psa 72:4. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
He shall judge the poor of the people. He will do them justice, yea, and blessed be his name, more than justice, for he will delight to do them good. He shall save the children of the needy. Poor, helpless things, they were packhorses for others, and paupers themselves, but their King would be their Protector. Happy are Gods poor and needy ones; they are safe under the wing of the Prince of peace, for he will save them from all their enemies, And shall break in pieces the oppressor. He is strong to smite the foes of his people, Oppressors have been great breakers, but their time of retribution shall come, and they shall be broken themselves, Sin, Satan, and all our enemies must be crushed by the iron rod of King Jesus, We have, therefore, no cause to fear; but abundant reason to sing,
All hail the power of Jesus name!
Let angels prostrate fall,
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown him Lord of all.
It is much better to be poor than to be an oppressor; for both the needy and their children find an Advocate in the heavenly Solomon, who aims all his blows at haughty ones, and rests not till they are utterly destroyed.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Psa 72:1-4
A SOLOMONIC FOREGROUND AGAINST A MESSIANIC BACKGROUND
SUPERSCRIPTION: A SONG OF SOLOMON.
It is rather strange that Solomon is thought to be both the author of this psalm and the subject of it. It was evidently written to be sung by the people as a prayer upon behalf of Solomon. The reign of that king is here hailed as one of peace, prosperity and justice; and, as contrasted with the many wars of David’s reign, Solomon’s reign did exhibit a favorable contrast in those particulars. However, as Halley stated it, “The general tenor of the Psalm and some of the specific statements in it can allude only to that One Greater than Solomon.
THE JEWISH CONCEPTION OF MESSIAH
When God called Abraham, He prophesied that in him and in his seed (singular) all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen 12:3). That it would be some glorious Individual through whom such blessings would come, became more and more obvious as times unfolded. He would be “Shiloh” of the tribe of Judah. He would be the Star that should rise out of Jacob. He would be that Prophet like unto Moses. Then in 2 Samuel 7, God revealed that the Holy One would descend from the posterity of David, that his throne would be established forever and ever; and despite the fact, that David probably envisioned all of this happening to Solomon, such was not God’s intention at all. Nevertheless, this psalm most certainly reflects Jewish thought regarding the coming of that Great One; and that accounts for the inclusion here of statements that can be applied only to Christ the Son of God.
The Davidic dynasty was indeed destined to bring in that Greater Son of David, even Christ, but not through the fleshly line of David’s dynastic successors. They were as wicked a collection of humanity as the world ever witnessed and totally unworthy of giving birth to the Messiah. It was through Nathan, not Solomon, that Mary would at last bring forth the Messiah and cradle him in the manger at Bethlehem.
The line of Davidic kings, which finally ended in Zedekiah and Jehoiachin, was privileged to contribute one thing, the legitimate title to the vacant throne of David. This became the rightful title of Jesus Christ through his legal (adoptive) father Joseph, a descendant of the Davidic dynasty of kings and the legitimate heir to the throne.
It was this failure of Jewish understanding to separate the conception of the Holy Messiah from the popular manifestation of their reprobate kings that led the people, with the coronation of each new monarch to hope and pray, “O God, let this be the One,” a conception that did not die till the wretched experience of the captivity in Babylon.
Furthermore, even as late as the ministry of the Messiah himself, the leaders of the Jewish nation desired nothing, either in heaven or upon earth, as fervently as they passionately longed for the restoration of that dirty old Solomonic empire.
A consideration of these facts will explain why such a classic as this psalm could have been written, with its hopeful reference to the reign of Solomon in the foreground, and at the same time, the looming mystery of Messiah and his glorious kingdom in the background.
SOLOMON A TYPE OF CHRIST
I. Just as the First Israel had its most glorious extent under Solomon; so shall the Second Israel, the Church of God though Christ attain to eternal glory in Christ.
II. Solomon was a son of David; Jesus Christ is The Son of David.
III. Solomon reigned over the earth from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea; but Christ’s dominion is “to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
IV. Solomon’s wisdom was known all over the world; but “In Christ all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.”
V. Solomon’s reign was one of peace; and Christ our Lord is the Prince of Peace, “And of the increase of his government and of peace, there shall be no end.”
VI. Solomon sat upon the literal throne of David in Jerusalem; but Christ, risen from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High, is seated upon the Throne of David in heaven (Act 2:30-31).
VII. Kings and rulers of all the world of Solomon’s day honored him and brought presents to him. In Christ’s kingdom, “The kings of the earth bring their glory into Christ’s kingdom” (Rev 21:24); and even in the manger at Bethlehem the kings of the earth brought unto Christ gifts of gold, and frankincense and myrrh.
Despite these considerations which make Solomon, in a sense, a type of Christ, there were far more contrasts. As Jesus himself said it, “Behold a greater than Solomon is here.”
We believe that the above review of the situation will make it clear how this psalm can be both “of Solomon” and “of Christ.”
That there are indeed the most positive Messianic prophecies here has been known for ages. “The ancient Jewish interpretation is indicated by the Targum rendition of the opening line, “O God, give the precepts of judgment to King Messiah.
The whole nation of Israel knew of the promise to David of the “Great One” who would sit upon his throne and whose kingdom would never end; and it was in the full knowledge of that prophecy that Solomon composed these lines (that is, of course, if Solomon actually wrote it). “In this light, a psalm like this is most reasonably attributed to him.
“Solomon put this psalm into the mouths of the people, probably very soon after he became king; it was a kind of church-prayer on behalf of the new reigning monarch. But the Psalm is none the less Messianic; and with perfect right the Church has made it the chief Psalm of the Festival of the Epiphany.
“The commentaries of present-day Roman Catholic scholars (e.g. Heinrich Herkenne and Jean Cales) also assume a messianic significance for the psalm.
All of the older commentators likewise accept the Messianic nature of this psalm, recognizing, at the same time, that by no stretch of imagination does the whole psalm apply to Christ.
Before looking at the text line by line, there is one other viewpoint regarding the authorship that must be mentioned. John Calvin, one of the giants of Biblical exegesis, attributed the authorship to David, identifying the Psalm as, “David’s prayer on behalf of Solomon.” Matthew Henry accepted that viewpoint and further commented upon it. See under Psa 72:20.
Psa 72:1-4
PRAYER THAT THE KING MAY BE JUST AND COMPASSIONATE
“Give the king thy judgments, O God,
And thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
He will judge thy people with righteousness,
And thy poor with justice.
The mountains shall bring peace to the people,
And the hills in righteousness.
He will judge the poor of the people,
He will save the children of the needy,
And will break in pieces the oppressor.”
There is an intimation of Messiah’s government in the repeated promises to regard the poor, to save the children of the needy, etc. The Beatitudes of Matthew 5 are a fulfillment of what is indicated here.
“And thy righteousness unto the king’s son” (Psa 72:1). “Solomon here speaks of himself not only as ‘king,’ but as ‘the king’s son,’ thus appealing to the sentiment of respect for the hereditary nature of the kingship.
“He will judge the people with righteousness” (Psa 72:2). The words “He will” may be replaced by the marginal reading “Let him,” and so on throughout the psalm where this expression occurs a number of times. If the Psalm was a prayer of David for Solomon, this would be most appropriate. “Righteousness always involves the reward of the good as well as the punishment of the wicked.
“The mountains … and the hills” (Psa 72:3). “These are metaphors standing for the whole land of Israel. The meaning of the verse is that peace and prosperity shall result from the righteousness of the entire nation.
“He will judge the poor … save the children of the needy” (Psa 72:4). Several of the prophets pointed out that Israel’s rulers consistently ignored such requirements as these. “The unjust rulers and judges of Israel neglected this duty. “They judge not the fatherless … and the right of the needy do they not judge (Jer 5:28).” Isa 1:23 and Zec 7:10 also bear witness to the same behavior.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 72:1. David was king in Jerusalem and he expected his son to reign in his place. Such officials are called upon to render important decisions or judgments. That was the reason he prayed for God to give him his divine judgments.
