Psalms 72
PSALMSPsalms 72A GLOWING description of the reign of the Messiah, as righteous, Psalms 72:1-7, universal, Psalms 72:8-11, beneficent, Psalms 72:12-14, perpetual, Psalms 72:15-17, to which are added a doxology, Psalms 72:18-19, and a postscript, Psalms 72:20.
Psalms 72:1. By Solomon. 0 God, thy judgments to the king give, and thy righteousness to the king’s son. The form of expression in the first clause or title is precisely the same as in the phrase so often rendered, by David. That it designates the author, may be argued, not only from this usage, but from the fact, that the imagery of the psalm is as evidently borrowed from the peaceful and brilliant reign of Solomon, as that of the second from the martial and triumphant reign of David. The prayer in this verse is virtually a prediction, as the Psalmist only asks what he knows that God will give. The judicial power, under the theocracy, was exercised in God’s name and by his representatives.
See Deuteronomy 1:17, Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:7-8, Proverbs 8:15, 2 Chronicles 19:6. The Messiah was therefore expected to exhibit this peculiar character in its perfection. See Isaiah 11:2-3. By the king and the king’s son we are not to understand the descendants and successors of David indefinitely, but the last and greatest of them in particular.
Psalms 72:2. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy afflicted (ones) with judgment. This is stated as the necessary consequence of the granting of the prayer in the preceding verse. “Give him thy righteousness, and then he shall judge,” etc. There is no need, therefore, of putting an optative sense upon the future, “Let them judge,” etc., especially as it would then be necessary to extend the same construction to the verses following, and so long a series of optative expressions is without example.
Psalms 72:3. (Then) shall the mountains bear peace for the people, and the hills, by righteousness. The effect of the divine gift asked at the beginning of the psalm is still described in this verse, under the figure of a general growth or harvest of peace, to spring up in the whole land. Bear, in the sense of bringing forth, producing. Mountains and hills are mentioned as the salient points or prominent features of the country. This was the more natural, as the hills of Palestine were carefully tilled in ancient times, as appears from the terraces still visible. See above, Psalms 65:12, and below, Psalms 147:8, and compare Deuteronomy 33:15.
Peace, as opposed to war and its accompanying evils. This is often mentioned as a characteristic trait of the Messiah’s reign. See Isaiah 2:4; Isaiah 9:5-6; Isaiah 11:9; Isaiah 65:25, Micah 4:3, Zechariah 9:10. It was typified by the peaceful reign of Solomon (1 Kings 5:4), whose very name suggests it. The hills, i.e. the hills shall bear peace or produce it. The words by righteousness belong to both clauses, and denote that the peace here promised was to be the fruit of righteous government.
Psalms 72:4. He shall judge the afflicted of the people; he shall save (or bring salvation) to the sons of the needy, and shall crush (or break in pieces) the oppressor. To judge them is to do them justice, to redress their wrongs and vindicate their rights. The afflicted of the people, those who suffer among the chosen people. The needy or the poor man is an ideal person, representing the whole class, whose individual members are described as his sons or children.
Psalms 72:5. They shall fear thee with the sun, and before the moon, generation of generations. The first verb may be construed with the sons of the needy, or taken indefinitely, men shall fear thee, which is nearly equivalent to saying, thou shalt be feared. The verb itself denotes religious reverence or awe, and is here put for worship. The object of address, here and throughout the psalm, is God, whose worship is described as one fruit of the righteous reign predicted. With the sun, as long as they have the sun with them, i.e. possess or enjoy him.
Before the moon, in her presence, as long as she continues to be visible, or to afford them light. This is one of the scriptural expressions for perpetual duration, an idea which is also expressed by the idiomatic phrase, generation of generations, i.e. through all generations, or from one generation to another.
Psalms 72:6. He shall come down like rain upon mown (grass), like showers, the watering of the earth (or land). This beautiful comparison suggests the idea of a gentle yet refreshing and fertilising influence, to be exerted by the king, whose reign is here foretold. The word translated showers, by its etymological affinities, suggests the idea of abundance or copiousness. The noun which follows occurs only here, but may be traced to verbal roots which mean to drop or to flow.
Psalms 72:7. In his days shall the righteous sprout, spring up, or shoot forth, and abundance of peace, till the failure (or cessation) of the moon. The idea is the same as in Psalms 72:3; Psalms 72:5, with a slight change in the form of the expression. By a lively figure, the righteous man is substituted for righteousness in the abstract, as the fruit of the earth and the productive cause of peace. The idea of perpetuity is again conveyed by repeating one of the comparisons in Psalms 72:5.
