Christian Photographers Community

Psalm 72

This psalm was written by David and it concerned both himself and one of his sons, probably Solomon.  In it he asks the Lord to grant "righteousness to his son."  So it was a prayer, in other words, that God would use whatever means necessary to move his son to live righteously.  If God will do this, he says, then his son will "judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice - the mountains will bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness."  This prayer, then,  is one which we might well pray for our own children.

But this prayer is much more than a mere prayer of David for Solomon.  He says that if the prayer is granted then, "He (the son) shall have dominion also from sea to sea . . . to the ends of the earth," and "Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before him . . . kings of Tarshish . . . the isles . . . kings of Sheba and Seba . . . all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve him."  During his reign, in fact, "he will deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also . . .there will be abundance of grain in the earth, on the top of the mountains . . . its fruit shall wave like Lebanon . . . his name shall endure forever; . . . all nations shall call him blessed."  These results are simply too extravagant for Solomon alone. 

Both David's prayer here and the results he hopes to see are not too extravagant for the kind of "prophetic perspective" he's exercising here. These things could occur, have occurred, and will yet occur during the reign of David's greater Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The words should remind us of Isaiah's words in chapter 11 of his prophecy.  There he says, "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.  The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord . . . the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them . . . they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

Looked at from the standpoint of Isaiah, then, David's prayer actually looks forward to the Messiah's everlasting reign, a reign during which Paul's words in the eighth chapter of Romans will be fulfilled, words in which he says, "Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."  In other words, he's looking forward to the time of restoration, the time during which peace, righteousness, justice, and blessedness shall return to all creation through the everlasting reign of the Son of God! 

Oh what a blessed hope!  You and I, if we truly know our Lord Jesus Christ, will be the happy subjects of David's greater Son during that reign!  We ourselves will experience all of its blessedness, and we will praise Him forever in David's words of triumph when he sings with all his might, "Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things!  And blessed be His glorious Name forever!  And let the whole earth be filled with His glory!  Amen and amen!"  Oh set your heart upon this hope!

What a wonderful final paragraph, Alan!

"Oh what a blessed hope!  You and I, if we truly know our Lord Jesus Christ, will be the happy subjects of David's greater Son during that reign!  We ourselves will experience all of its blessedness, and we will praise Him forever in David's words of triumph when he sings with all his might, "Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things!  And blessed be His glorious Name forever!  And let the whole earth be filled with His glory!  Amen and amen!"  Oh set your heart upon this hope!"

Oh that we might more often think of and rejoice in our eternal hope!  May our Father by His Spirit so move us.