He’s King of Israel, King of the Ages, King of Saints, King of Righteousness & Peace, and King of kings.
We mentioned earlier that Psalm 71 could be titled, “A Prayer For Old Age,” and that Psalm 72 might be “A Prayer From Old Age.” There’s no mention of the psalmist’s advancing years in Psalm 72, as in the previous psalm. In fact, it’s an entirely selfless paean of praise to the King of Glory. Why then our title? Notice what may seem, at first glance, to be a contradiction. The title reads, “A Psalm of Solomon.” But the concluding statement says, “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended” (Ps 72:20). It could be that the preposition in the title should be “for”—“A Psalm for Solomon.” But it may also be that David, in his advanced years, dictated this to his son who recorded it, listing his father as author. What a beautiful scene, with the old king and the young king delighting in the King of kings. The psalm has five stanzas and a doxology (vv 18-19) since it concludes Book II of the Psalter. Stanza 1 (vv 1-4) speaks of The King’s Righteous Reign. He is the rightful heir to the king-priest Melchizedek’s titles—King of Righteousness and King of Peace. We see here what Isaiah later describes “the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever” (Isa 32:17). Notice the repeated words, “judgments…righteousness…judge…righteousness…justice…righteousness…justice” (vv 1-4), and in the middle, “peace” (v 3). Stanza 2 (vv 5-7), presents The King’s Eternal Reign: “As long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations” (v 5). Eternal life isn’t merely length of life but quality of life. Christ who is our Life will be for the eternal refreshment and invigoration of His people, “like showers that water the earth” (v 6). Thus, “In His days the righteous shall flourish,” living in “abundance of peace” forever (v 7).