Psalm 72:1-17

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 72:1

This verse is a prayer for the king, even the king's son. I. We may apply it to Solomon: Give him thy judgments, O God! and thy righteousness; make him a man, a king; make him a good man, a good king. 1. It is the prayer of a father for his child, a dying blessing, such as the patriarchs bequeathed to their children. The best thing we can ask of God for our children is that God will give them wisdom and grace to know and do their duty; that is better than gold. Solomon learned to pray for... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 72:2-17

This is a prophecy of the prosperity and perpetuity of the kingdom of Christ under the shadow of the reign of Solomon. It comes in, 1. As a plea to enforce the prayer: ?Lord, give him thy judgments and thy righteousness, and then he shall judge thy people with righteousness, and so shall answer the end of his elevation, Ps. 72:2. Give him thy grace, and then thy people, committed to his charge, will have the benefit of it.? Because God loved Israel, he made him king over them to do judgment... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 72:1

Give the King thy judgments, O God ,.... A prayer of David, or of the church he represents, to God the Father concerning Christ; for he is "the King" meant; which is the sense of the old Jewish synagogue: the Targum is, "give the constitutions of thy judgments to the King Messiah;' and so their Midrash F13 In Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 112. 2. interprets it. He is "the King", by way of eminence, as in Psalm 45:1 ; not only the King of the world in right of creation and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 72:2

He shall judge thy people with righteousness ,.... Or, "so shall he judge"; or, "that he may judge" F14 ידין "ut jus dicat", Tigurine version; so Ainsworth. , as the Syriac and Arabic versions; having the judgments and righteousness of God given him, he will be thereby qualified to judge the people of God; such as are so, not by creation, but by special grace; his chosen and covenant people, the redeemed and purchased people of God, and who in the effectual calling appear to be so,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 72:3

The mountains shall bring peace to the people ,.... The people of God, as before. Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret this of the nations, and kings of the nations, comparable to mountains and hills, as in Micah 6:1 ; that should make peace with Israel in the days of Solomon, and in the days of the King Messiah. Jarchi, of the abundance of fruit the mountains and hills should bring forth; so that there would be no contention among men about gathering it; but everyone would invite his neighbour... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 72:4

He shall judge the poor of the people ,.... Of the people of God, whether among Jews or Gentiles; See Gill on Psalm 72:2 ; he shall save the children of the needy ; whose parents being needy, they are so too, in a spiritual sense, and in distressed circumstances. Such Christ saves from their sins; from the curses and condemnation of the law: from, wrath to come, and out of the hands of all their enemies; and shall break in pieces the oppressor ; the tyrant Satan, the god of this... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 72:5

They shall fear thee ,.... The King Messiah, the Judge of the poor, and the destroyer of the oppressor: either the tyrants and oppressors themselves shall fear him, and such who have been aiding and assisting to them; see Revelation 11:11 ; or rather the people of God, the poor of the people, and children of the needy, judged and saved by Christ; who shall fear the Lord, both internally and externally, in the exercise of grace, and in the performance of religious worship; in all the parts... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 72:6

He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass ,.... That is, the King and King's Son, the Messiah, whose coming is compared to rain, and showers of it; see Hosea 6:3 ; and may be understood of his incarnation; when, like rain, he came down from heaven; not by an illapse or entrance of the human nature, which before was not in him; nor by local motion of his divine Person, with which that will not agree; but by assumption of human nature into union with him, as the Son of God; which was... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 72:7

In his days shall the righteous flourish ,.... As the grass of the field, Psalm 72:16 ; the dews and rain of grace descending upon them; and as a branch, Proverbs 11:28 . They being branches in Christ the vine, flourish and bring forth fruit; and as the palm tree, Psalm 92:12 ; which the more it is pressed with weights, the more it grows; so they, the more they are afflicted, as the Israelites, the more they grow in grace and experience, and become fruitful in every good word and work;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 72:8

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea ,.... The same is said of the Messiah in Zechariah 9:10 ; where he is manifestly spoken of as here, and regards the extent of his dominion; not over the land of Israel only, as some think; but over the Gentile world, through the preaching of the Gospel in the several parts of it; and especially as it will be in the latter day, when the kingdoms of this world will be his, and he will be King over all the earth; see Revelation 17:14 ; which... read more

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