I. (72:1–4) Let the King Judge Your People Justly. The song prays that the king in the line of David would succeed in his calling and thereby bring blessing not only to Israel but to the whole world. The opening stanza of the song stresses the king’s task of protecting the vulnerable of the people, so that the land will thrive. The words “justice” and “righteousness” are in chiastic order in verses 1–2; here, verse 2 gives the specific kind of righteousness the people seek for the king, his equitable governing of the people.

The ideal for the Davidic king is that he promote the well-being of the whole people of God by embodying true piety and governing in such a way that justice prevails at all times (usually this means protecting the weaker members from the oppressive schemes of the stronger ones). Under such conditions godliness should thrive among all the people, and thus they will experience covenant blessings (Lev. 26:3–13; Deut. 28:1–14), whereby the land looks like a renewed Eden and Gentiles are drawn to worship the true God. (The “mountains” and “hills” are those in Israel; cf. Deut. 33:15.) Thus these verses pray for the character and rule of the Davidic king, knowing that the people depend upon God to give him “righteousness” and “justice” by which to rule and decide disputes (“judge”).

Psalm 72 several times mentions the “poor” (vv. 2, 4, 12) and “needy” (vv. 4, 12, 13). The Torah warns against the temptation to exploit the weakness of such people (Deut. 24:14), insisting that the members of Israel are to aim at genuine equity and love in their social relationships as part of their faithfulness (Deut. 27:15–26; cf. comments on Psalm 15). The psalm enlists the faithful in this orientation toward justice.

II. (72:5–7) May People Fear You Because of His Reign. The next section prays for a blessed reign “while the sun endures” and “till the moon be no more”—that is, always. This extension of time beyond the lifespan of a mere mortal leads to the conclusion that this psalm looks past Solomon and his immediate heirs and ultimately to the Messiah.

In “may they fear you” of verse 5 the antecedent of “they” is not directly obvious; it may be God’s people (vv. 1–4) or people in general (vv. 8–11). The second is perhaps a little more likely, since “people” in verse 17 represents the same syntax. In either case the heir of David serves as God’s representative to the people and is to be “feared,” that is, honored and obeyed.500 Coupled with verse 11 (“fall down” and “serve”), this implies that the ultimate Davidic king is more than a man. Of course, this should help David’s heirs to love being honorable, to be the kind of person who is an unmitigated blessing and refreshment to God’s people (just like “rain” and “showers” were in ancient Israel); their goal is to be the flourishing of the “righteous,” those who love God and their neighbor faithfully.

III. (72:8–11) May All the Kings of the Earth Serve Him. Here the psalm explicitly looks beyond the borders of Israel to all the Gentile peoples. As in 2:10–12 (cf. comment there), by submitting to the Davidic king the Gentile kings bring themselves and their peoples under God’s own rule and therefore blessing.

Psalm 72:8–10 gives examples of places in the world as the ancient Israelites knew it, with parts of the world standing for the whole world. “From sea to sea” is as far as the land extends (cf. Amos 8:12). “The River” is the Euphrates (cf. ESV mg.), while the “ends of the earth” stretch out as widely as the world goes—although, in light of references to “Tarshish” and “the coastlands,” the Israelite will naturally envision the stretches of the Mediterranean. “Desert tribes . . . Sheba and Seba” refer to inhabitants of the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa. The psalm allows the possibility that the kings of these lands might resist and be enemies, and therefore it prays that they would “lick the dust,” submitting themselves to the Lord’s anointed in defeat (cf. Gen. 3:14).

Psalm 72:8 is almost identical to the second part of Zechariah 9:10, which belongs to a passage that is explicitly messianic. Since the psalm prays for the Davidic king, it predates the postexilic prophet Zechariah, and thus the prophet employed the words of the psalm, taking it as pointing forward.

IV. (72:12–14) He Brings Justice and Relief to the Poor and Needy. This section of the psalm amplifies the prayer for the king’s rule given briefly in Psalm 72:4 (repeating the words ‘poor” and “needy”; cf. comment on 72:1–4).

Proverbs 31:1–9 is a passage apparently from a Gentile king, Lemuel,501 outlining the ideal ruler for any people. The key is that he would govern himself responsibly and use his power to serve the well-being of the whole people rather than for his own gain or that of the powerful. The biblical ideal is for the Davidic king to embody this general human ideal in the fullest way. Therefore these verses lay stress on the “needy,” the “poor,” and the “weak.” These are the people most easily subjected to “oppression and violence” on the part of powerful nobles or regional lords.

