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Psalm 72

Prayer for Guidance and Support for the King

Of Solomon.

Give the king your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to a king’s son.

May he judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice.

May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,

and the hills, in righteousness.

May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,

give deliverance to the needy,

and crush the oppressor.

May he live while the sun endures,

and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,

like showers that water the earth.

In his days may righteousness flourish

and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

May he have dominion from sea to sea,

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

May his foes bow down before him,

and his enemies lick the dust.

May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles

render him tribute,

may the kings of Sheba and Seba

bring gifts.

May all kings fall down before him,

all nations give him service.

For he delivers the needy when they call,

the poor and those who have no helper.

He has pity on the weak and the needy,

and saves the lives of the needy.

From oppression and violence he redeems their life;

and precious is their blood in his sight.

Long may he live!

May gold of Sheba be given to him.

May prayer be made for him continually,

and blessings invoked for him all day long.

May there be abundance of grain in the land;

may it wave on the tops of the mountains;

may its fruit be like Lebanon;

and may people blossom in the cities

like the grass of the field.

May his name endure forever,

his fame continue as long as the sun.

May all nations be blessed in him;

may they pronounce him happy.

Blessed be the L ord, the God of Israel,

who alone does wondrous things.

Blessed be his glorious name forever;

may his glory fill the whole earth.

Amen and Amen.

The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

16. A handful of corn shall be ¹⁴²¹⁴² In the French version, the word semee, i.e., sown, is supplied. in the earth upon the top of the mountains. The opinion of those who take a handful ¹⁴³¹⁴³ The noun פסה, phissah, here translated handful, is found only in this passage. In explaining 1 Kings 18:44, the Chaldee interpreter, for the Hebrew words rendered “as a man’s hand,” has כפסת יד, ke-phissath yad, which strictly signify, “as if a part of the hand.” On this authority several expositors, along with Calvin, have understood פסה, phissah, as signifying “a small quantity of corn,” as much as may lie on a man’s hand, or as he may hold within it. And some at the beginning of the verse supply the conditional particle אם, im, if But Rosenmüller thinks that “others with more propriety consider the noun פסה as having the same signification as פסיון, diffusio, uberitas, ‘spreading abroad, plenty,’ and as derived from the verb פסא, which, both in the Chaldee and in the Arabic, means expandit, diffudit se, ‘he spread abroad, he enlarged himself.’ The Syriac interpreter had, no doubt, this sense in view, when he rendered the words multitudinem frumenti, ‘an abundance of corn.’” for a small portion appears to be well founded. They think that by the two circumstances here referred to, a rare and uncommon fertility is indicated. Only a very small quantity of wheat, not even more than a man can hold in the palm of his hand, has been sown, and that even upon the tops of the mountains, which generally are far from being fruitful; and yet so very abundant will be the increase, that the ears will wave and rustle in the winds as the trees on Lebanon. I do not, however, know whether so refined a comparison between seed-time and harvest is at all intended by David. His words may be considered more simply as denoting that so great will be the fertility, so abundant the produce of wheat which the mountain tops shall yield, that it may be reaped with full hand. By this figure is portrayed the large abundance of all good things which, through the blessing of God, would be enjoyed under the reign of Christ. To this is added the increase of children. Not only would the earth produce an abundance all kinds of fruits, but the cities and towns also would be fruitful in the production of men: And they shall go out ¹⁴⁴¹⁴⁴ The word ציף, tsits, which Calvin renders shall go out, signifies to spring from, to spring up It is used, says Rosenmüller, with respect to plants or herbs when, sprouting from the seed, they make their appearance above ground in beauty and gracefulness, (Numbers 17:8 .) It is used to denote also the reproduction of mankind in prosperous circumstances, (Isaiah 27:6.) From the noun מעיר, [from the city,] we are at no loss to supply the proper nominative to the preceding verb; q d., ex civitatibus singulis cives efflorescent, ‘from the cities severally, the citizens shall spring forth.’ The expression is somewhat similar to that in Psalm 68:27, where the descendants of Israel are said to be from the fountain of Israel.” The extraordinary fertility and great increase of population here predicted took place in Palestine under the reign of Solomon, as is evident from 1 Kings 4:20, where it is said, that in the time of Solomon “Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.” But this prophecy is destined to receive its fullest accomplishment under the reign of the Messiah. from the city as the grass of the earth I have preferred translating the word Lebanon in the genitive case instead of the nominative; for the metonomy of putting the name of the mountain, Lebanon, for the trees upon it, which is renounced by others, is somewhat harsh.

¹⁴² In the French version, the word semee, i.e., sown, is supplied.

¹⁴³ The noun פסה, phissah, here translated handful, is found only in this passage. In explaining 1 Kings 18:44, the Chaldee interpreter, for the Hebrew words rendered “as a man’s hand,” has כפסת יד, ke-phissath yad, which strictly signify, “as if a part of the hand.” On this authority several expositors, along with Calvin, have understood פסה, phissah, as signifying “a small quantity of corn,” as much as may lie on a man’s hand, or as he may hold within it. And some at the beginning of the verse supply the conditional particle אם, im, if But Rosenmüller thinks that “others with more propriety consider the noun פסה as having the same signification as פסיון, diffusio, uberitas, ‘spreading abroad, plenty,’ and as derived from the verb פסא, which, both in the Chaldee and in the Arabic, means expandit, diffudit se, ‘he spread abroad, he enlarged himself.’ The Syriac interpreter had, no doubt, this sense in view, when he rendered the words multitudinem frumenti, ‘an abundance of corn.’”

¹⁴⁴ The word ציף, tsits, which Calvin renders shall go out, signifies to spring from, to spring up It is used, says Rosenmüller, with respect to plants or herbs when, sprouting from the seed, they make their appearance above ground in beauty and gracefulness, (Numbers 17:8 .) It is used to denote also the reproduction of mankind in prosperous circumstances, (Isaiah 27:6.) From the noun מעיר, [from the city,] we are at no loss to supply the proper nominative to the preceding verb; q d., ex civitatibus singulis cives efflorescent, ‘from the cities severally, the citizens shall spring forth.’ The expression is somewhat similar to that in Psalm 68:27, where the descendants of Israel are said to be from the fountain of Israel.” The extraordinary fertility and great increase of population here predicted took place in Palestine under the reign of Solomon, as is evident from 1 Kings 4:20, where it is said, that in the time of Solomon “Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry.” But this prophecy is destined to receive its fullest accomplishment under the reign of the Messiah.