Psalm 72
After our former mayor was forced out of office, it wasn’t too long ago that about twenty to thirty people put their names and pictures in our paper declaring to us their candidacy to be the new mayor of Topeka. In order to apply, they had to write what they would do as the future mayor. With ridicule and advice everyone tried to explain to the council what they thought the mayor should do and how he or she would lead. “I will take the politics out of government - and lead us on a new path forward!” “I plan on having Topeka expand!” It’s easy to stand on the side and THINK you know how to do a job. But in reality, until you actually get in the position, it’s hard to have any CLUE as to how to do it or how the system really works.
Solomon was more than a mayor of a city. He was a king of a country. He knew what the position required - what it took - because he’d been there. In this Psalm, the Holy Spirit used Solomon’s experience and failures and strength to shed some light on exactly what the ultimate King would need and what he would deserve. Some experts claim that this is actually a Psalm written by David FOR Solomon instead of written OF Solomon. But when we read through it, we’ll clearly see that these desires for the King could only fulfilled by one King - and that’s Christ. As we look at what Solomon’s job description for the King, we’ll be able to celebrate the fact that -
Christ is the King of Kings
I. He is greater than Solomon
When Solomon ruled over Israel, he displayed both strengths and weaknesses. One of his strengths was his wisdom. 2 Chronicles chapter 1 tells us -
God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 8 Solomon answered God . . . Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 11 God said to Solomon . . . wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”
Solomon’s wisdom was reflected in a story in 1 Kings chapter 3, where two women came before Solomon, arguing over the ownership of a child. Solomon ordered the child to be cut in two. When the woman who had stolen the child wanted the child dead, it became obvious that she was lying. Solomon showed wisdom in dealing with the situation. It appears that Solomon was regularly given such difficult cases to judge upon. He couldn’t show favoritism - he had to make a judgment just based on the facts. So Solomon starts this Psalm out by praying, Endow the king with your justice. He knew that the King would need to have a good sense of justice just like he had - to make decisions on what was right and wrong. That meant having a special heart for the needy and afflicted - those who couldn’t defend themselves.
Solomon knew also that this king would need to be strong where he was WEAK. So he also prayed that God would endow the royal son with your righteousness. Righteousness - means to have an ethical or moral standard - coming from the root meaning “to be straight.” One dictionary says it means “innocence, the state of not having any sin or its associated guilt. He prayed that the king would make his just decisions based on the fact that he himself was righteous and straight - in line with God. The thing that I’ve always found somewhat strange about Solomon was the fact that even though he was wise, he was definitely lacking righteousness. 1 Kings 11 says that, He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. In his wisdom, Solomon knew that the future king couldn’t be hypocritical. He had to be righteous in his actions as well.
Having grown up in the palace under his father David, Solomon would have been accustomed to another aspect of being a king - and that was warfare. David was known as a man of blood - whose wars helped to extend the kingdom of Israel to a size it had never previously been. In the same way, Solomon said that the future King - The desert tribes will bow before him and his enemies will lick the dust. Just like David had to fight for the land and the kingdom - the future king would need to fight against enemies - and make them lick the dust.
Solomon, fortunately did not have to engage in much warfare. But in order to build up his palace and his kingdom, he decided to heavily tax his people. As a matter of fact, he took so much of their money that when he died, ten of the tribes rebelled against his son and left his kingdom with only two tribes. Later on down the line then, his own offspring of kings also became evil and completely lost the kingdom, as they were all taken into captivity. They lost everything that his father and he had worked to accumulate. In contrast to this, Solomon knew that in righteousness the future King would endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations. In that way, everything that the King would fight for and accomplish would never be lost to a future king who wasn’t righteous. The kingdom would be the King’s forever.
In order to be a true King in this world - to rule your household and your world - these are things that God demands of you. You need to show compassion on the weak and needy. When your little infant wakes you up in the middle of the night, you can’t get angry at him. You need to compassionately take care of him. You need to judge correctly. When someone asks you for advice on what to do with their marriage, you need to listen to the facts and give the correct advice based soundly on God’s Word. You can’t just think that people are here to serve you. You need to be willing to serve others - to give them whatever riches you’ve been given - your wisdom, work, whatever - to make them rich. You need to be able to face evil head on - to call it out and expose it. You need to win people to your way of thinking - to conquer any enemies that you have. On top of all that - you need to do it all in righteousness - in a state of innocense - with a will in complete line with God. That’s what it takes to be a godly King.
As I look at you and me, I realize that we don’t have any kings in this audience. We have people who SHOULD be kings, but only act like Solomon. Instead of serving with what we have to make others rich, we are jealous of what other people have and want them to make us rich. We have cowards who are unwilling to fight evil. We have mortals who are all going to die. We have self indulgent sinners who like to marry 1,000 other priorities rather than God. Worse than Solomon, we have fools who like to act like they’re wise, when in reality we don’t know our Bibles and God’s Word enough to quote more than three Bible verses. We have pretenders who try to rule their worlds by bullying and anger, instead of compassion, wisdom, and righteousness.
