Give the King your justice, oh God, and your righteousness to the royal son.
– Psalm 72:1
Psalm 72:1 begins a Psalm that is a prayer to praise the King of Israel as a representative of the reign of God as King. So this is so important to understanding this Psalm. As well as for understanding how scripture points us to Jesus. Then even practically to how we pray for leaders today when we think about leaders of government or leaders in the church. Or, leaders, in any capacity because God sets up leaders. And he puts leaders in place over institutions from government to his church and so many other things to be a reflection of His character.
Leaders Should Lead With Justice
God has designed and called leaders to lead with justice. That’s the very first phrase. Give your King justice, oh God and to judge people. And lead people with righteousness, verse two, to lead the poor. And to defend the cause of the poor of the people. To give deliverance to the children of the needy, to crush the oppressor.
That’s verse four in Psalm chapter 72. And then you keep going on throughout the Psalm, and you see a picture of good, wise, just rule and reign that is good for people. And that is glorifying to God. So when we read a Psalm like this, we should pray for all of these things in leaders around us. If I could use that term to think about leaders of countries. To pray for this in leaders, that they would be a good reflection of the character of God.
Jesus is the Only Perfect Leader
As we do that, we’ll inevitably realize that the leaders around us, any leader in this world, is not perfect in justice or perfect in righteousness. And doesn’t defend the cause of the poor of the people. Or, give deliverance to the children of the needy or crush the oppressor perfectly. And in the process, we’ll find ourselves remembering that Jesus is the only perfect leader. He is the King who we all need and we’ll be reminded in the process of that that one day He’s coming back. His righteous rule and reign will be completely implemented and enjoyed by all who have trusted in Him.
Psalm 72:1: Praying For Godly Leaders and Leadership
So we pray. Oh God, we thank You for good institutions like the government set up to promote good and to protect us against evil. God, we pray for the leaders of that institution to reflect Psalm 72:1. God, we pray for presidents and vice-presidents around the world. As well as for leaders in different branches of government. May judges rule with righteousness, we pray. God, we pray for lawmakers. May lawmakers work for justice. God, I pray for this and the country where I live. I pray for President Biden, for Vice-President Harris, for Supreme Court justices, for senators and representatives, for governors in different states. God, we pray for leaders at every area, level of local government around us, and federal government around us. And, God, we pray for other countries. We pray for prime ministers and leaders in different places around the world. God, we pray. We intercede right now.
Please help them to defend the cause of the poor, to give deliverance to the children of the needy, to crush oppressors, to judge Your people with righteousness and we pray, give them justice, oh God, and as we see injustice around us and even specifically injustice in leaders, God, we look forward to the day when Your justice, when the justice of King Jesus willfully and finally reign on the earth. Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly.
Praising Jesus as the True Leader
You are the leader we need. You are the leader we love. You’re the leader we worship. You are the King we honor above all. There is no one like you. Jesus, we praise You for Your perfect righteousness. We praise You for Your perfect justice. We praise You for defending the cause of the poor, for giving deliverance to the children of the needy, for crushing the oppressor. Jesus, we praise You for conquering sin and death and the grave and giving eternal life to all who trust in You. We cannot wait to experience eternal life under Your perfect rule and reign, over a new heaven and a new earth.
So in anticipation of that day, we pray that You’d help us to spread the good news of King Jesus today, spread the good news of a greater King to people around us today, to people around the world. God, we pray for the spread of the good news of King Jesus among the Middle Eastern Turkmen in Jordan, unreached by the gospel, by that good news right now. God, we pray for the spread of Your glory, Jesus, as King among all the nations of the earth and through our lives, make Your glorious King known. Today, we pray, in Jesus’ name, in Your name, Jesus, our King, we pray, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