Psa 72:2. If the favors mentioned in the preceding verse were granted, the good work of this one would be accomplished.
Psa 72:3. Mountains and little hills were used figuratively to denote the extent of the good results that would follow if the preceding conditions were brought about. This extent was Indicated by the larger and smaller things in the land.
Psa 72:4. Judge the poor means God would render the proper decisions (through the king) concerning the poor. That class often was slighted because of the humble station they occupied in life due to their financial circumstances.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
This is a great psalm of the Theocracy. Incidentally the whole perfect order is revealed. God high over all enthroned, and in all actively governing. The king, appointed by God, and gaining his guidance from God, so reigning over his own people as to succor the needy, spoil the oppressor, and secure the prosperity of the righteous; and so reigning that the beneficial influence of the kingship and kingdom are felt over all the earth. Submission to him is followed by deliverance of the poor and helpless, and universal peace and prosperity.
This is the Kingdom for which the world still waits. It is a perfect order which has never yet been established, because the ultimate rule of God has never yet been recognized and obeyed. This was surely all in the view of Jesus when He taught us to pray for the coming of the Kingdom. The One King has come, and men would not have Him to reign. Therefore, notwithstanding all the best and highest efforts of man without Him, the needy are still oppressed, and peace and prosperity are postponed. To us the song of this psalm is a prophecy of hope. We have seen the King, and we know the perfect Kingdom must come, for God cannot be defeated.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
King of Kings
Psa 72:1-11
Solomons reign opened as a morning without clouds. Much of the imagery of this royal ode is derived from the circumstances of his life. Compare Psa 72:1-4 with his prayer for the listening heart, 1Ki 3:9; the anticipations of peace, Psa 72:3; Psa 72:7, with his name, the peaceful one; the rule from sea to sea, Psa 72:8, with 1Ki 4:24; the presents from Sheba, Psa 72:10, with 1Ki 10:1-29. But Solomons failure to realize his ideals compelled men to anticipate with great desire the advent of a greater Prince of Peace. Of Jesus alone is this psalm true in its details.
Notice the foundations of Jesus reign, Psa 72:1-4; the perpetuity of His kingdom, Psa 72:5-7, and its universality, Psa 72:8-11. The poor are His care. The peace He gives is in abundance and it passes understanding. Sun and moon may fail, but His love is unaffected by the flight of ages. The rain on mown grass and the distilling of the dew are not more gentle than His work in human souls that lie open to His approach. Take this glorious psalm and claim it, verse by verse, as true for you.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Psa 72:6
I. Christ’s gracious visitations are essential to the comfort and prosperity of the Church. This doctrine is evidently taught in the text. The Church, without the manifestations of Christ’s presence and grace, is, like the mown grass, languishing for heaven’s moisture. Favoured with these manifestations, it is like a field which the Lord hath blessed.
II. We are warranted to look for gracious visitations to the Church. The text is not to be regarded as a prophecy pertaining merely to the future, but as a statement which has been verified already in the history of the Church, and which may be verified also in like manner at the present day.
III. Notice some of the means which must be employed for the obtaining of the blessings promised in the text. When Christ is to come down for the refreshment of His people, like rain upon the mown grass, it will generally be found (1) that they have been stirred up earnestly to desire and long for His manifestations; (2) that they have been excited to the exercises of deep repentance and prayer; (3) that they have set themselves to walk before Him according to all the appointments of His word; (4) that they have been brought to give greater honour to the Spirit and His work than they were accustomed to do before, and to feel more deeply their absolute dependence upon His gracious operations.
A. D. Davidson, Lectures and Sermons, p. 135.
The genial character of Christianity.
Look at Christianity:
I. As a scheme. (1) As a scheme, the religion of Jesus Christ is a device to seek and to save the lost. (2) It is a Divine device, consisting of means arranged by our Father in heaven to prevent His banished ones being finally expelled from Him. (3) In this design chief service is assigned to One who is called the Son of God. His service is rendered chiefly by abasement and toil, suffering and death. This part of the Christian scheme appears to some men so ungenial that they ignore or reject it; but all that is dark, and sad, and gloomy in the sacrifice of the Son of God leads to all that is bright and sunny in man’s salvation. (4) The Christian scheme provides that salvation should be revealed and applied by the Holy Ghost. This part of the scheme is as important, and at the same time as genial, as the redemption-devising grace of the Father, and as the mediation of the Son of God. Perfect knowledge, wisdom, goodness, and love in Him whose work directly affects our inner life, is a fact on which we cannot but look with joy. (5) As a system of morals, Christianity is based upon love. (6) The Christian religion is aggressive, aiming at comprehension without compromise; but its mode of aggression is as genial as its doctrines and precepts, its promises and spirit. (7) If we look at the Christian dispensation as a matter of individual experience, its genial aspect remains unchanged. (8) The Christian system finds its consummation in a new creation, perfected in all its parts and bearings. Can this scheme be other than genial?
II. Look, secondly, at Christianity as a fact. (1) As a fact, Christianity was too genial to be received by the people to whom it was first presented. (2) The presence of Christianity involves the presence of all that is genial there. It presents genial subjects to the mind and genial objects to the soul, and it must give a genial aspect to the character and prompt its disciples to generous and noble deeds. (3) To be really genial we must maintain personal intercourse with Christ by the aid of the Holy Ghost. To be right, and true, and strong is our first duty; to be attractive, and cheerful, and genial is our next duty. “I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me.”
S. Martin, Rain upon the Mown Grass, p. 1.
References: Psa 72:6.-H. Macmillan, Two Worlds are Ours, p. 80; S. Hebditch, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 273. Psa 72:6, Psa 72:7.-J. Keble, Sermons for the Christian Year: Christmas to Epiphany, pp.39, 268. Psa 72:10, Psa 72:11.-G. Huntington, Sermons for Holy Seasons, p. 43. Psa 72:12.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1037. Psa 72:15.-Ibid., vol. xii., No. 717. Psa 72:16.-F. Delitzsch, Expositor, 3rd series, vol. iii., p. 60; M. G. Pearse, Sermons to Children, p. 67.
Psa 72:17
The theme which this text presents for our consideration is Messiah’s glorious renown-a renown richly deserved, widely diffused, enthusiastically accorded, and everlastingly continued. The perpetuity of Jesus’ name and fame is, however, the main idea of the passage.
Notice:-
I. For what reasons Messiah’s name and fame shall endure for ever. (1) Because, by its own inherent properties, it is fitted to endure. It is a name (a) of superlative greatness; (b) of superlative goodness. (2) Because, by God’s immutable purposes and promises, it is destined to endure for ever.
II. In what respect Messiah’s name shall endure for ever, (1) Emblazoned on the pages of a living book. Christ is an Author. The Bible is His book. (2) Embodied in lasting institutions. Beyond compare the noblest institution in the world today is the Christian Church, and of that Jesus is the Founder. We have the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s Day, and Divine ordinances of prayer and praise, of preaching and giving, that shall not cease. (3) Enshrined in loving hearts. His name shall live in their holiness, love, and gratitude for ever.
III. With what results Messiah’s renown shall endure for ever. (1) Benefactions from Him. “Men shall be blessed in Him.” (2) Benedictions upon Him. “All nations shall call Him blessed.”
