Psalms 72
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“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” — John 5:39
1Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
PSALM 72
Psa 72:1-19. For, or literally, "of Solomon." The closing verse rather relates to the second book of Psalms, of which this is the last, and was perhaps added by some collector, to intimate that the collection, to which, as chief author, David's name was appended, was closed. In this view, these may consistently be the productions of others included, as of Asaph, sons of Korah, and Solomon; and a few of David's may be placed in the latter series. The fact that here the usual mode of denoting authorship is used, is strongly conclusive that Solomon was the author, especially as no stronger objection appears than what has been now set aside. The Psalm, in highly wrought figurative style, describes the reign of a king as "righteous, universal, beneficent, and perpetual." By the older Jewish and most modern Christian interpreters, it has been referred to Christ, whose reign, present and prospective, alone corresponds with its statements. As the imagery of the second Psalm was drawn from the martial character of David's reign, that of this is from the peaceful and prosperous state of Solomon's.
1. Give the king, &c.--a prayer which is equivalent to a prediction.
judgments--the acts, and (figuratively) the principles of a right government (Joh 5:22; 9:39).
righteousness--qualifications for conducting such a government.
king's son--same person as a king--a very proper title for Christ, as such in both natures.
2, &c. The effects of such a government by one thus endowed are detailed.
thy people ... and thy poor--or, "meek," the pious subjects of his government.
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.
2He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
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.
3The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
3. As mountains and hills are not usually productive, they are here selected to show the abundance of peace, being represented as
bringing--or, literally, "bearing" it as a produce.
by righteousness--that is, by means of his eminently just and good methods of ruling.
The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. Through the general establishment prominent features.
4He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
4. That peace, including prosperity, as an eminent characteristic of Christ's reign (Is 2:4; Is 9:6; 11:9), will be illustrated in the security provided for the helpless and needy, and the punishment inflicted on oppressors, whose power to injure or mar the peace of others will be destroyed (compare Is 65:25; Zec 9:10).
children of the needy--for the needy (compare sons of strangers, Psa 18:45 [Margin]).
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.)
5They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.
5. as long as ... endure--literally, "with the sun," coeval with its existence, and before, or, in presence of the moon, while it lasts (compare Ge 11:28, "before Terah," literally, "in presence of," while he lived).
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.
6He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.
6. A beautiful figure expresses the grateful nature of His influence;
7, and, carrying out the figure, the results are described in an abundant production.
the righteous--literally, "righteousness."
flourish--literally, "sprout," or, "spring forth."
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).
7In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
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).
★8He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
8. The foreign nations mentioned (Psa 72:9, 10) could not be included in the limits, if designed to indicate the boundaries of Solomon's kingdom. The terms, though derived from those used (Ex 23:31; De 11:24) to denote the possessions of Israel, must have a wider sense. Thus, "ends of the earth" is never used of Palestine, but always of the world (compare Margin).
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.
9They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
9-11. The extent of the conquests.
They that dwell in the wilderness--the wild, untutored tribes of deserts.
bow ... dust--in profound submission. The remotest and wealthiest nations shall acknowledge Him (compare Psa 45:12).
They that dwell in the wilderness shall how before him (for the meaning here assigned to tsiyyim (ציּים), 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.
★10The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
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 (סְבָאִים) are closely connected by Isaiah with Ethiopia and Egypt (Isa_43:3; Isa_45:14).
★11Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
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.
12For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
12-14. They are not the conquests of arms, but the influences of humane and peaceful principles (compare Is 9:7; 11:1-9; Zec 9:9, 10).
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).
13He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.
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.
14He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
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).
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.
15. In his prolonged life he will continue to receive the honorable gifts of the rich, and the prayers of his people shall be made for him, and their praises given to him.
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.
16There 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 earth.
16. The spiritual blessings, as often in Scripture, are set forth by material, the abundance of which is described by a figure, in which a "handful" (or literally, "a piece," or small portion) of corn in the most unpropitious locality, shall produce a crop, waving in the wind in its luxuriant growth, like the forests of Lebanon.
they of the city ... earth--This clause denotes the rapid and abundant increase of population--
of--or, "from"
the city--Jerusalem, the center and seat of the typical kingdom.
flourish--or, glitter as new grass--that is, bloom. This increase corresponds with the increased productiveness. So, as the gospel blessings are diffused, there shall arise increasing recipients of them, out of the Church in which Christ resides as head.
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.
★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.
17. His name--or, "glorious perfections."
as long as the sun--(Compare Psa 72:5).
men shall be blessed--(Ge 12:3; 18:18).
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 renewed—shall 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).
18Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.
18-19. These words close the Psalm in terms consistent with the style of the context, while Psa 72:20 is evidently, from its prosaic style, an addition for the purpose above explained [see on Psa 72:1].
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.
20. ended--literally, "finished," or completed; the word never denotes fulfilment, except in a very late usage, as in Ezr 1:1; Da 12:7.
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).
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