Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Psalm 72 | Date: October 13, 2024 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Take your Bibles with me, if you will, and turn to Psalm 72. Psalm 72. We come here to the last Psalm in the second book of the Psalter. Those of you with the printed Bible at least in front of you, you will probably notice that at the end, right above Psalm 73, it begins Book 3 of the Psalter, reflecting the five collections of Psalms that make up our book of Psalms.

Psalm 72, we learn in the superscript, is a Psalm of Solomon. I’ll begin reading with verse one. Here’s Solomon’s prayer and praise for the kingdom.

Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son. May he judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice. Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people and the hills in righteousness. May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor. May they fear you while the sun endures and as long as the moon throughout all generations. May he be like the rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. In his days, may the righteous flourish and peace abound till the moon be no more. May he have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust. May the kings of Tarshish and the coastlands render him tribute. May the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him, for he delivers the needy when he calls and the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence, he redeems their life and precious is their blood in his sight. Long may he live. May gold of Sheba be given to him. May prayer be made for him continually and blessings invoked for him all the day. May there be abundance of grain in the land, on the tops of the mountains may it wave, may its fruit be like Lebanon, and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field. May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun. May people be blessed in him, and all nations call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be His glorious name forever. May the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen. The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

As I’ve mentioned, we learn from the superscript here that this is a psalm of Solomon. This is actually one of two psalms attributed to Solomon. The other is Psalm 127. And we have some reflections in Psalm 72, reflections of King Solomon as well, as we will see as we go along.

We should note here in verse 20, at the very end of the psalm, he writes, “the son of Jesse are ended.” This is a psalm of Solomon, and at the end of it, it says the prayers of David here are ended. So this is a reflection of the work of the editors of the psalm. There’s good evidence that Ezra was heavily involved in the editing of the Psalter to bring it to its final form that we have, the five books. There’s also some indications that David himself was involved in some of the early collections of the Psalms, collecting in various kinds of groups and then genres of Psalms. And then we have some other indications of some grouping of the Psalms along the way. And then finally, as time goes on, the various Psalms are grouped together in its final form by the final editors. Again, I say there’s some evidence that Ezra had a hand in that and bringing it to its final form.

And we have these five books of the Psalms. So we come here to the end of Book 2 of the Psalter, and it says the prayers of David here are ended. So it’s an indication that there was this collection of Psalms, which for us now is Book 2 of the Psalter, that it is ended here. And then Psalm 73, that we’ll see next time, begins Book 3. There’s some interesting observations just from the arrangement of these books, and I think probably at least by the time we get through our expositions of the Psalms, we’ll take a final glance back and maybe make some observations about the arrangement of the Psalter and the way that the inspired editors have given it to us.

But Book 1 of the Psalter, which is Psalms 1 through 41, largely there we have David suffering. And we see a lot of his laments when he’s running from Absalom. We see his laments when he’s running from other enemies. Saul is against him. Sometimes he’s king, but he’s being persecuted. But when we get to Psalm 42, Book 2, now we have David. The reflection of these Psalms is David as king. He’s now past this major time of suffering, and he’s established now in his kingship. We get to the climax of Book 2 and we come to Psalm 72 and the kingship now is given to Solomon. Solomon now is king and he is praying in Psalm 72 regarding that kingdom and giving praise for that kingdom and praying that it will be all that God has intended for it to be.

When we come to Psalm 73 now next time, we’ll start Book 3 of the Psalter and that Book of the Psalter, Book 3, reflects a period of time primarily that is post-Davidic, and we see there the decline of the Davidic dynasty. And this Book 3 then will culminate in Psalm 89, which is a terrible lament of the seeming complete and utter final collapse of the Davidic dynasty, which seems to be that God’s promise to David has failed. That then we’ll pick up in Book 4 of the Psalter where some hope then is established there and we see the hope of the editors remains with regard to the Davidic promise that was made. Those are big picture observations.

Introductory Petition

We come now to the end then of Book 2 of the Psalter. In Psalm 72 here, we have, first of all, by way of overview, verse 1, we have an introductory petition. “Give the king your justice, O God.” And then verses 2 through 17, we have the main body of the psalm, where he expands on that initial petition. And then we have, in verses 18 and 19, a doxology that climaxes the psalm.

