Psalms 72:1-20

Title.—A Psalm for (RV 'of') Solomon.

The title in AV suggests that David is the writer, and Solomon the subject, of this Ps., but, as RV shows, the authorship is really ascribed to Solomon. The Ps., however, appears rather to be the prayer of a subject for the king. Some actual ruler—Solomon, Hezekiah, or another—is no doubt in view, but, as in Psalms 45, the royal figure is so idealised that the Ps. becomes truly Messianic, and applicable only to the perfect divine King, though it is nowhere expressly quoted in this sense in the NT. The justice and beneficence of the king's reign, the world-wide extent of his dominion, the prosperity of his country, and the perpetuity of his fame, are successively described. Psalms 72:18 are the closing doxology of Book 2 of the Psalter, and Psalms 72:20 is an instructive editorial note.