Psalms 72
72
A Prayer for the King
1Of Solomon.
I
2O God, give your judgment to the king;
your justice to the king’s son;#The king…the king’s son: the crown prince is the king’s son; the prayer envisages the dynasty. #Ps 99:4; Jer 23:5.
That he may govern your people with justice,
your oppressed with right judgment,#Prv 31:8–9.
3That the mountains may yield their bounty for the people,
and the hills great abundance,#Is 52:7; 55:12.
4That he may defend the oppressed among the people,
save the children of the poor and crush the oppressor.
II
5May they fear you with the sun,
and before the moon, through all generations.#Ps 89:37–38; Jer 31:35.
6May he be like rain coming down upon the fields,
like showers watering the earth,#Dt 32:2; Is 45:8; Hos 6:3.
7That abundance may flourish in his days,
great bounty, till the moon be no more.
III
8#From sea to sea…the ends of the earth: the boundaries of the civilized world known at the time: from the Mediterranean Sea (the western sea) to the Persian Gulf (the eastern sea), and from the Euphrates (the river) to the islands and lands of southwestern Europe, “the ends of the earth.” The words may also have a mythic nuance—the earth surrounded by cosmic waters, hence everywhere.May he rule from sea to sea,
from the river to the ends of the earth.#Dt 11:24; Zec 9:10.
9May his foes kneel before him,
his enemies lick the dust.#Is 49:23; Mi 7:17.
10May the kings of Tarshish and the islands#Tarshish and the islands: the far west (Ps 48:6); Arabia and Seba: the far south (1 Kgs 10:1). bring tribute,
the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.#Ps 68:30; Is 60:5–6; 1 Kgs 10:1ff.
11May all kings bow before him,
all nations serve him.#Ps 47:8.
12For he rescues the poor when they cry out,
the oppressed who have no one to help.
13He shows pity to the needy and the poor#Prv 31:9.
and saves the lives of the poor.
14From extortion and violence he redeems them,
for precious is their blood#Their blood: cf. Ps 116:15. in his sight.
IV
15Long may he live, receiving gold from Sheba,
prayed for without cease, blessed day by day.
16#The translation of the difficult Hebrew is tentative.May wheat abound in the land,
flourish even on the mountain heights.
May his fruit be like that of Lebanon,
and flourish in the city like the grasses of the land.#Is 27:6; Hos 14:6–8; Am 9:13.
17May his name be forever;
as long as the sun, may his name endure.#Ps 21:7.
May the tribes of the earth give blessings with his name;#May the tribes of the earth give blessings with his name: an echo of the promise to the ancestors (Gn 12:3; 26:4; 28:14), suggesting that the monarchy in Israel fulfilled the promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
may all the nations regard him as favored.#Gn 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; Zec 8:13.
18#A doxology marking the end of Book II of the Psalter.Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wonderful deeds.#Ps 41:14; 89:53; 106:48; 136:4.
19Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may he fill all the earth with his glory.#Ps 57:5; Nm 14:21.
Amen and amen.
20The end of the psalms of David, son of Jesse.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Psalms 72
72
PSALM 72.
1A psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart!
2But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipped.
3Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners.
4For there is no regard to their death, nor is there strength in their stripes.
5They are not in the labour of men: neither shall they be scourged like other men.
6Therefore pride hath held them fast: they are covered with their iniquity and their wickedness.
7Their iniquity hath come forth, as it were from fatness: they have passed into the affection of the heart.
8They have thought and spoken wickedness: they have spoken iniquity on high.
9They have set their mouth against heaven: and their tongue hath passed through the earth.
10Therefore will my people return here and full days shall be found in them.
11And they said: How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?
12Behold these are sinners; and yet abounding in the world they have obtained riches.
13And I said: Then have I in vain justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent.
14And I have been scourged all the day; and my chastisement hath been in the mornings.
15If I said: I will speak thus; behold I should condemn the generation of thy children.
16I studied that I might know this thing, it is a labour in my sight:
17Until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning their last ends.
18But indeed for deceits thou hast put it to them: when they were lifted up thou hast cast them down.
19How are they brought to desolation? they have suddenly ceased to be: they have perished by reason of their iniquity.
20As the dream of them that awake, O Lord; so in thy city thou shalt bring their image to nothing.
21For my heart hath been inflamed, and my reins have been changed:
22and I am brought to nothing, and I knew not.
23I am become as a beast before thee: and I am always with thee.
24Thou hast held me by my right hand; and by thy will thou hast conducted me, and with thy glory thou hast received me.
25For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth?
26For thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever.
27For behold they that go far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that are disloyal to thee.
28But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God: That I may declare all thy praises, in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.