A. Miller, American Pulpit of the Day, 1st series, 1875, p. 55.
References: Psa 72:17.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i., No. 27. Psa 72:18, Psa 72:19.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiv., p. 26. Psa 72:19.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii., No. 129; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 220; A. Fletcher, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 77. Psalm 72-Congregationalist, vol. xv., p. 95; J. G. Murphy, The Book of Daniel, p. 48. Psa 73:2, Psa 73:17.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 104.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Psalm 72
The Kingdom Psalm
1. The King, who reigns in righteousness (Psa 72:1-4)
2. His kingdom from sea to sea (Psa 72:5-11)
3. The blessings and the kingdom (Psa 72:12-20)
The last Psalm of this Exodus section describes the establishment of the promised kingdom, the kingdom of heaven on earth. Surely the Spirit of God directed the arrangement of the Psalms, and put each into the right place. Here we have a beautiful prophecy of what is yet to be and for which all is waiting now, in a time when every form of government has failed and law and order seems to go to pieces. The King and the Kings Son is the Lord Jesus Christ, He who came as the Only-Begotten from the bosom of the Father to this earth, to seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel, offering them first the promised kingdom. His own received Him not. In previous Psalms we heard the voice of His complaints, His sorrows and saw the sufferings of the cross. But here we behold Him enthroned as the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace. Righteousness and peace He alone can bring to man and He will surely bring both for the whole earth when the cloud brings Him back. Then He will be feared and worshipped as long as the sun and moon endure, for all times. Showers of blessing will fall and the righteous will flourish, while the wicked can trouble the righteous no more. Abundance of peace will be the lot of mankind then and His kingdom will include all the kingdoms of the earth. His enemies will lick the dust and kings will bring Him presents. And the blessings of His Kingdom! All the subjects in His kingdom will share them and all creation as well. The doxology of this section is the greatest of all. And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.–The prayers of David the Son of Jesse are ended. Let us quote once more Prof. Davidson what he makes of this. A note, probably added by the editor of the Elohistic collection, to mark the end of a group of Davidic Psalms. What blindness! David had seen the glories of the kingdom of Him who is His Lord and His Son and then declared his prayers are ended. He has nothing more to pray for.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Give the king
The Psalm as a whole forms a complete vision of Messiah’s kingdom so far as the O.T. revelation extended. All David’s prayers will find their fruition in the kingdom (Psa 72:20); 2Sa 23:1-4.
Psa 72:1 refers to the investiture of the King’s Son with the kingdom, of which investiture the formal description is given in Dan 7:13; Dan 7:14; Rev 5:5-10; Psa 72:2-7; Psa 72:12-14 give the character of the kingdom. (Cf) Isa 11:3-9.
The emphatic word is righteousness. The sermon on the Mount describes the kingdom of righteousness. Psa 72:8-11 speak of the universality of the kingdom. Psa 72:16 hints at the means by which universal blessing is to be brought in. Converted Israel will be the “handful of corn” Amo 9:9 as the King Himself in death and resurrection was the single grain, the “corn of wheat” Joh 12:24 “To the Jew first” is the order alike of Church and kingdom.; Rom 1:16; Act 13:46; Act 15:16; Act 15:17. It is through restored Israel that the kingdom is to be extended over the earth. Zec 8:13; Zec 8:20-23.
See Psalms 89, next in order of the Messianic Psalms.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
for: or, of, Psa 127:1, *title
Give: 1Ki 1:39-53, 1Ch 22:12, 1Ch 22:13, 1Ch 29:19, 2Ch 1:10, Isa 11:2, Joh 3:34, Heb 1:8, Heb 1:9
the king’s: 1Ki 1:47, 1Ki 1:48, 1Ki 2:1-4, Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6
Reciprocal: 1Ki 1:35 – I have 1Ki 3:9 – to judge 2Ki 2:9 – Ask what 2Ki 15:5 – judging 1Ch 28:5 – to sit Psa 19:9 – judgments Psa 21:1 – The king Psa 45:6 – the sceptre Psa 58:1 – Do Psa 99:4 – strength Psa 119:66 – Teach me Psa 145:7 – sing Psa 145:11 – the glory Pro 8:15 – decree Pro 16:10 – A divine sentence Pro 29:2 – the righteous Pro 31:9 – General Isa 9:7 – to establish it Isa 11:4 – But with Isa 28:6 – for a spirit Isa 32:1 – king Jer 21:12 – Execute Jer 22:16 – judged Jer 33:15 – and he Eze 37:22 – and one Dan 2:44 – set up Mat 21:5 – thy King Luk 24:44 – in the psalms Joh 8:16 – yet Act 2:30 – he Act 10:36 – preaching 1Ti 2:2 – kings Heb 7:2 – King of righteousness 1Jo 3:7 – even
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Salvation for the Earth.
For Solomon.
The last psalm of the salvation-book of the Psalms shows the full extent of the salvation in its earthly aspect, in the Melchizedek reign of Christ, King of righteousness and peace; peace being the effect of righteousness, and thus abiding. And this is a true picture of what is come, although there are things which the New Testament adds to it, which are not seen here, nor in the Old Testament at all. For the Old Testament does not reveal the full and final, eternal condition of things, even for the earth, as the New Testament reveals it, save in that brief intimation of “new heavens and a new earth,” with which Isaiah closes. Types and dark sayings, of course, there are, but no plain speech otherwise. For the Old Testament the kingdom of Christ ends all; which is true in a most important sense, but incomplete: for we have not the millennial limitation, the uprise of evil at the end, the judgment of the dead, and the change of the kingdom of the Son of man into the kingdom of the Father, when, having brought all things into the full final condition of blessing, the Son gives up that preparatory millennial rule into the Father’s hand. All this could scarcely be revealed till Christ had come; and it is the manner of revelation to increase in fullness to the end. Yet, as Christ, after all, does reign for ever and ever, -the eternal throne being still “the throne of God and the Lamb,” the kingdom to which the Old Testament looks on is, after all, eternal; and its view is simply (and necessarily) incomplete, not (of course) wrong. Yet this merging of the millennial in the eternal is that which no doubt has confused the minds of some who think they see more clearly, and have lately come to believe in two successive kingdoms of Christ as man: the millennial being merely introductory (as the Davidic) to the true Solomon reign of uninterrupted peace and much longer duration which yet precedes the eternal blessedness. But the twentieth of Revelation certainly finds no place for such a reign in the brief interval between the millennium and the judgment of the great white throne; while we are told that “when all enemies shall be subdued under Him,” -and the last enemy to be subdued is death, -“then shall the Son also Himself be subject to Him that put all things under Him” (1Co 15:28): thus excluding this reign of glory from the other side of it. However, let us take up the psalm.
1. The first section shows the principle of the kingdom, -peace as the effect of righteousness. This is what the apostle speaks of in relation to the antitypical Melchizedek, and which he draws from the language of the history in a way so deeply instructive for the interpretation of Scripture, and so declaring the divine perfection which is found throughout this. “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, . . . first being by interpretation ‘king of righteousness,’ and after that, king of Salem; that is, ‘king of peace.'” Melchizedek being as the translation of his own name “king of righteousness,” similarly this must come before his official title, “king of Salem,” which being similarly translated means “king of peace.” The meaning and order of these two Hebrew names are made in this way to define for us the principle that “righteousness” must go before “peace.” This is only what Scripture elsewhere declares (in plain words) of that glorious time “when the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever” (Isa 32:17). But the apostle thinks evidently that there is no need of confirmation of what these two names declare. What an insight into the breadth of Scripture, and what a revelation of its glory, he gives us by this method of proof!
This first section of our psalm, as we shall see, declares the same thing. First of all, in a prayer, the psalmist asks: “O God, give the king Thy judgments; and Thy righteousness unto the king’s Son.” Christ is both, as we know. Son of David, He takes the throne of David legally as that. But He is King also in a far higher way, and as such, divine righteousness belongs to Him by nature. No merely human hands can be trusted to hold in perfect equipoise this sceptre: and yet they are truly human hands: His of whom as Man, after a life of thirty years in this world, God could give testimony, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Now we have His careful discrimination in judgment, the first line speaking of strict equity; the second, bringing in (as lexicographers tell us), or at least allowing in it, the element of mercy also: “Thine afflicted, with judgment.”
Then the effect is found: “The mountains,” types of firmly established power, “shall bring peace to the people; and the hills” (the smaller magistracies), “by righteousness.” The perfect equity of the Head reflects itself in all that are His representatives.
And while no persons are favored in the judgment, the “afflicted” are tenderly considered, and “the children of the needy” cared for; while He breaks in pieces the oppressor.
