Psalms 72-74

Thoughts

Psalm 72

Give the King Your Justice, O God. Of Solomon.

• This was either written by Solomon or by David to Solomon.
• This is the last psalm of Book 2

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, in righteousness!
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!

• Solomon (or David) asks for God to shape the king’s rule.
• He asks in help of protection of the poor.
• Prosperity here is translated from “shalom” (שלום) meaning peace, blessing

May they fear you 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 the righteous flourish,
and peace abound, till the moon be no more!

• May the kingdom always fear God
• “Till the moon be no more” suggests an everlasting kingdom.

May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth!
May desert tribes bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust!
May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!
May all kings fall down before him,
all nations serve him!

• Desert tribes and far-off kings show God’s universal rule
• “Lick the dust”  total submission.
• Sheba/Seba gifts recall the queen of Sheba’s visit (1 Kings 10).

For he delivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has 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.

• The king’s compassion to the needy shapes his greatness and is character of God
• “Precious is their blood” God values their lives
• Redemption (גָּאַל, ga’al)  rescuing the oppressed.

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 the day!
May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field!

• Abundant grain on mountains (where there is not usually growth)
• Fruit like Lebanon = abundant growth.
• People “blossoming” and communities flourishing.

May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
May people be blessed in him,
all nations call him blessed!

• “Name endure forever” m “All nations call him blessed” an eternal king over all.

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and Amen.

• God “alone does wondrous things” shows that our earthly kings still depend on the One true God 

The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

• This line closes Book II of the Psalms (Psalms 42–72).

Psalm 73- Book 3 Starts Here

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever. A Psalm of Asaph.

• Asaph was singer/musician appointed by David

Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

• Asaph begins with truth (“God is good”), then proclaims his crisis
• He has envy of the wicked as they appear to prosper.

For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.

• They are “fat and sleek” = strong, well-fed, thriving 
• Their easy life leads to pride and cruelty.
• They have “pride as a necklace” as they proudly display their arrogance

They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

• Their speech is arrogant toward both humans and God.
• They influence others in a negative way
• Their theology is dismissive: “God doesn’t see” as they assume God is distant or irrelevant.

Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
For all day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.

• The wicked prosper financially
• Asaph wonders “Is obedience pointless?”

If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.

• Asaph contains his doubt to avoid harming others’ faith.
• He cannot solve the problem intellectually, so he brings it to God
• “I discerned their end” future destiny of the wicked 

Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

• The wicked seem stable but are actually on “slippery places” 
• Their downfall will be sudden 
• Their success is as fleeting as a dream.

When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.

• Asaph confesses his earlier attitude as irrational/ignorant 
• Bitterness blinded him 
• He describes himself as “beast-like”, possibly driven by emotion 

Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

• God’s presence steadies him 
• “Hold my right hand” God can lead us through doubt
• Earth is fleeting, heaven is eternal

My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

• God is lasting strength (צוּר לְבָבִי, tsur levavi means ‘rock of my heart’)
• “Portion forever” contrasts with the wicked’s temporary wealth.
• Nearness to God replaces envy with joy.

Psalm 74

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil of Asaph.

From https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-74/: 

• This psalm is titled A Contemplation of Asaph. It is a plea and a prayer in great sorrow from the destruction of the sanctuary (Psalm 74:3, 7). The majority of commentators believe this psalm followed the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians. Some argue that it is even later, following the desecration of the temple in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes. If these later dates are true, this Asaph is not the great singer and musician of David and Solomon’s era, unless Asaph composed this psalm prophetically, which was possible according to 1 Chronicles 25:1 and 2 Chronicles 29:30.
• James Montgomery Boice explains the thinking of a later Asaph: “Either this is a later Asaph, which is not unlikely since the name might have been perpetuated among the temple musicians, or, more likely, the name was affixed to many psalms produced by this body of musicians. We know that the ‘descendants of Asaph’ were functioning as late as the reign of Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:15).”
• There is another option: the Asaph of David and Solomon’s time composed this psalm on the occasion or the memory of the destruction of the tabernacle in Shiloh (1 Samuel 4). The word sanctuary used in Psalm 74:3, 7 is also used of the tabernacle (Exodus 25:8; Leviticus 12:4, 21:12; Numbers 10:21, 18:1).

O God, why do you cast us off forever?
Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old,
which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!
Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

• Asaph asks about God’s apparent abandonment 
• “Sheep of your pasture” shows God as shepherd and Israel as His flock.
• “Perpetual ruins” and destruction of sanctuary could refer to temple destruction (possibly Babylon see above)

Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;
they set up their own signs for signs.
They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees,
and all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
They set your sanctuary on fire;
they profaned the dwelling place of your name,
bringing it down to the ground.
They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

• Enemy “roaring” contrasts with God’s silence 
• “Signs for signs” could be military or pagan
• The temple is smashed like a forest of trees 
• “All the meeting places” suggests widespread destruction of former gathering areas 

We do not see our signs;
there is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!

• Asaph lists what is missing: signs, prophets, guidance.
• “Scoff” and “revile” show this is ultimately an attack against God’s name.

Yet God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
You divided the sea by your might;
you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
You split open springs and brooks;
you dried up ever-flowing streams.

• Asaph is remembering God’s past salvation, especially the Exodus.
• God is “King from of old” meaning eternal, sovereign.
• Sea-monster/Leviathan imagery symbolizes God conquering chaos and enemies.

Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made summer and winter.

• God rules time (day/night), cosmos (sun/lights), land (boundaries), and seasons.
• if God governs creation, He can restore His people.

Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs,
and a foolish people reviles your name.
Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;
do not forget the life of your poor forever.
Have regard for the covenant,
for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.
Arise, O God, defend your cause;
remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

• Asaph prays for the poor and needy to be vindicated.
• The enemy’s noise contrasts with God’s silence and Asaph asks God to respond.

Questions

Application

Psalm 72 shows God’s vision for leadership always includes justice, righteousness, and protection of the vulnerable. God cares about all nations and all people.  Psalm 73 shows us that  the apparent success of the wicked is temporary. Their foundation is “slippery,” even when it looks solid.  Psalm 74 shows us that sometimes we might feel ‘abandoned’ by God, especially when there is destruction all around us. During these times we can remember God’s past acts to help our hope.