The final words of Psalm 72 have posed a puzzle to many students of Scripture, and most commentators easily pass over the words as nothing but an editorial comment. The fact that there are other psalms of David located further on in our Psalter only leads them to conclude that there must have been different collections of songs and prayers in Old Testament times, and this editorial note only reflects the end of one such collection.

However, passing off these words as an editorial comment of little import hardly does justice to them. Particularly if we consider that in all probability David wrote this psalm late in his life, on the occasion of Solomon's coronation, we find their significance increases. In the psalm David expresses his parting wish regarding the reign of Solomon his son, and prays that as a king of peace, Solomon may bring justice to the poor, prosperity in his borders, and Israel's fame and renown over all the world. It forms a prayer which includes and incorporates David's own consciousness of his shortcomings in his office, as well as his hope of redemption in the great King who was coming, the Messiah.

So the Church has always taken this as a Messianic psalm, and rightly so, since David's prayer obviously thinks beyond the day of his immediate realm to the glorious kingdom which God had promised to His people. David's prayer for Solomon includes and incorporates his faith in the promise that deliverance and universal peace would come in a greater Son, the Messiah, whom God would send at the proper time. And while David was aware that the fulfillment of the promise had not fully come with Solomon, he also confesses that the LORD has proceeded from strength to strength, and that in Solomon a new stage in the history of redemption sets in, in which the former sins are washed away, and the punishment of a rule of perpetual bloodshed and warfare has been lifted. A reign of peace and prosperity has dawned for the people of God, and that is the end of all prayer, the fulfillment of the deepest wish.

Standing in the same faith in which David stood, we from our position can see how this psalm came to its full fulfillment in the birth and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, His coming is the fulfillment of the ancient promise! That is why with His coming one can say that the prayer of David, the son of Jesse, has come to its end. For in confessing his humble origins, David also points ahead to the glorious office of humble obedience that his great Son will fulfill. His glory will far surpass that of Solomon's, but not by a show of human strength similar to Solomon's; rather, the unsurpassable glory will be revealed in His perfect obedience as the good Shepherd who carries out the will of the Father for our redemption.

And we who confess His perfect obedience before God can only voice our “Amen” to David's closing words in the psalm. For the Messiah has come, and is now revealed as the glorious King on high. And through His Spirit, we await the full breakthrough of His heavenly reign on earth, by which the forces of oppression and terror will be fully destroyed and the new age will blossom in fullness. So all the prayers of the church are summed up in the same cry of confident hope and expectation: “Maranatha!” “Dona nobis pacem!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” And we also may know that this prayer will be answered with the archangel's cry:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased.Luke 2:14

And it remains His perfect obedience in His first coming that only fills the church with greater hope, and more certain conviction as we await His final return in glory. He has come, He has brought deliverance to the captives. He has defended the cause of the poor of the people, given deliverance to the needy, and crushed the oppressor, cf. vs. 4. For He has broken the root and cause of all sin and oppression by nailing it to the cross in His death, and triumphing over it in His resurrection.

So we can understand why the ancient church always used this Psalm in the festival of Ephiphany, and why to this very day it remains the doxology of the LORD's universal triumph in Christ Jesus the Son. David sang of Solomon, and looked for the growth and expansion of his kingdom under Solomon's rule; but as a prophet he also spoke of the universal reign of God which would come into this world in the birth and completed work of Jesus Christ.

We may also understand why David could speak of this prayer as His final prayer. After you have asked for this, and the LORD hears, what else is there to ask? And after this glorious reign enters the world, what more is there left to desire and hope for? Here all prayer ends, for the reality of what is prayed for has come. All petition turns to praise and thanksgiving!

So David's note of triumph may also fill our hearts as we again may celebrate the festival of the birth of the Son of God in the flesh. And the joy of the festival may be deeper and more triumphant, all the more as we see dark and foreboding clouds of gloom come over this world. For in both national and international relations the willingness to forbear and work out differences peacefully is increasingly disappearing. Terror reigns in earth's dark places.

Yet His reign is dawning! And just as the evil one thinks he has achieved something of a victory, the Man from heaven will come, and slay him with the breath of his mouth. Then all petition will end, and we will also join in the festive song of those who sing to the one triune God:

Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things! Amen and Amen!