WEBVTT 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:21.440 Our reading today is from Psalm chapter seventy-two. 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:28.079 Give the king your justice of Solomon. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:33.600 Give the King your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:38.079 May he judge your people with righteousness and your poor with justice. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.960 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills in righteousness. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:50.000 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:55.920 May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon drew out all generations. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:02.000 May he be like rain that falls on the moan grass, like showers that water the earth. 00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:08.400 In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound till the moon be no more. 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:14.239 May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:18.799 May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:22.560 May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:25.519 May the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:29.200 May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:35.200 For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:39.519 He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:45.840 From oppression and violence, he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:54.560 Long may he live, may gold achieving be given to him, may prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day. 00:01:55.040 --> 00:02:04.319 May there be abundance of grain in the land, on the tops of the mountains may it wave, may its fruits be like Lebanon, and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:09.280 May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:11.280 May peoples be blessed in him. 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:13.520 All nations call him blessed. 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:18.240 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.719 Blessed be his glorious name forever. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:23.280 May the whole earth be filled with his glory. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:24.879 Amen and amen. 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:28.080 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:29.439 And so reads God's word. 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:30.719 Good morning. 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:34.319 I'm one of the leaders here at City. 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:36.879 You are very, very welcome. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:43.439 It's my pleasure, uh my privilege to uh be speaking from Psalm 72 uh today. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.800 If you have if you don't have a Bible, uh please grab one. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:52.000 I don't want to make you fear, but we are going to look at a couple of other uh parts of the Bible as well. 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:55.520 Um but I'll I'll guide you there in a while. 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:58.719 Uh so this Psalm is all about uh a king. 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:01.599 I wonder what you're thinking of when you think of a king. 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:14.400 Um I want to kind of just get them out of the way now, uh um, but that might mean that you're thinking about these kings um for the rest of the sermon, so it might be a mistake, but I trust you all um that you'll stay with me. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:24.400 Uh obviously, obviously, uh there's King Charles, there's King uh Harold of Norway, I think, King Philippe of Spain, Henry VIII, Hamlet, Macbeth. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:31.919 Um maybe the first king that popped into your mind was the king in Shrek, maybe the one in Braveheart, maybe the King of Rock. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:35.919 Thank you very much, the King of Basketball. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:41.199 Oh, that's I didn't think this was gonna be so controversial. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:44.159 Twitter says at King James, LeBron James. 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:59.759 Um and I don't know if we have any Gaelic football followers here, uh, but if you've been in the office um or you might have heard around or seen in the news that the um the All Ireland football finals on today, uh this afternoon, it's Dublin versus Kerry, which is the kingdom. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:13.199 And then I also saw an article about how the Kerry players were looking at uh they they had respect, a huge respect for the Dublin captain, James McCarthy, and they called him in this one article, he was described as a warrior king. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:19.680 Um, but yeah, to a lot of people, kings are antiquated, and I mean they are. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:21.279 We're in a republic here. 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:39.199 Uh but we still we still talk about them uh a lot and what's really going on in this Psalm is not concerned with uh is not really concerned with all that, uh, but it's concerned with authority and who is uh the authority of the one who governs. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:44.800 And this Psalm is a prayer, as you see from the very beginning, give the king your justice, oh God. 00:04:44.879 --> 00:04:52.480 It's a prayer for the king that he would rule with righteousness, that he would rule with justice, uh, and and these come from God. 00:04:52.879 --> 00:05:04.639 It's God's righteousness, it's God's justice, and it's for the sake of his people, and that his kingdom would last forever, and that it would extend uh to the whole earth for the glory and praise of God. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:09.680 And this is the king we need and we should long for. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:16.560 And what I found in looking at Psalm 72 is that I want to submit to and worship this king more and more. