English · ASV

Psalms 72

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Prayer for the King's Righteous Rule 1–4

1
Give the king thy judgments, O God, And thy righteousness unto the king’s son. ​
2
He will judge thy people with righteousness, And thy poor with justice.
3
The mountains shall bring peace to the people, And the hills, in righteousness. ​
4
He will judge the poor of the people, He will save the children of the needy, And will break in pieces the oppressor.

The Duration and Nature of the Reign 5–7

5
They shall fear thee while the sun endureth, And so long as the moon, throughout all generations. ​
6
He will come down like rain upon the mown grass, As showers that water the earth. ​
7
In his days shall the righteous flourish, And abundance of peace, till the moon be no more.

Universal Dominion and Submission 8–11

8
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River unto the ends of the earth. ​
9
They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; And his enemies shall lick the dust.
10
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render tribute: The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. ​
11
Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; All nations shall serve him.

The King as Deliverer of the Needy 12–14

12
For he will deliver the needy when he crieth, And the poor, that hath no helper. ​
13
He will have pity on the poor and needy, And the souls of the needy he will save.
14
He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence; And precious will their blood be in his sight: ​

Prosperity and Eternal Renown 15–17

15
And they shall live; and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: And men shall pray for him continually; They shall bless him all the day long. ​
16
There shall be abundance of grain in the earth upon the top of the mountains; The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. ​
17
His name shall endure for ever; His name shall be continued as long as the sun: And men shall be blessed in him; All nations shall call him happy. ​

Doxology and Conclusion 18–20

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

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 72

Verse 1

thy judgments… thy righteousness — The prayer asks God to give the king his own mishpat (judgment) and tsedaqah (righteousness). Solomon, named in the heading, asked the same: 'an understanding heart to judge thy people' (1 Kings 3:9). The promised King who 'shall execute judgment and justice' is the 'righteous Branch' of Jer 23:5.

Verse 3

shall bring peace — 'Peace' is shalom, wellbeing for 'the people', and it comes 'by righteousness' (tsedaqah), the word of v.1. Isaiah states the same order: 'the work of righteousness shall be peace' (Isa 32:17). The hills carry the peace to the whole land.

Verse 5

as long as the sun and moon endure — The fear of God ('They shall fear thee') is to last as long as the heavenly lights, the measure he gave David's line: 'his throne as the sun before me' and 'established for ever as the moon' (Ps 89:36–37). Gabriel says of Mary's Son, 'of his kingdom there shall be no end' (Luke 1:33).

Verse 6

rain upon the mown grass — Gez is grass after cutting; Amos 7:1 uses it for 'the king's mowings', after which comes 'the latter growth'. The king 'shall come down' (yarad) as rain on a cut field, bringing new growth. David's last words picture a just ruler as 'the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain' (2 Sam 23:3–4).

Verse 8

from sea to sea, and from the river — 'The river' is the Euphrates, the boundary the LORD gave Abram (Gen 15:18). The psalm carries it 'unto the ends of the earth'. Zechariah says of the humble King entering Jerusalem, 'his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth' (Zech 9:10).

Verse 10

Tarshish… Sheba and Seba — Tarshish is reached by ship (Jonah 1:3). Seba is a son of Cush and Sheba a son of Raamah (Gen 10:7). The queen of Sheba had already come to Solomon (1 Kings 10:1). Isaiah foretells Sheba's gold coming to Zion (Isa 60:6), and the Magi 'presented unto him gifts; gold…' (Matt 2:11).

Verse 12

deliver the needy — Natsal means to snatch away, to rescue. The 'needy' (ebyon), the 'poor' (ani) and the one 'that hath no helper' are those the king's judgment (v.2) defends. Job made the same claim: 'I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him' (Job 29:12).

Verse 14

redeem their soul — Ga'al is the verb of the near kinsman who buys back a family's land (Ruth 4:4, 'If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it'). The king acts as that kinsman for the oppressed, rescuing their lives from 'deceit' and 'violence' (chamas), and counting their blood 'precious' (yaqar) in his sight.

Verse 15

the gold of Sheba — The tribute recalls what Solomon actually received from the queen of Sheba: 'an hundred and twenty talents of gold' (1 Kings 10:10). 'Prayer… for him continually' uses tamid, the word for the continual offering. 'Praised' is barak, to bless, the verb of v.17: 'men shall be blessed in him.'

Verse 16

an handful of corn — Pissah, 'handful', appears only here in Scripture. The grain grows 'upon the top of the mountains', its fruit shakes 'like Lebanon', and the city 'shall flourish like grass'. Amos foretells the same abundance: 'the plowman shall overtake the reaper… and the mountains shall drop sweet wine' (Amos 9:13).

Verse 17

men shall be blessed in him — This takes up the promise to Abraham: 'in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed' (Gen 22:18). Peter applies it to Christ in Acts 3:25. 'Continued' is nun, to sprout, found only here: the king's name keeps putting out new shoots as long as the sun.

Verse 18

who only doeth wondrous things — The doxology 'Blessed be the LORD God' closes this division of the Psalter, as 41:13 closes the first. 'Wondrous things' is pala; Ps 136:4 says the same of him 'who alone doeth great wonders'. The praise passes from the king to the LORD who gives such a king.

Verse 20

The prayers of David the son of Jesse — 'Prayers' is tephillah, the word that heads psalms such as Ps 17:1, 'A Prayer of David'. The sentence ends this collection; David's name still stands over later psalms, for example Ps 86:1, 'A Prayer of David'. Psalm 72 itself is headed for Solomon.