All right, the initial petition then in verse 1. You’ll remember, I’m sure, the famous incident in 1 Kings chapter 3 where Solomon at that point is a faithful man and God comes to Solomon and speaks to him and says, “Ask me what you will and I’ll give it to you.” You’ll remember that in 1 Kings 3:5-9, Solomon then asks the Lord. So Solomon, in his response to God’s offer, asks for wisdom to administer the kingdom rightly and justly and according to God’s law.

Now all of that is reflected now when we come to verse 1 in the initial petition that he gives. “Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son.” It would seem that, and there’s some other indications of this later that we’ll see, it would seem that this is early in Solomon’s reign and that petition that he gave God, that request that he gave, now is the petition of verse 1. Give the king your justice, O God. The king, in 1A, is the royal son. In the last part of the verse, that expression, “the king, your royal son,” of course, has messianic overtones. We’ve seen that, that God promised David a greater son who would rule the world over. But he’s praying for the king himself. Give the king justice. Give him your righteousness. That is, cause him to know your law. Give him a heart to obey that law. And give him wisdom to administer that law rightly over your people. So that’s verse 1 and it sets the tone that he develops further now in these other petitions that come throughout verses 2 through 17.

A Prayer For The King

In verses 2 through 11 first of all we have a prayer for the king and he expands here looking ahead to the administration of the kingdom under God’s royal son. Verses 2 through 4 he prays that this rule would be just and compassionate and prosperous. Note all that in verses two and three. First of all, “May he judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice. Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people and the hills in righteousness.”

So his prayer is that the king would administer God’s kingdom rightly. And as a result, the entire domain will function properly and rightly. There’s no partiality in judgment. The weak are not taken advantage of by the strong. The poor are not taken advantage of by the rich. There’s no abuse of power at any level in the government. No injustice allowed. He’s praying for a kingdom that is just from top to bottom, marked by God’s righteousness.

Verse 3, “Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people.” Well, the mountains there are the mountains of Jerusalem, Zion, the place of the temple. This is the place of the royal court. This is the place where the king administered justice to the kingdom and issued his decrees and his laws and his policies. So let the mountains of Jerusalem, let the mountains bear prosperity for the people. Prosperity there is the Hebrew shalom. Let the mountains bear peace. And not just peace in the sense of the end of hostilities, but shalom has connotations of more than that. It’s a wholeness, a well-being. So let the king administer justice and act policies in such a way that it makes the whole kingdom prosperous and everyone there is well, well off and happy, harmonious and without threat.

Verse four adds the idea of compassion. “May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.” So this king is not only just, but he’s compassionate. He gives attention to the weak, to the vulnerable, to those who don’t have the resources to defend themselves. He’s there for them. And to do that, he must, at the end of verse 4, he crushes the oppressor. Anyone who would dare crush anyone else, take advantage—he will crush them. He’ll crush the crusher. He’s looking out for his people.

So what we have here, prayed for in verses 2 to 4, is a powerful king, and yet he’s compassionate; he has a heart for his people. This is the role of the king. At least in its ideal, this is what a king is supposed to be, and that’s what he prays for. That there’ll be no abuse of power, no selfish ambition on the part of the king, but he enacts policies that promote the flourishing of his people, their freedom, their happiness, their well-being in every way. Verse 2, he’s righteous, he’s just. Verse 4, he befriends and defends the weak and the vulnerable, and then he crushes anyone who would oppose them.

Now as I say, it looks like then this psalm was written early in Solomon’s reign. And one indication of that is that Solomon here is longing for a kingdom. He’s longing for something that speaks better than anything he ever did. Particularly as his kingdom progressed, it got worse and worse and became abusive. In his old age he abused the poor. The verdict of the people we read in 1 Kings chapter 12. The verdict of the people regarding Solomon after he’s off the scene was that he made our yoke heavy. Taxation and pursuing his own ambitions and not caring for the well-being of the people. That’s what Solomon prays for here in these verses is not what he himself administered in his kingdom. So Solomon’s prayer is still unrealized.