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:25.519 I long for this king, and I hope and pray that that's uh what we all do in looking at this Psalm is that we long for this king more and more. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:30.800 So, our first point in looking at Psalm 72 is to long for this king. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:35.120 Um, we're gonna look at what this king is like that we should long for. 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:38.480 So that's our first point, long for this king. 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:41.120 And our first sub-point, there's three sub points. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:49.680 Our first sub point is that this king, uh, this is the king that we ought to long for because uh he's righteous and just. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:54.319 So he's righteous and just, and so we should long for him. 00:05:55.519 --> 00:06:00.079 He's a good king, he upholds law and order in his kingdom so that it prospers. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:11.920 And so much so that the kings of the other lands, they come and they say, they want to know how it's done, and they want to give honor uh to this king, and they bring tribute because it's such an amazing rule. 00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:19.120 You'll see at the top of this Psalm that it's a Psalm of Solomon, that is part of the original text there. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.040 The title, Give the King Your Justice, is just a repeat of the first few words. 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:26.480 That's not necessarily that wasn't there in the original text, but of Solomon was. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:34.800 And um, but at the end of the Psalm, you might have realized, you might have uh noticed in verse 20, it seems to be attributed to David. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:40.240 Um this Psalm is the last Psalm in the second book of the Psalms. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:44.000 So this whole book of Psalms is split up into five books. 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:52.720 Um, it's not too significant uh for us, but uh that's good just to note and where that that that last verse is popping in. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:07:04.000 And a lot of the Psalms in the first two books, so verses uh Psalms 1 to 72, a lot of them are attributed to David, and so that's why we have this uh this verse at the end. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:21.600 Um even though actually after this, there's a few more Psalms on to the in the rest of the Psalms to Psalm 150, there's a few more Psalms that are attributed to David, and but there's a significant amount of of these two um that are uh that are um attributed to David. 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:32.720 And um so there's this note at the end saying that these are the the uh prayers or the psalms of David, uh the son of Jesse, and that they're ended. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:48.480 Um but regardless of whether the Psalm is written by Solomon or for him, that of Solomon could mean for Solomon, um, or if it's just about Solomon, sorry, a king or or for if it's written for a king. 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:55.839 What the writer is saying is that the king needs to recognize that justice and righteousness come from God and that this king needs it. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:03.759 So it's probably a prayer that would have been prayed for a king, maybe for Solomon, as he was taking uh as he was taking the throne. 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:16.319 And this Psalm is a prayer that he would rule and reign in such a way that people flourish, that the land prospers, and that there's peace. 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:22.399 You see that word prosperity in verse 3, if you look at it, so in verse 3 it says, Let the mountains bear prosperity. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:27.040 That's actually the Hebrew word shalom, which a lot of you might know is often translated as peace. 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:32.559 And it is that it means peace, but it means wholeness and prosperity. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:37.679 And that's what the psalmist prays for here under a righteous and just king. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:41.600 The psalmist clearly recognizes that this comes from God. 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:48.480 He prays that God would give him your justice and your righteousness, God's justice and righteousness. 00:08:50.080 --> 00:09:04.320 And you might know, um, if you know the story of Solomon at all, if you ever heard that as a kid, or if you've read about it in 1 uh Kings or 2 Chronicles, that there's a lot of uh there's a lot of similarities here with the life of Solomon, especially at the start. 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:11.279 Solomon was so humble and he said to God that he didn't have the ability in and of himself to govern the kingdom. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:15.440 So he asked God for wisdom to do so. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:20.240 You don't need to jump uh to 1 Kings now, but if you're taking notes, maybe just pop down. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:27.039 1 Kings 3 is where we read about it, and we're gonna read a bit in uh 2 Chronicles 9. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:32.000 Uh that's where we we learn about the and we hear about the history of King Solomon and his life. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:41.840 But in 1 Kings 3 7, he says, And now, O Lord, my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:56.559 You might see the link there between uh the royal son in uh verse 1, the royal son in verse 1 of our Psalm, and here uh Solomon is he's David's son, he's the he's the king's son, the royal son. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:59.120 Anyway, let's keep going in 1 Kings 3 here. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:09.840 He says, I do not know how to go out or come in, and your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:18.159 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:31.039 So Solomon prayed to God that he would give him his righteousness and justice to govern well, an understanding mind to govern your people, like is prayed for here in Psalm 72. 