Solomon’s Psalms (Solomon): When King Solomon wrote Psalm 72, he wrote a prayer for the ideal king—one who administered justice wherever righteousness was lacking, and whose reign would bring peace (shalom). A good and godly king is a blessing to everyone. However, no earthly king (not even Solomon at his best) ever fulfilled this vision. No one, that is, until the Lord Jesus Christ. All hail the King! Recorded on Dec 14, 2025, on Psalm 72 by Pastor David Parks.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 27:12 — 62.3MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS
This sermon is part of the Solomon: The Legacy of a King series. King Solomon was a complex man whose story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. How would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Could he overcome the plotting of his enemies, the dysfunction of his family, and the temptations of virtually unlimited wealth, fame, and women? What would be his legacy? Solomon’s story is a vital part of the history leading up to the ultimate son of David and anointed king, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon Transcript
Some of you might know the story of Corrie ten Boom. She was a Christian whose family hid and saved something like 800 Jews from the Nazis in the Netherlands during WWII. When they were discovered, Corrie was sent to a concentration camp, but survived and went on to write about her experiences in the book The Hiding Place. But there’s a famous quote attributed to Corrie ten Boom that goes like this: “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look at God, you’ll be at rest.” Isn’t that great? But isn’t that true? When I look out at the world, almost everything on my news feed is distressing. Wars, crime, mass shootings, rampant corruption — it’s distressing to say the least. But when I shut all that out and only focus on myself and my needs, I don’t feel much better. And that’s strange, isn’t it? You’d think if you only focus on your own needs, that would feel pretty great, right? But it doesn’t because we weren’t made to focus only on ourselves — that’s depressing. Corrie would say, no matter what your circumstances might be, even in the worst of all possible circumstances, like you’re in a concentration camp, that the peace of God can come from the God of peace, but you need to look to him. Well, we’ve been exploring the life of one of the most important ancient kings of Israel in a sermon series called Solomon: The Legacy of a King. And most of our series tracks the story of Solomon’s life from the book of 1 Kings in the Bible. However, Solomon’s creative output was legendary, so we’re including a sample from some of his writings included in the Bible as well. You can get a sense of someone from their life story, but you get a different picture of them when you look at something they’ve made. We’ve already considered some of the proverbs Solomon wrote, and maybe the greatest love song of all time, with the Song of Songs. Eventually, we’ll consider his most philosophical work in the book of Ecclesiastes toward the end of our series. But today, we’ll consider one of the songs of the King in the Psalms, and this song is about finding the rest/peace/shalom of God through the blessing of the chosen/anointed King of the Kingdom of God. So if you have your Bible/app, please open to Psalm 72:1. We’ll read through this and unpack it as we go.
Psalm 72:1–11 (NIV), “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.” According to 1 Kings 4:32, the king wrote over a thousand songs in his lifetime. Now, this particular song is about his role as the chosen or anointed king of Israel, but it’s more than that. This song reveals what a good and godly king is supposed to do. Remember some of the questions we’ve been asking throughout this whole series? How would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a good and godly king? This song demonstrates that Solomon knew what it took to be a good and godly king. The structure of this song is something like verse one, chorus, verse two, and then an ending. Verse one of the song (what we just read) starts with a prayer for the king. “Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.” And the prayer continues by asking God to empower the king to apply justice and righteousness to a variety of areas of life in the kingdom, as he should. We’ve already said in this series that wherever righteousness is lacking, justice is required. And this is central to the work of a good and godly king, to have a listening/discerning heart, full of wisdom, that can listen to God’s word and the needs of his people, and work to apply the one to the other in administering justice. And this wisdom to do justice would not be only for the rich and famous people of the kingdom, not only for those in positions of power, but also for whom? For the afflicted, the children of the needy, and the oppressed. A good and godly king was supposed to be a real social justice warrior, not one who follows the fickle whims of whatever was politically correct or popular back in their day. And not one who merely signals their virtue to be impressive to others. But one who did real justice, fixing what was really wrong or broken in the kingdom and setting those things/people/situations to right according to God’s word, especially for those who can’t stick up for themselves. That’s social justice according to God. In v. 6, Solomon uses a vivid analogy. Just as a warm, drenching rain sustains life, encourages growth, and produces a harvest in the fields of the earth, so a good and godly king who reigns according to justice and righteousness sustains life, encourages growth, and produces a harvest of peace and prosperity in the kingdoms of the earth. Now, the word translated as “prosperity” in vv. 3 and 7 is the word shalom, usually translated as “peace.” But the Hebrew concept for shalom isn’t limited to a lack of conflict; it means wholeness or fulfillment, how things are supposed to be. Injustice is like a snag on your sweater; it rips/ruins the fabric of society. A good king, committed to doing justice, weaves the threads back into place, making society whole once again. And when righteousness is restored, what happens? It produces peace/wholeness/shalom. In a kingdom like that, one where the king does what is right and restores what is lost or broken, according to v. 7, the righteous flourish. Don’t you want to live in a place like that? Where the bad guys get what’s coming to them; where the needy are cared for; where other kings and kingdoms recognize and honor the wisdom of your king and listen to him; and where good folks flourish? That’s where I want to live. Who wouldn’t? So, all you good people of ancient Israel, do you pray for your king? And when you pray for your king, would you pray like this? Pray that he would act like a good and godly king. Pray that he would rule and reign according to righteousness and justice, restoring peace/shalom. A king like that is a blessing to everyone. Now, we don’t know what the music to this song would’ve sounded like. Unfortunately, we don’t have any recordings on Spotify from 3,000 years ago. But from the shift in language, I think the next section functions like a chorus to this song. Verse one is a prayer for the king to be a good king. Here’s the chorus, starting with v. 12.
