The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer tribute
The verse prays that kings from the far west and the far south — Tarshish, the coastlands, Sheba and Seba — will bring tribute to one King. Who is that King, why do foreign rulers bring Him gifts, and when does this happen?
David wrote Psalm 72 with his son Solomon in view. But the tribute described here is far larger than anything Solomon ever received.
Psalm 72, which closes the second book, predicts the glory of His coming kingdom. David started to write his desires for Solomon in poetic form. But the Holy Spirit caught him up into His own thoughts about the One that Solomon only faintly pictured. The KING of this psalm receives tribute from the kings of Tarshish and the coastlands, and from the kings of Sheba and Seba. He is so great that "all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him." There is no doubt that He is the King of kings. No one is that but Jesus.
Tarshish lay far to the west, at the end of the old sea trade routes.
The ships of Tarshish were the most famous for merchandise in ancient times. Psalm 72:10 by itself shows that Tarshish was a large stretch of country. It was not just the well-known city of Tartessus at the mouth of the Baetis river.
Seba lies in the opposite direction, deep in Africa.
Seba was a son of Cush, who was a son of Ham. The name also stands for the land where his descendants lived (Genesis 10:7; 1 Chronicles 1:9; Psalm 72:10; Isaiah 43:3). Those descendants have been traced to Meroe, west of Abyssinia. Josephus says that Meroe was once called Saba, or Seba.
A gift sent from one ruler to another was not a courtesy. It said who ranked higher.
Presents went from an inferior to a superior (2 Chronicles 9:24; 17:5, 11). They also took the form of tribute, an acknowledgement of submission (1 Samuel 10:27; 1 Kings 4:21). When Solomon reigned supreme, "all the earth" came to Solomon to hear his wisdom and brought presents, as the queen of Sheba did (1 Kings 10:2, 24, 25). This is a picture of Christ's kingdom set up on earth, when all nations will send presents, as willing tribute, to the Lord Jesus (Psalm 45:12; Psalm 72:10, 15; Isaiah 60:9).
The gifts come after the King's power has settled who rules.
So Christ as the King wins universal dominion by the display of His power in righteous judgment. After that, having put down all rule and all authority and power, He reigns as Prince of peace.
The nations do not disappear under this reign.
The nations will have their own kings in that day. But they will all recognise the supremacy of the Lord Jesus, as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 21:24-26; Psalm 72:10-11).
Not every bowed knee means a changed heart.
The prophetic scriptures show this everywhere, even on the surface. Once Christ establishes His kingdom in the age to come, all men must submit to His rule. Even though enmity may still hold their hearts, they will offer their subjection.
A small group of foreigners has already done what this verse describes. They did it at a cradle.
The wise men from the East do not come to the meek and lowly One. They come to Him "who has been born king of the Jews." Their visit is a foretaste of the homage of the nations, when the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render Him tribute, and the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts.
- Tribute — a present from one king to another admitted rank, not kindness. Here the world hands that rank to Christ.
- Distance — Tarshish lies west by sea, Seba south into Africa. The names show how far the surrender reaches.
- Order — righteous judgment first, then dominion, then tribute, and last the reign of peace.
- Variety — nations keep their own kings and identities; what changes is that every one of them bows.
- Down payment — the wise men's gifts to the newborn King were the first instalment. The rest of the tribute is still to come.
Yea, all kings shall bow down before him; all nations shall serve him.
David wrote Psalm 72 for his son Solomon, yet verse 11 describes a rule no son of David has ever held. Every king bows and every nation serves — so who is this King, and how does He win such homage?
The psalm carries Solomon's name. Commentators read it as a prayer for him, with a greater King in view.
This psalm is a prayer for Solomon, not by Solomon, because David wrote it (v. 20). Solomon's name means "peaceableness". He is a picture of Christ reigning in the thousand-year kingdom, after His warfare — pictured in David's history — has defeated every enemy.
The reach of verse 11 bursts out of Solomon's lifetime. It also settles what sort of kingdom this is: an earthly one, promised to Abraham and to David.
Here is a remarkable prophecy of David's Son. Solomon fulfilled only a small part of it. The true Seed, the Second Man, has still to fulfil the rest… Most of this language cannot be applied to the Church in any sense. But take it as a literal fulfilment of the promises God gave to Abraham and David about the earth. Take it as a description of a kingdom that comes in by judgment and brings blessing to the whole world. Read that way, the picture God draws is perfect.
Verse 11 gathers up the kingdoms named just before it. Those names cover the map on purpose.
