Psalm 72

In this Psalm, we read a prayer of King Solomon that depicts what he views as a perfect kingdom. But more than a Utopian view of life, we read Psalm 72 as a picture of what God desires his Kingdom, the Kingdom of God to be like.

Finding Utopia:

In 1971 John Lennon, as a solo artist, released his best-selling song, “Imagine.”

He tells us to imagine no heaven, no hell, nothing to kill or die for. Just people living for today – a brotherhood of man. No hierarchy, no authority, no countries, no religion. Just a level playing field for all mankind.

This song struck a nerve in America during that time of the Vietnam War, Woodstock, and peace-loving hippies making free love. It still strikes a nerve because people want what this song offers. It’s wonderful to think of a place without war, without violence, without hunger and oppression, where Black lives matter, Blue lives matter, all lives matter; and the world is characterized by peace. However, even with so many people wanting this charming world, we’re no closer to attaining it than we were in the 1970s.

Maybe the Utopia you imagine looks a lot like America today – a place where people can work hard to care for their families and achieve success. You push against Lennon’s idea of having no possessions and everything being shared. You see that as Socialism. You want peace, but you see a different path to peace than sharing all you have and believing all people’s beliefs are relative.

I think the one thing all of us in this room have in common is our sadness over the troubles of our world. Our hearts break over the violence in this world. We hate the war taking place in Ukraine, the shootings in our schools and public places, and the poverty of many countries. Yet we feel helpless to make a tangible difference. We desire a world free of the Uvalde shooting, the sex abuses in the Southern Baptist Convention, the divisiveness in our politics, and the overwhelming mental health crisis sweeping across our nation.

Over my decade as a foster parent, my jaw often dropped when I heard the stories of the kids I cared for. I was heartbroken and angry at what parents had done to their children. Then I realized that, for the most part, the “System” had cheated these parents of a chance to succeed. One parent was sexually molested as a child. Another was an immigrant who was often taken advantage of. Many were bound by addictions.

I believe it’s clear to all of us that this world is broken!

As different people imagine a perfect earth, they do so in very different terms. One person’s perfect place – perhaps including freedom from religion and a sharing of everything – is another person’s feared future state. What does God’s Word tell us about a perfect earth? Was John Lennon onto something? In what ways does God’s Word teach us to IMAGINE?

Solomon’s View of Utopia

Today we continue our series from the Psalms by looking at Psalm 72, in which we read Solomon’s prayer for what he viewed as a perfect kingdom for Israel. The song “Imagine” gives us a view of Lennon’s ideals for humanity; Psalm 72 gives us a glimpse of how King David’s son Solomon thought a perfect world should look. Solomon wants his kingdom to be marked by righteousness, compassion, prosperity, and power.

Righteousness

• Verse 1 – Prayer to endow the king with righteousness.
• Verse 3 – May the hills bring the fruit of righteousness.
• Verse 4 – Vindicate the afflicted, help the poor, and crush the oppressor.
• Verse 7 – May the righteous flourish.

Compassion

• Verse 4 – Vindicate the afflicted, help the poor, and crush the oppressor.
• Verse 12 – Deliver the needy and afflicted who have no one to help; take pity on the weak and save them from death.
• Verse 14 – Precious is their blood in His sight.

Prosperity

• Verse 3 – Mountains bring prosperity.
• Verse 7 – May prosperity abound until the moon is no more.
• Verse 16 – May there be plenty of grain in the land and may the crops flourish.

Power

• Verses 8-11 – He rules from sea to sea, and tribes bow down and serve Him.
• Verse 15 – May gold from Sheba be given to him.
• Verse 18 – May his name endure forever.

At face value, this looks like what most kings of Solomon’s time would be asking of their gods – prosperity and power. We must be careful to see the important difference. The aspect of righteousness and the compassion piece we see in verses 12 through 14 make Solomon’s rule completely different from those of other rulers. Solomon’s imagined Utopia was based on righteousness first. The result of that was prosperity.

So often people seek power, prosperity and comfort; and they imagine these things will bring them happiness. However, through his entire prayer Solomon seeks, first and foremost, righteousness and justice for the needy. He recognizes that if he gets those pieces right, God may bless him with wealth and fame. This compassion piece shows us how we should interpret this psalm today.

Psalm 72 Describes the Kingdom of God

When we read Psalm 72 against the book of Isaiah, we find numerous similarities to Isaiah’s vision for a Messiah who will reign with righteousness and care for the oppressed. For instance, look at Isaiah 11:3-5:

When we look at this psalm through the lens of Christ, the righteousness and compassion characteristics are even more vivid; and the characteristics of power and prosperity are turned on their heads! Jesus Himself sees the oppression in the world. He sees the evil, and He is angry. Just like you and me, He wants to set the wrongs right. He wants to defend the helpless and crush the oppressors. The difference is that He is all-powerful and actually able do what we feel so helpless about doing ourselves.

