Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

¹ Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.
² He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice.
³ The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness.
⁴ He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.
⁵ He will endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations.
⁶ He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth.
⁷ In his days the righteous will flourish; prosperity will abound till the moon is no more.
⁸ He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
⁹ The desert tribes will bow before him and his enemies will lick the dust.
¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts.
¹¹ All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him.
¹² For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help.
¹³ He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.
¹⁴ He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.
¹⁵ Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long.
¹⁶ Let grain abound throughout the land; on the tops of the hills may it sway. Let its fruit flourish like Lebanon; let it thrive like the grass of the field.
¹⁷ May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.
¹⁸ Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.
¹⁹ Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.
²⁰ This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.

As I read this psalm I see the words of a man who love his son and want the best for him. David had many sons, and like Adam and every generation after him children do not always follow the dreams of their parents. As a parent of seven children and a former middle school teacher I know how at an early age a child’s early focus is on self. This is the nature of mankind. The free will of a child to chose their future path may be influence by others, but the final decision will be theirs. We can was a parent or someone involved in an young person’s live set an example, however as David concludes in this psalm we must include prayer. We must come to the conclusion that is it God who directs path, we are just to set the examples.