Today’s Scripture Reading (March 8,
2013): Psalm 72
Most of us
share a common dream. It is that our kids will succeed in areas that we find
important, but in ways where we could never be successful. We want our kids to
have a better life than we did. I desire for my kids – and now my grandchildren
– all of the successes that I was never able to achieve. But for the first time
in generations, that dream is in doubt. As much as I want them to have a better
life, the reality is that they might have to work harder just to achieve the same
things that I have achieved in life.
A number of
years ago I was sitting in a small group Bible study on the book of Revelation
and the discussion quickly turned to the authorship of the book (and yes, I
realize that this seems to be a severe change in topic from the first paragraph
– but hang with me.) Now, authorship of some of the books of the Bible can be
an open question, but generally the question over the authorship of Revelation hovers
around the question of which John wrote it. But on this night someone had
decided to suggest that the book was written by Paul. The problem with the
suggestion was that there is absolutely no evidence of Pauline authorship. And
you have to ignore the opening of the book which in that day would often tell
us who wrote the book (or who someone wants us to think wrote the book.) In the
case of the book of Revelation, this opening is found in the fourth verse of
the first chapter - John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia.
Psalm 72
offers us a similar problem. The ascription of the Psalm would seem to point
towards Solomon as the author of the Psalm, but the final line of the Psalm
seems to indicate that the author was not Solomon, but rather his father, David.
When we read
Psalm 71 and 72 together, we get a very significant prayer. The first part of
the prayer deals with the concerns of David as his life draws to a close, but
the second part of the prayer turns to his concern over his son – the one who
would be king. Psalm 72 is essentially David’s prayer of concern over his son.
And
these two psalms, taken together, form the prayers of David, the son of Jesse.
If this is
true, then the ascription in Psalm 72 should be read as a change in the course
of the prayer. Part one was about David, and although Solomon was part of what
David had in mind even as he prayed those words, part two begins to reflect the
reality of what David is hoping for in the reign of his son. In his son, David
is hoping for all of the things that he could not be and all of the
accomplishments that he could not fulfill – that God would allow those things
to be fulfilled in the reign of Solomon, the beloved son of King David.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm
86
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