Psalm 72:1-2, Psalm 72:7-8, Psalm 72:10-11, Psalm 72:12-13 NIV

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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 72:1

Give the king thy judgments - Let Solomon receive thy law, as the civil and ecclesiastical code by which he is to govern the kingdom. And thy righteousness unto the king's son - Righteousness may signify equity. Let him not only rule according to the strict letter of thy law, that being the base on which all his decisions shall be founded; but let him rule also according to equity, that rigorous justice may never become oppressive. Solomon is called here the king, because now set upon... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 72:2

He shall judge thy people with righteousness - With justice and mercy mixed, or according to equity. And thy poor with judgment - Every one according to the law which thou hast appointed; but with especial tenderness to the poor and afflicted. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 72:1

Verse 1 1.O God! give thy judgments to the king. (124) While David, to whom the promise had been made, at his death affectionately recommended to God his son, who was to succeed him in his kingdom, he doubtless endited to the Church a common form of prayer, that the faithful, convinced of the impossibility of being prosperous and happy, except under one head, should show all respect, and yield all obedience to this legitimate order of things, and also that from this typical kingdom they might... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 72:2

Verse 2 2.He shall judge thy people in righteousness. Some read this in the form of a wish — O that he may judge, etc. Others retain the future tense; and thus it is a prophecy. But we will come nearer the correct interpretation by understanding something intermediate, as implied. All that is afterwards spoken, concerning the king, flows from the supposition, that the blessing prayed for in the first verse is conferred upon him — from the supposition that he is adorned with righteousness and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 72:1

Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. God had established in Israel, in the person of David, hereditary monarchy ( 2 Samuel 7:12-16 ), such as was usual in the East, and suited to Oriental notions. In speaking of himself, not only as "the king," but also as "the king's son," Solomon makes appeal to the sentiment of respect for hereditary royalty. Compare the inscription of Mesha, "My father was king over Moab thirty years, and I became king after my... read more