Chapter Seventy-One

According to the inscription in the Slavic Bible, this psalm belongs to David and was written by him concerning Solomon, thus appearing as the prayer of a king for his son, the heir to the throne. In the Hebrew Bible, however, it bears the inscription “A Psalm of Solomon” (the Russian translation is incorrect). From the fact that the historical books say nothing of David’s deathbed prayer for Solomon, silence concerning such an important event—the testament of the Hebrew beloved king—would be incredible had such a fact actually occurred; further, from the fact that localities such as Tarshish and Sheba are mentioned here, unknown in David’s time but becoming known only in Solomon’s, when he began lively commercial relations with the first (1 Sam 10:22; 2 Chr 9:21), and from the second came to him a queen (1 Sam 10:1-10)—David could not have known of them and could not have spoken of them outside the conditions and setting of his own time; and finally, from the fact that, differing in its style of reasoning, which David’s psalms do not possess, it shows great similarity to Solomon’s prayer at Gibeon (1 Sam 3:5-10), we must conclude that the author of the psalm was Solomon. The psalm itself presents in its content a depiction of that ideal of a king and kingdom which Solomon pictured to himself and which he desired to realize.

If he prays about himself in the third person, this is not unusual in the Psalter. For example, David in Ps 17 prays about himself in the third person; Psalms 19 and 20 are written by him about himself from the perspective of the people. The LXX inscription, attributing this psalm to David, is probably explained by the fact that after this psalm there is a note, “Here end the prayers of David,” that is, this psalm concludes the collection of David’s songs, and so they changed the inscription to mean “a psalm concerning Solomon.” But one cannot understand this note literally. In the collections preceding the LXX psalm there are psalms belonging to the sons of Korah (43–48), to Asaph (49), and this inscription merely indicates the predominant, principal abundance of psalms of David in this collection, with him as the writer a potiori, rather than the sole author.

O God! Grant the king’s son the strength to establish justice and peace; may his reign be as beneficial as rain is to the earth (1–6). His kingdom will be eternal and will spread throughout the world and over all nations, for he will protect the needy from violence (7–14). They will pray for him constantly; his reign will be full of outward blessings and all tribes will congratulate him (15–17). Blessed be the Lord forever! (18–19).

Psalm 71:1. O God! Grant the king Your judgment and the king’s son Your righteousness, Psalm 71:2. That he may judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice; “Judgment” and “righteousness” are synonymous expressions, meaning Solomon’s desire to be strictly just in judicial matters, making his decisions in accordance with the substance of the matter, rather than from any external, accidental considerations, however much they might serve to influence him. Such, for example, was his decision of the disputed case of the two harlots (see 1 Sam 3:16-28). His decisions, since they rest only on justice, must therefore be impartial: they are the same for all people, both the noble and the strong and the weak and poor (“the poor”).

Psalm 71:3. Let the mountains bring peace to the people and the hills righteousness; Psalm 71:4. He will judge the poor of the people, save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor,— “Let the mountains bring peace to the people and the hills righteousness”—may peaceful life and justice govern the life of people, may everyone feel secure in the confidence that his justice will always find protection, and the “oppressor” living by fraud and injustice—will receive punishment. “Mountains” and “hills” are elevated localities, visible from afar; may legality govern everywhere, as mountains and hills are visible from all places. By analogy with 6:1-2 of the Prophet Micah (Mic 6:1-2) by mountains and hills one can understand the noble classes of the Hebrew people, who, by virtue of their dominant position, are able to oppress those beneath them. Then this expression will mean—may the sense of law and justice be adopted also by the upper class.

Psalm 71:5. And they will fear You, while the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. Psalm 71:6. He will come down like rain on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth; Psalm 71:7. In his days the righteous will flourish, and there will be abundance of peace until the moon is no more; “While the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.” The sun and moon, which outlive generations of people and always remain unchanged, are symbols of stability and eternity. May the reign of this king be eternal and unchanging, as the sun and moon eternally and unchangeably shine; may the principles of his reign (legality, peace, and justice) be inviolably passed down from generation to generation, throughout all ages. May his reign be the same sign of God’s favor toward the king and people as the fleece was for Gideon; may his reign be as beneficial as rain is useful to the plant and animal world. “The righteous will flourish, and there will be abundance of peace”—may the predominant, governing characteristic of his reign be justice and fullness of peace (“abundance of peace”).

