2. The Actions of a Godly Ruler Psalm 72:4-12

Text: “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt three bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit…Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

Matthew 7:17-20.

          “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.  Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?  Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good.  But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword (of justice) in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.  Wherefore ye must needs be a subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.”

Romans 13:3-5.

Good morning, Spiritually discerning Christian!  When you read your Holy Bible, you read it to find out the Lord God’s way of living for you as a member of ‘His people’, the true church of God – international and universal, Spiritually regenerate, Bible-believing servants of the Living Jesus Christ. 

You are not merely a dead and dried bone sinner, you are a sinner saved by God’s Sovereign grace, quickened (made alive) by God the Holy Spirit; and redeemed by the sinless and Holy Blood of the risen and victorious Lord of all lords, King Jesus Christ!  Praise and glory to His righteous and gracious Name!  (Read Ezekiel 37:1-10 with John 3:3-8)

In the Lord God’s infinite grace and mercy, you and I are called to be diligent in obeying every law of His earthly ministers; ministers (or Government politicians) that are, in turn, called to legislate, promote, and uphold GODLY LAWS, based on God’s way of living, according to His will revealed in the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai. (See and revisit Exodus 20:1-17)

Spiritually discerning Christians, shall at all times be conscious of our need to evaluate the temporal laws made, often by ungodly Government ministers, sometimes atheists, to see if the temporal laws being legislated and promoted are commensurate with God’s righteous laws given – and if the laws made by man are contrary to the Law of God, we genuine Christians are NOT bound by them, to either obey them, or to permit their authority over us!

Scriptural Authority: “Then came one and told them (the high priest and religious rulers), saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison (Christ’s disciples) are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.  Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.  And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, saying, Did not we straitly (strictly) command you that ye should not teach in this name? (The Name of Jesus) And, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.  Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”  (Acts 5:25-29)

Discerning Christians take Biblical Authority verses such as these as our steadfast standard.  We seek to be fully obedient to the Word and Commandments of God, and are only duty bound to obey the laws of mere men, IF the laws of mere sinful men are fully commensurate with the unchangeable Law of Almighty Lord God Jehovah.  Glory to His Holy Name!

Verse 4. “He shall judge the poor of the people, He shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. Take fair warning, political oppressors of the poor, and the needy. Moreover, take fair warning police-officers, and soldiers, do not obey a temporal Government’s demand for you to oppress the Blood-bought children of King Jesus Christ!  “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.”  (Hebrews 10:31) “For our God is a consuming fire.”  (Hebrews 12:29) If you are reading this Bible exposition today, Sir, you have been duly warned!  The watchman has shouted the warning!  Take heed.

“Vengeance is Mine: I will repay, saith the Lord.”  (Romans 12:19)

Verse 5. “They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and moon endure. His Kingdom, moreover, is no house of cards, or dynasty of days; it is as lasting as the lights of Heaven; days and nights will cease before He abdicates His throne. Neither sun nor moon as yet manifest any failure in their radiance, nor are there any signs of decrepitude in the Kingdom of Jesus; on the contrary, it is but, in its youth, and is evidently the coming power, the rising sun.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 309)

Verse 7. “In His days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.  ‘The righteous’ here mentioned, are those who, by faith, have received Christ Jesus as our Lord and Saviour – we are then imputed the full righteousness of Him by the grace of our Divine Father, and through the full Atonement Blood of God the Son.

“For He (God the Father) hath made Him (God the Son) to be sin for us (God’s elect souls) …that we (saved sinners) might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”       (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Verse 8. “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. We are encouraged by such a passage as this to look for the Saviour’s universal reign; whether before or after His personal advent, we leave for discussion of others. In this Psalm, at least, we see a personal Monarch, and He is the central figure, the focus of all the glory; not His servant, but Himself do we see possessing the dominion and dispensing the government.  Personal pronouns referring to our great King are constantly occurring in this Psalm; He has dominion, kings fall down before Him, and serve Him; for He delivers, He spares, He saves, He lives, and daily is He praised.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 310) Hallelujah!  All glory and praise and honour and obedience unto King Jesus!

Should you and I, as discerning Christian servants of this Divine King, Jesus Christ, not seek to commit our full obedience to Him, and to Him alone?  Of course, we should!  Our very souls’ Eternal destination is in His Holy and merciful hands alone!  Glory to His Name!

