May he rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. – Psalm 72:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 30, 2019): Psalm 72

It is known simply as “The River.” Every other river needed to be qualified in some way, but not “The River.” “The River” reigns over all of the also-rans. “The River” was considered to be a God, and cities built on its banks attempted to connect themselves with the God of the River. It was also old. Biblically, “The River” makes its entry into our consciousness in Genesis 2. It is the fourth named river to be written down in the biblical book of origins, and even there it is named without any description, while the first three rivers mentioned are all described as to where they were and why they were important. It is as if no explanation was needed for “The River.” 

“The River” is and always has been the Euphrates. The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most significant rivers to flow through Western Asia. The River finds its origins in Eastern Turkey, and it then flows through Syria before finally converging with the Tigris in Southern Iraq and flowing into the Persian Gulf.

But from a biblical standpoint, the River was supposed to form the Northern Border of Israel. Genesis makes this comment; “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates“ (Genesis 15:18). The problem is that Israel proper never extended as far North, or East, as the Euphrates River. During David and Solomon’s reign as Kings, the influence of the nation extended to the Euphrates, but not the borders of the country.

So the Psalmist writes at the beginning of Solomon’s reign a blessing that the King may reign “from sea to sea and from the River (the Euphrates) to the ends of the earth.” Geographically it is hard to fit the blessing into the reign of the new King. Sea to sea might mean from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee, but the mention of “from the River to the ends of the earth” takes the blessing to a different level.

The easiest way to understand this verse is that the Psalmist has transitioned from the reign of Solomon to that of the coming Messiah. Solomon might have been reined in by concepts like borders, which did not come close to “The River,” and influence which, while that did reach the banks of “The River” did not come close to “the ends of the earth.” But the Messiah would reign over all of the earth. No borders would contain him. His reign would be over all of the people. And his reign would never end.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 132