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.360 And it was a good thing that Solomon did this. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:38.639 It's a good thing that he asked for wisdom to govern, because God commended him for it. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:53.600 And it led the kingdom of Israel to grow to its largest extent, like uh in in terms of its dominion and wealth, and Israel prospered like never before because God gave justice and righteousness to Solomon, the king in his reign. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:05.120 And some of the ways uh we see this prosperity, or at least uh the prayer for prosperity in the land under such uh a righteous and just king in Psalm 72 are places like verse 3. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:07.360 Like I said, let the mountains bear prosperity. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:15.759 Verse 16, if you if you jump down to verse 16 of Psalm 72, may there be abundance of grain in the land on the tops of the mountains, may it wave. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:26.559 I don't know if you've ever driven through uh mountains, maybe uh maybe you've been to the Wicklow Mountains to Glendelock or somewhere like that, and you may have noticed that there isn't much grain growing there. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:32.320 It's only really good for, it's certainly in Ireland, uh we keep lots of sheep and maybe some cattle. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:38.799 Um there might be coniferous trees growing there, uh good trees for for timber for building. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:43.279 Uh, that's what's grow that's what grows on mountains because the land isn't very good. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:12:03.200 I was uh blessed to grow up on a hill that overlooks this uh a beautiful valley uh that actually looked across to the Wicklow Mountains, and in the valley every year uh you could see fields changing from light green in spring through to dark green and gold and yellow uh through the summer and into the into the autumn. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:11.039 And that's where the good land was, down in the down in the valley, this broad valley, the second longest river in Ireland, the river Barrow flows through it. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:14.159 So it's a really rich and fertile place where they grow grain. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:25.840 But up around us, I could hear cattle and sheep, and again, there was commercial forestry up there because the land down in the valley was uh fertile, and up on the hill, up on the mountain, it's not fertile. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:35.360 If you do plant grain there, um you might get you might get uh a plant to grow, you might get grain to grow a bit, but it's not going to be growing like this. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:54.080 It's not gonna be uh like in verse 16, where uh the the it waves that that idea that it's actually growing so tall that it's kind of it's bending under the the weight of the produce, of the corn or the grain, uh, or whatever, yeah, whatever it is being uh grown. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:13:00.399 So it's this uh this amazing abundance, even on the top of the mountains. 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:12.240 And a king who brings prosperity like this uh to a land, it's right that they should be praised and honored for reigning with justice and righteousness, for ruling in such a way as to cause the kingdom to prosper. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:14.720 And don't we long for a king like this? 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:20.960 One who reigns with righteousness and justice and brings prosperity uh to the land and to all. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:26.639 Another link uh to the life of Solomon I want to look at is the link to Sheba. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:32.399 So we see there's a link in Sheba is mentioned in verses 10 and 15. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:37.200 Uh may the kings of Sheba and Sebah bring gifts, their different kingdoms. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:42.559 And then in verse 15, may gold of Sheba be given to him. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:50.399 So uh we looked already at 1 Kings 3, and I'm gonna read some uh some verses from 2 Chronicles 9. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:52.240 Um, if you want to take note of that. 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:56.879 Again, I don't I don't need you to go to 2 Chronicles right now if you don't uh want to. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:59.200 Just hear uh this account. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:05.600 So now when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:10.799 And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind, and Solomon answered all her questions. 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:14.480 There was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her. 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:30.799 And when the Queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendants of his servants and their clothing, his cupbearers and their clothing, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her. 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:41.840 And she said to the king, The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came, and my own eyes had seen it. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:45.279 And behold, half the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:47.519 You surpassed the report that I heard. 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:52.320 Happy are your wives, happy are these servants who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:59.440 Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the Lord your God. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:08.000 Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:15.200 Then she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:19.840 Listen to those words again of Queen Sheba, the Queen of Sheba, sorry. 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:28.720 Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:37.360 She recognized God's goodness to his people in making Solomon king because of his righteousness, because of his justice. