Psalm 72 - A Truly Righteous King

INTRODUCTION:

Interest:

It is 24 days until Inauguration Day in our country. On Wednesday, January 20th, our country will inaugurate Joe Biden as our president and Donald Trump’s term in office will end. Regardless of how you feel about the results of the past election, this really is an amazing idea to contemplate. We can argue rather easily that the President of the United States is one of the most, if not the most, powerful man in the world. Yet, we anticipate a peaceful exchange of power between the two men on the 20th of January. Here we have two men who disagree on a wide variety of issues as to how this country should be led. Joe Biden has already stated that he will undo many of the things that Trump did as president. Of course, much of what President Trump did was to undo things that President Obama had done. Politically, these two men are very much at odds. Still, we have a good history in this country of one man leaving the presidency, and another taking over without any violence or military action required to make it happen. It really is quite amazing.

Of course, we also recognize that that each of these men are flawed in rather significant ways. We would not hold either of them up as the ideal standard for righteousness or justice, at least not if we define righteousness and justice according to the Bible. For that matter, we cannot use any man for that standard; the ideal is something that we must long for, hoping that our leaders will come somewhat close to it at crucial points when they make decisions that affect the direction of our nation.

Involvement:

Frankly, the same can be said for the rulers of Israel. Israel too had rulers, kings in their case, who failed to live up to the ideal of righteousness and justice that was expected of those led God’s chosen nation. This was true even of their greatest kings.

Context:

This morning we are going to look at the final psalm in our series through the second book of the Psalter, Psalm 72. This psalm is considered a royal psalm. God had established a covenant with David that David’s dynasty would endure forever. Furthermore, the king of Israel was the Lord’s anointed. It was to this ruler that the nation could rightfully look for righteousness and justice. It was also in this ruler that failings throughout history glared starkly, causing the people to long for the ideal.

Our psalm this morning is a prayer for the king, a petition for the man on the throne. There is no way to know who wrote it or when, but the superscription ties it in some fashion to Solomon. That could mean that Solomon wrote it. It could also mean that it was written at the time when Solomon took the throne from his father David at his coronation.

Preview:

We don’t know the background of our psalm, but we do know that it is a prayer for the ruler to function as the ideal king. From this desire, we can learn several aspects this morning about what an ideal righteous ruler will look like, what characteristics he will have.

Transition from introduction to body:

To begin with, in the first five verses of our psalm, the key idea that we learn is that…

BODY:

I. A Righteous Ruler is God Enabled, vv. 1–5

I am using “ruler” instead of “king” because I think that might be a bit easier for us to relate to since our rulers are presidents and congressmen and governors and so forth rather than kings. Still, principles from our psalm apply as the effects of righteousness are the same. Let’s read the first 5 verses and see this first idea, a righteous ruler is God-enabled…<read Ps 72:1–5>.

Our English versions don’t translate the words in the exact same arrangement as the Hebrew original, but the psalm in the original begins with an emphatic appeal to God. The first word is “God” or “O God”; God is being addressed. “Give” is also the only imperative verb in the entire psalm. In other words, the psalm begins with a strong plea to God to grant the king and his son, the crowned prince, the ability to rule righteously. The desire is that the king’s judgments would match God’s judgments, that his decisions would align with God’s righteousness. There is a recognition that the ability to rule justly is God-enabled.

The rest of these first verses go on to describe some of the effects that would result from such righteousness. Now, there is debate as to whether most of the verbs in this psalm should be translated as requests or descriptions. For example, should verse 2 begin “may he judge”—a request for an ideal king to function justly—or “He will judge—a description of the ideal king functioning justly. The problem is that the Hebrew could go either way, so the translators must make a choice. Most of the modern English versions go with wording things as requests since the psalm is a prayer, but the KJV/NKJV go with the description approach. In the end, the difference is not huge as in either case verses 2-5 describe some of the results of a righteous ruler. There would be peace. There would be vindication for the oppressed. The rights of the needy would be upheld. And most importantly, as verse 5 cites, there would be fear of the Lord among the people. All these things would come about through God enabling a ruler to rule be righteous and rule justly.