Psalm 71:8. He will rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth; Psalm 71:9. The inhabitants of the wilderness will bow before him, and his enemies will lick the dust; Psalm 71:10. The kings of Tarshish and the islands will bring him tribute; the kings of Arabia and Sheba will bring him gifts; “From sea to sea”—from the Mediterranean Sea, the western boundary of Palestine, to the “sea,” probably the Indian Ocean on the east; “from the river,” thus called as the Euphrates—the northern boundary of the world known to the ancient Hebrew, “to the ends of the earth”—to the extreme, final boundary of the world on the south. The meaning is—may the possessions of this king embrace the entire world. “The inhabitants of the wilderness will bow before him,”—that is, wild peoples, independent of any rulers and self-governing tribes. “Lick the dust.” Among Eastern peoples (Assyrians, Egyptians, and Indians) there was a custom of kissing on the ground the footprints of a ruler as a sign of special respect. May enemies show the king the signs of the deepest respect. “The kings of Tarshish”—Tarshish is a city in Spain; “of the islands”—the Phoenician islands in the Mediterranean Sea, west of Palestine. “Sheba”—from Hebrew Sheva. Some place this locality in happy (southern) Arabia (which, by the parallelism of contrasting speech is more probable), others in Africa, namely in present-day Abyssinia. May the power of this king extend not only to the lands of peoples but also to the peoples themselves; may all peoples and kings submit to him. Here geographic points of east and west are taken as the extreme points for depicting lands of the entire world.

Psalm 71:12. For he will deliver the needy who cry out and the oppressed who has no helper. Psalm 71:13. He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and save the lives of the needy; Psalm 71:14. From fraud and violence he will deliver their souls, and precious will be their blood in his sight; Psalm 71:15. And he will live, and they will give him gold from Arabia, and they will pray for him constantly, every day they will bless him; The spread of the dominion of this king will be achieved, however, not through conquests, not through violent means, but through peaceful—by the voluntary submission to him of all peoples, because of the conviction rooted in them that only his reign is a kingdom of peace and justice. “Precious will be their blood in his sight”—he will protect the righteous from violence and will preserve and cherish their life (“blood” is the bearer of life); that is, in his kingdom the righteous will prevail and will be supreme. Therefore the name of this king will always be honored, he will live in the memory of the people, he will be brought gifts of Arabian gold, distinguished for its value because of the abundance of nuggets, and day after day people will pray for him and his reign.

Psalm 71:16. There will be abundance of grain in the land, on the tops of the mountains; its fruit will wave like the forest on Lebanon, and in the cities people will flourish like the grass of the earth; Psalm 71:17. His name will be blessed forever; as long as the sun endures, his name will be transmitted; and through him they will be blessed—all the peoples of the earth will congratulate him. Because the reign of the king will be peaceful and will take possession of all countries and peoples, the hostile relationships between them must cease. All the efforts of man will then be directed toward the development of a peaceful culture, which will reach such a height that “there will be abundance of grain... on the tops of the mountains.” Man will find a way to work the previously bare and barren summits, where vegetation will appear so valuable in its fruits that it will surpass the rich cedar forests of Lebanon, which were famous throughout the world as the best material for building ships and which brought the Hebrews considerable income. “In the cities people will flourish like the grass.” The population in the cities under peaceful conditions of existence will increase so that it will be numerous as grass. “And through him they will be blessed”—through this king, through the adoption of the principles of his reign prosperity (“be blessed”) will pass to all the inhabitants and peoples of the earth.

Psalm 71:18. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, the only one who does wonders, Psalm 71:19. And blessed be the name of His glory forever, and may His glory fill all the earth. Amen and amen. Verses 18–19 do not belong to the writer of the psalm; they are an addition by the compiler of the collections of psalms, such as we find at the end of each collection of psalms in the Psalter. Psalm 71, as we have said, presents a depiction of that ideal of a king and kingdom which Solomon pictured to himself and toward whose possible approximation he directed his efforts. But the historical, known Solomon only began his reign in the spirit indicated by the psalm. There were no wars during his time, the Hebrews enjoyed external well-being—each had his own vineyard and his own tent, and also respect among foreigners; his judicial decisions astounded his contemporaries and his name became known throughout the world. In the second half of his life, however, he, as is known, earned even condemnation from God. And in fact, the ideal depicted here is beyond the capacity of man in general. The king is depicted as eternal (verse 5), his possessions—the entire earth and peoples (verses 8–11), his kingdom—the complete embodiment and realization of peace (verses 12 and 16). Such a reign can belong only to God. The ideal of the kingdom depicted by Solomon found realization in Jesus Christ, whose teaching is a teaching of love and forgiveness, whose kingdom is a kingdom of peace and righteousness and whose purpose is to spread throughout all the earth and forever. The historical Solomon only partially, at the beginning of his activity, realized his ideal, which will be fully achieved and only can be achieved in the kingdom of Christ. Therefore, all the content of the psalm has a typological-messianic meaning. Then verse 16, apart from the direct meaning already indicated by us, can have the following. The bare summits can denote the pagan nations in general, which, because of the falsity of their religions, had neither proper teaching about God nor elevated morality, and almost had no righteous people. With the adoption and assimilation of Christianity by them, the righteous will appear among them more than on Lebanon, that is, among the Hebrews, which indeed has already been realized, since the Hebrews did not accept the teaching of Christ, but the pagans readily followed and follow Him. * * * Notes The Euphrates.