Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise. "You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you."

The Blessings of a Godly King

Introduction

Do you ever dream dreams? The kind of thing I have in mind is something like this. You're planning the holiday of a lifetime – what are the different elements that would make it the perfect holiday? Or you're thinking about a house – what would be your ideal home? Or perhaps your thoughts turn towards the coming Christmas – what would make for the perfect Christmas?

We may never see our perfect home and we may never have that perfect holiday even though we have a very clear idea of what would be involved.

In this Psalm 72 we have some divinely inspired thoughts concerning what a perfect godly Kingship would be like. David is the probable author and the heading "Of Solomon" or "For Solomon" suggests that the Psalm, which is largely a prayer, expresses David's ideals for the reign and rule of his son.

As we look at the requests that David made on behalf of his son we see just what it is that will make for the ideal Kingship.

Just as David prayed for Solomon it is quite likely that this Psalm was then taken up and used as a model/standard prayer for subsequent descendants who ruled in turn over God's people. And so for us as we consider this Psalm we do not have to be totally consumed with an historical interest in Solomon alone but we can understand this Psalm as providing a insight into the Messiah, the greatest of all of David's descendants, Jesus Christ.

What does David pray for?

David here is caught up with large requests and high exalted themes.

Righteousness and Justice

In the opening verses the pattern is set – what David asks for is nothing less than God's own Kingdom might be established by his heir and successor. He asks for God to give his son justice and righteousness

The royal prince stands in great need if he is to reign successfully and well over God's people so David doesn't hesitate to ask for great things on his behalf. He will need to have resources that come from God Himself. He asks that the royal prince might be the recipient and beneficiary of God's justice and righteousness – not for personal satisfaction alone but that Solomon might rule over God's people in God's way. Solomon will need to be both wise and upright as he seeks to lead God's people!

David knew that Solomon was young and inexperienced and did as much as he could to help the young man be ready for office.

You'll remember that David had wanted to build a Temple for the LORD but was told that it wasn't a task for him to accomplish but for his son. At that point David didn't retire but did what he could to facilitate Solomon's responsibilities.

Listen to 1Chron.22:6-19.

You'll remember too how in the early days of Solomon's reign that the LORD appeared to him in a dream. Listen to some of that story again:

1Ki.3:5-9 "and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, though I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this."

Such qualities of justice and righteousness are later mentioned by the prophet Isaiah as being characteristics of the Messianic age and of the Messiah's reign:

Is.9:7 "Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Or again:

Is.11:2-4 "And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

Prosperity

It is an immense benefit to any nation when righteousness is the dominant factor in governing circles. How our own political life has been degraded with the expenses scandal in Parliament! The words found in Prov.14:34 sound so terribly relevant to our day and age:

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."

Isaiah also speaks of the positive benefits of righteousness:

Is.32:17-18 "And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places."

With a king ruling in righteousness David has no qualms about asking for the fruit of prosperity. This will be a righteous prosperity that will be shared by all the people and not reserved for a few overpaid bankers! And yet David recognizes that there will be differences between folk – some will be poor - but the righteous King will defend and protect them and the benefits of the prosperity will flow down even to the poor.

And we remind ourselves that when Jesus ministered His ministry was a fulfillment of OT prophecy "the poor have good news preached to them"! (Lk.7:22)

In v.6 David envisages the rule of the righteous king, the royal prince, as bringing refreshment and new life. The grass would have been mown in the spring before the sun dried it all up in the summer – without new rains the summer would only be a barren time. But no such barrenness should accompany the reign of this king.

How often water has been used in the Scriptures to symbolize spiritual blessing!

Is.55:1 "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!"

Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well about the "living water" He could supply. And He invited those who were thirsty to come to Him and find satisfaction for their souls:

Jn.7:37-38 "On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”"

The satisfaction that Christ brings corresponds with the peace, the shalom, that David is concerned about in v.7. In this psalm the stress is upon wholeness in political, economic, social and spiritual. In the NT we find Christ to be our peace – the One who brings us peace with God – and the One who is coming again to establish a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells and where everything that jars is removed!

Prosperity is a theme that appears throughout this psalm – it is not sought as a goal in itself but as the fruit and outcome of having God's good rule enacted through the righteous rule of the king.

And the prosperity he has in mind is extraordinarily plenteous when we look at v.16. yes, abundance of grain but who ever heard of abundance growing on the tops of mountains – these are usually barren places. Yes, David is using poetic language but he gets across what he means!

And glorious prosperity is the picture that characterizes the new creation with trees fruiting 12 times a year and where the healing of the nations occurs!

But material prosperity is clearly here it is by no means the whole of the picture. David is concerned that under the reign of his people the population would increase as well! In v.7 David longs for those who are upright to flourish but in v.16 he broadens further and his desire is for a growing, multiplying population as a whole. Of course this too is in harmony with what we find elsewhere in the Scriptures going right back to the early chapters of Genesis where firstly the divine command was to "multiply and fill the earth" and then the divine promise to Abraham was that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars or as the sand on the seashore!

Pr.14:28 "In a multitude of people is the glory of a king, but without people a prince is ruined."

Solomon was indeed to reign over a prosperous time.

And so even more so our King Jesus has a great people:

Rev.7:9-10 "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”"

Success and Renown

Once again as David brings his requests on behalf of the royal prince he has great thoughts on his heart and mind!

v.8 The language used recalls descriptions of the land that the LORD had promised would be the extent of the kingdom:

Cf. Ex.23:31 "And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you."

Oh that God would keep His promises and grant the full accomplishment of His promises to His people!

But the language used figuratively here in the Psalm is applied more literally by the prophet Zechariah to refer to the entire world over which the coming Messiah would reign:

Zech.9:10 "his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth."

David longs for his son to know victory over his enemies and to be honoured and enriched by them as they come to bring tribute to him.

We look for that day when every knee shall bow to another King, even to our King Jesus – the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

David is extravagant in his praying for his son and indeed we find him praying in ideal terms, terms which sadly Solomon was never able to fulfil.

Solomon began well but the glorious description in vv.12-14 doesn't apply to him. Yes, he helped some but later in his life he instituted forced labour, he laid a heavy burden upon his people.

But there is One for whom this description is no idealistic exaggeration!

Who could deliver the needy, help the poor and redeem like Him?

Think for a brief moment of Jairus's and his sick daughter. Think of that poor woman with a discharge of blood. Think of the widow of Nain, the father of the epileptic boy… Jesus brought help to each with loving tenderness; he dealt with the crowds that flocked to Him with the compassion seeing them as sheep without a shepherd.

He laid no heavy burden on His people rather He invited those who did feel burdened down with the cares of the world to come to Him and find rest for their souls. His yoke is easy and His burden is light!

And sadly at the end of Solomon's life he turned from the path of full obedience – his memory became a tarnished one – once more David's desire that his son's memory might live on forever is not to be realised in his son Solomon but in His greater Son Jesus. Jesus who never turned away at the end of His life, Jesus who loved His own to the end. Jesus the One who redeemed His people by paying the price of their liberation with His own heart's blood. Jesus who continues to look with care and compassion on His people.

As we contemplate David's desires for a perfect king – we can see some approximations towards this ideal in the life of Solomon and perhaps in the lives of others but we have to look to Jesus to see the full flowering of this glorious righteous King!

As we look to Jesus let us turn and worship God in the way David concluded this Psalm:

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

who alone does wondrous things.

Blessed be his glorious name forever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Amen and Amen!