A Psalm to follow a re-shuffle

One of today’s Psalms in the pattern from the old BCP is Psalm 72. Reading it in the context of the news of this week’s surprise re-shuffle of the UK government, I found it interesting to see what the psalmist considers important for a ruler to do.

“Give the king your justice” opens verse 1, and much of the psalm is praying blessing on the king – may he live forever, may he have dominion from sea to sea, may gold be given to him, and may his fame continue as long as the sun. Of course, although we do have a king in the UK, political power now rests with the Prime Minister and government and, depending on your political persuasion, you may or may not wish to pray all those things for the present government.

But that’s not my point. What struck me from the psalm was what the king, then, and perhaps we can say the government, now, is supposed to do with the power they have. Specifically, three times the psalm mentions those people who are poor, and the king’s attitude and actions in relation to them.

“May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice” (v.2) Although we can tend to assume that ‘judge’ is a negative word it simply means to make decisions, and the reference to righteousness and justice requires the king to show good judgement, ideally reflecting God’s justice and righteousness, with consideration of the poor specifically included within the whole of the people.

Verse 4 is more specific: “May [the king] defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor.” Here the king is expected to be active in the cause of those who need it most – people who are poor, people in need, and people who are oppressed.

Interestingly, in between, verse 3 prays for prosperity for the people in general, but the king’s actions are not required for this; prosperity comes from the mountains, perhaps a reference to life in general, not needing particular government intervention.

The third mention of the poor is in verse 12, where the reverence of other kings (verse 11) is dependent upon our king’s care for the poor and needy: “May all kings fall down before him, all nations give him service. For he delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper.” This suggests that a king’s (or government’s) international reputation depends on their treatment of people who are in need!

Let’s pray for our government, that, whatever else they do, they act justly for all people including those who are poor, they act on behalf of those who are poor and oppressed and are unable to defend themselves, and that the reputation they seek is one built on those actions.

Perhaps that seems a long way off, but the psalm finishes by acknowledging that God does wondrous things, and that, ultimately, is where our hope lies.