And that’s important as we go along. What Solomon prays for is just the king that the world needs. But it’s a king the world has never seen. All through human history we have seen and we’ve learned over and again that power corrupts. We even have slogans like that: “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It seems that the more power a man is given, the less just and righteous his rule becomes. The more power he has, the more abuse there is of the people. What we need and what we want is a king who has a sense of justice, a king who has a clear commitment to what is right versus what is wrong, a king who will enact policies that actually promote the flourishing of the people, promotes their freedom and their well-being, a king whose heart belongs to God and a king with wisdom to administer the law of God rightly among the people so that they will prosper and be happy. That’s Solomon’s hope. That’s his prayer. It was not answered with regard to his own kingship. It still remains his hope.

But in fact, Solomon wants more than that. We continue in the psalm. He wants more than just a righteous and just king. He wants a righteous and just king who will rule without end. Look at verses five to seven. Well, verse five, “May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon,” as we sing in the song, till the moon shall wax and wane no more. Let him rule forever, as long as the sun, throughout all generations. Verse seven, “till the moon be no more.” Give this man—you get a king like this, who has the well-being of his people in his heart. The king who administers policies that make them flourish. A king that crushes the oppressors. He’s just. He’s marked by righteousness. You get a king like that, you want him to rule forever. You don’t want him ever to leave office. We’ve had officials in our own government that we thought were better than others. We’ve found other officials that were worse than others. Sometimes it seems like their time in office will never end because it’s so bad. Sometimes we get a good one and he’s maybe not the ideal, but we wish he would last. Sometimes we witness in our own government, we’ve seen this more and more in recent years, how pervasive the corruption is from top to bottom.

Solomon envisions here a kingdom where at the top is a king who’s righteous and just and committed to it, has the wisdom to administer that rightly and well, and has in his heart the good of his people. And he says, may it last forever, as long as the moon and as long as the sun. Verse six, he wants even more than that. He wants a king so far from burdening his people, he expands on this idea of making his people prosperous. He likens the king to the rain in verse six. “May he be like the rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. In his days may the righteous flourish and peace abound till the moon be no more.”

On a desert climate like they had, especially, they recognize the value of rain. We tend not to think that way until we have a drought. But we recognize the need and the value of rain. And he’s saying the rain, let it be that. That’s the characteristic of this king. His reign, it’s like the rain. Under his reign, the righteous flourish. What a marvelous thought! That you have a kingdom with a king at the top, and under his administration, it’s not the wicked but the righteous who flourish. And may he bring prosperity to the people. Make his reign, his kingly reign, just like the rain that comes to water the earth, so that peace and righteousness prevail. Well, again, this is a prayer that’s still unanswered.

Verses 8 through 10, he prays that the rule will be not only just, but not only forever and unending. In verses 8 to 10, he prays that this rule will be universal, without bounds, without borders. Verse 8, “May he have dominion from sea to sea, from the river” (that is the Euphrates) “to the ends of the earth. May desert tribes bow down before him and his enemies lick the dust. May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute. May the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. May all kings fall down before him. All nations serve him.”

Now there’s obviously here an allusion to Solomon’s own reign when the Queen of Sheba came. We read of this in 1 Kings 10, where the Queen of Sheba came and brought gold of tribute to King Solomon, acknowledging the greatness of his reign, his wisdom, and the greatness of his kingdom. But there’s a wider purview here. It’s not just the queen of Sheba coming, but it’s from all the earth. In fact, in verse 8, “May he have dominion from sea to sea.” That word “dominion” is a word that’s regularly used of rule and reign. Actually, it’s the same word that is used in Genesis 1:26, that gives man dominion over all the earth. That seems to be an echo here, because he says, “may he have dominion from sea to sea.”

In verses 9 through 11, all the nations, even the remotest places in the coastlands and the islands, bring him tribute. Verse 10, Tarshish. This is most likely a place located in Spain as a symbol of wealth. We find it elsewhere in the scriptures, in Isaiah and so on. Sheba is in southern Arabia, probably Yemen. Extraordinarily wealthy. They are bringing tribute to Solomon. Seba is probably North Africa. It’s mentioned elsewhere in scripture as well. But the idea here is that he’s king and he reigns from shore to shore, from sea to sea. He reigns over all the earth. Total, worldwide, benevolent dominion. Scarcely imaginable. No threats from anywhere. Justice enforced. And people everywhere prospering under his reign. Again, this is an unrealized prayer. It remains a hope. We’ve certainly not seen that in our present government.