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:40.960 Which we see in the Psalm. 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:51.360 And then again, like in the Psalms, she gave a ton of gold and other gifts because of his great reign, because he ruled with justice and righteousness, and that's what should happen. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:58.960 And we long for such a king who rules with justice and righteousness, the justice and righteousness of God. 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:11.759 But all this justice, all this righteousness is really uh it is really significant, an important part of uh of the rule of any authority, but the psalmist doesn't leave it there. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:23.919 A king who is just and righteousness alone, he may have great success and power, but this amazing king in Psalm 72, the one we long for is compassionate and loving too. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:28.159 That's our second sub point here of why we long for this king. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:31.440 We long for this compassionate and loving king. 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:34.000 I mean, if you just look at verse 4. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:43.200 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor. 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:54.480 The motivation of this king is not merely to grow a kingdom for his own fame and glory, but his purposes for doing so are for the sake of the poor and needy in the land, the weak and the helpless. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:58.399 This king uses his power to crush the oppressor. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:10.319 How often do we hear of, and maybe we experience, power and authority not being used for the sake of the poor and the needy, the weak and the vulnerable. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:21.039 It's heartbreaking to hear how so many authority they they leverage their power to get what they want at the expense of those under them. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:24.720 They're the ones who are oppressing. 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:27.119 This king isn't like that, though. 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:32.480 Like we've read from verse 4, he uses his power to defend and deliver the poor and the needy. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:38.160 In fact, he releases them from this and redeems them by crushing the oppressor. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:43.279 There's such poetic justice here that the oppressor is crushed. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:49.200 Uh, even even the poetry written about this just king is just itself. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:58.799 I want to highlight the importance of seeing this compassion, this love coupled with the power and authority. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:06.480 If a king were to rule with justice and righteousness alone, like I said, it would it would be a cold reign. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:09.200 It might have success, but it would be a cold reign. 00:18:09.359 --> 00:18:14.559 On the other hand, if a king rules with compassion and love only, it's merely sentimental. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:16.400 The two must come together. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:19.119 The two must be together. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:25.759 Righteousness and justice are good and they're necessary, and so love and compassion uh must go with them too. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:33.039 One of the commentators uh on this, Sam, very cleverly said that righteousness is the soil in which peace flourishes. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.279 They don't happen apart from each other. 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:41.279 A king who rules like this should be praised and honored, and we long for a king like this. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.880 At this point, I I want us to pause for a minute and to reflect. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:54.960 As we've been looking at the use of authority, um, I kind of mentioned it there. 00:18:55.279 --> 00:19:10.240 You might be thinking about rulers and governments through history or today, here in this part of the world or farther afield, where they're not just, where people do not prosper, where the defenseless are used for another's gain. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:16.319 It's good that we pray for our governments and authorities to rule with justice and righteousness, compassion and care. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:20.000 And it's good that we fight for and speak out against injustice. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:24.079 But I also want us to be somewhat introspective. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:29.440 I don't think there's any kings or queens, uh, princes or princesses. 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:32.160 I don't think we have any elect elected officials here. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:33.359 Maybe we do. 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:42.720 Uh but many of you have been given authority and if not, will be given authority at some stage in your workplaces, in your communities, and in your families. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:49.759 And it's good to pray for ourselves and to reflect on how we currently use or how we would use any authority given to us. 00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:54.160 I'm asking questions that are provoked by this. 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.000 Sorry, am I just and righteous? 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:05.359 Do I recognise and acknowledge that righteousness and justice they come from God, that they're God given, that I need to ask Him for it? 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.160 Are my motives for my fame and glory? 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:11.359 Do I consider the poor and needy the weak and vulnerable? 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:18.640 Am I tempted to leverage my position for my gain at the expense of those around me, especially those under me? 