{"id":3949,"date":"2013-01-24T07:45:46","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T15:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/?p=3949"},"modified":"2013-01-24T12:47:21","modified_gmt":"2013-01-24T20:47:21","slug":"the-just-king-of-psalm-72","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/moscowcoffeereview.com\/carpecakem\/2013\/01\/24\/the-just-king-of-psalm-72\/","title":{"rendered":"The Just king of psalm 72"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"king-jesus-orthodox\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In psalm 72, Solomon writes of the coming just king. But the nature of his empire unusual.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Give the king your justice, O God,
\nand your righteousness to the royal son!
\nMay he judge your people with righteousness,
\nand your poor with justice!
\nLet the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
\nand the hills, in righteousness!
\nMay he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
\ngive deliverance to the children of the needy,
\nand crush the oppressor!
\nMay they fear you while the sun endures,
\nand as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
\nMay he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
\nlike showers that water the earth!
\nIn his days may the righteous flourish,
\nand peace abound, till the moon be no more!
\nMay he have dominion from sea to sea,
\nand from the River to the ends of the earth!
\nMay desert tribes bow down before him,
\nand his enemies lick the dust!
\nMay the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands
\nrender him tribute;
\nmay the kings of Sheba and Seba
\nbring gifts!
\nMay all kings fall down before him,
\nall nations serve him!
\nFor he delivers the needy when he calls,
\nthe poor and him who has no helper.
\nHe has pity on the weak and the needy,
\nand saves the lives of the needy.
\nFrom oppression and violence he redeems their life,
\nand precious is their blood in his sight.
\nLong may he live;
\nmay gold of Sheba be given to him!
\nMay prayer be made for him continually,
\nand blessings invoked for him all the day!
\nMay there be abundance of grain in the land;
\non the tops of the mountains may it wave;
\nmay its fruit be like Lebanon;
\nand may people blossom in the cities
\nlike the grass of the field!
\nMay his name endure forever,
\nhis fame continue as long as the sun!
\nMay people be blessed in him,
\nall nations call him blessed!
\nBlessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
\nwho alone does wondrous things.
\nBlessed be his glorious name forever;
\nmay the whole earth be filled with his glory!
\nAmen and Amen!
\nThe prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
\n(Psalm 72 ESV)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Robert Alter comments thus:<\/p>\n

The ideal king will rule from sea to sea, but even the verb of dominion, ‘yerd’, is qualified by its punning ocho of ‘yered’, the verb describing the ruler’s “descent” like rain on grass. The kings of all the earth, from Sheba and Saba in the south to westward Tarshish and the islands of the Mediterranean, do in fact prostrate themselves before the just monarch, but there is no indication in the poem of how he has managed to seize power over them. Indeed, the only verb of aggression he governs is “to crush” in line 4, an activity directed against the oppressors of the poor, and continued in the kings’s compassionate acts of rescue int he progressively heightened four versets of lines 13-14. The poem tactfully implies, without explicitly stating, a causal link between the beneficent effect of the just king indicated in lines 6-7 and the subsequent vision of imperial dominion. It is as though all the rulers of the earth will spontaneously subject themselves to this king, lay tribute at his feet, because of his perfect justice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

-The Art of Biblical Poetry, p.132<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love this. I think I love the psalm even more now. The future rule of Christ will not be like the others empires we have experienced on earth. I think sometimes we imagine that it WILL be like the other ones. This passage in Philippians gets mentioned a lot:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
\n(Philippians 2:9-11 ESV)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have often been told that every knee shall bow. Some of us will choose to bow and others will get their heads pressed down to the ground by a heavy divine boot. But in this psalm, the king is SO good, the nations spontaneously subject themselves to him. There is no talk of him conquering them with a sword and breaking their will. Granted, this still leaves room for stubborn rebels, but the normal state of things is rejoicing at the establishing of his empire and the removal of the old government. THIS ruler is finally just and the only crushing he does is of oppressors of the poor. An incomplete picture to be sure (he rides in on a white horse at some point), but I think this should be the dominant picture of the earthly rule of King Jesus. Can’t wait!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In psalm 72, Solomon writes of the coming just king. But the nature of his empire unusual. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, … <\/p>\n

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