Tarshish and the islands lie west of Palestine; Sheba and Seba lie south-east… so every family of the earth seems to be represented in the homage given here. These conquests may be entirely peaceful ones. Nothing else is suggested… The peoples seem to stand for the trade of the world, which now, for the first time in its history, owns Christ. Its profits are set apart for the Lord of the whole earth.
The word "yea" marks a rising movement in the psalm: desert dwellers bow, then distant kings send tribute, then the last exception disappears.
But the tide of homage swells: "all kings bow down before Him; all nations serve Him." The worldwide empire is complete at last. At last the cross truly becomes the symbol of power and rule over all, and under it the earth rests, quiet in sabbath rest.
The verse names two groups, not one: kings, and nations. That difference matters, and it turns today's order of power upside down.
The same difference appears in the kingdom of the thousand years. Speaking of the honour to be given to the Messiah, it says, "All kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him" (Psalm 72:11). Both the rulers and their peoples will be of one mind… Today kings and nations serve and exalt themselves. But then, as we read in Zechariah, "everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles."
The psalm gives its own reason why worldwide honour belongs to this King and to no other.
He alone is worthy to receive riches, honour, glory and might. He will use all of it to rescue the needy and the poor when they cry out. He will be the Helper of the helpless, and the Redeemer of people from corruption and violence. In His sight the lives of the poor and the helpless will be precious.
Commentators are careful here. Universal submission is not the same as universal love, and other psalms supply the qualification.
The fact lies everywhere, even on the surface of the prophetic scriptures. Once Christ's kingdom is set up in the age to come, all people must submit to His rule. Even if hatred still fills their hearts, they will offer their submission. So we read several times in the Psalms that many, afraid at the display of His power, will give Him a pretended obedience.
One scene in the Gospels gives an early sample of verse 11. Visitors from outside Israel knelt before a child in a house.
The works of creation led them to the God who made them. They recognised Him in the lowly Child in Joseph's house, and bowed in worship before Him, offering their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. So they gave a first pledge that the prophecy would be fulfilled: "The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents… Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him."
- Type — Solomon's peaceful reign is the small model; the psalm's full scale belongs to a greater Son of David.
- Reach — Tarshish, the isles, Sheba and Seba span the compass, so every family of the earth is there.
- Climax — Verse 11 is the swell at its height: the last exception is gone and the empire is complete.
- Ground — He is worthy of that homage because He spends His power on the needy, the helpless and the crying.
- Response — Submission will be worldwide, but not every heart in it is willing. The visitors who knelt before the child show what real homage looks like.
For he will deliver the needy who crieth, and the afflicted, who hath no helper;
The verse opens with a "for." It gives the reason behind the worldwide homage just described, where kings bow down and nations serve. The King who receives the tribute of the whole earth is the same King who stoops to the person nobody else will help.
The verses before describe a kingdom that reaches everywhere and rules over all. This verse says why such a kingdom belongs to this King.
Here follows the reason why this glorious kingdom should be given to Christ — a kingdom marked by righteousness and peace, endurance, prosperity, universality and supremacy. He alone is worthy to receive riches, honour, glory and might. He will use all these things to deliver the needy and the poor when they cry, to be the Helper of the helpless, and the Redeemer of men from corruption and violence. In His sight the lives of the poor and the helpless will be precious.
One writer sees in "him who has no helper" the exact position every saved person once stood in.
Once again, before the book closes, we are called to look at the blessing of a rule which is service. It is a glory with no stain or shadow on it. Here is a David who is free to show the "kindness of God" to the maimed and ruined children of shame wherever they may be found. Deliverance for the needy who cries, for the afflicted who has no helper — that is what the sign of the cross means, and by this we know the Lord. Everyone who owes his salvation to Him must know that no help was possible for him anywhere else, and that he could find it in no other.
The verse shows a second side to the kingdom, beyond righteous judgment.
But Christ's kingdom is not simply a reign of righteousness; it is emphatically for salvation. Psalm 72 gives the grand picture: He judges the poor of the people, saves the children of the needy, and breaks the oppressor in pieces. This saving side of the kingdom must be in the picture now, or it would not be an adequate representation at all. What worthy idea of God could leave out His grace?
Absolute authority in one hand and gentleness in the other is not a combination the world has seen in its rulers.
His rule of peace will be like the refreshing rain that waters the earth, to make it bring forth welcome fruit (v. 6). How different from a pelting flood that sweeps away everything before it, as the rule of some tyrants has been! In Christ it is wonderful to see absolute power combined with the gentleness of tender compassion.
