Read Psalm 72
The superscription for this Psalm simply reads, “Of Solomon.” Since verse 20 says that this psalm concludes the psalms of David, we infer that the psalm was written by David about his son Solomon who was to be his successor. However, this psalm has long been regarded as Messianic, that is, predictive of the coming Christ.
Through the centuries, the Church has asserted the same. More recently, Derek Kidner has said that this description of the King and his realm is so close to that of Isaiah 11:1-5 and 60-62 “that if those passages are Messianic, so is this. There is also the interesting detail of v.10, kings bringing gifts and bowing down, which greatly resembles the Magi visiting the child Jesus. Yes, in the foreground David is praying for his son to be a righteous and merciful king. But beyond his son Solomon, David is looking for his Greater Son, the Lord Jesus who will perfectly fulfill this prophecy. Let's briefly observe from this Psalm five ways Christ fulfills this prophecy as the perfect king.
Spiritual Righteousness
When we acknowledge that we are sinful and ask Christ to save us from those sins and rule our lives, he applies two kinds of righteousness to us. He applies the righteousness that he earned on the cross. We call that passive or penal righteousness. That is the work he did by hanging on the cross and receiving the wrath of God hurled against our sins. In other words, he took the punishment that was due to us. But that alone would not have been sufficient to get us into heaven. That would have only made us pardoned criminals. We have to be holy to dwell in God’s presence. Christ, therefore, not only applies to us the righteousness of his death, he applies the righteousness of his life: his perfect record, his keeping all the ten commandments, his repentance, his defeat of temptation. We call that righteousness the active or prescriptive righteousness of Christ.
Earthly Justice
David does not merely pray for spiritual justice; he prays for earthly justice. Remember when we studied Psalm 7, we said that the OT saint looked for and pleaded for God to effect earthly justice to vindicate his holy name. Notice that David says the Messiah’s kingdom will be effective on earth. In v.3, he pictures a land (the Holy Land is primarily in his mind) in which people flourish economically. They are prosperous, able to make a living within their culture. In v.4 (and 2b), David describes a kingdom in which the afflicted and the needy are safeguarded. The Old Testament saint prayed for God to do these things through his people now. Isaiah commanded, “Do justice.” Amos prayed, “Let justice roll down like living waters.” The kingdom Jesus is establishing, and will one day finally completely establish, will be characterized by all these things and more (Lk. 4:18,19).
A Universal Kingdom
David also anticipates the expanse of Christ’s spiritual kingdom. It is universal over all places and peoples. While Solomon’s kingdom did extend from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean (1 Kg. 4:21; 2 Ch. 9:26), David says that his Greater Son’s kingdom will extend far beyond. The Euphrates for David is simply the farthest point east that he can imagine and Tarshish is the farthest west. Not only is his rule universal geographically, it is universal sociologically. The text tells us that he is sovereign over all classes from the nomadic desert dweller to the king in his palace. And he rules over all races, from the Gentile King of Tarshish and Queen of Sheba to the Jew in Jerusalem.
A Kingdom that Blesses
Notice the attitude of the citizens of this kingdom: they bless the king for the prosperity they enjoy under his authority. Only the Christian knows the liberty produced by such submission. God promises to sons of Abraham, “I will make them into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing” (Ge. 12:2).
A Kingdom that is to Come
For the first time, David looks beyond the characteristics of Christ’s Kingdom manifest in this world. Previous to these verses his time references have been contained within history (5 & 7, “moon”; 15, “all day long”). Now he looks forward to a Kingdom that is to come (17 & 19, “forever”). Yes, Christ rules now, but as the writer to the Hebrews says, “Yet at present we do not see everything under his feet.” There are still people who do not worship Christ, institutions that are systemically corrupt, and aspects of creation that are broken by the Fall. David looks for a day when all things will be made subject to Christ. He does not merely pray that the fullness of Christ’s reign will be known in heaven. He looks for Christ to rule in heaven and earth forever.
Now matter how disillusioned you may be with earthly leaders, the Advent of Christ proves that whatever our temporary earthly citizenship, we serve a perfect king who will one day perfectly rule over all.