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:32.000 Some of you are in industries and workplaces where the culture is not for managers to show compassion, where the end justifies the means and all the while uh people are sacrificed. 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:40.960 And love and compassion are seen as weak, they're seen as antithetical to prosperity and success rather than what we see here in this psalm. 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:51.119 Ask God for his justice, ask him for his righteousness, ask him that you might be compassionate and loving in those places, and for the strength to do so. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:57.440 The strength to be countercultural in your thoughts, in your words, and your actions in those places. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:08.559 Let's think again about this king that we long for, this king in Psalm 72. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:17.119 Because as we've been reading this, you might you might have noticed already that this kind of king doesn't really exist. 00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:22.799 A king who's perfectly just and righteous in his judgment, judgments, yet compassionate and loving. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:31.759 You know this from your experience uh with authority, and you know this from you might know this from the life of Solomon. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:48.480 Despite being humble in asking for wisdom from God, Solomon was sinful and human, and he ended up using his power for himself, acting without justice or righteousness, without compassion or love at times. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:55.359 And that's all without even mentioning uh the unbelievable nature of the dominion of the king in Psalms 72. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.759 Uh there's it's it's scattered through there of how his uh dominion is. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:07.519 To extend to the ends of the earth and over every king and nation, from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:16.240 All rulers, whether inland, in the desert, or on the coast or islands, they will render this king tribute. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:18.880 And then there's the time scale of his dominion. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:21.599 It's until the sun and the moon are no more. 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:29.039 Despite Solomon's relatively successful reign, he was never going to achieve such vast heights. 00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:34.160 No king or government has or ever will achieve this kind of dominion either. 00:22:35.119 --> 00:22:37.839 This Psalm points forward to a different king. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:39.680 It points to Jesus. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:42.079 And that's our third sub-point. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:50.640 This is the king that we long for, the king that we long for like this, the king who is just and righteous, compassionate and loving. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:52.400 This king is Jesus. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:57.279 You can see that throughout throughout the Psalm, can't you, with the these descriptions? 00:22:57.519 --> 00:22:59.759 Who delivers and saves the needy? 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:01.759 It's Jesus. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:04.000 But let me take you quickly. 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:07.039 I want to just go from the text. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:15.920 And these pictures, uh, these descriptions do you can you can pair them very really easily to different different things that you know about Jesus and what he did. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:19.759 But I want to go directly from the text, and this is where I'm going to ask you to do a little bit of work. 00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:25.039 Um we're going to go from uh verse eight to Zechariah 9. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:28.079 I'll show you where that is in a minute, and then to Matthew. 00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:32.319 So stick in Psalm 72, keep your finger in Psalm 72 or a bookmark or whatever. 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:35.839 Um if you have it, a lot of you are on your phones. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:37.119 It'll be fairly easy. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:38.640 There's only there are only a few apart. 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:42.000 Um, but we're gonna look just just read Psalm 72, verse 8. 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:46.880 So Psalm 72, verse 8, before we leave uh Psalm 72 for a minute or two. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:52.240 May he have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:55.759 He's got this, this this is talking about his dominion and where it will be. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:58.240 It'll be from sea to sea, it'll be from the river. 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:03.920 That's probably uh the river Euphrates that was uh that's that's over that way, um, to the ends of the earth. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:08.079 There's this idea that his his reign will will cover the whole earth. 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:14.559 So I want you to jump then to the second last book of the Old Testament, Zechariah chapter nine. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:25.839 So second last book of the Old Testament, Zechariah chapter nine. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:28.240 Hopefully you're able to find that. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:38.559 Zechariah chapter nine, verse ten, you'll see it's pretty much the same as the verse we just read. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:55.039 So if you see at uh the last two lines in Zechariah 9, chapter 9, verse 10, it says, His rule shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:59.200 So Zechariah was talking about this this king as well. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:08.160 And if we if you just go up to verse 9 there in Zechariah chapter 9, you'll see that he is talking about the king. 