The stanza finishes in verse 14 with the wish that the king would “redeem” the life of such vulnerable people, that is, rescue them from harm so that they can live faithfully. Further, the congregation prays that the king would hold the “blood” of these people to be “precious” and therefore not allow the powerful to shed it.

V. (72:15–17) May All Peoples Be Blessed in Him. The final stanza ties together the themes that have recurred through the psalm. As observed above (cf. comment on 72:1–4), if God should answer the prayers for the king’s character and governance, then the people will live faithfully and therefore flourish (or “blossom”; v. 16), and the land will bring forth abundant crops (“mountains”; v. 16; cf. v. 3). As a result, the rest of the world will indeed come to know the true God (“Sheba”; v. 15; cf. v. 10). Hence the words make sense: “long may he live” and “may his name endure forever”! The congregation can offer such prayers, then, “continually” and “all the day” (v. 15)—and enthusiastically as well.502

The expressions in verse 17 (“forever” and “as long as the sun”; cf. v. 5) help to push the time horizon of the psalm’s fulfillment beyond the near term of the Davidic dynasty, of whose kings none achieved anything like what the psalm describes. The promise to David of a “throne . . . established forever” (2 Sam. 7:16) similarly invites such an ultimate perspective. Further, the wording of the rest of the verse (“be blessed in him, all nations”) follows closely that of Genesis 22:18: “in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” This supports the idea that Genesis speaks of a particular offspring of Abraham (“Your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies”; Gen. 22:17), whom we would call the Messiah.503

Psalm 72:17 says “in him,” an expression found in several places in Genesis (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18); to be “in X” means to be a member of that people for whom X is the divinely approved representative, and this likely provides the backcloth for the NT’s expressions “in Christ” and “in Adam.”504 The Davidic king is the representative of God’s people, and the OT regularly anticipates the Messiah as the final heir in the line of David, who will lead the people of Israel into completing the great task of bringing the light to all the nations. Ideally, the faithful Israelite will yearn for the day and seek to let his or her own light shine for the sake of the world, just as Jesus lays out for his followers (Matt. 5:14–16).

VI. (72:18–20) Blessed Be the Lord: Doxology Concluding Book 2. These verses do not seem to be part of the psalm itself (similarly to 41:13), and yet the prayer “May the whole earth be filled with his glory” is appropriate to the theme. To be “filled with God’s glory” is to be a holy site of worship, where God makes his presence known (cf. Ex. 40:34–35; 1 Kings 8:10–11), and this prayer is for the whole earth to be such a sanctuary (cf. Num. 14:21; Isa. 6:3 ESV mg.).

This doxology offers two “blessings” on the Lord: he “alone does wondrous things” and his name is “glorious.” (On “blessed” cf. comment on 28:6–9.) The wondrous things God does are especially his works for the sake of his people, protecting and purifying them (cf. Ex. 3:20; Ps. 78:4). The expression rendered “glorious name” is literally “the name of his glory.” In the Pentateuch God’s “name” (his reputation and self-revelation) and his “glory” (his manifest presence with his people) are closely connected: when Moses asks God to show him his glory, the Lord promises to do so and to proclaim his name (Ex. 33:18–19). The particular aspect of his character that God stresses is his “goodness,” his benevolence and faithfulness, his inclination to do good to his creatures (as the fulfillment, Ex. 34:6–7, shows).

The “prayers of David” (Ps. 72:20) could refer to the psalm itself but more likely refer to a stage in the collection of the Psalter (since there are Davidic psalms yet to come in Books 3–5).

I.A. (73:1–3) The Theme: I Envied the Wicked. The motto in verse 1 makes clear that the whole psalm is a meditation on the problem that “God is good to Israel,” especially those in Israel “who are pure in heart” (i.e., who genuinely love God; Deut. 6:5), while at the same time there seem to be “arrogant” (or “boastful”; Pss. 5:5; 75:4) people who enjoy “prosperity” (Ps. 72:3). These folk despise the covenant and are proud of their disdain for the faithful (cf. 73:5–12).

The motto is true but must be properly understood; a person holding a simplistic understanding of that motto would become “envious” and might even conclude that the whole basis of godliness is a lie, as the images of slipping and stumbling convey (v. 2). The feet and steps are a common image in the Psalms for a person’s life course, for good or ill (cf. 1:1).