Prophetic Description Of The Ideal King

In verses 12 to 14 then, he gives here a prophetic description of his ideal king. We have in our version, the ESV here, the present tense. The idea is clearly looking to the future. And the imperfect tense here in the Hebrew can be translated the future as well, and that’s what the New International Version has done there. Instead of verse 12, “for he delivers the needy,” it’s translated “he will deliver the needy.” The same sense in both, either a futuristic kind of use of the present or simply translated as a future tense. “He delivers the needy when he calls, and the poor, and him who has no helper. He has pity,” or he will have pity, “on the weak and the needy, and save the lives of the needy.”

So we have here a kind and compassionate king, one who cares for his subjects, especially the weak and the vulnerable. He’s watching out for them. Verse 14, his sense of justice makes him protective of his people. “From oppression and violence, he redeems their life.” Oppression, that’s the idea of the powerful exploiting the powerless and the weak. “From oppression and violence, he redeems their life.” Violence here connotes the idea of ruthless disregard for life. Actually, the Hebrew word here is hamas. You’ve heard that in recent newscasts. It means violence. It connotes a ruthless disregard for life. From oppression and violence, he redeems their life. The end of verse 14, “and precious is their blood in his sight.” He actually cares about his people. He actually cares about their well-being. He’s protective of them.

Verses 15 through 17, here he resumes his prayer, and this is really just a reprise of the earlier verses—an expansion of it in some ways. Verses 15 and 16, he prays for the exaltation and happiness of his kingdom. Verse 15, “Long may he live. May gold of Sheba be given to him. May prayer be made for him continually and blessings invoked for him all the day. May there be an abundance of grain in the land and the tops of the mountains may it wave. May its fruit be like Lebanon, and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field.”

So we have here a picture of the kingdom that is prosperous in every way. Justice is enforced. Freedom is enforced. The righteous flourish. And as a result, the kingdom just blossoms, and the people flourish. And as a result, verse 15, prayers are made for the king continually. Who wouldn’t want a king like this? And so it pictures a wide universal kingdom and people to the ends of the earth praying for this great king who rules over them so well. Verse 17, he prays for universal, endless honor to be given to this king. “May his name endure forever. His fame continue as long as the sun. May people be blessed in him. All nations call him blessed.” The world over, may they all love him.

Doxology

Verse 18 and 19, then he concludes with a doxology. “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever. May the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen.”

Psalm 72, then, is a grand, hopeful prayer for the king. And once you read through and you see the implications of it all, like we’ve done just in a cursory way here, you have to ask yourself: who in the world is he talking about? He’s clearly not talking about Solomon. Not any of his sons throughout the Old Testament lived up to any of this. This hope that he expresses here is grander than anything history has ever witnessed. So who’s he talking about?

In the mid-second century of the Christian era, mid-2nd century AD, Justin Martyr, a Christian apologist, wrote a book called A Dialogue with Trypho. Trypho is a Jew, and he’s arguing with him about, debating with him about Christianity, and seeking for him to see that he ought to trust in Christ as well. And at one point in that book, Justin the Martyr argues with this Trypho: “You erroneously think that Psalm 72 refers to your King Solomon. The reality is that it refers to our Christ.” And then he goes on to argue, none of the things foretold here ever happened to Solomon. All of the world’s kings never adored Solomon. His power was not extended to the ends of the earth, and not all of his enemies fell down prostrate before him and licked the ground like this psalm argues and foresees clearly.

Solomon is writing with a big picture in view. Solomon is writing with the theme of God’s promise to his father, David, ringing in his ears—that God has promised a Davidic son who will come and will reign the world over. And he recognizes the traits of that ideal king that’s been promised. He has an endless, universal reign. It’s marked by justice, righteousness, and peace. It’s a reign of compassion, protective of the needy. He’s thinking big picture. God’s purpose in history. The establishing of God’s kingdom in the earth under the administration of his appointed king.

