The Treasury of David

Posted on March 1, 2023 by brucesbiblepage

Psalm 72

Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
Other Works

TITLE.A Psalm for Solomon. The best linguists affirm that this should be rendered, of, or by Solomon. There is not sufficient ground for the rendering. It is pretty certain that the title declares Solomon to be the author of the Psalm, and yet from Ps 72:20 it would seem that David uttered it in prayer before he died. With some diffidence we suggest that the spirit and matter of the Psalm are David’s, but that he was too near his end to pen the words, or cast them into a form: Solomon, therefore, caught his dying father’s song, fashioned it in goodly verse, and, without robbing his father, made the Psalm his own. It is, we conjecture, the Prayer of David, but the Psalm of Solomon. Jesus is here, beyond all doubt, in the glory of his reign, both as he now is, and as he shall be revealed in the latter-day glory.

DIVISION. We shall follow the division suggested by Alexander. “A glowing description of the reign of Messiah as righteous, Ps 72:1-7; universal, Ps 72:8-11; beneficent, Ps 72:12-14; and perpetual, Ps 72:15-17; to which are added a doxology, Ps 72:18-19; and a postscript, Ps 72:20.”

Verse 7. In his days shall the righteous flourish. Beneath the deadly Upas of unrighteous rule, no honest principles can be developed, and good men can scarcely live; but where truth and uprightness are on the throne, the best of men prosper most. A righteous king is the patron and producer of righteous subjects. None flourish under Nero but those who are monsters like himself: like will like, and under the gentle Jesus the godly find a happy shelter. And abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. Where Jesus reigns he is known as the true Melchizedek, a king both of righteousness and peace. Peace based upon the right is sure to be lasting, but no other will be. Many a so-called Holy Alliance has come to the ground ere many moons have filled their horns because craft formed the league, perjury established it, and oppression was the design of it; but when Jesus shall proclaim the great Truce of God, he will ordain perpetual peace, and men shall learn war no more. The peace which Jesus brings is not superficial or short-lived; it is abundant in depth and duration. Let all hearts and voices welcome the King of nations; Jesus the Good, the Great, the Just, the Ever blessed.

Singing Psalms 72