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"Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness…In his days the righteous will flourish, prosperity will abound till the moon is no more…May grain abound throughout the land; on the tops of the hills may it sway” (Psalm 72:1,7,16).

When Israel first asked for a king as recorded in 1 Samul 8, God warned her it would be a disaster. Samuel told Israel a human king would fleece her and the land. He would not bring shalom but establish an economy rooted in the machinery of warfare. This need for power would destroy humanity and the earth.

Israel did not heed the warning. Saul was that kind of king; his reign dominated by war with an economy of destruction. Not much has changed. With an unsatiable hunger for more and for cheaper stuff, the worker and the earth are both defrauded. Since the world of power hides behind political bureaucrats and the machinery of the supply and demand economy behind international conglomerates, many feel powerless to initiate any change. And our imaginations are too numbed by mindless entertainment to dream any alternatives.

Yet, during the reigns of David and Solomon battles ended and weapons were turned into tools of agriculture and industry. In response, Israel’s worship leaders began dreaming about 'shalom'. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the elements of shalom began to crystallize and put to music in Psalm 72. Somewhere along the way, the whole nation began to sing these words.

A quick glance at our song selections, suggests that little of this vision has penetrated our spiritual imaginations. Our view of salvation tends to be limited to the individual soul. The New Testament suggests rather strongly that the shalom of this psalm is at the heart of the Kingdom of God as Jesus preached and practised it.

If we profess to be followers of Jesus, we will desire to follow in his footsteps. Thus, this psalm will need to be allowed to penetrate and guide our prayers and worship. It is first and foremost a prayer for the king to be endowed by God with God's justice and righteousness. (We do well to offer this same prayer for our political leaders).

When the king rules with justice the primary beneficiary is not himself or his close associates, nor the wealthy. No, it is the afflicted that benefit. Do you recall that Jesus continually hung out with the afflicted, healing their maladies? This irritated the powerful.

Under a just king's rule, the afflicted would be cared for and the land and its people would flourish. Grain would even sway on the hilltops. Its notoriously difficult to get crops to grow on the hill tops because water doesn’t stay up there, it flows down before the plants can get enough of it. Finally, when the king leads with justice, his reign and power will extend to the ends of the earth. All will benefit when God answers this prayer.

As much as the Bible describes how wealthy Israel became during the reigns of David and Solomon, the wealth did not last nor bring shalom for all. In 2 Kings 2:1-12, David speaks his last words to Solomon. On the one hand David tells his son to follow the Lord, on the other, he encourages his son to give David’s remaining enemies their due reward, vengeance.

For us, the Psalm anticipates the return of Christ when He will reign supreme, and His justice will flourish in all of creation. No human king will ever be able to accomplish this grand vision. So, until that time this psalm needs to fill our imaginations. It needs to inspire our worship and prayers.

When it informs our worship, it will also inform how we live. If our lives are not lived with a view to this vision, our worship is meaningless, empty, useless (see Isaiah 58).