The Glory Of The King

Psalm 72:8-20

8May he reign from sea to sea,

and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.

9Desert nomads will bow before him;

his enemies will fall before him in the dust.

10The western kings of Tarshish and the islands

will bring him tribute.

The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba

will bring him gifts.

11All kings will bow before him,

and all nations will serve him.

12He will rescue the poor when they cry to him;

he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them.

13He feels pity for the weak and the needy,

and he will rescue them.

14He will save them from oppression and from violence,

for their lives are precious to him.

15Long live the king!

May the gold of Sheba be given to him.

May the people always pray for him

and bless him all day long.

16May there be abundant crops throughout the land,

flourishing even on the mountaintops.

May the fruit trees flourish as they do in Lebanon,

sprouting up like grass in a field.

17May the king’s name endure forever;

may it continue as long as the sun shines.

May all nations be blessed through him

and bring him praise.

18Bless the LORD God, the God of Israel,

who alone does such wonderful things.

19Praise his glorious name forever!

Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.

Amen and amen!

20(This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.)

For one brief, shining moment the nation of Israel was a world power. Under Solomon’s reign, Israel’s borders stretched from Egypt to the Euphrates. Merchants came from all over the world to do business with Israel. And foreign rulers paid tribute to the great Solomon. In other words, the picture painted in Psalm 72 pretty much came true.

It’s unclear whether Solomon himself wrote this psalm, whether some poet laureate wrote it to honor Solomon, or whether David wrote it as a prayer for his son. (See verse 20, and compare with 2 Samuel 23.) In any case, there’s one part that didn’t come true in Solomon’s reign. While Solomon received great glory, God didn’t. Many of the political marriages that extended Solomon’s influence led him away from the Lord and toward foreign gods. There was no international revival. When Solomon died, the nation plunged into chaos.

It took another King to see that “the whole earth” would “be filled with [God’s] glory!” As a baby, this King received gifts from great leaders from the East, and he grew up to “rescue the poor” and “help the oppressed.” Through this King, Jesus, all nations will be blessed.

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun

Does its successive journeys run;

His kingdom spread from shore to shore,

Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

ISAAC WATTS

Bible Networking

This is a beautiful picture of the great King Solomon, yet Solomon placed heavy burdens on his people (see 1 Kings 12:4-14). For Christians, Jesus is King, and his rule is much different than Solomon’s. Read Matthew 11:28.

Notable Quotable

“Amen [verse 19] is a short word, but marvelously pregnant, full of spirit. It is a word that seals all the truths of God. . . . It is never likely to rise in the soul, unless there be first an almighty power from heaven . . . unless God . . . brings the heart down, it never will or can say, ‘Amen.’ ”

RICHARD SIBBES