Messiah!

Once in high school, and again in college, I sang in a big choir that presented George Frideric Handel’s famous Messiah oratorio at Christmas. Even if this is not your musical style, it would be worth listening to a few pieces from the Messiah this December. At the least, look up a list of the fifty or so songs that make it up, along with their Scripture references. You’ll see that Handel is telling the story of our redemption, from Isaiah the prophet’s opening announcement that God would comfort his sinful people (Isa 40:1), to the dramatic “Hallelujah Chorus” and heavenly worship of Revelation. By weaving Scripture together, the musical builds our wonder for the Messiah at the center of it all.

David does something similar at the end of Psalm 72. His prayers for Solomon start tame, but soon place him at the center of God’s story of redemption. His request in v15, for instance, is reasonable: that Solomon would have long life and prosperity, that he would have the hearts of the people, that they would love their king, pray for him and bless him. We might pray this for any earthly leader. But David is just warming up!

In v16, David begins to pull in God’s earlier promises in the Bible, and he prays that Solomon will make them all come true! For example, in Deuteronomy 28, God promised to bless his people in the land of Canaan, making them both fruitful. David draws on that hope when he prays, “May there be an abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave.” As a lifelong Tennessean, I have it on good authority that “corn don’t grow at all on Rocky Top!” But David envisions Solomon’s rule as so transforming the nation of Israel that the mountain tops produce fruit under God’s supernatural blessing. Not only that but the “people… blossom in the cities like the grass of the field.” Do you get it? David dreams of Solomon ushering in all the Deuteronomy promises, ruling a fruitful people in a fruitful land.

But he’s not done! Do you recognize another Old Testament promise in v17? “May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed.” If it sounds familiar, David is echoing God’s promise to Abram in Genesis 12—he sees Solomon as fulfilling that, too! David draws on another ancient promise in v9, when he speaks about God’s enemies “licking the dust” before the King. He’s thinking of God’s original gospel promise in Genesis 3:15, of a Savior who restores God’s Kingdom by crushing the Serpent’s head!

Finally, David takes us all the way back to page one of the Bible in v18–19: “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!” Now we have returned to God’s original creation design, and the Lord filling the earth with his glory through Adam. David prays Solomon makes that happen, too: nothing short of recovering God’s telos, his goal, for the planet. David sees the whole Biblical story reaching its climax in the arrival of this one King! He will be the Hero who keeps every promise, slays every dragon, and secures the eternal, “happily ever after” we crave.

What a dream! King Solomon, of course, can’t live up to it. But King Jesus can. When he is born, “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” Paul put it like this: “All God’s Promises find their yes and Amen (2 Cor 1:20).” When he comes again “all prayers will be ended (Psalm 72:20),” and we will have our Messiah at last. Are you living under his righteous rule now?

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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church