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72. Psalm 72

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 Septuagint; Hebrew You will be feared 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 That is, the Euphrates 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 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text Lebanon, / from the city 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, Or will use his name in blessings (see Gen. 48:20)
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.

12. For he will deliver the poor when he crieth to him. The Psalmist again affirms that the kingdom which he magnifies so greatly will not be tyrannical or cruel. The majority of kings, neglecting the well-being of the community, have their minds wholly engrossed with their own private interests. The consequence is, that they unmercifully oppress their miserable subjects; and it even happens that the more formidable any of them is, and the more absorbing his rapacity, he is accounted so much the more eminent and illustrious. But it is far different with the king here described. It has been held as a proverb by all mankind, “That there is nothing in which men approach nearer to God than by their beneficence;” and it would be very inconsistent did not this virtue shine forth in those kings whom God has more nearly linked to himself. Accordingly, David, to render the king beloved who was chosen of God, justly declares, not only that he will be the guardian of justice and equity, but also that he will be so humane and merciful, as to be ready to afford succor to the most despised; qualities too seldom to be found in sovereigns, who, dazzled with their own splendor, withdraw themselves to a distance from the poor and the afflicted, as if it were unworthy of, and far beneath, their royal dignity to make them the objects of their care. David avows that the blood of the common people, which is usually accounted vile and as a thing of nought, will be very precious in the estimation of this heavenly king. Constancy and magnanimity are denoted by the words he will redeem; for it would be far short of the duty of a king merely to hate fraud and extortion, did he not resolutely come forward to punish these crimes and set himself to defend those who are oppressed. ¹³⁹¹³⁹ “Si d’un grand coeur il ne se presentoit pour les punir et en faire la vengence, et s’opposoit pour defendre ceux qu’on oppresse.” — Fr. Under the terms fraud and violence is comprehended all kind of wrong-doing; for a man in working mischief is either a lion or a fox. Some rage with open violence, and others proceed to wrong-doing insidiously and by secret arts. Moreover, we know that supreme sovereignty, both in heaven and earth, has been given to Christ, (Matthew 28:18,) that he may defend his people not only from all temporal dangers, but especially from all the harassing annoyances of Satan, until having delivered them at length from all trouble, he gather them into the everlasting rest of his heavenly kingdom.