Psalms 72:8. And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. There is here an obvious allusion to the limits of the land of promise, as defined in Exodus 23:31; but that these are not directly intended in the case before us, is clear from the mention of foreign kings and nations in the following verses. The meaning rather is, that as the realm of the theocratic kings was bounded by the Mediterranean and the Euphrates, that of the Messiah, whom they represented, should extend from sea to sea, i.e. from any sea to any other, even the most distant, or from any sea around to the same point again, and from the river (Euphrates), or from any other river, as a terminus a quo, to the ends of the earth. In other words, it should be universal. The same mode of describing the extent of Christ’s dominion is adopted by the prophets. See Zechariah 8:10, and compare Amos 8:12, Micah 7:12.
Psalms 72:9. Before him shall crouch wild (men), and his enemies the dust shall lick. The first noun denotes dwellers in the wilderness, and is applied both to brutes (Isaiah 13:21; Isaiah 34:14, Jeremiah 50:39) and men (Psalms 74:14). The common version of the first verb (bow) is too weak in itself and in comparison with the parallel expression, lick the dust, implying the most unconditional and abject submission.
Psalms 72:10. The kings of Tarshish and the Islands an oblation shall send back; the kings of Sheba and Seba a reward shall bring near. The last noun in the first clause, and the verb in the second, are technical terms of the Mosaic law, the first denoting specially a vegetable offering, and the other the solemn act of presentation in God’s presence. The use of these expressions implies that what is here described is not the mere payment of tribute or the presentation of friendly gifts, but a religious offering. It is also worthy of remark, that the verb in the first clause, and the last noun in the second, both suggest the idea, not of a simple gift, but of a recompence or requital, perhaps in allusion to the benefits which Christ was to bestow upon the nations, and of which these gifts would be a thankful acknowledgment. The verb return, however, is used elsewhere to denote the simple act of paying tribute.
See 2 Kings 3:4; 2 Kings 17:3. The proper names in this verse are mere specimens or samples of the nations generally. Tarshish is mentioned, both as a well-known mart or source of wealth, and as a representative of the extreme west. The Islands, agreeably to Hebrew usage, include all distant sea-coasts, but particularly those of the Mediterranean. The distant south is represented, in like manner, by Sheba, a province of Arabia Felix, and Seba, now commonly supposed to be Meroe, a part of ancient Ethiopia, both famous for their wealth and commerce. The obvious allusion to the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Jerusalem (1 Kings 10:1-10) is another stroke in this prophetic picture evidently borrowed from the times of Solomon.
Psalms 72:11. And to him shall all kings bow (or prostrate themselves), all nations shall serve him. That the preceding verse contains only a sample of the nations over whom the Messiah was to reign, is distinctly intimated by the universal and unqualified expressions of the verse before us. The act described in the first clause is one expressive both of civil homage and religious worship. The same thing is true of the verb in the last clause, which may be applied either to the civil service of a sovereign by his subjects, or to the religious service of a deity by his worshippers. In this case, as in Psalms 72:10, both were meant to be included.
Psalms 72:12. For he will deliver the needy crying (to him for help), and the sufferer, and him that hath no helper. The literal translation of the last clause is, and there is no one helping him, or, and there is no helper to him. By referring the pronoun to the sufferer mentioned just before, we may take this, not as the description of a. third class, but as a further description of the second, the sufferer to whom there is no helper. The whole verse represents the king in question as the protector, not the oppressor, of his subjects, and assigns a reason for their tribute being represented as a requital of benefits received. See above, on Psalms 72:10.
Psalms 72:13. He will have pity on (or spare) the poor and needy, and the souls (or lives) of the needy he will save. In the first clause the adjectives are of the singular number, and properly denote the poor (man) and the needy (man). The change to the plural in the second clause, needy (ones) or needy (people), shews that the singular was not meant to denote a real individual, but rather an ideal person, representing a whole class, which is then directly designated by the plural.
Psalms 72:14. From oppression and from violence he will redeem their soul, and precious shall their blood be in his eyes (or sight). This last is an idiomatic expression of the idea, that a person sets such a value on the life of another that he will not suffer it to be destroyed. See below, on Psalms 116:15, and compare 1 Samuel 26:21, 2 Kings 1:14 Psalms 72:15. And he, the poor man thus delivered, shall live, shall be preserved alive, and, in token of his gratitude and willing subjection to such a sovereign, he shall give to him, as tribute, of the gold of Sheba, one of the regions mentioned in Psalms 72:10, and famous for its gold; and he, meaning still the grateful tributary, shall pray for him continually, i.e. for the progress and extension of Messiah’s kingdom; all-the day (long) shall he bless him. i.e. praise him, as well for what he is in himself, as for the gifts which he bestows. By some interpreters the meaning is reversed, and the sentence made to signify that the Messiah shall live again, or live for ever, and give precious gifts to the believer, and by his constant intercession secure to him the blessing of Jehovah. This is a good sense in itself, and appropriate to the context; but the dubious question of construction seems to be determined by the mention of the gold of Sheba, which, in this connection, far more probably denotes the tribute of the subject than the favour of the sovereign. See above, on Psalms 72:10.