I’ve said it before, I’ve used the analogy that I think Bruce Waltke has given in a wonderful way that fits it so well. That in the Psalter we find this portrait of this ideal king. That the orientation of the Psalms is always toward the king, but the presentation of the king, the portrait that we find of the king, is just grander and way over the top and far beyond anything that any of the kings, at their best, ever realized. Grander than David, grander than Solomon, grander than any of them. And Bruce gives the illustration of these robes that were made for the kings. It’s a metaphor. These great, beautiful robes that were made for the king, but they’re too big. They don’t fit. None of the kings fit the robes. And not David, and not Solomon. King after king, they put the robe on and it just slips off. Their shoulders are too narrow. Until finally we get to the end of the Old Testament and there’s no king left. David’s dynasty is cut down, and then comes Jesus, and he fits the role perfectly.

We really don’t need to read backwards from the New Testament into Psalm 72 to find the Christ. The psalm itself points us to him. It’s another one of those psalms that, on the one hand, it’s tied tightly to a great stream of messianic prophecies that will have this king who comes and reigns the world over, and he’ll reign in righteousness, he’ll reign from shore to shore, he’ll reign forever and ever, and his reign will be marked by righteousness and peace. On the other hand, this psalm also not only tied to major streams of prophecies going through the Old Testament, but it speaks of that king in his ideal. The details and the specifics are way over the top. It’s extravagant. It doesn’t fit any of the old kings.

Verses 1 to 4, his reign will be like no other, unprecedented. Verse 5, he’ll endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, throughout all generations. Verse 8 through 11, he fulfills the creation mandate and exercises dominion from sea to sea, from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth. Verses 9 through 11, desert tribes bow down before him, his enemies lick the dust. The kings of all the nations fall down before him and bring tribute, and all the nations serve him. The prospect here is grand.

We have other connections to big messianic themes in the Old Testament as well. Even back at verse 1, “the royal son,” as I’ve mentioned, that just has overtones of the Davidic promise in 2 Samuel chapter 7. Verse 9, “his enemies will lick the dust.” Well, you can’t read that without thinking back to Genesis 3:14-15. God pronounces the coming judgment on Satan, that he’ll crawl on his belly and lick dirt. Verse four, this king will “crush the oppressor.” That’s echoes of Genesis 3:15. Verse 15, his people cry out, “long may he live.” That’s 2 Samuel as well; your son will have a kingdom, it’ll reign forever and ever. Verse 17, “may his name endure forever.” That’s not only 2 Samuel 7 and God’s promise to David, that’s Genesis 12 and God’s promise to Abraham. Again in verse 17, “may people be blessed in him.” That’s Genesis 12, God’s promise to Abraham. Here is a king who brings to pass all of God’s purposes in history.

Now, interestingly enough, Psalm 72 is not quoted anywhere in the New Testament. Not exactly. But there are echoes of it. For example, in Matthew chapter 2 already, the very birth of Jesus, the Magi bringing gifts, bringing tribute to Jesus from faraway nations. And at the end of the New Testament, again, Revelation 21, in the New Jerusalem, the king is reigning there, and it says, “by its light will the nations walk and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. They will bring into it the glory and honor of the nations.”

Solomon at his very best never came close to bringing about what this psalm envisions. He provides the backdrop for it. But the vision surpasses anything he or any of his sons in the Old Testament ever brought about. And it remained that way until in Matthew chapter 12, Jesus claimed it and says, “one greater than Solomon is here.” I’ve mentioned the verdict of the people of Israel on Solomon’s reign. During the time of his son, Rehoboam, the verdict of the people at that point was, “your father, Solomon, he made our yoke heavy, burdened us with overbearing taxation, made our lives miserable, just so he could pursue his own agendas.” But of this greater than Solomon, people will say something very different. What they’ll say of the greater than Solomon is, “His yoke is easy. His burden is light.” So far from pursuing his own selfish interests, he has served and pursued our interests. And so far from making the yoke heavy on us, he’s made it easy. And in fact, he’s done it at a cost to himself.

