Till kingdom come
Avoiding both blind faith in our politicians’ promises and rank cynicism about political change, we pray that God’s standards for ruling will enable all to flourish.
A Solomon psalm.
1 Endow the king with your justice, God
your royal son with righteousness
2 enabling him to judge your people rightly
and your poor with justice.
3 May the mountains bring the people peace
and the hills yield justice for all.
4 May the king defend the downtrodden
advocate for the children of the poor
and crush their oppressors.
5 May he reign for untold ages—
for as long as the sun shines
and the moon lights up the night sky.
6 May he be like rain falling on fresh-mown grass
like showers moistening the earth.
7 May the just flourish under his rule
and everyone be at peace
till the moon shines no more.
8 May he reign from sea to sea
and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
9 The Bedouin tribes will submit to him
and all his enemies lick the dust at his feet.
10 The kings of Tarshish and other far-flung lands
will bring him tribute—
the kings of Sheba and Seba will offer him gifts.
11 All of earth’s kings will bow down before him
and all the nations will serve him.
12 He’ll rescue the poor when they cry out to him
the oppressed who have no one to help them.
13 He’ll look with compassion on the destitute
and will reclaim the lives of the needy.
14 He’ll redeem them from violence and oppression
because their blood is precious to him.
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given to him
prayers ascend on his behalf continually
and blessings be invoked on him all day long.
16 May wheat be so abundant in the land
that it dances on the mountaintops.
May the land’s produce flourish like Lebanon
and its people thrive in the city
like the grass of the field.
17 May his name be blessed forever
outshining the sun.
May every people be blessed by him
and all nations call him blessed.
18 Blessed be Sovereign YHWH
Israel’s God, who alone performs miracles.
19 May his glorious name be blessed forever
and the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and amen.
20 Thus end the prayers of David, son of Jesse.
Our political leaders and their police, judicial, and military backers are charged with maintaining order for the common good. But no matter the political system, they’re easily seduced by self-serving politics, justified by a sense of entitlement that renders the poor dispensable. They thus disenfranchise the weak, exploit them through unjust laws, and turn their youth into cannon fodder for their military adventures—all to support their own lust for wealth and power. The old seer Samuel had warned that Israel’s kings would do this. And from Saul to the end of David’s dynasty, one king after another proved Samuel right.
Doubtless writing early in his reign, Solomon here spells out the vision God calls Israel’s king to. Sharing his divine master’s moral values, Israel’s king must look after the poor and the vulnerable. Only by protecting them from injustice can he create an environment where all can flourish equally. This must be his No. 1 priority. When it is, the king moves in sync with both God and creation, as the land makes peace, prosperity, and right relationships pervasive. Two results of this are that everyone submits to the king—even the most ungovernable Bedouin tribes—and everyone flourishes.
Israel realized some of its destiny over the nations in Solomon’s day, with his empire extending to the Euphrates. But ironically, Solomon, whose wisdom enabled him to write this psalm, foolishly led the nation astray by domesticating and syncretizing Israel’s religion: it’s always easier to know what’s right than it is to do it. By the time the Jews had returned from exile, they’d realized that, while this psalm sets out the ideal for national leadership, one that would be fully realized only by the promised Messiah. Ending the Psalter’s second book, the psalm’s closing doxology calls for praise of God alone and longs for the day when his glory fills the earth.
Prayer:
Grant us just leaders, Lord, and your blessing. Help me to want what you want, to value the lives of the poor and weak as I do my own life, and to let go of self-interest long enough to see how I can help right any evils I’m complicit in. May your kingdom come! Amen.
In your free moments today, pray this prayer:
May his glorious name be blessed forever
and the whole earth be filled with his glory!