Verse 12. “For He shall deliver the needy when he crieth.  Instinctively, we understand that swift deliverance of the underdog, the needy, is the act of a Godly ruler.  “He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.”   (Psalm 50:13)

Thought: Godly Rulers, Government politicians, examine yourselves and the rules that you make!  The Lord God will not bless the governance of repressive tyrants, liars, or fools.  The nation’s Governments need to get right back to Biblical principles!

Psalm 72: Of Christ, the King of all kings!

                            1. The Marks of Godly Rule                    Psalm 72:1-3

Text: “Give the king Thy righteousness, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the king’s son.  He shall judge Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgement.”

Psalm 72:1-2.

Good morning, Christian subject!  In the temporal sense of earthly government, you are a subject of the sovereign authorities pertaining to the territory and within the borders of the land in which you currently live. 

You are subject to the laws of that sovereign government, and are called by God to live peaceably as a law-abiding citizen of the land/nation in which you abide. 

Yet often, in these times of increased political corruption, and increasing religious apostasy – you are vexed at the laws being legislated, often by unbelieving, and even atheistic politicians, who care nothing for Biblical principles or the Ten Commandments of the Living Lord God!

Psalm 72 helps to define what a Godly government of a nation should be, and describes some of the social aspects of what a Godly government should be doing consistently.

 Today’s government legislation process seems to be in chaos – as laws are being made, often clearly and blatantly against the Ten Commandment laws of the Lord God, which genuine Spiritually regenerate Christian believers are then required to follow!  Anti-Christianity is being promoted today in what once was known as the State of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, and genuine Christian believers must be very clear on what we permit ourselves to be subject to – the politically correct laws of an ungodly government, or the pure and Holy Law of God.

Verse 1. “Give the king Thy judgements, O God.  Living in what is still loosely defined as a Democratically governed country here in the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Bible-believing Christians are continually being vexed by the introduction of the vilest anti-Christian law-making in Parliament. 

Sodomy is made, not only legal, but promoted in every manner throughout public life – to speak out against such filthy, God-detested practice, is to call down upon oneself a barrage of intimidation and threat of being prosecuted in the courts for ‘Hate-crime’!

God Himself showed us clearly what His Holy judgement was on the practice of male and female Sodomy by raining down fire and brimstone upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah!  He made a burnt-out desert out of two large cities in His wrath against this particular mode of human sin – and yet temporal governments world-wide have ignored this Biblical fact, and actually shook their puny, politically-correct, fists at a Holy Lord of Heaven! 

“And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.”  (Genesis 18:20)

Abraham, in his compassion as a believer in God, sought to intercede in prayer and make intercession for the sinful citizens of the two Sodomite-infested cities – the Lord told him that He would not destroy the cities IF there were but TEN righteous people living there.  But, alas, there was not even ten citizens who were not involved in homosexual activity; therefore, the Living Lord God Jehovah utterly destroyed the cities for this particular sin.

“Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven.” (Genesis 19:24) So much for government legislation to permit such sin!

Brimstone:  an inflammable mineral substance found in quantities on the shores of the Dead Sea. The cities of the plain were destroyed by a rain of fire and brimstone ( Genesis 19:24 Genesis 19:25 ). In Isaiah 34:9 allusion is made to the destruction of these cities. This word figuratively denotes destruction or punishment ( Job 18:15 ; Isaiah 30:33 ; 34:9 ; Psalms 11:6 ; Ezekiel 38:22 ). It is used to express the idea of excruciating torment in Revelation 14:10 ; 19:20 ; 20:10 . (These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely)

Verse 1b. “…And Thy righteousness unto the king’s son.” Whether David or Solomon penned this Palm, David is noted as having prayed it at the end verse of the Psalm.

However, Spiritually speaking, what we can deduce from what is penned is the fact that Godly government and legislation is to be made in the spirit of God’s Absolute righteousness, and this is the law that committed Bible-believing Christians are encouraged to both obey and promote at all times. 

There can be no obedience subjected to, or promotion of rules and laws that a temporal government makes that are completely contrary to the full righteousness and Commandments of the Lord God Whom we love and seek to serve in Christ Jesus!

“For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.  Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?  Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good.  But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.  Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience’s sake.”  (Romans 13:3-5)

Present day ‘rulers’ in the United Kingdom have legislated this concept in a reverse, perverse manner – their laws on Sodomy promote the evil while suppressing the Christian good!