No Christian, I don’t think, can read Psalm 72 with any carefulness at all, with any thoughtfulness, and certainly cannot pray it with any thoughtfulness at all without thinking of Jesus. Verse 19, “May the whole earth be filled with his glory.” He’s praying for the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. He longs for a king who will bring justice, prosperity to the people, and peace to the world. This is what we are instructed to pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come.” Throughout the flow of the scriptures, we find that that kingdom has come in the person and the work of Jesus. He’s inaugurated that kingdom through his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. That kingdom has been inaugurated. He’s died for sin. He’s broken the grip of sin. He’s crushed Satan’s grip on us because of our sin. And he’s rescued us into his kingdom.

But that kingdom is just inaugurated. The kingdom is still being contested. Kings the world over are not coming to adore our king. It still remains that this kingdom is to be brought to its climactic glory. And that’s what he prays for here. Psalm 72 is a messianic psalm. It’s grounded in God’s promise to David, God’s promise to Abraham. Before that, it’s a prayer for the great Davidic king whose reign will be like no other.

In this election year, we hope desperately that God will not give us more tyrants who will just impose their evil agendas on us at our expense. We’re sick of officials who are selfish, are corrupt, pursue their own agendas without any regard for the flourishing and the freedom of the people. They enact laws and policies more and more that make it difficult for the people, and they don’t give one care at all for the well-being of the people at large. What we want is a leader who looks to the good of his people, with a strong sense of justice, a leader who will enact policies that make the people flourish. And by the way, let me just throw this in extra: we ought to vote accordingly. Yes, yes, we’re disappointed when those who best promote these kinds of policies are not themselves believers, and they don’t give God glory for it, and they’re not committed to his law, but they best enact those policies. We’re disappointed that they’re immoral and all of that. We vote to promote these kinds of policies that the ideal kingdom will have.

The government that we need, the government that we want, is one that no elected official will ever give us. What we want and what we need and what one day we will have is a righteous, all-powerful, and yet compassionate king who rules the world over according to how he’s described here. The kingdom that we will have, the king that we will have is one, verses one and two, whose kingdom is marked by justice, righteousness, compassion. Verses two and four, a king who defends and vindicates the afflicted and delivers the children of the needy and crushes the oppressor. Verse 4, he not only crushes the oppressor, but he protects in every way people from abuse of whatever kind. Verse 5, a king whose reign continues without end till moons shall wax and wane no more. Verse 6, a king who’s zealous for the good of his people, a king who is like the rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth. Human flourishing in every sense is the new agenda for this king. Of his kingdom, it will be said, verse 6, “blessings abound where’er he reigns.” Verse 7, a king whose rule is the righteous and under whose rule the righteous flourish and peace abounds without any interruption. Verse eight, the king whose kingdom stretches from shore to shore. Verses nine and 11, a king before whom all other kings bow down and worship and give tribute to him. Princes and rulers from all over bring him tribute and nations all over the world serve him.

Verse 12, a king who delivers the needy and the afflicted and responds to their cries for help. Verse 13, he has compassion on the poor. Verses 13 and 14, he will deliver the oppressed and the victims of violence. Verse 15, a king whose name, so far from being blasphemed, rises in endless prayers from people the world over: “God bless our king.” And in fact, verse 15, people the world over cheer, “long live our king.” Verse 17, a king whose name endures forever, his fame continues as long as the sun. Verse 17 again, a king in whom all nations are blessed. A kingdom where people in realms of every tongue dwell on his love with sweetest song.

Once again, we see that the theme of the Psalter is the kingdom of God brought to its full glory through his royal son. One day we’ll see it. We won’t see it in this part of history, and in fact, what’s reflected here is not the eternal state either. It’s a situation that’s much better than today and not quite the perfection of the eternal state. But one day we’ll see it. Jesus Christ will return and the world will at last see an all-powerful and just and yet compassionate King. The world only lacked him, you bet on that. But he will be king and everyone will know it. That’s in the eager anticipation of that day that the church prays, “come Lord Jesus, make it soon.” Amen, let’s pray.

Our Father, what a glorious hope we have. What a great king and what a great redeemer. And when we read in your word these wonderful prospects of what that day will be like when the Lord Jesus comes, our hearts cry out, come quickly, Lord Jesus. How we long to see this world brought to bow before him. We long to see a day when his name is not blasphemed but he’s worshiped from shore to shore. Make it soon, we pray. In his name we ask, amen.