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:14.400 He says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:17.039 Behold, your king is coming to you. 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:22.079 It's the king like we've been talking about in Psalm 72, and then it goes on. 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:29.119 Righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:33.279 Again, there's allusions there to things that we've been talking about in Psalm 72. 00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:38.160 He's righteous, saving his people, being compassionate and loving towards them. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:50.079 And maybe you're starting to see Jesus uh in this uh in Matthew 21, we have the triumphal entry, and verse 5 is actually a quote of Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9. 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:57.519 So if you'll just jump forward two books into the New Testament to Matthew, chapter 21. 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:13.599 So Matthew chapter 21 and verse 5, it's a quote from Zechariah 9:9 here, which we just read. 00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:26.160 It says, say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:42.079 This was just uh the week before, uh the week of Jesus' death on the cross, and he's he comes into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, fulfilling this prophecy from Zechariah 9, fulfilling really the prophecy showing that he's the perfect king of Psalm 72. 00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:52.559 And uh just in Matthew 21, verse 9, the the crowds truly did recognize, uh, or they they at least somewhat recognized uh what was going on. 00:26:52.640 --> 00:27:01.279 They said uh in verse 9, and the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, Hosanna to the son of David. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:05.920 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:09.039 That's the royal son of Psalm 72. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:13.039 And Jesus was of David's line. 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:15.119 The crowd was starting to recognize this. 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:26.559 They welcomed Jesus as the king promised in Psalm 72, and he indeed he is that king, the perfect fulfillment of the king in Psalm 72. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:30.960 And what we see of Jesus in the Gospels is a king who is righteous and just. 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:27.039 Ruling with righteousness, justice, compassion, love, and care. 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:29.119 Don't we all need this king? 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:30.720 Don't we all long for him? 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:41.519 Don't we desire that he would have dominion from sea to sea, as it says in Psalm 72 here, that all nations and kings would come and worship him and serve him. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:45.359 They would call him blessed, they would see how amazing he is. 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:52.400 In our prayer for authorities and rulers, we should also pray that his kingdom would come as we've been taught by him. 00:28:53.119 --> 00:29:02.000 The gospels record how Jesus was ushering in the kingdom, and it ends with him sending out his disciples to the ends of the earth to preach the good news of the kingdom. 00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:06.160 But what about the citizens of this kingdom? 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:07.599 What about his people? 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:16.400 Psalm 72 gives us a pretty amazing perspective on life with Jesus as king, what it's like to be loved by this king. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:18.319 And that's our second main point. 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:25.519 Firstly, we looked at that we should long for this king, and now we're gonna look, we're gonna see that we should be loved by this king. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:30.160 We can be loved by this king, and what does it mean to be loved by this king? 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:36.240 We'll look again at Psalm 72 if you want to flick back there. 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:40.559 So, Psalm 72, we see that the people prosper and flourish. 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:48.000 That's what it means to be loved by the king, and it's not just it's not just the strong people or the smart people or the well-connected people. 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:58.240 It's very clear in this Psalm that the weak, the vulnerable, the needy, the oppressed, the helpless, the poor, they all thrive and they flourish in this kingdom. 00:29:59.359 --> 00:30:05.039 One day all things will be made new, and the tops of the mountains will teem with abundance for the people. 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:09.279 There'll be grain growing and waving on the tops of the mountains. 00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:14.480 It's remarkable that in verse 3 that it says that this is for the people. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:18.079 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people. 00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:25.920 The fruit of the land in verse 16 will be the best of the best, like in Lebanon. 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:28.720 The people will blossom in the cities too. 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:34.079 How beautiful it is, this description of people living under this king. 00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:42.240 All will be made right in the land and in society to the ends of the earth, not only now, forever. 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:44.960 How we long for that day. 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:53.839 But those under King Jesus still flourish today, and increasingly so as they continue to submit to and worship King Jesus. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:31:00.880 So we flourish, we prosper under this King as we're loved by Him. 00:31:01.279 --> 00:31:04.160 King Jesus also saves and delivers His people. 