Theme:
God’s people pray for a king whose Spirit-given justice becomes worldwide peace and lasting blessing.
Tone:
Hopeful and reverent.
Structure:
A prayer for the king’s righteous rule, a vision of its fruits for the poor and the nations, and a closing doxology that widens from one throne to God’s glory.
The Call
The psalm opens not with applause but with intercession: “Give the king your justice.” The first emotion is holy longing—an awareness that human power cannot heal human need unless God supplies what rulers lack. The heart reaches upward, asking that authority would be shaped by the Lord’s own righteousness, not merely by strength.
The Reflection
As the prayer unfolds, the desires become concrete and tender: the poor defended, the afflicted delivered, the oppressor broken. Royal power is measured by mercy. The psalmist imagines a reign that falls like rain on mown grass—quiet, nourishing, persistent—until righteousness is not only enforced but felt as peace.
Then the horizon expands. This king’s rule stretches “from sea to sea,” drawing distant nations into reverent homage. Yet even here the center is not imperial conquest; it is the spread of blessing. The king is praised because he “delivers the needy when he calls”—a portrait of authority that stoops to hear. In this vision, justice is not cold order; it is life restored, dignity protected, prayer rising, and daily bread given. The people’s hope becomes global: all nations blessed, all creation answering with worship.
The Resolve
The psalm ends with doxology—glory to the God who alone does wondrous things. The longing that began with “give” concludes with “blessed”: confidence that God is not indifferent to the world’s injustice, and that his purpose is larger than any one reign. Even the closing note (“The prayers of David… are ended”) feels like a settled offering: the king is entrusted to God, and the future to God’s glory.
Psalm 72 is royal, and it strains beyond any merely human throne. Its promised king is righteous without corruption, powerful without cruelty, universal without tyranny—qualities that find their true home in Jesus Christ. He is the King who proclaims good news to the poor, who hears the cry of the afflicted, and who breaks oppression at its root.
The psalm’s worldwide blessing reaches its fullness in Christ’s reign: the nations brought not by fear but by grace, and the needy treasured as “precious” in the King’s sight. Where earthly kingdoms rise and fall, Jesus’ kingdom endures—his justice is not a momentary reform but a lasting restoration, until “the whole earth is filled with his glory.”
One key word is שָׁלוֹם (shalom) in verse 3: “May the mountains bear prosperity/peace for the people.” Shalom is more than the absence of conflict; it is wholeness—public life ordered so that the vulnerable are safe, the land is fruitful, and relationships are made right. The psalm’s “peace” is the fruit of righteousness, not a substitute for it.
“For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper.” — Psalm 72:12
Answer the questions below. When you choose an option, you will see the result and an explanation.
1. What is the opening request made for the king?
2. According to the psalm’s key verse, whom does the king deliver?