He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight.
✙ Ps 72:12-14
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Calvin said of these verses that "the psalmist again affirms that the kingdom which he magnifies so
greatly will not be tyrannical or cruel. The majority of kings,
neglecting the well-being of the community, have their minds wholly
engrossed with their own private interests. The consequence is, that
they unmercifully oppress their miserable subjects; and it even happens
that the more formidable any of them is, and the more absorbing his
rapacity, he is accounted so much the more eminent and illustrious. But
it is far different with the king here described. It has been held as a
proverb by all [humankind], 'That there is nothing in which [people] approach
nearer to God than by their beneficence'; and it would be very
inconsistent did not this virtue shine forth in those kings whom God
has more nearly linked to himself."
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What we're doing when we read in the Hebrew Bible about the justice of the realms of David and Solomon, about how they provided for the lowliest of their subjects, is looking ahead to Christ. The tyrant ruler always exists as a possibility—perhaps even the norm. But the tyrant in his (or, I suppose her) display of power does not reflect the image of their Creator. It is in kindness and justice that we see God.
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Psalm 72 therefore should call us not only to pay attention to and minister to God's people, but it should also call on us to reëvaluate what good leadership is—and maybe even redefine the word strength. So much of what passes for "strength" among powerful men (and sometimes women, but usually it's men) is really just a pathological fear of losing power or being exposed. The strength that God grants is seen in a servant king and in a crucified Savior.
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Thank you, God, for so fully and beautifully defining for me the strength demanded of those who lead in your Name and serve your people. Forgive my worship of human strength, and grant me the courage to stand against it when it oppresses or neglects the least among us; in the Name of the One who died to show me the true nature of strength, even Jesus Christ my Savior, who taught me to pray: Our Father...