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:08.880 We're helped, saved, and delivered by this King, by King Jesus. 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:13.759 This goes hand in hand with people flourishing under his righteousness and his righteous and just rule. 00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:19.920 I mean, how can people flourish if they're in need of rescuing and they're in need of being freed? 00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:22.400 So King Jesus does that. 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:29.920 In verse 3, he defends the cause of the poor, he gives deliverance to the children of the needy, and he crushes the oppressor. 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:35.440 Jump down to 12 to 14, verses 12 to 14. 00:31:35.680 --> 00:31:40.000 For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. 00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:44.000 He has pity on the weak and the needy and saves the lives of the needy. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:49.759 From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:53.599 How has Jesus done this? 00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:57.839 How has he delivered the needy, the poor, and the helpless like us? 00:31:58.000 --> 00:31:59.519 How has Jesus saved their life? 00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:04.079 How has he redeemed them and shown that their blood is precious in his sight? 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:07.119 In his cross. 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:14.640 When he was announced as the king of the Jews, when he was given a crown of thorns, when his blood was shed. 00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:22.400 The blood of his people is so precious to him that his blood was shed for them. 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:28.160 On the cross, he redeemed the lives of his people from the oppression of sin and death. 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:38.160 On the cross, he crushed the oppressor, he delivered the children of the needy, and he defended the cause of the poor of the people. 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:47.759 On the cross, we see in a truly amazing way how King Jesus, the righteous and just one, had compassion for the weak and needy. 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:50.480 How he loved the poor and the vulnerable. 00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:54.480 It's righteousness and justice, it's compassion and love coming together. 00:32:54.640 --> 00:32:56.559 We see that at the cross. 00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:09.039 But who is it that's part of his kingdom? 00:33:11.359 --> 00:33:25.519 If you're here today and you wouldn't call yourself a Christian, you wouldn't say that Jesus is King of your life, then I would urge you to consider him, to see the beauty, to see the wholeness and goodness of life under him. 00:33:27.279 --> 00:33:28.720 The life that he offers. 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:39.440 To acknowledge your need of him as you see, through this psalm, it's for the sake of the needy, it's for the sake of the poor, the sake of the defenseless, the helpless. 00:33:41.839 --> 00:33:45.039 Acknowledge your need of him as one who is poor in spirit. 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:49.680 Call on him for deliverance and help to save and redeem your life. 00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:56.319 Verse 9 is a reality that those who don't submit to him will be defeated. 00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:00.640 One day his enemies will lick the dust. 00:34:02.319 --> 00:34:07.680 Those who do call to him, however, he refreshes like rain that falls on the moan grass. 00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:10.480 Like showers that water the earth. 00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:17.360 Those who are in his kingdom, they flourish and have peace both now and on into eternity. 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:26.400 So we're loved by this king. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:32.239 And that brings us on to our next point that we should live for this king. 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:34.800 We should love and glorify him. 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:46.320 So live for him. 00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:51.039 He's done wondrous things, as it says at the end of this Psalm. 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:53.119 So glorify him. 00:34:55.679 --> 00:35:03.199 So in this last point, and a couple of subpoints again, how do we respond to this perfect king? 00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:08.960 How do we respond to a king, King Jesus, who rules with God's righteousness and justice? 00:35:09.840 --> 00:35:14.000 Well, he's worthy of honor and praise, so we worship him. 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:18.880 The perfect king is worthy of our worship. 00:35:20.159 --> 00:35:21.760 He's worthy of our worship. 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:31.679 Jesus is worthy of our worship for who he is, for being righteous, for being just, for his wisdom, his authority, for his compassion and love. 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:35.039 We acknowledge his perfection, that's worshiping him. 00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:37.360 We marvel at it, that's worshiping him. 00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:40.719 And we burst out in songs of praise. 00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:44.239 We tell of his compassion and love, wanting everyone to know him. 00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:52.239 And we should look at where we don't worship him. 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:55.840 We should look at what parts of our lives that Jesus is not King. 00:35:56.960 --> 00:36:02.800 What are we giving authority to in our hearts as King instead of King Jesus? 00:36:04.719 --> 00:36:07.199 All kings will fall down before him. 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:10.800 Submit these things that we're making king. 00:36:11.519 --> 00:36:17.039 Submit them to the perfect king and live for him. 00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:22.159 I want us to remember the context of this psalm for a moment. 