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This psalm is for Solomon.

A prayer for the king[a]

72 God, please help the king
    to judge people in a right way.
Help the king's son to be honest and fair,
    as you are.[b]
Then he will rule your people in a good way,
    so that even poor people receive justice.
The mountains and the hills will bring peace,
    so that the people can live honest lives.
Please help the king to judge poor people fairly.
May he save the children of weak people,
    and destroy those cruel people who hurt them.
May people always respect your authority, God,
    through all time,
    as long as the sun and the moon remain in the sky.[c]
May the king be a blessing to his people,
    like rain that falls on grass that lies in the fields.
May he be like rain
    that brings water to the soil.
While he rules as king,
    those people who serve God will do well.
There will be peace in all the land,
    for as long as the moon remains in the sky.

May the king rule everywhere,
    from sea to sea,
    and from the Euphrates river to the ends of the earth.[d]
Then people who live in the desert
    will bend down to respect him.
His enemies will fall down
    with their faces in the dust.
10 Kings from Spain and from other far places
    will pay taxes to him.
Kings from Sheba and from Seba
    will bring gifts to him.
11 All kings will bend down in front of him.
People from all nations will serve him.

12 He will rescue the poor person
    who calls out to him for help.
He will save weak people
    who have nobody to help them.
13 He will be kind to people who are poor and weak.
    He will save them from death.
14 He will rescue them from cruel people who hurt them.
    Their lives are important to him.

15 Long live the king!
May people come from Sheba to give gold to him.
May people always pray for him.
May people praise him all the time.
16 May there always be plenty of grain
    that grows in the land.
May the crops grow well
    on the tops of the mountains.
May the fruit trees give a lot of fruit,
    as they do in Lebanon.
May all the crops grow well,
    like grass that grows in a field.
17 May the king be famous for ever!
May people remember him
    for as long as the sun continues to shine.
May people from all nations use his name
    when they bless one another.
May they all say that God has blessed the king!
18 Praise the Lord, Israel's God,
    as he deserves.
Only he does such wonderful things.
19 Praise his great name for ever!
May his glory fill the whole earth!
    Amen! May that all happen!

20 This is the end of the prayers of Jesse's son, David.[e]

Footnotes

  1. 72:1 Maybe David wrote this psalm as a prayer for his son, Solomon. See verse 20. We can see that some of the prayers only became true when David's descendant, Jesus Christ, came to earth to be the great King.
  2. 72:1 The king is also the son of a king, as he belongs to a royal family.
  3. 72:5 Or May the king live through all time
  4. 72:8 The king will be so great that he will rule all the world. See Zechariah 9:10.
  5. 72:20 Psalm 72 finishes the Second Book of Psalms.