Commentators differ over who "the needy" are. One writer reads the phrase narrowly, of a particular group of sufferers.
His righteous rule will of course involve the deliverance and vindication of the oppressed and afflicted. All through the ages the poor and needy have been trampled down in the scramble of life. But "the poor and needy" in view here are without doubt the godly people whom the anti-Christian powers of the last days will persecute.
Many hope that human progress will bring this in. One writer says no set of laws can do it.
Christ will put every injustice right at once. It follows of necessity from the Messiah's righteous rule. So the psalm says He delivers the needy who cries, and the poor who has no helper. Men like to dream that this is the goal of human enlightenment and progress. But they are ignorant of, or forget, the incurable corruption of human nature. So they do not consider that even if the whole world had just and equal laws, those laws would still fail in how men administer or apply them. No — Christ is the only hope for the earth, as He is for the believer.
Full care for the poor waits for His reign. Yet His people have work to do now.
Only under His righteous rule will the poor be properly cared for. In the meantime the Spirit of God insists through the apostles that we remember the poor — the very thing Paul himself was eager to do (Gal. 2:10). So today, though public government does not care properly for the poor, God has made His Church responsible to do so, though of course in a very limited sphere.
- Cause — The "for" makes the helpless the reason for the crown. He alone is worthy of riches, honour, glory and might, because He will spend them all on the needy.
- Cry — Deliverance begins with a cry. The one addressed here is the person with no other help left, which is the position every saved soul once knew.
- Character — This is not bare justice. It is a reign "emphatically for salvation," and no worthy idea of God can leave out His grace.
- Contrast — Better laws cannot produce it. Human nature spoils every system; Christ is the only hope for the earth.
- Call — Until He reigns, His people carry the same care in a smaller sphere: remember the poor.
He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and will save the souls of the needy
Psalm 72 is a prayer for a king, and its title ties it to Solomon. Yet the reign it describes goes far beyond anything Solomon ever saw. Verse 13 sits at the heart of that picture. It says something surprising about supreme power: this King bends toward the people nobody else notices.
Solomon's reign matched part of this psalm. One writer says most of it still waits for a greater King:
Here is a remarkable prophecy about David's Son. Only a small part of it was fulfilled in Solomon. The rest still waits for the true Seed, the Second Man, to carry it out… In no sense does most of this language apply to the Church. But take it as a literal fulfilment of the promises God gave to Abraham and David about the earth. Take it as a description of a kingdom that judgment brings in and that brings blessing to the whole world. Then the picture is divinely perfect.
Others set the scene in the same direction, describing the psalm as introducing "the full reign of peace and royal blessing," with "the Son of David… the source and securer of millennial blessings."
One writer follows this grace through the psalm and shows how such a reign begins:
Solomon's reign was cut short so sadly. This King's reign of righteousness will outshine it in splendor, and last far longer… But His reign will also begin as Solomon's never began. He will come down like rain that falls on the mown grass (v. 6). He brings heavenly blessing to the very place where judgment has done its work and left nothing to harvest. Under His gentle influence a new harvest will spring up… Notice this character of grace in our psalm. It brings compassion, deliverance and salvation, to bring the afflicted out from under the yoke of the oppressor.
A righteous king could stop at punishing wrongdoers. This verse goes further: He saves lives. One writer calls that side essential to any true picture of God's rule:
But Christ's kingdom is not only a reign of righteousness. It is strongly a kingdom for salvation. You see it in the great picture of Psalm 72… The picture must show this saving side of the kingdom, or it would not be a true picture at all. What worthy idea of God could leave out His grace?
"The poor and needy" can be read broadly, of anyone crushed by life. One commentator narrows it, reading the psalm against the pressures of the last days:
His reign will bring deliverance and vindication to the oppressed and afflicted. True, in every age the poor and needy have been trampled down in the scramble of life. But "the poor and needy" in view here are surely the godly people whom the anti-Christian powers of the last days will persecute. The coming Roman leader will "wear out the saints of the Most High" (Dan. 7:25). The King of kings will bring deliverance instead.
Many people hope that progress will bring this in one day. Writing on these verses, one commentator says why that hope fails:
People dream that this is where human enlightenment and progress will end up. But they do not know, or they forget, how incurably corrupt human nature is. So they never stop to think that even if the whole world got just and equal laws, those laws would still fail — either when people run them or when people apply them. No. Christ is the only hope for the earth.
