Psalm 72

The title can be read either as a psalm of Solomon or a psalm for Solomon — his own coronation prayer, or his father's prayer over him. The closing line, that the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended, favours reading it as David's last public prayer for his son; the Hebrew allows both, and both have been held.

The place names are trade routes, not poetry. Tarshish was a far western port reached by long sea voyages, Sheba the incense kingdom of south Arabia, and Seba lay across the Red Sea. All three were real trading partners — the queen from Sheba arrived with spices, gold, and precious stones, and Solomon's ships worked a three-year run to Tarshish. Kings bringing gifts from those places was a description of the actual customs traffic.

The boundaries are covenant boundaries. From the River — the Euphrates — to the ends of the earth, and from sea to sea, traces the land promised to Abraham. Solomon's reign came closer to holding that map than any before or after.

The job description is the striking part. This king is measured not by conquest but by the poor: he judges the poor of the people, saves the children of the needy, breaks the oppressor, and counts their blood as precious. Kings across the ancient Near East claimed that standard for themselves — the stele carrying Hammurabi's laws says he was raised up so the strong would not oppress the weak — so Israel's readers knew the claim and knew how rarely it was true.