seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Psalm 72 Of Solomon.
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[a] 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(b) 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[c] 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,[d]
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.
a. Psalm 72:5 Septuagint; Hebrew You will be feared
b. Psalm 72:8 That is, the Euphrates
c. Psalm 72:16 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text Lebanon, / from the city
d. Psalm 72:17 Or will use his name in blessings (see Gen. 48:20)
David was praying for his son, Solomon. Solomon.... who had 700 wives and concubines and only a handful of children. Solomon.... who fancied the Queen of Sheba. Solomon.... who built fake temples for all the gods and shiny little idols that the women put in front of him..... Solomon.... David's second son from Bathsheba... the first one [the result of seduction/rape #me too]...."died" conveniently. It's good for a father to pray for his son.... especially if that son is going to take the throne next.... and inherit all that stuff for a massive Temple construction project. David gave Solomon an erector set and a prayer.
This preamble is from Enduringword.com.
The title of this psalm is A Psalm of Solomon. It is possible to translate the Hebrew here (and in almost all the psalms which reference an author) as “A Psalm to Solomon,” and some have regarded it as David’s psalm to and about his son Solomon and his Greater Son the Messiah. Yet, the most natural way to take the title is as it is given, A Psalm of Solomon with the understanding that the line about David in 72:20 refers to the collection of Book Two of Psalms, which is heavy with David’s psalms, separating Book Two from Book Three, which begins with 11 psalms authored by Asaph.
It is possible that Solomon compiled Book Two of Psalms (Psalms 42-72) and composed this psalm as a fitting conclusion for the collection of mostly David’s psalms. It is a fitting conclusion, because it unexpectedly does not focus upon David himself, but on the Messiah – the King of Kings and the Son of David.
“The New Testament nowhere quotes it as Messianic, but this picture of the king and his realm is so close to the prophecies of Isaiah 11:1-5 and Isaiah 60-62 that if those passages are Messianic, so is this.” (Derek Kidner)
I think this poem is a blessing prayer for his son. Abraham had a blessing prayer.... Isaac had a blessing prayer..... Jacob gave all his sons a blessing prayer.... some were not so glorious as others.... David was saying he wanted his son to continue in his footsteps.... David had been quite successful.... and he wanted Solomon to be successful too. IMHO..... this was David's prayer about Solomon and the people of Israel.
God told Adam He was going to send a Savior..... to clean up the mess Adam made..... but then humans kept making more messes.... and finally hundreds and hundreds of years after David penned this poem to his son..... Jesus came to clean it all up..... Solomon.... with his massive temple expansion for his 700 women only made things messier..... I don't know why anyone thinks David or Solomon were so great.... Jesus came from "big headed" DNA if David and Solomon are our shining examples..... "big headed"= self centered.......just another human issue Jesus quietly dealt with.
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