Psalms 72:20

The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. The Septuagint version renders it, the hymns.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

This Psalm is called the last of David’ s Psalms; (which are called prayers, because they consist very much of prayers;) either, 1. The last of that part or book of the Psalms, which reached from the beginning of the Psalms hitherto, whereof the far greatest number were composed by David, and all of them digested into this order; the rest of which follow, being collected by some other holy man or men of God after David’ s death, and composed part by David, and part by other prophets. Or rather, 2. The last Psalm which David composed; for this was done but a little before his death, of which see the first note on this Psalm.

Psalms 72:20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.Ver. 20. The prayers of David are ended] That is, this was his last prayer (in time, though not in order), and is therefore well to be considered. Or, so end the prayers that were both written and set in order by David; the rest seem to have been gathered together by Ezra, or some other holy man, after the return from Babylon.

Verse 20. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.] This was most probably the last Psalm he ever wrote. There may be several in the after part of this book which were written by him; but they were probably composed in a former period of his life, for this was the end of the poetic prayers of David the son of Jesse. Those that were found afterwards have got out of their proper connexion. ANALYSIS OF THE SEVENTY-SECOND PSALM David being near his death, makes his prayer for his son Solomon, that he may be a just, peaceable, and great king, and his subjects happy under his government. But this is but the shell of the Psalm: the kernel is Christ and his kingdom, under whom righteousness, peace, and felicity shall flourish, and unto whom all nations shall do homage for ever and ever. The parts of this Psalm are the following, viz.: - I. The petition, Psalms 72:1. II. The general declaration of the qualities of this kingdom, Psalms 72:2-4. III. The particular unfolding of these in their effects, Psalms 72:4-18. IV. The doxology, Psalms 72:18-20. I. David, being taught by experience how hard a matter it is to govern a kingdom well, prays God to assist his son Solomon, to whom, being near death, he was to leave his crown and sceptre. 1. "Give the king thy judgments, O God;" the true knowledge of thy law. 2. "And thy righteousness unto the king's son;" that he may not decline to the right or left hand, but administer by justice, judge for God. II. For then this will follow: - 1. Justice will flourish in his kingdom: "He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment." 2. And peace also, and prosperity: "The mountains," that is, the chief magistrates; "and the little hills," - the lesser officers, shall bring peace to the people: but "by righteousness," for justice upholds the world. III. And now he proceeds to unfold himself upon the two former generals: first, justice; then, peace. Of justice he assigns two effects: - 1. The defence of good men: "He shall judge the poor of the people; he shall save the children of the needy." 2. The punishment of the wicked: "He shall break in pieces the oppressor." The consequences of peace are, - 1. Fear, and reverence, and the service of God: "They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations." 2. Plenty and abundance: "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth." 3. Prosperity of good men: "In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth." Now he shows the greatness and amplitude of this kingdom, which will not be so true of Solomon as of Christ and his kingdom. 1. His kingdom will be very large: "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." 2.

20. Compare the note in Job 31:40 which separates the speeches of Job from those of Elihu and Jehovah. As the Fourth and Fifth Books contain Psalms ascribed to David, this note cannot have been placed here by an editor who had the whole Psalter before him. Most probably it was added by the compiler of the Elohistic collection, to separate the ‘Psalms of David’ from the ‘Psalms of Asaph’ which follow, and to indicate that there were no more ‘Davidic’ Psalms in his collection. The only Psalm in Book iii which bears the name of David (86) is outside the Elohistic collection, and is moreover obviously a late compilation, composed of fragments of other Psalms. For the term prayers see Introd. p. xx. The LXX rendering ὕμνοι however may point to another reading ϊδμεϊ, praises.

The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended - This is not found in the Syriac.

20. Prayers of David… ended—For the import of this verse see introductory note. The psalmist has given his ideal of a theocratic king, partially realized in Solomon’s reign, but to be fully so only in that of Messiah.