NOTES for Psa 72
A prayerful petition is heard for righteous judgment and just rule. In every age, people have dreamed of the triumph of justice on earth, while soberly recognizing that it is seldom attainable in our sinful world. Yet even in their fallen state, there are many people who have managed, however faintly, to reflect a glimmer of the Lord’s mercy in their deeds. Not all Solomon’s actions were blameless; he stumbled more than once, and the Bible does not conceal his wrong steps. But in his finest hours, he followed the wisdom that he had received from above.
At the beginning of the psalm, it says that the king is given authority to judge the poor. One might ask: for what purpose? Surely not to condemn them? But what follows makes the meaning clear: if judgment is the triumph of justice, then judging the poor means treating them justly. Thus, in the image of the wise king, the psalmist sought to express an idea of the triumph of the highest truth.
But the highest justice will be established only when the Lord Himself reigns. Solomon’s majestic rule may have provided the colors for pictures of the coming triumph, but that triumph itself will surpass everything we can imagine.