2. Such is the character, then, of this government, so unique as it is among the sons of men. We now are called to see the kingdom in progress. Years do not change it: “They shall fear Thee as long as the sun, and while the moon endureth, -for all generations.” Those glowing orbs of heaven are indeed the typical representatives of such power as this, the underived and the reflected; lights that have never erred from their appointed place since the day they were commissioned to “give light upon the earth.” But no figures suffice to show Him forth aright; the next verse speaks of tender and reviving ministry: “He shall come down like rain on the mown grass” -the field that needs replacement of that which has been removed: “as showers that water the earth.” There is no sweeter figure of spiritual influence than this which is the Spirit’s own type. And the Spirit indeed it is, who works in unity with this glorious King; so that again we have righteousness and peace, though after a different manner, connected together: “In His days shall the righteous flourish, and there shall be abundance of peace till the moon be no more.”
All this is as simple as it is blessed to contemplate: this is the progress of the kingdom in time; now we are to see its progress in extent; and here we naturally begin from the centre -from the land itself. The fourth verse of this section plainly defines the limits of the land itself, of Israel’s land. “From sea to sea” is not the way in which dominion over the whole earth would be defined; nor again “from the River to the ends of the earth.” The River, without any other definition, naturally means the Euphrates; and this was Israel’s limit in one direction, according to the promise given to Abraham (Gen 15:18). From this point, the “ends of the land” -for so we should evidently understand it -reach to Egypt in the one direction, and to where the land ends, in the opposite direction eastward from this. And there is in this direction, and southward from it, everywhere a coast-line which is its “end.” If the number of the verse (4), as that of earthly universality, seems to speak rather of world-wide dominion, all the terms of the description are against this. Must we not take it, then, as what there is little difficulty in applying it to, the whole land?
This, let us remember, is what Israel never yet has got -the land according to the promise to Abraham, -supplemented and explained by many an after-assurance. “From sea to sea,” cannot be here from the Mediterranean to the Salt Sea, which would not be in any case a definition save for the very southernmost portion of her narrow possessions, -a straitness to which she limited herself, through unbelief. This could not be the extent of what is spoken of to them as “a good land and a large.” The land of the Sidonians, which was promised to them, they never did possess, nor Mount Lebanon, which was a part of it. Edom. Moab, Ammon, Philistia, are all to belong to them, and never did. Though David’s empire reached at one point to the Euphrates, it was only over tributary kings, and that land never was Israel’s possession. And finally, if we are to interpret (and how can we avoid it?) “all the land of the Hittites,” by what we are beginning to realize of what their land was, how far northward in that direction must we carry their boundary-line? (Comp. Gen 15:18-21; Exo 23:31; Jos 1:2-4; Eze 47:13-23.)
It is not for us here to attempt a solution of the many difficulties which beset this subject, and which (if the Lord permit us to take up the book of Ezekiel) we must do there; but it ought to be evident already that as a definition of the land “from sea to sea” can be no less than from the Mediterranean to the Persian gulf. It is meant to be, and is, a wide dominion; from the Euphrates to the Nile and the Red Sea giving other limits.
But this land, as we find it today, contains many different people, and wide desert tracts. Notice, therefore, in connection with this, the perfect naturalness of the next verse, which speaks of the competency of the King to take possession of this wide and varied tract: “The dwellers in the deserts (or parched lands) shall bow before Him; and His enemies shall lick the dust” how well does this account for the special mention of such as these in connection with the progress of a victorious King, when one would expect rather to find mention of strong peoples, -foes that it would need special might to subdue! A glance at the map will show its appropriateness, and this “desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose” (Isa 35:1).
Naturally, now, we are told of “conquests” (as the number would show) in foreign lands. “The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.” Tarshish and the isles lie west from Palestine; Sheba and Seba south-east. The “isles,” at least, speak of Japhet; Sheba may be Joktanite -Shemitic; Seba, Cushite -Hamitic: all the families of the earth seem thus to be represented in the homage rendered here. The conquests may be entirely peaceful ones. Nothing else is suggested. The names have no certain meaning. The people represent apparently the commerce of the world, which now, for the first time in its history, owns Christ. Its gain is consecrated unto the Lord of the whole earth.
But the tide of homage swells: “all kings bow down before Him: all nations serve Him.” The universal empire is at last complete. The cross is really at last the symbol of power and imperial sway, under which the earth reposes, quiet in sabbatic rest.
3. Again, before the book closes. we are called to look at the blessing of a rule which is service, -a glory unflecked with stain or shadow, -a David who is free to show the “kindness of God” to the maimed and ruined children of shame wherever they may be found. “For He shall deliver the needy when he crieth, and the afflicted, and him that has no helper.” That is what the sign of the cross denotes, and by this we know the Lord. None that has owed salvation to Him but must know that there was no help possible for him beside, and that it could be found in no other. And “He shall have compassion on the impoverished and needy, and shall save the souls of needy men.” Faithful, compassionate, He is thus the sanctuary refuge from the evil of the world, “deceit,” the sin of the weak, and “violence” of the strong: and as the refuge-cities of Israel declared of old, “precious shall their blood be in His sight.”
Such is He, and such was He in all essential reality, when He was among men, and in their hands, to do with Him as they would. Such was He whom they crucified: and now, though He be Lord of all, how do their hearts respond to this glory of His? How, but as is appreciated the need which He is always meeting, -the grace, therefore, which has come in to meet it. And this is what the fifteenth verse (the fourth of this section) gives, as I believe; although, as so frequently in the case of Old Testament evangel, there is a certain mystery about it, which the loose grammatical structure of Hebrew favors, and with which the character of the psalm as prophecy, and especially as typical prophecy, harmonizes; by which we must not be thrown back, but only made to look more closely at what is before us.
It seems impossible that the whole of the verse can be applied to the Lord. Whether we translate, “he shall live,” (with the common version,) or “let him live,” as many others, it seems trivial,* and out of keeping with the context, if so applied. On the other hand, the connection with the verse before is too obvious to have escaped notice, even where the full meaning has not been grasped. The revised version gives even “they shall live,” which is the meaning, although in a verse like the present, too interpretative, perhaps, to be adopted, especially as it makes a similarly interpretative rendering necessary in the remainder of the verse.** But the “he” is merely a specific example of the delivered ones just spoken of whose blood was precious in the sight of the King.
{*With Cheyne, for instance, it is hardly to be doubted as merely the court phrase, “Let the king live!”
**As in the case of the Revised: “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.” Yet in the first and last instance “he” is given as an alternative in the margin.}
But if this be what we start with, to whom shall he give of the gold of Sheba (as the Hebrew literally), and who is this “he?” If it be the delivered one who gives to the King, this (remembering Who the King is) is surely feeble enough, though the expression of thankfulness; and if it he indefinite, there is the loss of connection with what precedes altogether. The receiver of the gift would then be the delivered man; and this is not unsuited to our King of kings. Nay, we have heard of Him in the end psalm of the previous series, as One who has “led captivity captive, and received gifts for men,” and understand it to be His manner to enrich those whom He delivers; and the “gold of Sheba” will be still better fitted to express this, if it mean, as seems to be the fact, “the gold of the ‘Captor.'”* Typically we take “gold” to be the revelation of divine glory; and this is just the Captor’s gold, with which He enriches those whom He sets free. The spiritual application therefore furnishes a consistent and worthy sense all through. Does any other?
{* Sheba in Hebrew, would be undoubtedly akin to the words used in Psa 68:18 : shabhitha shebhi, “thou hast led captive captivity.”}
But we have still the second part of the verse to interpret and account for: and here the general consent of commentators seems to apply both clauses to the King. It is the King then that is prayed for, and the King that is blessed. In application to a merely human king, also, this would be simple enough, and by such as fully hold the Messianic one it is urged that “‘prayer shall be made continually for him’ shows simply that the blessings enjoyed through Him raise the desire and request for His glory and continuance in power.” But both this interpretation and the request, even so interpreted, seem to me unnatural. If men know who the King is, -and this, surely, cannot be unknown, -how can they doubt the continuance of it? how can they imagine that the kingdom of God, once come, will pass, save as dawn, perhaps, into full day?
