Psalms
Chapter 72
O God, Entrust Your Judgment To the King
God, endow the king with your justice, the royal son with your righteousness.
May he rule your people justly and defend the rights of the lowly.
Let the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills, justice.
He will defend the cause of the poor, deliver the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor.
He will endure, as the sun and as the moon, through all generations.
He will be like rain falling on the fields, or showers watering the earth.
Justice will flower in his days, and peace abound, till the moon be no more.
For he reigns from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth;
his foes are crushed before him, and his enemies lick the dust.
The kings of Tarshish and the islands render him tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts,
all kings bow down to him, and all nations serve him.
He delivers the needy who call on him, the afflicted, with no one to help them.
His mercy is upon the weak and the poor; he saves the lives of the poor.
He rescues them from oppression and strife, for their life is precious to him.
May he live long, may gold from Sheba be given him. May people always pray for him, and blessings be invoked for him all day.
May grain abound throughout the land, waving and rustling, as in Lebanon; may cities teem with people, as fields with grass.
May his name endure forever; may his name be as lasting as the sun. All the races will boast about him; and he will be praised by all nations.
Praised be the Lord, God of Israel, who alone, works so marvelously.
Praised be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen. Amen.
This concludes the prayers of David, son of Jesse.
Commentaries
72
Is this a picture of the future ideal king or an idealized image of the reigning king? In any case, it depicts the king, the Messiah, as Israel would hope him to be. After all, every new Davidic king must have seen a potential Messiah. If this is what they are, the courtly compliments are quite deliberately extravagant: the entire inhabited world, even the soil itself, pays him homage. But not unwillingly! The king carries no sword, as in Psalm 45: no weapon is mentioned except those of integrity (v. 7) and sympathy (vv. 12 to 14). Indeed, this psalm prepares God’s people for a king, telling his followers to sheath their swords.
The ideal kingdom will never be a reality here below. The risen Lord will establish it at the end of time. However, faith enables us to recognize the signs of its coming. Humanity advances toward unification. The desire for justice and peace for all grows stronger in every nation. The King of Peace brings good news to the poor (Lk 4:18). He defends the rights of the lowly. He proclaims a new era when God will reconcile humanity. The weak have the right to live, and there is enough food for everyone. Our world is far from realizing the Universal Charter of Human Rights. It is not for us to passively wait for this reign. God, so considerate toward humanity, created in his image, wishes humans to participate in all his works, including the realization of the eternal city. This will be a gift from God, but not a simple gift like the universe’s appearance. It will be the culmination of what humans have begun on Earth.