Application

Of course, these are all things that sound rather good to us as well. We want peace. We want someone to uphold the needy and so forth. At least we certainly should want these things if we are looking at things from a biblical perspective. We want these things, but do we realize that they can only truly come about from a righteous ruler. Many leaders promise these things, but time and time again, unrighteousness of one form or another gets in the way. Corrupt politicians. Back-room deals. Powerful lobbyists. These things get in the way of righteousness…at least that is the way that we have been trained to think of it in America through our experiences. The truth is that righteousness can only come as God enables a leader. God must give righteousness for there to be righteousness. And God gives to those who seek Him. We need rulers who seek God if we are going to have righteous ruler.

Transition:

A righteous ruler is God-enabled. That is what we see in the first 5 verses. In verses 6–11 the key idea that comes about is that…

II. A Righteous Ruler is Prosperous, vv. 6–11

Illustration

Now we know that a lot of our rulers in the United States are prosperous personally. For example, President Obama’s net worth is estimated at around $12 million. Comparing that to my bank account leaves me thinking that he is rather prosperous. The average net worth of a US Senator is around $5 million with some of them individually worth many times that amount. Even the average of $5 million would stand out as prosperous in comparison to me.

But our psalmist is not concerned with individual prosperity. Look at the verses with me…<read Ps 72:6-11>.

Our psalmist is referring to national prosperity in these verses, not personal prosperity. He is envisioning the wealth that a nation ruled by a righteous king will accumulate. The effect of the king’s righteousness will trickle down upon the whole nation much like rain upon grace, benefitting the lives of all the people. Righteousness and peace will flow from him and extend to the ends of the earth.

What the psalmist envisions here goes far beyond the dynasty of David; he envisions a global rule. All nations and peoples of the earth will bow before the righteous ruler. All nations and peoples will pay him tribute, rejoicing in the shadow of his righteousness. Riches will flow into his palace and the world will be at peace because he is righteous.

This certainly is an ideal vision, one on par with that of the Lord’s anointed in Psalm 2. It is also a vision that is foreign to all that this world has experienced in human history. History have seen plenty of nations that have sought prosperity, but it is always at the expense of others. Nations have waged wars of conquest for that purpose and ruler after ruler has been overthrown because he or she failed to bring sufficient prosperity to the nation in the eyes of the people.

Illustration

Even in our own nation, the most bitter political battles boil down to competing views as to what will bring prosperity to our nation. Yet rarely are those battles formulated around arguments for righteousness. But righteousness is what will bring prosperity to the nation under the ideal ruler.

Transition:

A righteous ruler is prosperous. A third idea, seen in verses 12–14 is that…

III. A Righteous Ruler is Compassionate, vv. 12–14

Let’s look at these verses…<read Ps 72:12–14>.

The ideal ruler will be one who is compassionate for those less fortunate. He won’t serve his own interests. Rather, he will serve the interests of others. He is one who has a special concern for the weak.

Illustration

In our experience, every politician expresses concern for the needy during his or her campaigns. They talk about their compassion for the less fortunate and how they will set policies to reduce oppression and violence. They do this for two reasons. One, I believe that, at least the vast majority of our politicians really mean what they say, at least initially in their careers. They do care about the needs of others and want to help our country. Two, they also recognize that we want people to set policies over us that have such compassion. Expressing such concerns increases their electability. There is an instinctive desire within us to have someone stand up for the oppressed and to care for the needy.

Yet, the reason that most of us are probably also just a bit jaded when we hear such campaign promises is that we have learned that there is a nearly universal failure to deliver on all of these campaign commitments. In fact, 2020 has be ripe with examples of politicians issuing regulations and restrictions that make life difficult for others while violating the very same restrictions themselves.

Why is this? Well, we don’t have any truly righteous rulers. A truly righteous ruler will make the less fortunate in society a priority. He will help those who have no other helper. That is what our psalmist says in these verses.

In fact, the word that he uses in verse 14, the word that we have translated as “rescue” is a very telling word. It is the word often used for “redeem” and pointed to a person who held a special role in Israel—the role of kinsman-redeemer. The kinsman-redeemer was responsible for ensuring that justice was done, or the grace was extended to a destitute family member. He would pursue a murderer on behalf of a family member. This is the role that Boaz fulfilled when he arranged to purchase Elimelech’s land, care for Naomi, and raise up children through Ruth. Family was important in ancient Israel with the kinsman-redeemer ensuring that the family was taken care of. By using this word here, the author is saying that a truly righteous ruler will take on this role for everyone in the kingdom, especially those who providentially have no one else to fulfill the role in their lives.