I want to go back to the four characteristics of the Kingdom of God I mentioned earlier, as we reconsider Psalm 72 through the lens of Christ.

Righteousness and Justice (Psalm 72:1-2)

In verses 1 and 2 we see a literary device called a chiasm, in which the language pattern reverses itself in two statements that are otherwise almost the same. Verse 1 speaks of justice and righteousness. Verse 2 reverses the pattern and speaks of righteousness and justice. This clearly identifies the idea of this section.

Justice doesn’t mean good things for everybody. It means vindication for the afflicted, but the oppressor will be crushed. Some people won’t like the justice of Jesus. There will be a sifting of the “chaff.” We have to trust that Jesus will judge the ungodly one day, even though right now their wealth and good fortunes may seem unfair.

John Lennon’s “Imagine” completely misses the mark when it comes to righteousness and justice. He wants to avoid any kind of authority, but somebody MUST have authority – Jesus, the perfect King and Judge. A place without judgment for the oppressor and wrongdoer is not Utopia. Yes, judgment sounds mean, but it is necessary. When someone shoots up a school or a Walmart or a church, we want justice against that person. We should thank Jesus that He is a JUST and RIGHTEOUS judge.

Power that is Eternal (Psalm 72:5-7) and Universal (Psalm 72:8-11)

An eternal kingdom was impossible for Solomon, but not for Jesus. In Revelation 21 we see a picture of this kingdom in which the sun and the moon are no longer needed because the glory of the Lord lights up the world. In this kingdom there will be no more death or decay – no more fighting or vying for power. For all of eternity, Jesus will reign on the throne.

For Solomon, gaining an extended, universal kingdom would have come as a result of wars. For Jesus, His universal kingdom is the result of His sacrifice; because of His shed blood everyone – Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican – can enter the Kingdom of God. Solomon could never actually be king of all the known people groups, but Revelation tells us Jesus will one day have people from every tribe and tongue come to visit Him. His authority will be universal as God puts everything under His feet.

Compassion for the Poor and Powerless (Psalm 72:12-14)

Jesus, the perfect King, will help the poor, the afflicted, and the helpless. In Israelite society, God’s law, which was supposed to protect various classes of people, often left them desperately in need.

It’s no different today. Being born into a ghetto, having no dad, and being poorly educated by a lousy school doesn’t give a kid much hope. Unfairly, poor people pay the highest interest rates on borrowed money; so they struggle to buy houses and start building equity.

Society always has had and always will have people who need help. Jesus will stand with these people and offer them the help they need. Why? Because they are precious in His sight. I’ll be honest – sometimes I lack compassion for people who are different from me. When I see a meth addict riding a bike with all their belongings strapped on their back, I sometimes think negative thoughts about them. But not Jesus. Jesus has hope for every one of these people. He wants better for them.

Prosperity for the Benefit of Others (Psalm 72:15-17)

Jesus’s prosperity is for the good of His people. “Then all nations will be blessed through him.” Jesus used His power differently from kings of the earth. The same is true of His use of prosperity.

Solomon used all his prosperity for his own selfish desires – his horses, his army, his wives. In the kingdom Jesus rules, all the nations will be blessed by His prosperity. This is the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12 when He told Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others . . . . All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” Jesus uses His immense riches for the benefit of us, not Himself.

The Kingdom is NOW!

We sometimes tend to think of the Kingdom of Jesus as being far in the future, but the truth is that the resurrection of Jesus ushered in the Kingdom for us today. We are living today in the kingdom described in Psalm 72. It doesn’t feel as complete as the picture Solomon creates, but we get glimpses of the righteousness, power, compassion, and prosperity of Jesus as our King.

We see Jesus’s righteousness when men – even pastors – who have abused their power are held accountable for their sinful actions.

We hear of Jesus’s power when missionaries tell stories of the visions Muslims have of Jesus coming to them and telling them to follow Him. He reaches out to the people of the very nations at war with Him.

We hear of Jesus’s compassion every time free food is offered to the poor at a Food Pantry.

We experience the prosperity of God’s Kingdom every day we wake up with roofs over our heads, food in our refrigerators, and the ability to provide all we need to not only survive, but to thrive. These are ways Jesus is moving among us today, putting His Kingdom into place.

The question I put to you today is this: will you participate in the rule and reign of this Kingdom?

To participate, you first must submit to Jesus Christ as the King of your life. The Bible says that one day “every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” EVERYONE will one day submit to the universal rule of Christ.

You may choose to do this freely today as a response to His sacrifice and generosity toward you; or you may wait until Judgment Day, when He will crush all who oppose Him.

As a member of the Kingdom of God, there is only one way to live – according to the righteousness and compassion of the Kingdom. So please invite God to show us how to act justly and love mercy in our day-to-day lives. Let’s yield to the Spirit’s leading as He invites us to show love and compassion to the needy and to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Yes, there is a time to IMAGINE how amazing life will be when Jesus returns; but in the meantime let’s LIVE it out. Let’s live like the Kingdom is here, because it is – hear and now!