The world already cries out for what only this King can give:
The nations long and cry out for peace, for righteousness in government, for justice between one person and another. They groan under poverty, tyranny and oppression. Who could meet their desires but the One who will judge His people with righteousness and His poor with justice? Let the nations read this Psalm 72, and verses 12-14 above all. Then let them say whether the answer to everything they want is not right here.
The way this King treats the needy shows what God's heart is like — and that has a claim on us:
It is always so in the Scriptures: the lonely, the sorrowful and the oppressed are the special objects of His tender mercy. One of the psalms describes them as the needy, the poor, and the one who has no helper (Ps. 72), and says of them, "From oppression and violence He redeems their life, and precious is their blood in His sight." We can learn from a scripture like this. It teaches us how to share the heart of God in practice. If we want to walk with Him, His interests and His aims must be ours too.
- The King. The psalm outruns Solomon. Writers take it as a picture of David's greater Son reigning over the earth.
- The pity. His rule opens not with force but with grace — rain on ground that judgment has already mown bare.
- The saving. His throne does more than settle disputes. It rescues, because no true picture of God's rule leaves out His grace.
- The reach. He notices the ones with no helper. One commentator sees them as the godly crushed by persecution in the last days.
- The claim. No reform of law can bring in this reign. Those who wait for it must make His concerns their own now.
He will redeem their souls from oppression and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
Psalm 72 closes David's prayers with a picture of a King whose greatness shows in His care for people no one else defends. Verse 14 is where that care costs the most: it promises rescue from violence, and it calls their blood precious.
Verses 12–14 are not a footnote to the psalm's picture of world rule. They are the reason that rule is His.
Verses 12–14 give the reason why Christ should receive this glorious kingdom, a kingdom marked by righteousness and peace, endurance, prosperity, worldwide reach and supremacy. He alone is worthy to receive riches, honour, glory and might. He will use all these things to deliver the needy and the poor when they cry. He will be the Helper of the helpless, and the Redeemer of men from corruption and violence. In His sight the lives of the poor and the helpless will be precious.
The poor here are not just the weak of every age. One writer points to a specific group facing a specific enemy.
It is true that all through the ages it is the poor and needy who have been trodden down in the scramble of life. But "the poor and needy" in view here are without doubt the godly people whom the anti-Christian powers of the last days will persecute. The coming Roman leader shall "wear out the saints of the Most High" (Dan. 7:25), whereas the King of kings will bring in deliverance.
"Redeem" means a price was paid. One writer names that price, and explains why God calls their blood precious even if it is never spilt.
Added to this is the assurance that their life is redeemed. That is, it is brought back from the bondage of oppression by the only redemption price God allows: the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on Calvary (v. 14). Their blood will be precious in God's sight, just as the blood of Abel was (Gen. 4:10). This will be true whether their blood is actually shed or whether the enemy only plotted their death.
Commentators differ on whether that blood is ever spilt. The writer just quoted allows for it. Another reads the verse as a promise that God keeps His people alive, and sets it beside the line about the death of God's saints being precious to Him. (Older translations read "deceit and violence" where the ESV has "oppression and violence.")
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." He learns this because God keeps him alive on the earth. As the context shows, this verse speaks of saints kept alive, not of saints who die. Revelation 14:13 will give comfort to those who die during the tribulation. Here it is one preserved alive who speaks. We have something similar to this in Psalm 72:14. "He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight." God will not allow it to be shed.
Later in the Psalms, the same people look back and say the promise came true.
Deliverance had been experienced from death, which had threatened. Precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of His saints, so He had kept them from it. What had been foretold in Psalm 72:14, they had now found to be true. So they would give thanks, and do it openly in the courts of the Lord's house, in the middle of Jerusalem.
Verses 12–14 describe the end of injustice. One writer warns against reading that as a forecast of human progress.
Men foolishly dream that this is the goal of human enlightenment and progress. But they are ignorant of, or forget, the incurable corruption of human nature. So they do not consider that even if the whole world got just and equal laws, those laws would fail, either in how they are carried out or in how they are applied. No; Christ is the only hope for the earth, as He is for the saint.
The people God defends here show what He cares about — and what He asks us to care about.
It is always so in the Scriptures — those who are lonely, sorrowful, or oppressed are the special objects of His tender mercy. They are described in one of the psalms as the needy, the poor, and the one who has no helper (Ps. 72). Of them it is said, "From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight." Surely we may gather instruction for ourselves from such a scripture. It teaches us how we may have practical fellowship with the heart of God. If we want to walk with Him, His interests and objects must be ours too.
