The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 72:1

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. God had established in Israel, in the person of David, hereditary monarchy (2 Samuel 7:12-16), such as was usual in the East, and suited to Oriental notions.

In speaking of himself, not only as "the king," but also as "the king's son," Solomon makes appeal to the sentiment of respect for hereditary royalty. Compare the inscription of Mesha, "My father was king over Moab thirty years, and I became king after my father" (line 1).

In praying God to give him "his judgments," he is desiring a "spirit of judgment" which will enable him to deliver decisions as righteous as God's.

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commentaryMatthew Henry on Psalms 72:1This psalm belongs to Solomon in part, but to Christ more fully and clearly. Solomon was both the king and the king's son, and his pious father desired that the wisdom of God might be in him, that his reign might be a r…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 72:1-7The effect of the anger of a perfectly righteous King. Most probably put into form by Solomon, even if David suggested the substance of it. It is the portrait of an ideal King, never yet realized completely by any earth…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 72:1-20EXPOSITION THE "title" attributes this psalm to Solomon, and the contents of the psalm are very favourable to his authorship. The prayer in Psalms 72:1-4 is an echo of that recorded in 1 Kings 3:9. The stress laid upon…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 72:1-20The glory of Christ's kingdom. It is written that Satan took our Lord "up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them" (Matthew 4:8); but they had no charm, for hi…Joseph S. Exell and contributors