I have no other alternative, therefore, but to believe that we have here expressed the priestly office of the true Melchizedek. Would it not be strange if this were altogether omitted? And if we have had at the beginning of the psalm, and variously through it, the plain reference to this character of royalty, is it not even to be expected that we should have somewhere in it the intercessory work of the “priest of the most high God”?
The same objections do not apply to the common understanding of the last clause of the verse. Consistent rendering throughout would seem to make this also the blessing of the needy one; and thus it would be the answer to the prevailing intercession of the Royal Priest on his behalf. The whole verse would thus be uniform, and any apparent inconsistency be taken away.
Such then being the glorious Mediator who stands for man Godward as for God manward, it is no marvel to find the divine government in response, with marvelous fertility of the ground, and men filling the cities with corresponding increase. The fields of corn shall rustle like the forests of Lebanon. Who can picture the blessing when the earth shows to the full the powers that now lie almost dormant in it?
Thus the King’s Name which guarantees all this blessing, shall endure for ever: His name shall continue like the life-giving Sun, His image; and men shall bless themselves in Him; as being the highest possible thought of blessing. All nations shall call Him blessed.
Thereupon follows that outburst of praise with which the second book ends: every line of truth having its natural end and outcome in this joy in God and worship. The Eternal God, the God of Israel, is He who alone doeth wonders. May the whole earth be filled with His glory! In this, as an eighth verse, there is perhaps an intimation of the overflow of this blessedness beyond the bounds of time and into the true eternity which, as we have seen, the Old Testament can hardly be said to enter. The double Amen is here appended to the prayer in testimony of the steadfast longing of the heart for it. The Lord takes it up as His “verily, verily,” to make it the token of the steadfastness of the blessed truths with which He connects it, the assurance and rest of the heart which enters into them.
Does not this show us also the character of that final word which has been surely so much misunderstood by the great body of critics, who have shown in the way they have taken it up, how much they are critics of manuscripts -biblio-technics, if I may coin the word for them, -rather than judges of the spirit which pervades Scripture. What simpler way of reading the end of David’s prayers than by comparison with the “last words,” as we find them in the history? He even calls himself, there as here, “David the son of Jesse,” and there also the “sweet psalmist of Israel.” And of what are his last words full! Of
“A righteous Ruler over men;
A Ruler in the fear of God;”
and then in some of the images which this very psalm suggests,
“Even as the morning-light when the sun ariseth,
A morning without clouds:
From the brightness after rain
The herb springeth from the earth.”
Nor did he speak with any thought of his mere human house; for he tells us directly that that house was not so with God.” Yet he speaks of “an eternal covenant” as to the future, “ordered in all, and sure;” and he adds: “for this is all my salvation and all of delight, though” -as yet in that sorrowful house that he had had, “He maketh it not to grow.”
All David’s heart then was wrapped up in that glorious prospect: the very same that he has shown us here! What wonder, then, that when he has poured his heart out in the contemplation of this glorious scene, he should express himself in this thankful ejaculation: “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended”! What more simple, heart-felt, and natural?
These are not, we may be sure, the words of a collector who thought he had got together in these first two books of the Psalms all that David had written, and was mistaken. This is but their mistake who have not learned that “the foolishness of God is wiser than man,” and that “the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Psa 72:1. Give the king Namely, Solomon, who was now anointed king, although his father was yet living, 1Ki 1:39; thy judgments Either, 1st, Thy statutes and precepts, often called Gods judgments; as thou hast already given them to him in thy book, so give them to him in another and better way, by writing them upon his heart, or by giving him a perfect knowledge of them, and a hearty love to them, that he may obey and walk according to them. Or, 2d, Give him a thorough acquaintance with thy manner of governing and judging, that he may follow thy example in ruling thy people, as thou rulest them, namely, in righteousness, as it follows. He says judgments, in the plural number, because, though the office of ruling and judging was but one, yet there were divers parts and branches of it; in all which he prays that Solomon might be directed to do as God would have him do in such cases.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Hebrew doctors have transmitted this psalm as the last that David composed. It was sung at the inauguration of Solomon to the throne, when Zadok had anointed him to be king over Israel, and when the trumpets proclaimed him to the people. 1Ki 1:39. That this psalm refers to Christ, of whom Solomon was a type, is apparent,
(1) From the several expressions, which are evidently too strong for a man whose life was short; as the eternity of his kingdom, its extent over the whole earth, and the universal peace which should follow.
(2) The new-testament writers have so understood it. Mat 21:8. Joh 5:22. Luk 2:13-14. Zec 9:9. Compared with Mat 21:5.
(3) The rabbins themselves have so expounded it, as will presently appear.
Psa 72:1. Give the king thy judgments. The priest was required to furnish the king with a copy of the law; but here the sire prays that the son might be divinely taught, that God would endow him with wisdom from above.
Psa 72:3. The mountains shall bring peace, all kinds of plenty to the land; the feet of evangelists shall be beautiful on the hills. And the little hills by righteousness. The last word belongs to the next verse. The LXX correct the transposition thus: Psa 72:3, the mountains and the hills shall bring peace to thy people: Psa 72:4, in righteousness shall he judge the poor.
Psa 72:7. So long as the moon endureth, or till the moon shall be removed. This is the Hebrew idiom for designating the eternity of the Messiahs kingdom. By the moon, the allegorizing fathers, understood the cessation of all changes and wanings in the church.
Psa 72:9. His enemies shall lick the dust. Referring to the convulsions of the body in some cases, as when a soldier has received a mortal wound. Solomon had no war; but the true Solomon caused the Hebrew figtree to wither; and the Roman figtree he shook till it cast its untimely fruit, as when shaken of a violent gale. Rev 6:13.
Psa 72:10. The kings of Tarshish, the coasts of Europe. 1Ki 10:22. Sheba, Ethiopia; Seba, Arabia. This form of speech is to be understood in unison with all the prophecies, that all nations shall receive the gospel, and every knee bow to Christ.
Psa 72:17. His name shall be continued. In the old testament Christ is frequently called the name, the name of the Lord. Lev 24:11; Lev 24:16. This seems to be a prophetic intimation, that the gospel of the kingdom should be preached in his name, and that in his name should the gentiles trust. Mat 12:21. Rom 15:12.
Psa 72:20. The prayers of Davidare ended. This is the end of the second book of psalms. The Jews divided the psalms into five books; but very many of the subsequent psalms were written by David, as the hundred and tenth, which our Saviour cites as Davids. Mat 22:45.
REFLECTIONS.
We see here the expiring prophet, dying like Jacob and others of his fathers, uttering the predictive effusion of his heart. Glancing on Solomon, as a typical harbinger, he loses his soul in the unfurling glory of Christ, the eternal king. He had prayed in the preseding psalm, that God would not forsake him in old age. Here we have proof that he did not forsake him. Heaven often reserves the best wine to the last. Only a little before his death, full of good wishes to his son, and to Israel, and full of breathings after the Messiah and his kingdom, futurity opens her prospects to the eye of faith. The grace was so abundant that it overflowed his heart, and was more than language could convey. Happy the children who have a father thus to bless them in old age. Here he first prays, that Solomon might be distinguished by equity and justice, and that righteousness and peace might abound in his reign. And then, joining the kingdom of his son to that of the Messiah, he declares that he should chastise his enemies, and be revered as long as the sun and moon endure. The blessings he would shed on his kingdom were to be as the rain on the mown grass, and as the gentle showers of springmost luminous prediction of the grace of the Holy Spirit. All kingdoms shall be tributary to him, and happy under the shadow of his wings. But at the sixteenth verse, David seeing the smiling aspects of Judea, says, there shall be a handful of corn in the earth, the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon. This is a most happy prediction of the encrease of Gods word, when sown in the good soil of a broken and a contrite heart, So the handful of seed flourished in the days of the apostles, and so it shall ever flourish when delivered in a right spirit. Yea, the glory of the Messiah and his kingdom shall remain for ever. Solomon may fall away; but Christ is the eternal rock, in whom the gentiles shall trust. Blessed therefore be the Lord God of Israel who doeth wonders, and blessed be his glorious name for ever. Amen.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
PSALM 72
The millennial reign of Christ; the answer to the sufferings of Christ from the hands of men, presented in Psalm 69; the fulfillment of the desires of Christ expressed in Psalm 70, following the restoration of Israel, foretold in Psalm 71.