I.B. (73:4–12) They Are Free from the Troubles We All Face. This subsection describes the apparently carefree lives of the arrogant wicked of verse 3 in a sort of vivid character sketch. They have no “pangs” and do not face the “trouble” the rest of mankind suffers, while “their bodies are fat and sleek,” like well-fed animals. In verse 7 “their eyes swell out through” the “fatness” of their faces (a sign of prosperity; Job 15:27), yet on the inside “their hearts overflow with follies.” They feel—and all those around them are tempted to agree—that they are able to commit violence and oppression without God’s taking any action, and thus “pride is their necklace” (Ps. 73:6). This pride leads them to “scoff” at God and his people, to claim as their own whatever they see and crave, and to threaten anyone who might resist.

The height of their arrogance comes to expression in verse 11 when they ask, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” With such thoughts they defy God to prove that he knows their evil and intends to bring them to judgment. Verse 12 serves as a nice summary of the whole section.

With a little sympathetic imagination it is easy to grasp the frustration that comes from observing such circumstances, which run (at least in appearance) contrary to the idea that God rules the world he made and vindicates his just rule. The frustration that the faithful feel is aggravated by the way in which this arrogant unconcern of the wicked draws even God’s own people away: “His [God’s] people turn back to” these carefree evildoers “and find no fault in them” (v. 10).509 That is, even among the people of Israel these wicked find admirers who will forsake their loyalty to the Lord and to his people in order to serve wicked purposes.

I.C. (73:13–15) My Bitter Feelings. The singer faces the inner turmoil arising from feeling that it has been worthless to practice faithfulness: “All in vain have I kept my heart clean.” The faithful are “stricken,” and that “all the day long,” in contrast to the arrogant, who “are not stricken like the rest of mankind” (v. 5). At the same time, being pious, the singer recognizes that to put his bitter feelings into words “would have betrayed the generation of your children,” undermining others’ faith and so letting down his own side —and this too torments the faithful. Ironically, in singing these words the entire congregation is allowed to say words they might think but feel unable to utter aloud!

II.A. (73:16–17) I Found the Answer in the Sanctuary. To walk around with such an inner conflict is deeply painful, made worse by how “wearisome” it is “to understand this”—it seems impossible. But going “into the sanctuary of God,” the holy place where God’s people gather for worship, finally allows the light to break through. The key is to contemplate the “end,” the outcome, of the lives of the arrogant and of the faithful. The liturgy and Scripture readings one finds in the sanctuary reassure God’s people that the mighty God who made the world governs it for his just and loving purposes.

II.B. (73:18–20) You Will Destroy Them. Here is “their end” (v. 17): God has set the arrogant in slippery places (cf. 35:6), so that “they are destroyed in a moment.” This may imply that they will die suddenly and unexpectedly, which certainly does happen; more likely it speaks of the effect of death, since 73:20 describes how “you despise them as phantoms.” Their death occurs “when you rouse yourself,” as the present perplexity feels like a time of God’s inaction (it takes great faith to believe otherwise!). The word “phantom” in verse 20 (Hb. tselem) is often rendered “image”; the idea is that what is left over after they die is a “mere image” of the wicked person’s personality—such a person does not have the prospect of a glad afterlife that the godly do (cf. comment on 73:21–28 [at v. 24]).510

II.C. (73:21–28) You Keep Me Near You, and That Is What I Need. The final section begins by noting what the singer was like when he harbored his bitter thoughts: “I was like a beast toward you”—he could rise no higher than an animal that uses neither speech nor reason (vv. 21–22). And yet God still had his firm hold on his faithful servant: “I am continually with you; you hold my right hand”—which is why God brought the singer into the sanctuary (v. 17). Verse 24 sums up the confidence: during the singer’s earthly life God guides “with [his] counsel” (i.e., with instruction from his word), and “afterward” (i.e., after the singer dies; Hb. ʾakhar corresponds to their “end”; ʾakharit, v. 17) God “will receive” the singer “to glory” (the heavenly honor that awaits the faithful, or perhaps the place of God’s full presence, of which the sanctuary is the portal; cf. v. 17).511 The expectation here is similar to that of 49:14–15 (cf. comment on 49:13–20).

This leads to the question of 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but you?” The answer, of course, is no one, nor does the singer require anyone else; hence “there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” The word “besides” (ʿim, “with”) probably has the nuance “if set beside, in comparison [and potential competition] with” you—no worldly wealth or power is worth compromising faithfulness. That is, the faithful remember that they themselves will die (their flesh and heart will “fail”), as do the wicked, but they have an everlasting “portion,” which strengthens them for faithfulness in the present. Thus the godly can be satisfied because they are “near [to] God,” while the arrogant are now far from God and will remain so forever.

Truly, then, “God is good . . . to those who are pure in heart” (v. 1), and it is in their company that the worshipers crave to “tell of all your works” (v. 28).