This psalm closes the second of the Psalter’s five books with a note explaining that “the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended” — and its subject is David’s own dying wish for his son’s reign. But the language reaches so far beyond what any human king ever actually achieved that it waited a thousand years for its real fulfillment.
A study in Psalm 72 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 12 min read
Give The King Thy Judgments, O God
“Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.”
Psalm 72:1-2
This is generally understood as David’s own psalm, written for his son — a prayer, not a boast, asking God to supply Solomon with exactly the qualities an aging king could no longer personally guarantee for the next reign.
“With tender earnestness David entreated Solomon to be manly and noble, to show mercy and loving-kindness to his subjects, and in all his dealings with the nations of earth to honor and glorify the name of God and to make manifest the beauty of holiness… Should he follow the divinely inspired instruction of his father, his reign would be a reign of righteousness, like that described in the seventy-second psalm.”
Ellen G. White · Prophets and Kings, p. 26
White ties this psalm directly to David’s dying charge to his son, recorded in 2 Samuel 23 — the last major counsel a father who had ruled imperfectly for decades could offer, hoping his own hard-won lessons might spare his son some of the same mistakes.
He Shall Come Down Like Rain Upon The Mown Grass
“He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.”
Psalm 72:6-7
Rain on mown grass is a specific, gentle image — not a flood or a storm, but exactly the kind of quiet nourishment that lets cut grass recover and grow back, righteous rule pictured as restoration rather than conquest.
Dominion Also From Sea To Sea
“He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth… The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.”
Psalm 72:8, 10-11
Solomon’s actual kingdom, however prosperous, never literally reached “the ends of the earth,” and no earthly ruler since has managed it either — language this total was always going to outgrow any single human occupant of David’s throne.
“These teachers had repeated with great effect the prophecies concerning the Messiah, that He would ‘reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously;’ that He would ‘have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.’… Then they made contemptuous comparisons between the glory here pictured and the humble appearance of Jesus.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 458
White shows this exact verse used against Jesus by the very leaders who should have recognized Him — the prophecy was genuine and messianic, but its literal fulfillment was still centuries away from Christ’s first coming, and impatient readers mistook that delay for disqualification.
He Shall Deliver The Needy When He Crieth
“For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.”
Psalm 72:12-14
Universal dominion in this psalm is never separated from mercy toward the powerless — the same king who receives tribute from distant kings is described, in the very next breath, personally noticing “him that hath no helper,” the single most overlooked person in any kingdom.
All Nations Shall Call Him Blessed
“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.”
Psalm 72:17
“All nations shall call him blessed” is the psalm’s furthest reach — not merely obedience extracted by force, but a name genuinely honored, willingly, everywhere, for as long as the sun itself continues.
“Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.”
Psalm 72:18-20
This closing note marks the end of the Psalter’s second book, and it reads like a deliberate final signature — David’s own recorded prayers concluding on this specific hope for his son, a hope that would eventually require far more than Solomon to actually fulfill.