(v. 1) The psalm opens with a prayer to God, that the King may be guided by divine righteousness, and thus able to give decisions, or judgments, in accordance with the will of God. It is thus realized that the blessing of the kingdom wholly depends upon a King who carries out God’s judgments according to God’s righteousness. This King will be found only in Christ – the Son of David, of whom Solomon was but a type.
(vv. 2-11) There follows the presentation of the character of the kingdom that must follow from having a King according to the mind of God. It will be marked by peace as the fruit of righteousness, according to which the poor. the needy and the oppressed, will come under the special care of the King.
Moreover, established in righteousness, it will be not a kingdom of peace only, but an enduring kingdom, marked by the fear of God throughout all generations (v. 5).
Further it will be a kingdom of spiritual and material prosperity. The influence of the King upon His kingdom will be like showers that water the earth. In His days the righteous will flourish, and there will be abundance of peace (vv. 6-7).
In extent His kingdom will be universal, from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth (v. 8).
Moreover, if universal in extent, it will be supreme in power. Every enemy will submit to the King, and own their subjection with gifts, by bowing before the King and serving Him (vv. 9-11).
(vv. 12-14) There follows the reason why this glorious kingdom marked by righteousness and peace, endurance, prosperity, universality and supremacy, should be given to Christ. He alone is worthy to receive riches, and honour, and glory, and might; for all these things will He use to deliver the needy and the poor when they cry; to be the Helper of the helpless, and the Redeemer of men from corruption and violence; and in His sight the lives of the poor and the helpless will be precious.
(vv. 15-16) Further we are assured that this King, who secures such blessing for the world, will never be cut off by death, for he shall live. To Him the riches of the world will be given; for Him prayer will be made that the blessing of His reign may continue; and to Him praise will be offered daily. Thus abundance of blessing will be secured for every portion of the earth – the valleys, the mountains, and the cities (JND).
(v. 17) The glory and blessing of His kingdom will lead to the everlasting fame of His Name; for all will be blessed in Him, and He will be blessed of all.
(vv. 18-20) Lastly the praise of the King will lead to the praise of God. Thus men will say, Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever. Thus through the reign of Christ in righteousness, the whole earth will be filled with the glory of God. In the anticipation of this glorious prospect, David can say, the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. What more, indeed, is left for David to pray. It only remains for him to say, with all others, Amen, and Amen.
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
72:1 [[A Psalm] {a} for Solomon.] Give the king thy {b} judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s {c} son.
(a) Composed by David concerning the reign of his son Solomon.
(b) Imbue the king with the Spirit of wisdom and justice, that he reign not as the worldly tyrants do.
(c) That is, to his posterity.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Psalms 72
This royal psalm is one of two psalms that attribute authorship to Solomon in the superscription (cf. Psalms 127). It describes his reign but anticipates the rule of his successor, Jesus Christ, on earth in the future. [Note: Chisholm, "A Theology . . .," p. 270.] The psalmist prayed for the prosperity of the Lord’s anointed, ultimately Israel’s Messiah. Isaac Watts wrote the hymn "Jesus Shall Reign" after meditating on this psalm. [Note: Kidner, p. 253.]
"The psalm is quoted nowhere in the New Testament as referring to Jesus, but certainly it describes the elements that will make up the promised kingdom when Jesus returns." [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 219.]
Solomon wrote of the blessings that God bestows through His anointed ruler. Because the Lord had appointed the king and because he ruled righteously, Solomon expected his reign to be far-reaching. He asked God to bless his reign with peace and prosperity because he protects the oppressed.
"The psalm begins with a prayer for the messianic kingship of David’s dynasty (Psa 72:1-2) and ends on an ascription of praise to the universal kingship of the Lord (Psa 72:18-19). The petition alternates between a prayer for the king, a prayer for the prosperity and justice associated with the rule, and a prayer for the extent of the rule." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 469.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. A plea for ability to rule well 72:1-7
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
This prayer for the ability to rule justly and righteously is similar to Solomon’s request for wisdom, which he voiced at the beginning of his reign (1Ki 3:9). His references to the mountains and hills are probably metaphorical allusions to his government (cf. Psa 30:7; Isa 2:2; Isa 41:15; Jer 51:25; Dan 2:35; Dan 2:44; Rev 17:9). Psa 72:4 describes basic justice.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 72:1-20
RIGHTLY or wrongly, the superscription ascribes this psalm to Solomon. Its contents have led several commentators to take the superscription in a meaning for which there is no warrant, as designating the subject, not the author. Clearly, the whole is a prayer for the king; but why should not he be both suppliant and object of supplication? Modern critics reject this as incompatible with the “phraseological evidence,” and adduce the difference between the historical Solomon and the ideal of the psalm as negativing reference to him. Psa 72:8 is said by them to be quoted from Zec 9:10, though Cheyne doubts whether there is borrowing. Psa 72:17 b is said to be dependent on Gen 22:18 and Gen 26:4, which are assumed to be later than the seventh century. Psa 72:12 is taken to be a reminiscence of Job 29:12, and Psa 72:16 b of Job 5:25. But these are too uncertain criteria to use as conclusive, -partly because coincidence does not necessarily imply quotation; partly because, quotation being admitted, the delicate question of priority remains, which can rarely be settled by comparison of the passages in question; and partly because, quotation and priority being admitted, the date of the original is still under discussion. The impossibility of Solomons praying thus for himself does not seem to the present writer so completely established that the hypothesis must be abandoned, especially if the alternative is to be, as Hitzig, followed by Olshausen and Cheyne, proposes, that the king in the psalm is Ptolemy Philadelphus, to whom Psa 45:1-17 is fitted by the same authorities. Baethgen puts the objections which most will feel to such a theory with studied moderation when he says “that the promises given to the patriarchs in Gen 22:18; Gen 26:4, should be transferred by a pious Israelite to a foreign king appears to me improbable.” But another course is open-namely, to admit that the psalm gives no materials for defining its date, beyond the fact that a king of Davidic descent was reigning when it was composed. The authorship may be left uncertain, as may the name of the king for whom such far-reaching blessings were invoked: for he was but a partial embodiment of the kingly idea, and the very disproportion between the reality seen in any Jewish monarch and the lofty idealisms of the psalm compels us to regard the earthly ruler as but a shadow, and the true theme of the singer as being the Messianic King. We are not justified, however, in attempting to transfer every point of the psalmists prayer to the Messiah. The historical occasion of the psalm is to be kept in mind. A human monarch stands in the foreground; but the aspirations expressed are so far beyond anything that he is or can be, that they are either extravagant flattery, or reach out beyond their immediate occasion to the King Messiah.
The psalm is not properly a prediction, but prayer. There is some divergence of opinion as to the proper rendering of the principal verbs, -some, as the A.V. and R.V. (text), taking them as uniformly futures, which is manifestly wrong; some taking them as expressions of wish throughout, which is also questionable; and others recognising pure futures intermingled with petitions, which seems best. The boundaries of the two are difficult to settle, just because the petitions are so confident that they are all but predictions, and the two melt into each other in the singers mind. The flow of thought is simple. The psalmists prayers are broadly massed. In Psa 72:1-4 he prays for the foundation of the kings reign in righteousness, which will bring peace; in Psa 72:5-7 for its perpetuity, and in Psa 72:8-11 for its universality; while in Psa 72:12-15 the ground of both these characteristics is laid in the kings becoming the champion of the oppressed. A final prayer for the increase of his people and the perpetuity and world wide glory of his name concludes the psalm, to which is appended in Psa 72:18-20 a doxology, closing the Second Book of the Psalter.
