You Are Not the Only One

Psalm Chapter 72 (KJV): Give us leaders who care about the needy.

(Unless otherwise cited the scriptures in this devotional are from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. It is not chosen for is veracity, but only because it is a public domain version of scripture.)

Context

This kingship psalm is reminiscent of what happened when a person is crowned to become the King of Israel. The psalmist asks God to give the king a sense of justice for all of the people. The prayer is mainly concerned with the oppressed people.  Remember that Israel experienced hundreds of years of oppression in Egypt.  This psalm is considered one of the two psalms that were written by King Solomon. The last line of the psalm says, “the prayers of David the Son of Jessie are ended!” Therefore, it is apparent that this psalm could have been written by David.  Cayce proposes that Solomon wrote down this prayer as David spoke it.

Give us a just King, oh God.

1 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son. ² He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.

The psalmist prays that God will give them a king who judges just like God, and also who has a righteous attitude like God. Today we cannot state that many leaders lead their people the way that God would lead them.  There are always scenarios or subgroups that they cater to.  In particular, the people are asking that the poor will be judged with righteous judgment. Deuteronomy 17:14– 20 speaks to the type of king that the people should have and exactly how he should rule with justice, compassion, and integrity. Each of us has opportunities to lead. How we lead will show our relationship with God.  People’s expectations are always that we should cater to them. Today, people think that they should be allowed to do as they please regardless of rules, commitments, and regulations. Isn’t that what happened to Israel after the death of the king who tried his hardest to rule according to God’s will and way? 

Leaders are held accountable for the rules that they put out there as well as how they are adjudicated. There are numerous examples of unjust leaders (Prov. 8:15– 16; 16:10, 12– 16; 20:8, 26; 25:4– 5; 29:4, 14; 31:1– 9). 

Some theologians believe that this particular psalm speaks more about

Righteous leadership leads to prosperous people.

³ The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. ⁴ He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. ⁵ They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. ⁶ He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. ⁷ In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.

Any nation who has a righteous leader who leads with a compassionate and just heart blesses not just his nation, but also the people of other countries. Why is that? He sets the right tone and the kind of example that other people will follow. Everyone benefitted from this type of leadership. They will prosper and receive high yields from their efforts. They will even live in peace with others.  Solomon’s reign was considered the “Golden Age of Israel” (https://www.ancient.eu/solomon/). Solomon lived at peace with everyone.  As king, he ruled justly and righteously, and the nation of Israel flourished under his leadership. These verses may be talking about the final reign of Christ, who will sit on David’s throne (2 Sam. 7:16; Psalm 89:3-4; 29, 36-37; Luke 1:30-33). 

⁸ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. ⁹ They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. ¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. ¹¹ Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.

This is clearly speaking of the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. The keyword is (all). At no time in the history of Israel did all kings bow down before Solomon, well at least it is not recorded in the Bible. See Revelation 11:15 “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become [the kingdoms] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.” And  Revelation 2:27, “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.” The reign of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords, is a forever thing. All people and all nations will fall down before Him and worship Him. It will not be optional! Philippians 2:10-11 says  “. . . . at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in the earth, and [things] under the earth;” “And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Why is this good news needed today?

Righteous leaders help the weak and vulnerable.

¹² For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. ¹³ He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. ¹⁴ He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. 

A leader protests the downtrodden. Luke 4:18  recited what Christ said,

“The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”

We are his followers. As leaders, we must do the same thing. We must be the protector of the week. Note this phrase, “and precious shall their blood be in his sight.” The blood of the weak and downtrodden are precious to God.  It behooves every leader/king to remember that.  It is difficult for nations who no longer have kings and queens to relate to this.  That is the structure that God put in place after his people rejected him. Once again, A leader who leads with integrity and with a compassionate heart leads like Christ.

May the king live a long life.

¹⁵ And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. ¹⁶ There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

According to Longman,

“While the psalm pictures all the nations of the earth submitting to this king, it is not just for his or even Israel’s benefit, but for their own. It is only by submitting to this just, divinely appointed king that the nations will experience the blessing and thus will the promise come true that all the nations will be blessed through the descendants of Abraham Gen. 12:2– 3” (Longman 2014, 272). 

Just visualize the Kingdom of God when this scripture becomes a reality for everyone. What about today? Can we experience that king of peace, graciousness, and abundance today? John 14:14 tells us, “If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do [it].” Remember that what we ask must fall within the window of God’s will for our lives.  For example, he does not promise us eternal life in this human body. For some of us, death will come sooner than our parents.  Some of us may live longer than our parents. That is the big ask that discourages us when we do not receive the kind of answer to our prayers for the healing of the bodies of our family members.  Then there is the elephant in the room. People will also state that they have prayed for their financial situations to be resolved and for God to make them rich, but he did not. In instances like these, I generally ask, do you trust God with the little that you have? Do you give to your local ministry and other ministries to further the kingdom mission of The Almighty? Invariably the answer is NO! But we expect God to make us rich.  What will we do then? We should never, ever, stop praising Yeshua because He has done marvelous things for us. Even if those things don’t line up with our wishes for ourselves.

The Benediction.

¹⁷ His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. ¹⁸ Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. ¹⁹ And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. ²⁰ The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

No human king has accomplished all of the accolades in this psalm.  David is the only one who even attempted to demonstrate these qualities to the end of his life. Verses 17-20 indeed depict the reign of Jesus Christ.  Hebrews 8:11 tells us about that time. “And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” Revelation  21 also paints a picture when “¹⁹ the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen”  Amen and amen is equal to what I say every time I see children being abused! “Come, Lord Jesus, please come. The world needs to be rescued from leaders who choose to lead through hate rather than love.”

References

Cayce, Kenneth, 2019. Psalms 72. Accessed December 12, 2019. https://www.bible-studys.org/Bible%20Books/Psalms/Psalm%2072.html .

Longman, Tremper, III. 2014. Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. Accessed December 12, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the gracious and compassionate leaders of the past. We pray that you will give that same compassionate heart to our leaders today.