Psalm 72 Study - By Darlene Zschech

PSALM 72:1-20 (TODAY'S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION)
1. Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.
2. May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.
3. May the mountains bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness.
4. May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy;may he crush the oppressor.
5. May he endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations.
6. May he be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.
7. In his days may the righteous flourish and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.
8. May he rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9. May the desert tribes bow before him and his enemies lick the dust.
10. May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores bring tribute to him. May the kings of Sheba and Seba present him gifts.
11. May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.
12. For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.
13. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.
14. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.
15. Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him.May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long.
16. May grain abound throughout the land;on the tops of the hills may it sway.May the crops flourish like Lebanon and thrive like grass on the field.
17. May his name endure forever;may it continue as long as the sun.Then all nations will be blessed thorough him, and they will call him blessed.
18. Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvellous deeds.
19. Praise be to his glorious name forever;may the whole earth be filled with his glory.Amen and Amen.
20. This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse

This Psalm is one of the 'royal psalms'... meaning that the content is actually focused on the life and well being of the kings of Israel/Judah, and actuallyfeatures prayers that God will establish a righteous rule of the monarch, that ALL nations would be blessed through Godly leadership.

It is entitled a 'psalm of Solomon'... but concludes with giving honour to King David as the psalmist. Some of my study guides said this was a psalm by David, FOR Solomon; others said, Solomon penned his Father's dying song... so, whichever way you look at it... the psalm boldly asks God to bless and empower the King with everything he would need to bring righteous rule to the kingdom.

We all understand that anyone in leadership, who is leading with Godly principles and Godly wisdom... well, the results will be nothing short of supernatural, as the word of God promises. When we were away with Joyce Meyer, her husband Dave taught a session about the United States of America, and how it has become such a nation of options rather than strength... and how right down to taking the right to speak about the Lord in our schools, how you can look DIRECTLY at how this has affected the nation with crime, violence etc, escalating at catastrophic rates... and you can pinpoint it almost EXTACTLY to the time they made a decision to steer the nation away from being a Christ-centred Nation.So you see the tragedy of a people pleasing people, versus the power of a God-fearing leadership who are fuelled by the power of the Holy Spirit to lead with righteousness and strength. Praise God for people like Dave Meyer who are not just going to lie down and pretend it is not happening, but stand up and be counted and bring change... man, I love being around world changers!!

The psalmist asks God for 'enduring reign'... an established, Godly template for the future to be built upon. And his reference to the moon... well, this symbol, like the sun... just feeds the picture of endurance.

The powerful words of strength and dominion keep coming, as confidence in God's ability to actually bring the earth into submission at the rule of this king are prayed. Big words... but constant references to the actual nature of our Jesus are used continually throughout the psalm... and all of these words I know to be true. That even if you are in the wilderness... even if wild and lawless... my Spurgeon study book says 'unconquered by arms, they will be subdued by love. Wild and lawless they may have been, they shall gladly wear His easy yoke; then shall their deserts be made glad, they shall blossom as the rose.' The faithfulness of the scriptures at work in our lives is quite unfathomable! The fact that the enemy here is required to eat dust is so cool!! Under our feet, and desperate - yes, that's the enemy's place.

The psalmist continues with wisdom as he cries an impassioned plea of justice for the defenceless... and as the nations of the world submit to the king... he continues the practice of delivering the cries of the needy who cry out. To save and to rescue the hurting and downtrodden, and to protect the powerless from being exploited by the powerful... again, big words, but operating under the mighty hand of God... Well, putting right what is wrong IS actually not only a romantic notion, it is VERY possible.

The end of the Psalm is drawn to a close with a desire for enduring prosperity... 'let grain abound,may his name endure etc..' and to be honest, with a heart agenda like we read here, you can see how the Lord would trust this king with great abundance, as you can see that he would be trusted with so much because his desires are so very righteous.

The doxology is beautiful... blessing and thanking God for His marvellous deeds, blessing His glorious name,declaring that the whole earth will be filled with the glory of God... and pronounces a fitting blessing on the worldwide dominion of God.

So what can we draw from this psalm?? So many things, but it does make me excited again to the core about the kingdom of God on the earth. There are so many flaws in our own national leadership across the earth, for in the days written about here are days when the people actually appointed Kings as representatives of God. Our current modern nations usually make no reference or claim to being ruled by God... but as you can see here in this Psalm, God's standards are high, as are His expectations for justice, mercy, equity, righteousness etc. But don't feel powerless to bring any change... we are called to pray for our leaders, for their emotional, mental and spiritual well being, and then, understand that it is God who ultimately holds all things together and who will set things right "from sea to sea and from the River, to the ends of the earth".

Take responsibility for all you can do to bring change, then lovingly and wholeheartedly pray and trust God for the rest - it certainly brings us an incredible place of rest AND strength.

Well my lovelies... there it is, a GREAT Psalm, a great challenge but a great encouragement about the heart of God for each one of us, for all of humanity.

Love you, Darls. xxx