Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
Parallel translations
- WEB By Solomon. God, give the king your justice; your righteousness to the royal son.
- BSB Of Solomon. Endow the king with Your justice, O God, and the son of the king with Your righteousness.
- NKJV Give the king Your judgments, O God, And Your righteousness to the king’s Son.
- NASB Give the king Your judgments, God, And Your righteousness to the king’s son.
- NLT Give your love of justice to the king, O God, and righteousness to the king’s son.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The psalm prays that God would grant the king his own justice and righteousness, so that the king might rule as God does.
Overview
This royal psalm, associated with Solomon, asks God to endow the king with divine justice. A righteous reign depends on God-given justice, not mere human wisdom. While Solomon partly fulfilled this, its ideal points beyond any earthly king to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the truly righteous King whose reign perfectly embodies God's justice (Isaiah 9:6-7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 23:5–6Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
- 1 Chr 22:12–13Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.
- 2 Chr 1:10Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?
- 1 Chr 29:19And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.
- 1 Kgs 1:39And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.
- Isa 11:2And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
- Ps 127:1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
- John 3:34For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
- Heb 1:8–9But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 72:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.