Thank God, then, that over 2,000 years ago a real King came - and His name was Jesus Christ. John says of Him, The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Everything that Solomon wished for and explained that would be needed of the King, Jesus fulfilled.
Justice - Jesus had a way of being able to judge situations at a moments notice. Take for instance the story in John chapter 8 -
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
In this case, Jesus defended this woman from death - and saved her from an eternity in hell. Instead of condemning her, He forgave her.
Righteousness - the Pharisees and teachers of the law loved to accuse Jesus and call him a sinner. They called him a drunkard and a sinner because he reached out to the tax collectors and sinners, and also because he broke their Sabbath laws. But Jesus never broke any law - the Ten Commandments or the ceremonial law - that God had demanded of man. He was circumcised. He rested and worshiped on Saturdays. He honored His parents. As Hebrews 4 says, we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
Fights enemies - Jesus fought the devil in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. Throughout his ministry, Satan continued his temptations - even through Peter! Yet throughout this fight, Jesus rebuked Satan saying, “get behind me!” The devil’s ultimate weapon was his ability to accuse us - God’s children - of sin. So Jesus’ ultimate battle had to be to take that sin on his shoulders - to erase our records. The only way that Jesus - our mighty King - could do this - would ultimately be by NOT showing his power on the cross - and allowing Himself to die in our place.
As a result of that sacrifice, God raised Jesus from the dead. Solomon knew that the future king - He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth. In his days the righteous will flourish; prosperity will abound till the moon is no more. Now, through faith in Christ, Paul told the Corinthians that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Peter says that through faith, you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. Through faith in Christ, God makes us Kings. He gives us His righteousness - fills us with His holiness. Through the Word of God, God gives us the wisdom to know that we are saved by grace, through faith in Christ. Everything that God demands of us, He gives us through His King - Jesus Christ. This is not a King who taxes us to death. This is a King who makes us rich.
Endurance - as Jesus was preparing to depart this world He said, “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” He doesn’t have to worry about another future king coming and messing up his kingdom. The angel told Mary, He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.
II. He deserves everyone’s praise
Solomon, as sinful as he was, still had a very impressive rule. As a result, his name became well known. 1 Kings 10 talks about what happened because of this.
When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon . . . she came to test him with hard questions. . . . Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. 4 When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed. 6 She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. 7 But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. 8 How happy your men must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 9 Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king, to maintain justice and righteousness.” 10 And she gave the king 120 talents of gold, large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
The Queen of Sheba praised not Solomon - but GOD for all that He had done for Solomon. She responded by giving him tons of gold and spices and stones.
Solomon knew the future King would deserve even greater praises than these. The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts. 11 All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him. Not just a queen of Sheba, but KINGS of Sheba, Seba, and even Tarshish would come and bow down to him and present him with gifts. Sheba and Seba were located almost straight south of Israel - on the southern edges of the Red Sea, and Tarshish was most likely located in southern Spain. The point was that people from all over the world would come and honor this future King - and for good reason.
When Jesus, the true King was born, some Wise Men came from the east. Matthew 2 says, they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. What a miraculous and strange sight that must have been for Mary and Joseph to see this caravan of distinguished men come from the east and actually bow down to this infant in Bethlehem. The message God was sending was clear. This Child did not just come to be the King of the Jews. He came to be the King of kings - the king of the world! Even Gentiles from far east would worship Him. As Solomon predicted, All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed. This is a kingdom that goes from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
This is a prediction that has come true today as well. Jesus rules in your heart and he rules in mine - not by putting his hand on our neck and forcing us to the ground, but by putting His grace in our ears and giving us a change of heart. He took command of Gabriel’s heart this morning, through the simple water of Baptism. He took command of Rachael as she heard God’s Word and believed that Jesus really died for her. So she decided to go through instruction and join our congregation. Think about what a wonderful King you have this morning. He had every right to take everything from you. But instead, as your King , Jesus used His power and love to change you from being slaves of sin into royalty - through His righteousness. God broke through the darkness, and brought you into the Light.
The queen of Sheba traveled miles and miles to praise God for Solomon - as sinful was He was. The Wise Men traveled hundreds of miles to see the real King. They gave their best to these kings. God wants the same kind of excitement out of you. Like the queen of Sheba and the wise men - praise God and worship Him. Lay your treasures on His altar and praise Him. Acknowledge that He is your King. Isn’t that why you came here this morning?
Topeka has had it’s share of problems in government. Wouldn’t you know it, when they finally decided to pick an interim governor, there was a citizen threatening a recall because of domestic abuse charges. When it comes down to all public offices, the truth of the matter is that we’ll never have a perfect mayor, governor, or President. Thankfully, good or bad, their terms don’t last forever.
Even more thankfully, we have a perfect King - who is ruling over mayors, governors, Presidents, queens, and all of us. This King uses His wisdom and righteousness to take care of poor and needy sinners like us - giving us His own holiness and righteousness. Best of all, His Kingdom lasts forever. Christ is the King of kings. We lay our crowns at his feet. Amen.