The first petitions of the psalm all ask for one thing for the king-namely, that he should give righteous judgment. They reflect the antique conception of a king as the fountain of justice, himself making and administering law and giving decisions. Thrice in these four verses does “righteousness” occur as the foundation attribute of an ideal king. Caprice, self-interest, and tyrannous injustice were rank in the worlds monarchies round the psalmist. Bitter experience and sad observation had taught him that the first condition of national prosperity was a righteous ruler. These petitions are also animated by the conception, which is as true in the modern as in the ancient world, that righteousness has its seat in the bosom of God, and that earthly judgments are righteous when they conform to and are the echo of His. “Righteousness” is the quality of mind, of which the several “judgments” are the expressions. This king sits on an ancestral throne. His people are Gods people. Since, then, he is Gods viceroy, the desire cannot be vain that in his heart there may be some reflection of Gods righteousness, and that his decisions may accord with Gods. One cannot but remember Solomons prayer for “an understanding heart,” that he might judge this people; nor forget how darkly his later reign showed against its bright beginning. A righteous king makes a peaceful people, especially in a despotic monarchy. The sure results of such a reign-which are, likewise, the psalmists chief reason for his petitions-are set forth in the vivid metaphor of Psa 72:3, in which peace is regarded as the fruit which springs, by reason of the kings righteousness, from mountains and hills. This psalmist has special fondness for that figure of vegetable growth (Psa 72:7, Psa 72:16-17); and it is especially suitable in this connection, as peace is frequently represented in Scripture as the fruit of righteousness, both in single souls and in a nations history. The mountains come into view here simply as being the most prominent features of the land, and not, as in Psa 72:16, with any reference to their barrenness, which would make abundant growth on them more wonderful, and indicative of yet greater abundance on the plains.
A special manifestation of judicial righteousness is the vindication of the oppressed and the punishment of the oppressor (Psa 72:4). The word rendered “judge” in Psa 72:4 differs from that in Psa 72:2, and is the same from which the name of the “Judges” in Israel is derived. Like them, this king is not only to pronounce decisions, as the word in Psa 72:2 means, but is to execute justice by acts of deliverance, which smite in order to rescue. Functions which policy and dignity require to be kept apart in the case of earthly rulers arc united in the ideal monarch. He executes his own sentences. His acts are decisions. The psalmist has no thought of inferior officers by the kings side. One figure fills his mind and his canvas. Surely such an ideal is either destined to remain forever a fair dream, or its fulfilment is to be recognised in the historical Person in whom Gods righteousness dwelt in higher fashion than psalmists knew, who was, “first, King of righteousness, and then, after that, also King of peace,” and who, by His deed, has broken every yoke, and appeared as the defender of all the needy. The poet prayed that Israels king might perfectly discharge his office by Divine help: the Christian gives thanks that the King of men has been and done all which Israels monarchs failed to be and do.
The perpetuity of the kings reign and of his subjects peace is the psalmists second aspiration (Psa 72:5-7). The “Thee” of Psa 72:5 presents a difficulty, as it is doubtful to whom it refers. Throughout the psalm the king is spoken of, and never to; and if it is further noticed that, in the preceding verses, God has been directly addressed, and “Thy” used thrice in regard to Him, it will appear more natural to take the reference in Psa 72:5 to be to Him. The fear of God would be dig fused among the kings subjects, as a consequence of his rule in righteousness. Hupfeld takes the word as referring to the king, and suggests changing the text to “him” instead of “Thee”; while others, among whom are Cheyne and Baethgen, follow the track of the LXX in adopting a reading which may be translated “May he live,” or “Prolong his days.” But the thought yielded by the existing text, if referred to God, is most natural and worthy. The king is, as it were, the shadow on earth of Gods righteousness, and consequently becomes an organ for the manifestation thereof, in such manner as to draw men to true devotion. The psalmists desires are for something higher than external prosperity, and his conceptions of the kingly office are very sacred. Not only peace and material well-being, but also the fear of Jehovah, are longed for by him to be diffused in Israel. And he prays that these blessings may be perpetual. The connection between the kings righteousness and the fear of God requires that that permanence should belong to both. The cause is as lasting as its effect. Through generation after generation he desires that each shall abide. He uses peculiar expressions for continual duration “with the sun”-i.e., contemporaneous with that unfading splendour; “before the face of the moon”-i.e., as long as she shines. But could the singer anticipate such length of dominion for any human king? Psa 21:1-13 has similar language in regard to the same person, and here, as there, it seems sufficiently accounted for by the consideration that, while the psalmist was speaking of an individual, he was thinking of the office rather than of the person, and that the perpetual continuance of the Davidic dynasty, not the undying life of anyone representative of it, was meant. The full light of the truth that there is a king whose royalty, like his priesthood, passes to no other is not to be forced upon the psalm. It stands as a witness that devout and inspired souls longed for the establishment of a kingdom, against which revolutions and enemies and mortality were powerless. They knew not that their desires could not be fulfilled by the longest succession of dying kings, but were to be more than accomplished by One, “of whom it is witnessed that He liveth.”
The psalmist turns for a moment from his prayer for the perpetuity of the kings rule, to linger upon the thought of its blessedness as set forth in the lovely image of Psa 72:6. Rain upon mown grass is no blessing, as every farmer knows: but what is meant is, not the grass which has already been mown, but the naked meadow from which it has been taken. It needs drenching showers, in order to sprout again and produce an aftermath. The poets eye is caught by the contrast between the bare look of the field immediately after cutting and the rich growth that springs, as by magic, from the yellow roots after a plentiful shower. This kings gracious influences shall fall upon even what seems dead, and charm forth hidden life that will flush the plain with greenness. The psalmist dwells on the picture, reiterating the comparison in Psa 72:6 b, and using there an uncommon word, which seems best rendered as meaning a heavy rainfall. With such affluence of quickening powers will the righteous king bless his people. The “Mirror for Magistrates.” which is held up in the lovely poem 2Sa 23:4, has a remarkable parallel in its description of the just ruler as resembling a “morning without clouds, when the tender grass springeth out of the earth through clear shining after rain”; but the psalmist heightens the metaphor by the introduction of the mown meadow as stimulated to new growth. This image of the rain lingers with him and shapes his prayer in Psa 72:7 a. A righteous king will insure prosperity to the righteous, and the number of such will increase. Both these ideas seem to be contained in the figure of their flourishing, which is literally bud or shoot. And, as the people become more and more prevailingly righteous, they receive more abundant and unbroken peace. The psalmist had seen deeply into the conditions of national prosperity, as well as those of individual tranquillity, when he based these on rectitude.
With Psa 72:8 the singer takes a still loftier flight, and prays for the universality of the kings dominion. In that verse the form of the verb is that which expresses desire, but in Psa 72:9 and following verses the verbs may be rendered as simple futures. Confident prayers insensibly melt into assurances of their own fulfilment. As the psalmist pours out his petitions, they glide into prophecies; for they are desires fashioned upon promises, and bear, in their very earnestness, the pledge of their realisation. As to the details of the form which the expectation of universal dominion here takes, it need only be noted that we have to do with a poet, not with a geographer. We are not to treat the expressions as if they were instructions to a boundary commission, and to be laid down upon a map. “The sea” is probably the Mediterranean; but what the other sea which makes the opposite boundary may be is hard to say. Commentators have thought of the Persian Gulf, or of an imaginary ocean encircling the flat earth, according to ancient ideas. But more probably the expression is as indeterminate as the parallel one, “the ends of the earth.” In the first clause of the verse the psalmist starts from the Mediterranean, the western boundary, and his anticipations travel away into the unknown eastern regions; while, in the second clause, he begins with the Euphrates, which was the eastern boundary of the dominion promised to Israel, and, coming westward, he passes out in thought to the dim regions beyond. The very impossibility of defining the boundaries declares the boundlessness of the kingdom. The poets eyes have looked east and west, and in Psa 72:9 he turns to the south, and sees the desert tribes, unconquered as they have hitherto been, grovelling before the king, and his enemies in abject submission at his feet. The word rendered “desert peoples” is that used in Psa 74:14 for wild beasts inhabiting the desert, but here it can only mean wilderness tribes. There seems no need to alter the text, as has been proposed, and to read “adversaries.” In Psa 72:10 the psalmist again looks westward, across the mysterious ocean of which he, like all his nation, knew so little. The great city of Tarshish lay for him at the farthest bounds of the world; and between him and it, or perhaps still farther out in the waste unknown, were islands from which rich and strange things sometimes reached Judaea. These shall bring their wealth in token of fealty. Again he looks southward to Sheba in Arabia, and Seba far south below Egypt, and foresees their submission. His knowledge of distant lands is exhausted, and therefore he ceases enumeration, and falls back on comprehensiveness. How little he knew, and how much he believed! His conceptions of the sweep of that “all” were childish; his faith that, however many these unknown kings and nations were, Gods anointed was their king was either extravagant exaggeration, or it was nurtured in him by God, and meant to be fulfilled when a world, wide beyond his dreams and needy beyond his imagination, should own the sway of a King, endowed with Gods righteousness and communicative of Gods peace, in a manner and measure beyond his desires.