Psalm 72:12-14 (NIV), “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.” Did you notice the switch in language from “may he…may he…may he” (“may he judge” or “may he defend” and so on) to “he will…he will…he will?” The chorus of Psalm 72 loudly proclaims that the king will do what he is supposed to do. Will he rule and reign according to justice and righteousness? Will he govern like God sovereignly governs his creation? Will he care for those in need and work to set wrongs to right? He will, he will, he will. He will deliver/save the needy who cry out and the afflicted who have been lost and forgotten and have no one else to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy. His heart will be soft and moved by the needs of the most vulnerable. He will save them from death. He will rescue them from the hand of the oppressor and the violent. He will intervene because their blood is precious in his sight. Their lives matter to him. He won’t see people as objects to be used or as obstacles to be destroyed. He won’t see them as existing only to serve his needs. He’ll see them as God sees them, as image-bearers who have inherent value, meaning, and purpose in life, even if they aren’t very impressive by the standards of the world. Pray for the king. Why? Because a good king is a blessing to everyone. But if God answers our prayers, then what? Then the king will be a blessing to all, no matter how great or how small. Verse two returns to the prayer language, beginning with v. 15.
Psalm 72:15–20 (NIV), “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 the grass of the field. 17 May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. Then all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed. 18 Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous 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 is God’s word. Now, you might’ve noticed another shift in language in v. 18, which switches to a doxology or a call to praise the Lord. Most scholars agree that vv. 18-20 were not part of the original psalm, but were added later by the editor of the book of Psalms because Psalm 72 is the last psalm of the second of five books that make up the psalter, and each book ends with a doxology like this. Nevertheless, verse two is a prayer that the king who would be a blessing would be blessed in return. “Oh Lord, may the king be brought the best gifts, like gold from Sheba.” We’ll see in January that the Queen of Sheba famously visited King Solomon and was so impressed by him that she gave him large quantities of gold, spices, and jewels—maybe an answer to this prayer. “But also, Lord, may people continually pray for him and bless him. May the land be fruitful for him. May the reputation of his name endure forever.” Then what? This may be surprising, but all nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed. All the nations? All the nations that worship and serve other gods? All the nations that would conquer Israel if they had the chance? Yes. All the nations. From the beginning, God didn’t want only one family/tribe/nation. He wanted a whole world of people he could love and who would love him in return. God chose Israel, but it was always his intention to bless the world through them. Israel was supposed to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, radiating the light of the glory of God out into a world of darkness. And when Israel had a king, he was supposed to lead the charge in this project of global blessing. But here’s the problem: None of the ancient kings of Israel was able to fulfill this good intention of God. Not one. None of them ruled and reigned according to perfect justice and righteousness. Now, some were better than others. King David was about as good as it ever got, but even he was guilty of terrible sins. And his kingdom was not this beacon of light that drew people from all the nations to the one true God. In Solomon’s day, the kingdom reached its peak in terms of peace/prosperity, but still, Solomon had some major moral problems, as we’ll start to see in the new year. Surely, there were some good people in the kingdom who faithfully prayed for the king. But if the chorus of the king’s song was supposed to be “he will…he will…he will,” more often than not it was, “he didn’t…he didn’t…he didn’t.” For this reason, both Jewish and Christian scholars have interpreted Psalm 72 as messianic, meaning that it was about King Solomon in some ways. But, it wouldn’t find its ultimate fulfillment until the arrival of the true King of the Kingdom of God, the true Son of David, and the true chosen or anointed king of Israel. But when would he arrive? God gave his people many clues through his prophets, prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah. Or listen to the prophet Zechariah, writing about 400 years after King Solomon, Zechariah 9:9–10 (NIV), “9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.” About 500 years after Zechariah, there was a man who rode on a colt, the foal of a donkey, into the city of Jerusalem. He was hailed as a king, and the people sang songs of praise and laid down their cloaks and palm branches to welcome him in. We’ll celebrate the birth of this king over the next few weeks. But of the thousand-year reign of the ancient kings of Israel, not one lived or reigned according to perfect righteousness or justice. Not one, that is, until the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn’t just a good king; he was without sin. He was perfectly righteous. And he wasn’t just a godly king; he was the Son of God sent from heaven. But Jesus is a different kind of king. He doesn’t need us to pray for him. Do you know what he is doing today? He is seated at the right hand of God the Father, on the throne of heaven, and he is praying for us, his people. And Jesus doesn’t need us to pray that God would bless him. One day, he will return and make all things new, including a new heaven and a new earth and a new heavenly city of Jerusalem, where the people of his kingdom will receive all the blessings of his kingdom forever and ever. We will flourish. So the chorus of Solomon’s song will change from “he will…he will…he will,” to “he has…he has…he has.” Jesus is the King we need, and is the one we long for when we look out and see so many heart-rending examples of injustice and unrighteousness. When we see obvious corruption and favoritism, needy people are crushed rather than cared for. Jesus is the King who is so good that he himself radiates the light of the glory of God out into a world of darkness. And he is the one who draws all kinds of people into his kingdom. So turn to him and acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of your life. Give him your ultimate loyalty, give him your allegiance. He needs to be the Lord of your life, not you, nor anyone else. But Jesus is the only king who will not take advantage of you. He will save you. He will set you free. He will sustain you, he will encourage your growth, and he will produce a harvest of righteousness and peace. All hail the King! The one who was and is and is to come. The Alpha and the Omega. Amen and amen. Let us pray.
