This Psalm concludes “book two” of the “five books” of Psalms (I: 1-41; II: 42-72; III: 73-89; IV: 90-106; V: 107-150), and is one of two Psalms attributed to Solomon, David’s son.
“Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor! May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth! In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more! May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!” (v1-2,4,6-8,12-14,17)
On my first read-through, my initial thought was “Solomon thinks pretty highly of himself”… but then I read it again and questioned whether or not Solomon was actually the subject of it… I did some further reflection and study and discovered that most scholars believe this is Messianic in nature, a passage that speaks of the future King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ. I read it a third time in that context, and I too now think this Psalm speaks of Jesus – given the context, Jesus is the only person who makes sense (not even Solomon could think that highly of himself).
The nature of this passage is echoed in some of Isaiah, including 11:1-5: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.” In that passage some nearly identical language is used to describe Jesus, including how He will treat people with righteousness, justice, and equity (which was counter-cultural at the time – most people mistreated those who were “lesser than themselves” [unfortunately, we still have some problems with that today]).
The Psalm also draws attention to the sovereignty of the King – there will be no limits to His reach (“from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth”). The power and longevity of the King is also mentioned (“From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun!”). Clearly, this could only be talking about Jesus, who else in scripture is called a sovereign, all-powerful redeemer?
Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, all-powerful redeemer, we come before You today in awe of who You are. From sea to sea and to the ends of the earth You will reign forever, and we praise You for Your wise and merciful rule. We praise You for the righteousness and equity with which You watch over us, redeeming all those who call upon Your name, and encouraging all to come before You. It is not Your will that any should perish but all would have eternal life which was purchased by Your sacrifice. All honor, glory and praise be to You, Son of God, Son of David, who took away the sin of the world.
~ Conqueror in Training