Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness to the king’s Son. He will judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice. (Psalm 72:1-2)
As we previously mentioned, Jewish tradition teaches that David wrote this prayer on behalf of his son, Solomon, as his son prepared to ascend the throne. The king’s petition was that the Davidic throne be occupied by one who would rule God’s people with righteousness, justice and a God-given ability to discern between good and evil. When two women, each claiming to be the mother of an infant, came before Solomon, he famously discerned the identity of the real mother without the aid of witnesses. That is when the people knew that God had, indeed, imbued him with unprecedented wisdom.
This display of wisdom, and other such examples of God’s favor upon Solomon, has led some Bible scholars, ancient and contemporary, to view Solomon’s reign as a foreshadowing of Messiah’s reign. That being so, the prayer David offered on Solomon’s behalf is also assigned to the Messiah. In other words, it was and is believed that King Messiah would exhibit the same, if not superior, level of wisdom exhibited by Solomon. Of course Yeshua, who is greater than Solomon, frequently discerned the hearts and minds of those He encountered leaving them to admit, “We never saw anything like this!” (Luke 4:12). When He discussed the Scripture, He discharged such wisdom that people were continually “astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority” (Matthew 7:28-29).
History clearly reveals that perfect and total justice cannot be attained as long as men are in charge. Even the best of our leaders fall short unless they are wholly given over to being guided by the Spirit of God, and we know that those leaders are few and far between. That is why all who desire truth, justice, and righteousness to prevail long for the day when the Messiah will sit upon His Throne, “judging, seeking justice and hastening righteousness” (Isaiah 16:5). But until that day, we are tasked with exhibiting righteousness and justice in the earth, therefore, we need the Wisdom that is from above that we might be more like our Master. So, let us petition Heaven for wisdom that is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). Amen.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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