Thoughts for the Day

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.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

As we saw yesterday with Psalm 2, there is more than one way of looking at a Psalm. Traditionally, Psalm 72 has been attributed to Solomon, who requests God’s righteousness and justice to help him rule well, and his reign (970-931 BCE) was a peaceful one. However later verses of the text go well beyond his reign, and look at a ruler in the future who would be far above any human king. So the psalm has always had messianic connections, looking as it does to a future where the perfect King, born in "David's line" will rule the whole world with justice and equity.

Today we only look at the first seven verses that set the scene. We see that a king has certain specific duties - not as might be expected, to keep the country free from invasion. No, it is to guard justice, and that means they are to be the protector of the poor. 'Righteousness' is what matters, and the Law of Moses emphasises that justice means 'to be fair' - they are not to give a particular judgement because someone is wealthy, or because a crowd demand it (Exodus 23.2). Writing of God's Messiah, Isaiah puts it similarly, saying "With righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth" (Isaiah 11.4)

While this psalm paints a picture of Solomon's reign it points forward to an eternal reign ushered in by Jesus, God's Messiah, who would welcome the poorest and weakest in society; who told parables that attacked the rich and greedy in society; and who spoke about love as being the most important quality in life. All this should point forward for us to the day when God's Kingdom of love will be complete throughout the world.

Lord God,
may we give justice a higher priority in our life,
asking ourselves "Is it right the way we live?",
and "Do our actions reflect our beliefs?"
Keep us free from the sin of hypocrisy,
and help us to be open to change
so that we might help those in need.
Amen.