Transition:

A righteous ruler is compassionate. That idea comes out of verses 12–14. In verses 15–17, a fourth idea presented is that…

IV. A Righteous Ruler is Loved, vv. 15–17

Verse 15…<read Ps 72: 15–17>.

The psalmist has been contemplating the benefits that will accompany a righteous ruler. With all the benefits that will result, he recognizes that the only reasonable perspective that can result will be that everyone will want this king to go on and on ruling. They will desire that his kingdom continue. They will rejoice as they see the nations of the world bringing him tribute. They will rejoice at the economic prosperity of their nation and glory to see that prosperity spreading throughout the world. The people will bless the king in both thought and word for bringing this about through his righteous rule. They will gladly identify themselves by him as their king; they are proud citizens of his kingdom. And they will joyously pray for him that his rule will continue, fervently asking God to extend his life and reign.

Illustration

We can all relate, I’m sure somewhat, to a ruler being somewhat loved by the people Regardless of where we stand on politics, there have probably been candidates that we have wanted to see elected or reelected because we thought that they would be the best for our country. In the more recent elections, there have certainly been people who were very pro-Obama, pro-Trump, and so on.

Of course, in our elections there were also people who were very anti-Obama, and anti-Trump. There have been people as strongly opposed as there are people favoring each person. There are also plenty of examples where people have gone from being for a person to being opposed to a person because of something that person did while in office.

Again, though, all of this reminds us that none of our candidates or officials have ever been truly righteous. We long for the day when we will have a righteous ruler, a truly righteous ruler. A righteous ruler will be loved.

Transition:

A righteous ruler will be loved. That is the fourth idea, and this brings us to the final three verses this morning. The idea that we find in these last three verses is that…

V. A Righteous Ruler Awaits God’s Messiah, vv. 18–20

The final three verses are not part of our psalm technically. Rather, they are a doxology placed here to close out Book 2 of the psalter. Each of the books of the psalter conclude with a doxology ranging from a single verse to the entire final psalm of the psalter. By the placement of psalm 72, though, as the final psalm in this book, these verses serve to conclude the psalm along with the book because they point us to the longing that psalm 72 has created.

Let’s read these verses…<read Ps 72:18–20>.

These last verses echo Numbers 14:21 where the Lord promised that as He lives, “all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Through the covenant God made with David God connected the promise to fill the earth with His glory to David’s dynasty. For that reason, there was good reason for Israel to long for a righteous king who would bring worldwide glory to their nation while also displaying the Lord’s glory throughout the world. Their longing was legitimate. But I have got to believe that their disappointment was also tremendous. Think about it, David’s reign did not lack for disappointments: an adulterous affair, a murder through conspiracy, an attempted coup by a son. David fell far short of the ideal righteous ruler.

Then came Solomon. Solomon rose to the throne with such auspicious potential. His wisdom rapidly displayed itself. The kingdom prospered and extended. People from far and near marveled at Israel’s wealth and its worldwide fame grew. But so too did the problems as wives and concubines began accumulating in Jerusalem, along with religions of all kinds of false gods.

Of course, through the centuries, Israel experienced disappointment after disappointment in their leaders. Some kings were sufficiently righteous to stave off the drastic decline of the nation, but none of them ever came close to measuring up to the ideal righteous ruler that God had promised. Yet, even as discouraging ruler after discouraging ruler took the throne, God sent prophets to the nation who assured the people that God’s promises were still in effect, that a Righteous Ruler would come. This Righteous Ruler even came to have a name—the Messiah. More and more people hopes were directed to Him as only God’s Messiah would fit the bill.

Here we are, 2 days after Christmas Day in 2020, and we still await the Messiah. And yet, we wait in ways both similar and different to that reflected in our psalm. Yes, we still await a Righteous Ruler; we await the coming of the One God who will be fulling God-enabled, who will bring prosperity to the world, who will be compassionate, who will be universally loved. We wait for the same one that Israel waited for, the Messiah. In this way we are very similar to the writer and original readers of our psalm.