The triumphant swell of these anticipations passes with wonderful pathos into gentler music, as if the softer tones of flutes should follow trumpet blasts. How tenderly and profoundly the psalm bases the universality of the dominion on the pitying care and delivering power of the King! The whole secret of sway over men lies in that “For,” which ushers in the gracious picture of the beneficent and tender-hearted Monarch. The world is so full of sorrow, and men are so miserable and needy, that he who can stanch their wounds, solace their griefs, and shelter their lives will win their hearts and be crowned their king. Thrones based on force are as if set on an iceberg which melts away. There is no solid foundation for rule except helpfulness. In the world and for a little while “they that exercise authority are called benefactors”; but in the long run the terms of the sentence are inverted, and they that are rightly called benefactors exercise authority. The more earthly rulers approximate to this ideal portrait, the more “broad based upon their peoples will” and love will their thrones stand. If Israels kings had adhered to it, their throne would have endured. But their failures point to Him in whom the principle declared by the psalmist receives its most tender illustration. The universal dominion of Jesus Christ is based upon the fact that He “tasted death for every man.” In the Divine purpose, He has won the right to rule men because He has died for them. In historical realisation, He wins mens submission because He has given Himself for them. Therefore does He command with absolute authority; therefore do we obey with entire submission. His sway not only reaches out over all the earth, inasmuch as the power of His cross extends to all men, but it lays hold of the inmost will and makes submission a delight.
The king is represented in Psa 72:14 as taking on himself the office of Goel, or Kinsman-Redeemer, and ransoming his subjects lives from “deceit and violence.” That “their blood is precious in his eyes” is another way of saying that they are too dear to him to be suffered to perish. This kings treasure is the life of his subjects. Therefore he will put forth his power to preserve them and deliver them. The result of such tender care and delivering love is set forth in Psa 72:15, but in obscure language. The ambiguity arises from the absence of expressed subjects for the four verbs in the verse. Who is he who “lives”? Is the same person the giver of the gold of Sheba, and to whom is it given? Who prays, and for whom? And who blesses, and whom does he bless? The plain way of understanding the verse is to suppose that the person spoken of in all the clauses is the same; and then the question comes whether he is the king or the ransomed man. Difficulties arise in carrying out either reference through all the clauses; and hence attempts have been made to vary the subject of the verbs. Delitzsch, for instance, supposes that it is the ransomed man who “lives,” the king who gives to the ransomed man gold, and the man who prays for and blesses the king. But such an arbitrary shuttling about of the reference of “he” and “him” is impossible. Other attempts of a similar kind need not be noticed here. The only satisfactory course is to take one person as spoken of by all the verbs. But then the question comes, Who is he? There is much to be said in favour of either hypothesis as answering that question. The phrase which is rendered above “So that he lives,” is so like the common invocation “May the king live,” that it strongly favours taking the whole verse as a continuance of the petitions for the monarch. But if so, the verb in the second clause (he shall give) must be taken impersonally, as equivalent to “one will give” or “there shall be given,” and those in the remaining clauses must be similarly dealt with, or the text altered so as to make them plurals, reading, “They shall pray for him (the king), and shall bless him.” On the whole; it is best to suppose that the ransomed man is the subject throughout, and that the verse describes his glad tribute, and continual thankfulness. Ransomed from death, he brings offerings to his deliverer. It seems singular that he should be conceived of both as “needy” and as owning “gold” which he can offer; but in the literal application the incongruity is not sufficient to prevent the adoption of this view of the clause; and in the higher application of the words to Christ and His subjects, which we conceive to be warranted, the incongruity becomes fine and deep truth; for the poorest soul, delivered by Him, can bring tribute, which He esteems as precious beyond all earthly treasure. Nor need the remaining clauses militate against the view that the ransomed man is the subject in them, The psalm had, a historical basis, and all its points cannot be introduced into the Messianic interpretation. This one of praying for the king cannot be; notwithstanding the attempts of some commentators to find a meaning for it in Christian prayers for the spread of Christs kingdom. That explanation does violence to the language, mistakes the nature of Messianic prophecy, and brings discredit on the view that the psalm has a Messianic character.
The last part of the psalm (Psa 72:16-17) recurs to petitions for the growth of the nation and the perpetual flourishing of the kings name. The fertility of the land and the increase of its people are the psalmists desires, which are also certainties, as expressed in Psa 72:16. He sees in imagination the whole land waving with abundant harvests, which reach even to the tops of the mountains, and rustle in the summer air, with a sound like the cedars of Lebanon, when they move their layers of greenness to the breeze. The word rendered above “abundance” is doubtful; but there does not seem to be in the psalmists mind the contrast which he is often supposed to be expressing, beautiful and true as it is, between the small beginnings and the magnificent end of the kingdom on earth. The mountains are here thought of as lofty and barren. If waving harvests clothe their gaunt sides, how will the vales laugh in plentiful crops! As the earth yields her increase, so the people of the king shall be multiplied, and from all his cities they shall spring forth abundant as grass. That figure would bear much expansion; for what could more beautifully set forth rapidity of growth, close-knit community, multiplication of units, and absorption of these in a lovely whole, than the picture of a meadow clothed with its grassy carpet? Such hopes had only partial fulfilment in Israel. Nor have they had adequate fulfilment up till now. But they lie on the horizon of the future, and they shall one day be reached. Much that is dim is treasured in them. There may be a renovated world, from which the curse of barrenness has been banished. There shall be a swift increase of the subjects of the King, until the earlier hope of the psalm is fulfilled, and all nations shall serve him.
But bright as are the poets visions concerning the kingdom, his last gaze is fastened on its king, and he prays that his name may last forever, and may send forth shoots as long as the sun shines in the sky. He probably meant no more than a prayer for the continual duration of the dynasty, and his conception of the name as sending forth shoots was probably that of its being perpetuated in descendants. But, as has been already noticed, the perpetuity, which he conceived of as belonging to a family and an office, really belongs to the One King, Jesus Christ, whose Name is above every name, and will blossom anew in fresh revelations of its infinite contents, not only while the sun shines, but when its fires are cold and its light quenched. The psalmists last desire is that the ancient promise to the fathers may be fulfilled in the King, their descendant, in whom men shall bless themselves. So full of blessedness may He seem to all men, that they shall take Him for the very type of felicity, and desire to be even as He is! In mens relation to Christ the phrase assumes a deeper meaning still: and though that is not intended by the psalmist, and is not the exposition of his words, it still is true that in Christ all blessings for humanity are stored, and that therefore if men are to be truly blessed they must plunge themselves into Him, and in Him find all that they need for blessedness and nobility of life and character. If He is our supreme type of whatsoever things are fair and of good report, and if we have bowed ourselves to Him because He has delivered us from death, then we share in His life, and all His blessings are parted among us.