My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Before we begin this psalm that refers of the true king, pictures the Messiah, and describes the ultimate kingdom, it may be good to mention there is some discussion on the author. Per the ESV, verse 1 seems to speak of this psalm as originating (humanly) from Solomon, David’s son. There is an argument that the psalm was written by David himself (see the last verse) and he wrote it “of Solomon” in his reign, as David looked into the future potential of his son.
Although I am of the opinion David wrote this psalm, no matter how you see this topic, let us delve into this psalm that speaks over and over again of the greater Son of David, the true King of all.
Psalm 72:5 May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
Psalm 72:6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!
Psalm 72:7 In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
In our last post on Psalm 72, we found that David was speaking of righteousness as the basis of the Kingdom.
Even as I remind my reader that, I can hear a “little voice” arguing with me. But Carl, is not the Kingdom to be based on love. Does Paul not mention love as the overarching guiding principle of the kingdom?
1 Corinthians 13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Yes he does, and the question is valid, little voice. So how does righteousness and love relate in the believers life.
As mentioned previously, righteousness is the acting out of all of God’s characteristics without the diminishing of any. It is unlike that of the worlds righteousness, such that it favors no person. Righteousness in my little world often favors my interests, my desires, my wants and delegates the needs, or even rights of others to a lower standard of consideration in the outcome of righteous judgements. This is the worlds righteousness.
To practice righteousness is to know all the facts of a situation, understand the actions taken by all, discern motivations, and execute judgement, all without departing or diminishing the character of God. To practice righteousness is to not favor one characteristic over another, like favoring mercy over holiness in the decisions made.
For our verses this morning, we shall consider the eternal fear of God’s righteousness, the universality of God’s righteousness, and the peace and prosperity of God’s righteousness.
Eternal Fear
Note in verse 5, as David hopes for the fear of the king to endure while the sun endures and as long as the moon is in the sky, he is looking for a kingdom to provide a continuous “fear of the King” for it’s people.
In God’s Kingdom, there is rightly to be described the element of fear, whether you are experiencing deep respect for the King due to His greatness, or a dreaded fearful expectation due to foolish actions. Fear is a valid and correct response to God’s righteousness being exercised in the Kingdom.
Consider though that David’s description of this Kingdom is ultimately referring to the reign of the Son. His reign is forever and ever through the resurrection from the dead, and the Father’s setting of Him on His holy hill.
Note the direct link between the raising of Jesus in Acts with the passage in Psalm 2. To be begotten refers to the resurrection in verse 2 per the apostles teaching!
Acts 13:32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers,
Acts 13:33 this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’
Psalm 2:6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
Psalm 2:7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
From that day forward the Kingdom exhibited the righteousness of God to all, and the King was set on His throne for all eternity. May all fear the True King of all creation, for godly fear is a natural outgrowth of knowing the King, and following after Him.
Universality
Since the King has be enthroned, the truth of God’s universality in the Kingdom has been exhibited. Now be careful for I have not said the universality of the kingdom began with the appearance of the Son, for we see evidence of God’s working outside of His people often prior to the gospels. But it seemed rare, indicating glimpses of favor to those “outside” for those who were in the chosen people.
Not so as the Messiah appeared. God’s universality, His desire for all to know Him, was one of the most offensive aspects of the Son’s ministry, for He often spoke of those outside as being accepted!
David expresses the universality of God’s righteous kingdom through the picture of rain falling on the earth. Consider the inescapable nature of a rain shower. Every inch of the fields are impacted by the falling rain, and for the one who is caught in the rain, shelter is the only escape. Rain is often considered a universal blessing to those who receive it, and the withholding to be the sign of God’s displeasure.
Yet it is more than simply indicating the pleasure/displeasure of the Lord, for did not the Lord speak of rain as being sent to the just and the unjust?
Matthew 5:45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For the kingdom to be described as rain falling speaks of the blessing of God on the Kingdom, and of the universality of the gospel invite. Those outside of the Kingdom may and do experience the blessing of God, providing a motivation to enter the Kingdom, and to know the King the One who blesses!
To think of the King favoring those outside of the Kingdom in order to expand His Kingdom is just the type of King we worship. He sees no distinction between any people groups, for we are all needy, broken, blind and crippled up.
Romans 3:22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
Romans 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
His love is universal for a lost people!
peace and prosperity
In David’s Kingdom being described, he is speaking of a kingdom that does not principally consider the ones in power, those who by association with the powerful may have gained power or authority to be experiencing peace and prosperity. It is the righteous, those determined by their actions and not associations are those who experience the benefits of the Kingdom, namely peace and prosperity in this passage.
Notice that David speaks of flourishing as being associated with righteousness, and not necessarily as we often see is this worlds kingdom. This worlds kingdom provides flourishing depending on personal association with those in power. This is absent in God’s Kingdom, at least in relation to varying degrees of flourishing.
It is obvious that to be in the Kingdom requires the righteous ones to be related to the Ultimate authority, that is King Jesus. This is the assumption within this discussion! Beyond that, earthly associations pay no dividends, and may hurt the righteous in that our dedication to the King may be weakened.
Nevertheless, it is instructive to note that this world’s authority structure is rejected in the Kingdom of God.
Luke 22:25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors.
Luke 22:26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
Let’s remember Jesus spoke this truth to the disciples due to the turmoil their ego’s were creating within themselves and the group! No prosperity, no peace! Simply self promotion was being exercised in the group, and for peace and prosperity to be realized, self promotion was to be rejected in the Kingdom .
One caveat in relation to the the peace and prosperity I am seeking to describe. Let us not think the teaching of prosperity in the Word refers strictly to worldly wealth, to riches and dollars, bricks of silver or vaults of possessions. This is a beggarly way of understanding prosperity as found in the Word.
Prosperity speaks of abundance, of greatness, of a life blessed. There is much more to life than the acquisition of possessions. Paul provides corrective teaching to the modern outbreak of greed being glorified in the church, by speaking of the uncertainty of seeking riches, and directs us to seeking God, who provides us “with everything to enjoy”.
1 Timothy 6:17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
David links this prosperity, this abundance with peace in this verse. Might he be speaking of a prosperity that is linked, or that is associated with inner and outer peace that can be found in the Messiah’s Kingdom?
Return to my question
In all of this discussion it is important to understand that there has to be another element brought into any circumstance, that will allow God’s righteousness to be exercised. I referred to love at the beginning of this post as the guiding overarching principle of the Kingdom, and then proceeded to describe righteousness as the foundational character of the Kingdom.
It is the expression of love, of a self sacrificing love that is the act that provides for the experience of righteousness, God’s righteousness in the believers life.
His self sacrifice opened the doors to the Kingdom for each of us. Without His sacrifice, the holiness of God could not allow His mercy and grace to be provided to such a group of sinners as we.
Even on a daily basis, to be of the self sacrificial mindset, to think of others more highly than ourselves, is to be of the correct mindset.
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
David’s kingdom described in these three verses provided me an opportunity to translate my thoughts to the reader in a very open way. I look forward to comments, and would appreciate your input.
In all of our studies, and in day to day our lives, may we see Jesus just a bit clearer, and understand that which we are granted to comprehend.
Ephesians 3:18 – 19 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.
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