The Glorious Reign of Messiah

 By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher

 

Text: Psalm 72

 

Psalm 72 :18-19

Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who only does wondrous things!
¹⁹ And blessed be His glorious name forever!
And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen.

(NKJV)

 

 

In 1 Thessalonians 4:18, we are reminded to comfort one another with anticipation of the return of Christ. In Revelation 19:11-21, John sees a vision of what this return of Jesus on a white horse will be like and how the Antichrist and his armies will be defeated. Unfortunately, many in the world do not know or believe this, which is why the Church must be diligent in bringing the gospel to the world.

 

Psalm 72 begins with the psalmist asking God to give the king His judgments and His righteousness to the king’s son (Psalm 72:1). The king will judge the Lord’s people with righteousness and His poor with justice (Psalm 72:2). The mountains and hills of the land will bring peace by righteousness, with the king bringing justice to the poor, saving the children of the needy, and breaking the oppressor in pieces (Psalm 72:3-4).

 

The people shall fear the Lord throughout all generations as long as the sun and moon endure (Psalm 72:5). The Lord shall come down like rain on the grass, like showers watering the earth, with the righteous flourishing and an abundance of peace until the moon is no more (Psalm 72:6-7). The Lord shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth, with those in the wilderness bowing before Him and His enemies licking the dust (Psalm 72:8-9). The kings of Tarshish and the isles will bring the King presents with the kings of Sheba and Seba offering gifts, and all kings falling down before Him and all nations serving Him (Psalm 72:10-11).

 

The needy, poor, and those with no helper will be delivered and the poor and needy spared and their souls saved (Psalm 72:12-13). The Lord will redeem their lives from oppression and violence because their blood is precious in His sight (Psalm 72:14). The Lord shall live and the gold of Sheba will be given to Him with prayer made for Him continually and with Him praised daily (Psalm 72:15). There will be an abundance of grain in the earth, and on the mountains, with its fruit waving like Lebanon, and those in the city flourishing like the grass of the earth (Psalm 72:16).

 

The name of the Lord shall endure forever with His name continuing as long as the sun, with men blessed in Him and all nations calling Him blessed (Psalm 72:17). The psalmist then blesses the Lord God of Israel who only does wonderous things with His glorious name blessed forever, and the whole earth filled with His glory (Psalm 72:18-19). The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended (Psalm 72:20).

 

This is believed to be the last prayer of David in the psalms and offers a prayer for his son Solomon who will ascend to the throne (Psalm 72:1-4) but also gives glory to the coming Messiah (Psalm 72:5-20). As David nears the end of his life, his son Solomon is about to take over as king. Since the word king is not capitalized in Psalm 72:1, this is not speaking of God as King but instead a prayer for an earthly king. Since it mentions the kings Son, it is probably a prayer for Solomon who will be king after David’s death. From verse five forward, the references to the king are capitalized like the word You in Psalm 72:5, leading to the belief that the psalmist is shifting gears to the Messiah. These passages also speak of a King who rules the world and not just the king of Israel, offering a glorification of the reign of Messiah.

 

The glorification of the Messiah offered in this psalm speaks of Jesus’ second coming, something the disciples of Christ should still anticipate. However, we are impatient individuals and with the ascension of Christ almost two thousand years in the past, the preaching of the return of Christ is not mentioned in some churches today. This is sad and a failure to offer hope to people as the church is instructed to do in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. It is also important to understand that a thousand years to God is like one day (2 Peter 3:8), and that the Lord is giving people an opportunity to choose Him (2 Peter 3:9).

 

However, God does not expect his church to sit around anticipating his return, but to be diligent in sharing the gospel with the world (Acts 1:8; Mark 16:15; Matthew 29:19-20). As ambassadors for Christ, we must extol the benefits of becoming a citizen of the Kingdom of Christ by sharing the gospel (2 Corinthians 5:20). If you are reading this and are not yet a citizen of the Kingdom of Christ, I invite you to do so by praying with me now.

 

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9). I believe you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

 

If you meant what you just prayed, know God has forgiven all your sins and that you now have a relationship with God and are a child of God (Romans 8:16). Like any relationship, it grows as we get to know each other. While God already knows all about us, we must study the Bible, the word of God, to learn more about Him. If you just prayed, I encourage you to find a Church that teaches the truth of the Bible so you can learn more about the Lord. May God convict, challenge, and bless everyone reading this post.