For those who want a change from the Gospel

Epiphany – Psalm 72

This year we shall have a general election. Personally I love staying up all night watching the results come in, either with increasing joy or despair. The last few years have seen a dramatic decline in the levels of regard we hold our national leaders in, and in the trust we place in them. Lying does that, but we are all the worse for it because we all feel a little less confident in our leaders, and a little less inclined to believe a word that comes out of their mouths. This Psalm helps us regain some perspective. It’s classified as an Enthronement Psalm, and it may have been composed for a Royal Coronation, or it might have been used an the annual New Year festival for the celebration and reaffirmation of the King (if such an even ever actually happened – see last week’s post). The title, which was not of course original to the Psalm, tells us that it is ‘of’ or possibly ‘to’ Solomon, which has led scholars to suggest that it was composed for his enthronement, but if it was it may still have been used liturgically in future years – that’s how liturgy works. It certainly appears to come from sometime before the exile, after which the monarchy never reappeared, and it suggests an origin within the dynasty of David. But in any case it sets out the hope for what the new (or existing) king will be and do. As such it provides a great meditation on effective leadership, which we do well to think about as we prepare to choose leaders for our nation. This Psalm celebrates and/or prays for a king who will bring four particular qualities, righteousness, safety, prosperity and stability, and we could do worse than pray for these qualities among our leaders.

Righteousness and justice v.1-7. The Psalm begins with a prayer for the King to be righteous and to rule with justice. This will show itself in his defence of the poor and afflicted: indeed his reign will bring the refreshment and fruitfulness of gentle rains on crops, like a shower on a hot and dusty day. Righteousness is not the same as self-righteousness, which has unattractive negative connotations: it simply means the inability to do anything which is unjust or evil. It is interesting that the Psalm starts here, but the rest flows from it.

Safety v.8-14. This section of the Psalm may raise some hackles, as it appears to be a prayer for empire and world domination, of the kind we are nowadays all wringing our hands over. But in context it is saying something very different, in fact two very different things. The first thing to realise is that Israel was a small nation constantly under threat from the nations around, who regarded her with great hostility. Therefore a good monarch would need to be a warrior in order to protect the nation from these threats. The prayer for all nations to serve him is not necessarily about him being a crushing tyrant, but rather that he had saved the people from crushing tyrants. Again it is the weak and needy who will suffer most, so the defence of the realm flows from that desire for justice. The second idea here, though, is that this Psalm was almost certainly read messianically, and so in fact the long-term goal was indeed world domination, as the reign of God through his messianic King would extend to the whole earth, so that justice and righteousness would be a worldwide way of life.

Prosperity v.15-16. Another result of a righteous rule is that the nation would prosper. This too rings alarm bells, especially in British ears, with our instinctive dislike of the American ‘Prosperity Gospel’ preachers, who teach that we’ll get rich personally if we’re Christians, or even Christians who give to their particular ministries. But again that idea is a misreading of the text. Perhaps the word ‘flourishing’ is a more positive term to use. A righteous and just rule allows people to flourish, so that the nation becomes the best it could possibly be under the right leadership. That’s the idea here.

Stability v.17-18. The recent aim of our government, in one of its many three-word slogans, to be ‘strong and stable’ was a right instinct, even if the reality was far from evident. So the prayer here is not for a succession of different PMs in quick succession, but for a King who would reign over a period of continual righteousness, safety and prosperity. Indeed this theme is mentioned throughout the Psalm.

So how do we get such leaders? The Psalm end with a prayer of thanks to God, the implication of which is that such leaders are given by God, for the blessing of his people. One day we believe that the whole world will be filled with his glory, so maybe this Psalm is a useful one in our prayers towards that election day.