At the same time, the One we await is no longer unnamed, carrying only the title Messiah. Our very celebration of this past week is because our wait is very different from that if our psalmist and the first readers of our psalm. This morning, we await not only the coming of the Messiah, but we also await the return of Jesus who is the Messiah who has already come once in human history and who is coming again.

It is wonderful that we come to this final psalm of the second book of the psalter on the Sunday morning right after Christmas day because the main idea that rings out from it is that We long for our righteous King. We long for our righteous King.

Of course, our Christmas celebration should cause us to long for the return of Jesus. Sunday morning each wee should cause us to long for the return of Jesus. Every breath we take, frankly, should cause us to long for Jesus because He is our righteous King.

Jesus is of the line of David. The details of His birth, in Matthew especially, demonstrate this point. He is rightly part of the dynasty, the covenant, that God established with David. Jesus is also clearly compassionate. Luke makes the point of showing His compassionate nature as the Son of Man. Furthermore, Jesus is certainly God-enabled. The whole point of John’s opening verse that we looked at last week was to show that Jesus is God incarnate, the God-man, fully God and fully man.

Of course, only a few loved Jesus, but those who loved Him fully. When Jesus came 2,000 years ago, He was completely righteous. His righteousness did not gain Him a throne, however. All that His righteousness gained Him when was a cross. While the world says it wants a righteous ruler, when One actually came, He was rejected and crucified. You see, the real issue is that deep within each one of us lies unrighteousness—sin. We do not want, truly want, righteousness when we have sin at the core of our lives. But that is why Jesus came 2,000 years ago with the express intent of giving His life on the cross. The only way that the sin that enslaves every person could be overcome was for a Righteous One to die in the place of the unrighteous one. Jesus came to die for us—you and me. He came as our kinsman-redeemer, to save us from our sin, giving Himself as our righteous King. Accepting that work of grace saves us from our sin. Accepting that work of grace makes Jesus our Savior. Accepting that work of grace enthrones in our lives as our righteous King. And now we can long for our righteous King.

Application

We long for our righteous King. What should longing for our righteous King look like? There are many answers to that question but let me give you three quick answers this morning.

What should longing for our righteous King look like? One, it should cause us not to place our hope in our political leaders or system. As individual Christians, should we be engaged in politics? As Tim’s Fiebig’s class on politics explained, the answer is a qualified “sure.” We are citizens of this country, we should want as righteous and just of rulers as we can get. Since, God has blessed us with a political system in which we can have some level of voice in who those leaders are, we should be engaged.

At the same time, our hope must not lie in our political leaders. The outcome of our elections should not have any significant impact on our contentment, enthusiasm, or emotions. We know that none of our elected officials are our righteous King. Nor are they a substitute for our righteous King. What should longing for our righteous King look like? It should look like a perspective that does not elevate our current political leaders to the level of hope that Jesus is to occupy in our lives.

Second answer, what should longing for our righteous King look like? As a church collectively, we should have a focused love for the fourfold purpose that God has given us as church. One, worship: we are to worship our King Jesus, joyfully magnifying Jesus Christ. Two, edification: we are to know King Jesus more fully and to understand how we are to live our lives obediently under His rule. Three, fellowship: we are to continually celebrate together that our ultimate citizenship, our family even, is through our relationship with King Jesus. And four, evangelism: we are to collectively be telling the world around us about King Jesus, the One who can save them from their sin. What should longing for our righteous King look like? A focused love for His church.

What should longing for our righteous King look like? Answer three: a life filled with joyful magnification of Him generated by our love for Him. We should be joy-filled people. We know the Savior. We know Him by name…and He knows us. Our sins are forgiven in Him. His Spirit lives within us. He is coming again to claim us a His own. Yes, we long for Him, but we long with joy!

Transition from body to conclusion:

We long for our righteous King.

CONCLUSION

We long for our righteous King.

In 24 days, we will inaugurate a new president. Neither President Trump nor President Biden though are truly righteous rulers. As we have seen in our psalm, we must wait for such a righteous ruler. A righteous ruler is God-enabled. A righteous ruler is prosperous. A righteous ruler is compassionate. A righteous ruler is loved. A righteous ruler awaits God’s Messiah.

We long for our righteous King.