- Worthy — verses 12–14 give the reason this King receives the whole earth. He will spend riches, honour and might on the helpless.
- Redeemed — "redeem" means someone paid a price, and the only price God accepts is the sacrifice of Christ.
- Precious — God values their blood as He valued Abel's, whether the enemy spills it or only plots to.
- Preserved — God's promise is to keep them alive through the violence. Later they give thanks in public that it came true.
- Practised — the lonely and oppressed are the objects of His tender mercy. Caring for them is how we share His heart now.
And he shall live; and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba; and prayer shall be made for him continually all the day shall he be blessed.
Psalm 72 is a prayer for a king — Solomon by name, but with promises far larger than any son of David ever filled. Verse 15 packs four of them into one line: the king lives, Sheba's gold comes to him, prayer rises for him, and blessing follows him all day long.
So many details fit Solomon's own reign that a reader could miss the prophecy in it.
Psalm 72 is a psalm "concerning Solomon." At first glance, human reason may even doubt that it is prophetic and speaks of the reign of Christ. So many of its details fit Solomon's own reign exactly.
Yet the psalm reaches past its own king. One writer reads it of Christ:
While the psalm speaks literally of Solomon, I think it points to Christ reigning as a true man on earth. Verse 17 shows that the point is not uncertainty about how long He rules, but the effect of His rule on the hearts of all who live under it.
Genesis 5 lists the long-lived fathers before the flood. Each entry closes the same way — and he died. Set beside that refrain, the words about David's Son land with force. The older translation these writers use reads "And he shall live" where the ESV has "Long may he live."
The words "and he died," repeated so many times in this chapter, stand in striking contrast to the words "And He shall live," which are written of David's Son and Lord in Psalm 72:15.
People in Jesus' day stumbled here. They held that the Christ stays forever, and they had not taken in that He must also die. One writer shows how both are true, and in what order:
It is true that the Christ will abide for ever (Ps. 72:15-17; Isa. 9:7; Ezek. 37:25; Dan. 7:14). But that would be in resurrection, when He reigns in power. His humiliation and death were predicted just as clearly, and they had not grasped this. So they were left with their difficulty.
Gold arriving from Sheba is not a trade deal. In Scripture a gift carried from a lesser to a greater carries a meaning, and the queen of Sheba's visit to Solomon is the pattern.
A present goes from someone lower to someone higher… It also took the form of tribute, an acknowledgement of submission… When Solomon reigned supreme, "all the earth" came to Solomon to hear his wisdom and brought presents, as the queen of Sheba did. This is a picture of Christ's kingdom set up on earth, when all nations will send presents to the Lord Jesus as willing tribute (Ps. 45:12; Ps. 72:10, 15; Isa. 60:9).
Why pray for the King at all? One writer traces the prayer back to what people receive under His rule.
The words "prayer shall be made continually for him" show one simple thing. The blessings people enjoy through Him make them long and ask for His glory and for His rule to continue.
Another writer sees the King Himself in this prayer, and points back to Solomon:
And further still, if I may say it, He will depend on God in His day of strength, just as He has already done in His day of sorrow and weakness. That is why we read, "Prayer shall be made for Him continually." Solomon, the king who pictured Him, by a public act of prayer placed the kingdom he had received under the care of the God of Israel (Ps. 72; 2 Chr. 6).
Commentators differ here. The writers above read the verse of the King. Another applies it to the rescued people described just before, in verses 12–14:
The verse seems closely connected with verses 12-14. The godly remnant of Israel will not only be spared, saved and redeemed. "He shall live" — they receive a new life, eternal life. They are also given the gold of Sheba, which speaks of how precious it is to know Christ as the Son of God. How valuable this will be to them then, since Israel had first rejected Christ because He said He is the Son of God! Added to this blessing, we are told, "prayer shall be made for him continually" — that is, Christ Himself will keep interceding for the godly… "All the day shall he be blessed" — the whole day of the thousand-year reign.
- Lives — against the drumbeat of "and he died" in Genesis 5, this King lives. His endless life belongs to resurrection and to His reign in power.
- Reigns — the words fit Solomon so closely that the prophecy hides inside history, yet the reign described outgrows him.
- Receives — Sheba's gold is tribute, not trade. It pictures all nations bringing willing gifts to Christ.
- Prayed for — prayer for the King is not worry about His throne. It rises from people who enjoy His rule and want it to last.
- Praised — the blessing spoken over Him all day long shows what His rule does to the hearts of everyone under it.