Psalm 72: Etiquette of the King

Verse 2: May the king judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.

The etiquette of the king is found in just judgment. This is so that even the weak can find refuge from the strong. The significance of just judgment in the conclusion of David's psalm (verse 20) is great. Since David's psalms are composed of both prayer and praise to God, it is expected that his psalms are concerned with handling matters that arise in his relationship with God and himself. However, the conclusion of David's psalm is completed with "just judgment." The proper relationship between God and the king must be manifested in "fair judgment." The unseen vertical relationship with God must be manifested in the visible horizontal relationship. Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:15ff.), which refers to both vertical and horizontal relationships (esse sequitur agere: to be is to act). Therefore, to know if David prayed and praised properly, we can discern it from how he treated and judged the weak. Psalm 72 is Solomon's psalm and also the last of David's psalms. When Solomon came into power, he sought "wisdom for just judgment" through the so-called "one thousand burnt offerings," which is consistent with the theme of this psalm.