Psalm 72: Translation and Notes

Narrator: Chris Genthree
Psalm 72
1 Of Solomon. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness, unto the king’s son.
2 He shall judge thy people with righteousness and thine afflicted with Judgment.
3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the hills in righteousness.
4 He will judge the afflicted of the people, he will save the sons of the needy, and will crush the oppressor.
5 They shall fear thee with the sun and before the moon through all generations.
6 He shall come down as rain on mown grass, as showers watering the earth (or land).
7 In his days shall a righteous one flourish, and much peace till the moon [be] no more.
8 And he shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
9 Before him shall bow dwellers in the desert, and his enemies shall lick the dust.
10 Kings of Tarshish and of the sea-coasts shall bring an offering; kings of Sheba and of Seba shall bring near a gift.
11 Yea, all kings shall bow before him; all nations shall serve him.
12 For he will deliver the needy that crieth and the afflicted and that hath no helper.
13 He will have pity on a poor and needy one, and the souls of the needy will he save.
14 From fraud and from violence will he redeem their soul, and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
15 And he shall live; and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba, and prayer shall be made for him continually: all the day shall he be blessed.
16 There shall be abundance (handfuls) of corn in the earth, on the top of the mountains: the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon; and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
17 His name shall be for ever; before the sun shall his name be continued: and they shall bless themselves in him; all nations shall call him blessed.
18 Blessed [be] Jehovah Elohim, the God of Israel alone doing wondrous things.
19 And blessed [he] the name of his glory for ever; and let all the earth be filled [with] his glory. Amen and Amen.
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
Notes on Psalm 72
This is simply “Of Solomon.” The close is strikingly suited. “Blessed [be] Jehovah Elohim, the God of Israel alone doing wondrous things. And blessed [be] the name of his glory for ever; and let all the earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.”
It is evident that the psalm closes with the millennial reign of David’s greater Son, the Messiah, to Whom God gives His judgments, and Who will glorify Him in His reign as He had in His rejection (72).