00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:30.639 It's a prayer for the king as he's about to set out on his reign, that he would rule with righteousness and justice, and in that to be compassionate and loving. 00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:35.039 As I said before, this is what we should be praying for our authorities. 00:36:35.280 --> 00:36:45.039 It's good and right to pray for them, even if we don't agree with them or if we feel hard done by sometimes because of the way they exercise their authority. 00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:48.480 We should pray that they govern with righteousness. 00:36:48.639 --> 00:36:52.320 We should pray that they are just and that they judge us rightly. 00:36:53.119 --> 00:37:02.480 And we should pray all this, recognizing that it's God who gives us who gives authority and it's he who gives his righteousness and justice. 00:37:02.800 --> 00:37:07.199 And where we see good governance, we should thank God and worship him for it. 00:37:07.360 --> 00:37:12.639 Where we see injustice and suffering, we should pray for that power to be used to crush the oppressor. 00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:21.760 This is actually worship uh to Jesus, that we should see that his authority and his rule uh cover the whole earth in every aspect. 00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:25.920 So we should worship King Jesus. 00:37:26.239 --> 00:37:35.920 That's how we respond to this perfect king, and we should also uh we should also live for him because he gives us life. 00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:46.320 He's saved us, he's redeemed us, he's given us life, and so we live for him. 00:37:46.559 --> 00:37:54.480 That's our second sub point here under under how we should respond to this king that we should live for, love, and glorify him. 00:37:56.880 --> 00:38:02.159 And this life that he gives us, it's not just mere existence, but it's true life. 00:38:02.960 --> 00:38:06.159 The life he gives is one of abundance and flourishing. 00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:08.719 And what do you do with such a life? 00:38:09.519 --> 00:38:16.079 I think it can actually be summed up a lot in what God said uh to Adam and Eve in the garden, be fruitful and multiply. 00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:20.159 God has given us so much, so we use what he's given us. 00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:22.400 We enjoy his good gifts. 00:38:23.760 --> 00:38:26.639 The amazing thing here is that we don't earn this. 00:38:26.800 --> 00:38:31.039 It's clear in this psalm again that we're the weak and the needy ones. 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:35.599 We don't come with anything, yet God gives us this abundant life. 00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:38.480 So be fruitful and multiply. 00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:46.639 In the Gospels, especially in Matthew, Jesus teaches about what kingdom life is like, what it means to live for Him. 00:38:47.039 --> 00:38:49.519 So it's important that we look to His teachings. 00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:53.679 He teaches that we should love God and that we should love others. 00:38:54.000 --> 00:39:06.159 Elsewhere in the New Testament, we're taught about what the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 00:39:07.039 --> 00:39:13.360 One thing that you might have picked up on in verse 12 is that the king delivers the one who has no helper. 00:39:13.599 --> 00:39:21.519 And through our series in John, we saw how Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to all his people, and the Holy Spirit is our helper. 00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:31.199 So this part of the abundance the King gives to his people is that he actually gives us himself, he gives us the Holy Spirit. 00:39:31.440 --> 00:39:41.199 And it's out of that, by the enabling of the Holy Spirit, that we can live for him, that we can have the fruit of the Spirit, that we can love God and love others. 00:39:41.760 --> 00:39:47.280 So in calling us to live for him, I don't call you to do it on your own strength. 00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:50.719 It's in his strength, it's by the power of his spirit. 00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:59.440 And he has done wondrous and glorious things. 00:39:59.679 --> 00:40:02.000 He has done wondrous things, so we glorify him. 00:40:02.239 --> 00:40:04.880 If you look at the the end of the Psalm. 00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:10.480 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. 00:40:10.639 --> 00:40:13.039 Blessed be his glorious name forever. 00:40:13.199 --> 00:40:16.000 May the whole earth be filled with his glory. 00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:22.559 Verses 18 to 19 that I just read there, uh, that's a doxology. 00:40:22.639 --> 00:40:29.039 It's the end of there's a doxology at the end of each of one of those books of the Psalms, the five books of the Psalms that I mentioned. 00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:31.679 This is the doxology at the end of book two. 00:40:31.920 --> 00:40:39.920 And it's it's a fitting end not only to uh every book of the Psalms, giving praise uh to God, giving worship to Him. 00:40:40.079 --> 00:40:44.079 Doxology is just uh an expression of praise and worship uh to God. 00:40:44.159 --> 00:40:53.599 It's fitting at the end of uh book two and every book, but it's also fitting at the end of this Psalm that it points our eyes up to worship God. 00:40:53.840 --> 00:41:00.480 It points our eyes forward to see that the whole earth will be filled with his glory. 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:10.719 This doxology and this psalm tell of the wondrous things God has done and that he alone is worthy of glory. 00:41:11.280 --> 00:41:20.639 As we worship him for who he is, as we live for him, the one who has given us life, we do so to bring glory to his name. 00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:29.760 We know that the whole earth will be filled with his glory, as we see here, and so we invite the nations to serve him. 00:41:30.400 --> 00:41:36.400 All kings, we invite them to bow down before King Jesus, and that's how we live. 00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:54.800 So we long for this King who judges with righteousness and justice, who gave his life in love to save his people, that we may flourish, that we may blossom, and so we live lives of worship to him, bringing glory to his name.