Psalms 72:16. Let there be (but) a handful of corn in the land, in the top of the mountains; its fruit shall wave (or shake) like Lebanon, and they shall flourish from the city like grass of the earth. The first noun in Hebrew occurs only here, and has been taken in senses directly opposite. The rabbinical tradition makes it mean a handful, the modern lexicographers a plenty, each relying on a doubtful etymology. According to the second explanation, the clause is a direct prediction of abundance, and should be translated, there shall be plenty of corn in the land. According to the other and more ancient view, the verse contains a beautiful antithesis between the small beginnings and the vast results of the Messiah’s kingdom, not unlike that suggested by our Saviour’s parable of the grain of mustard seed.
This exegetical analogy, together with the striking character imparted to the verse by this interpretation, are sufficient to entitle it to the preference, even without regard to its antiquity and traditional authority. The apocopated future may then be taken in its proper sense, as a concession or a wish, equivalent to saying, though there be but a handful of corn in the land, and that in the least favourable situation, on the top of a mountain, which though cultivated (see above, on Psalms 72:3, must of course be colder and less fertile than the plains below.
Neither wave nor shake conveys the full force of the Hebrew verb, which suggests the additional idea of a rushing noise, like that of the wind among the cedars of Lebanon. This comparison is certainly more natural and obvious than that which some interpreters assume with the grain-crops or harvest-fields of Lebanon itself. This would be merely likening one harvest to another, nor is any such allusion ever made elsewhere to the mountain, though its circumjacent plains and valleys were productive. See Hosea 14:5-7. The word translated flourish means originally to shine or glitter (Psalms 132:18), but is specially applied to the brilliancy of vegetation, and might therefore be translated bloom or blossom. See Numbers 17:8, and compare Psalms 90:6; Psalms 92:7; Psalms 103:15.
From the city seems to mean from Jerusalem or Zion, as the centre of Messiah’s kingdom and his royal residence, out of which this productive influence was to go forth. Compare the form of expression in this clause with Numbers 24:19, Job 5:25.
Psalms 72:17. His name shall be for ever; in the presence of the sun., i.e. as long as the sun shines, his name shall propagate (itself); and by him shall they (i.e. men in general) bless themselves; all nations shall felicitate him (or pronounce him happy). The form of expression in the second clause is borrowed from the patriarchal promises (Genesis 12:3; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 28:14), and is intended to suggest the idea there expressed, that the Messiah should be not only blessed himself, but a source of blessing to all nations. As the happiness of the parent is bound up in that of the children, and the prosperity of the sovereign inseparable from that of the subjects, the one part of this prediction necessarily implies the other. If the head is blessed, so must be the members, the whole body. If all nations are to call Messiah blessed, it must be because he is the author and the giver of their own prosperity, nay more, of their salvation.
Psalms 72:18-19. Blessed (be) Jehovah, God, the God of Israel, doing wonders alone, and blessed (be) his glorious name to eternity, and filled with his glory be the whole earth. Amen and Amen. This is commonly explained as a doxology belonging, not to this psalm, but to the second book, of which it marks the close belonging, above, on Psalms 41:13. But as the psalm wouldend somewhat abruptly with the foregoing verse, and as this addition carries out the idea there expressed, by giving, as it were, the very words in which the nations shall pronounce him blessed, we have reason to believe that the doxology was added by the author, and that this conclusion of the psalm was not the effect but the occasion of its being placed at the close of one of the traditional divisions of the psalter. The wish in the second clause of ver. 19 is borrowed from the promise in Numbers 14:21, of which this whole psalm is in fact a prolonged echo.
Psalms 72:20. Ended are the prayers of David, son of Jesse. The position of this sentence after the doxology, and its prosaic form, shew that it forms no part of the psalm, but relates to the whole series preceding. It does not therefore prove, as some suppose, that Solomon was not the author of the seventy-second psalm, since this exception and a very few others could not prevent the collection being called the prayers of David. A potiori fit denominatio. In like manner, the whole Psalter is still called the Psalm of David by many who believe it to contain some psalms by other writers.
That this is the conclusion of an original and separate collection is by no means probable, as there is no historical proof that such collections ever existed, and it would not be easy to account for the omission of so many psalms undoubtedly composed by David. On the whole, it is most pro bable that these words were added to the first great subdivision of the whole collection, as entirely composed of Psalms by David and his contemporaries, with a few added to them on account of some marked similarity in form or substance. The only remaining supposition is that these wordsare part of the original composition, and were added by Solomon to show that what he here predicts would be the fulfilment of his father’s wishes and the answer to his prayers. The objection to this, besides the form and position of the verse itself, is, that the verb is never used to denote fulfilment or accomplishment, except in the Hebrew of the later books. See Ezra 1:1, Daniel 12:7.