Psalm 72

¹ God, give the king your justice; your righteousness to the royal son.

² He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.

³ The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people. The hills bring the fruit of righteousness.

⁴ He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces.

⁵ They shall fear you while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

⁶ He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.

⁷ In his days, the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

⁸ He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.

⁹ Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust.

¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

¹¹ Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.

¹² For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper.

¹³ He will have pity on the poor and needy. He will save the souls of the needy.

¹⁴ He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence. Their blood will be precious in his sight.

¹⁵ He will live; and Sheba’s gold will be given to him. Men will pray for him continually. They will bless him all day long.

¹⁶ Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land. Its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.

¹⁷ His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed.

¹⁸ Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.

¹⁹ Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen.

²⁰ This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse.

Around Psalm 72

Book context

PsalmsEditorial draft

Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers used in Israel’s worship, written by several people over a long period. Headings name David most often, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah and others. The collection falls into five books, each ending with a short blessing of the LORD (41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48), and it closes with a call for everything that has breath to praise the LORD (150:6). The psalms hold praise, lament, thanksgiving, confession and trust, so readers find words for nearly every season of life.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · broad consensus · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

About Psalms as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

“How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?” A prayer can begin like that, and in the Psalms it does. Four times the poet asks how long, and then, in the same short song, comes the turn: “But I trust in your loving kindness.”

That honesty runs through the whole book. Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers, and it holds praise, thanksgiving, lament, confession, songs for the king, and reflections on wisdom and on God's law. It is arranged in five books and moves, on the whole, from many laments at the start to pure praise at the end.

Joy, fear, anger, guilt and doubt are all spoken to God directly.

Background

The psalms were written and gathered over several centuries. Their headings link about half of them with David and others with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Moses. They were sung in the worship of the temple and later in synagogues and churches.

How Christians read it

Jews and Christians have prayed the Psalms daily for well over two thousand years. The New Testament quotes them more than any other book and reads many as speaking of Christ, among them Psalms 2, 22 and 110. The psalms that call for judgment on enemies are hard to read. Many understand them as handing vengeance over to God instead of taking it oneself.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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