Psalm 72 - Full Doxology
- Chad Werkhoven
- Jan 2
- 5 min read
As you begin a new year, pray for full šā·lôm.
Psalm 72
Of Solomon.
1 Endow the king with your justice, O God,
the royal son with your righteousness.
2 May he judge your people in righteousness,
your afflicted ones with justice.
3 May the mountains bring prosperity [šā·lôm] to the people,
the hills the fruit of righteousness.
4 May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor.
5 May he endure as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the earth.
7 In his days may the righteous flourish
and prosperity [šā·lôm] abound till the moon is no more.
8 May he rule from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 May the desert tribes bow before him
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
bring tribute to him.
May the kings of Sheba and Seba
present him gifts.
11 May all kings bow down to him
and all nations serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given him.
May people ever pray for him
and bless him all day long.
16 May grain abound throughout the land;
on the tops of the hills may it sway.
May the crops flourish like Lebanon
and thrive like the grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever;
may it continue as long as the sun.
Then all nations will be blessed through him,
and they will call him blessed.
18 Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
19 Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.
Canons of Dordt
Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints
Article 15: Contrasting Reactions to the Teaching of Perseverance
This teaching
about the perseverance of true believers and saints,
and about their assurance of it—
a teaching which God has very richly revealed in his Word
for the glory of his name
and for the comfort of the godly
and which he impresses on the hearts of believers—
is something which
the flesh does not understand,
Satan hates,
the world ridicules,
the ignorant and the hypocrites abuse,
and the spirits of error attack.
The bride of Christ, on the other hand, has always
loved this teaching very tenderly
and defended it steadfastly as a priceless treasure;
and God,
against whom no plan can avail and no strength can prevail,
will ensure that she will continue to do this.
To this God alone,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory forever. Amen.
Summary
We often remember King Solomon as the richest man who ever lived. Even the Queen of Sheba had traveled a long and difficult way to come and see his vast wealth (2 Chronicles 9). But don't forget that the LORD gave Solomon such tremendous wealth precisely because he didn't ask for it. God had invited Solomon to ask Him for whatever Solomon wanted God to give him. Rather than ask for financial and material blessings as most people would, Solomon had asked for wisdom and knowledge (2 Chronicles 1).
The wisdom God lavished upon Solomon is evident in what Solomon prays for in Psalm 72. He prays that God would enable the king to rule with justice and righteousness, that he might defend the afflicted and save the children of the needy. He prays that he may rule from sea to sea and that he would endure as long as the sun and moon.
Perhaps such surface level requests don't seem overly saturated in wisdom, and maybe even a bit self centered. In fact, if you're like me, these aspects of Solomon's prayer seem pretty familiar, since those are things that I - and so many other people - pray for often, though our 'kingdoms' are substantially smaller than Solomon's. But it's the overall context of Psalm 72 that demonstrates Solomon's wisdom: he realizes his entire kingdom is wholly dependent upon the LORD, and therefore His entire prayer is for the LORD's endowment.
And Solomon isn't praying just for ordinary material prosperity - the good life that everyone wants. In his wisdom, Solomon prays for šā·lôm - the condition in which everything is the way it ought to be, both physically and spiritually - that his kingdom would not just have a good economy, but that that they'd be able to enjoy not just God's blessings, but His presence.
As you begin this new year, pray for the same šā·lôm in your 'kingdom' that Solomon prayed for in his!
Dig Deeper
Psalm 72 is so endearing, not just because it captured Solomon's wise prayer for his brief moment in history, but because it's not really about King Solomon at all. Psalm 72 is classified as a messianic psalm. It's a prayer for God to send the King of Kings to rule his people. Psalm 72 is all about Christ.
This is evident in the way two different hymn writers have adapted Psalm 72 for the psalter:
First, James Montgomery:
Christ shall have dominion over land and sea,
earth's remotest regions shall his empire be.
Second, Isaac Watts:
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
does his successive journeys run;
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.
As we've worked our way through the Canons of Dordt this year, we've seen how it is that our God and Savior sovereignly exercised His dominion to bring total šā·lôm to every aspect of our lives, both here in this kingdom, and in the Kingdom to come. Let's close our time out with Psalm 72's awesome doxology:
18 Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does marvelous deeds.
19 Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who will judge His people in righteousness, His afflicted ones with justice;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Sing your prayer! Pray that in this new year:
Let ev'ry creature rise and bring
peculiar honors to our King;
angels descend with songs again,
and earth repeat the loud amen!
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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