Verse 2. “He shall judge Thy people with righteousness and Thy poor with judgement.” “Jesus is here, beyond all doubt, in the glory of His reign, both as He now is and as He shall be revealed in the latter-day glory.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 309)

Verse 3. “…Peace to the people.” True peace, Everlasting peace, is brought to the sinner’s soul, by the Lord Jesus Christ, for He alone is the true Prince of Eternal peace.  (John 14:27)

Thought: “In a Spiritual sense, peace is given to the heart by the righteousness of Christ; and all the powers and passions of the soul are filled with a holy calm, when the way of Salvation, by a Divine righteousness, is revealed.”  (C.H. Spurgeon,1834-1892)

5. Help from a Righteous Lord! Psalm 71:19-24

Text: “Thou, which hast showed me great and sore troubles shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.”

Psalm 71:20.

Good morning, victorious, senior Christian!  Your many years of life - a portion of which have been spent as a Spiritually regenerate Christian servant of Christ Jesus - has contained much experience of what the Psalmist calls ‘sore troubles’ – fears within, fightings without, instances of gross and personal failings and numerous exposures of very human faults and mistakes, as well as great victories and seeing souls saved, through the preaching/teaching of the Gospel of Christ Crucified. 

Yet, out of ALL this – the Lord God has never failed to ‘quicken’ you and I again, and again, dust us off, sanctify us afresh by the Blood of the Lamb, fill us afresh with God the Spirit, and grant us, not only His matchless grace and forgiveness, but a sure and certain victory over our most deadly oppressors, critics, and detracting enemies.  Hallelujah!  In Christ Jesus we are more than conquerors!  Glory, all glory, to His Holy Name!

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him (Jesus Christ) that loved us.”  (Romans 8:37-39)

Verse 19. “Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto Thee!  There is, of course, no one that has done anything infinitely close to what the Living Lord God, the Creator of all things, the Author of Salvation, has done – for Hell-deserving sinners such as we.  Glory to the Lord God of all Sovereign grace and mercy to gross sinners such as we.  The Lord God is our Divine helper. Praise His Name!

Resurrection: “The fact of our Lord’s resurrection rests on evidence which no infidel can ever explain away. It is confirmed by testimony of every kind, sort, and description. The plain unvarnished story which the Gospel writers tell about it, is one that cannot be overthrown. The more the account they give is examined, the more inexplicable will the event appear, unless we accept it as true. If we choose to deny the truth of their account, we may deny everything in the world. It is not so certain that Julius Caesar once lived, as it is that Christ rose again.

“Let us cling firmly to the resurrection of Christ, as one of the pillars of the Gospel. It ought to produce in our minds a settled conviction of the truth of Christianity. Our faith does not depend merely on a set of texts and doctrines. It is founded on a mighty historical fact which the sceptic has never been able to overturn. It ought to assure us of the certainty of the resurrection of our own bodies after death. If our Master has risen from the grave, we need not doubt that His disciples shall rise again at the last day.” (J.C. Ryle 1816-1900, The Resurrection, Apprising Ministries, online)

Verse 20. “Thou which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again (bring me from death to life again), and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.  Mature, senior-aged Christians, have experienced vast experiences – some wonderful, some horrible, throughout many years of seeking to serve the risen Lord Jesus Christ.  One of the great Bible truths that has encouraged us down through the years, gave us necessary strength and fortitude to continue on in ‘…the faith once delivered unto the saints…’, has been the reality of our promised resurrection from the dead, to be with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, forever.  Wow!  Just the thought of spending Eternity in Heaven with Christ Jesus is such a wonderous source of continuing strength and perseverance in Christian faith!  Hallelujah!  True Christians are conquerors over death itself!  Glory to the Lamb!

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.  So, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass this saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.  O Death where is thy sting?  O grave where is thy victory?  The sting of Death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye KNOW that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”  (1 Corinthians 15:52-58)

Verse 22. “I will also praise Thee. There is nothing as woeful, in my mind, than the professing Christian devoid of a ‘Hallelujah!’ of praise to the Lord God Jehovah.  One small thought of the resurrection of Spiritually regenerate believers, should immediately cause our hearts to reveal true joy, through the opening of our lips in fervent praise to the Lord God.  We praise Thy Name, oh Thou Holy One of Israel!  Glory and praise to Thee, oh God!

Verse 23. “…and my soul, which Thou hast redeemed. Soul-singing is the soul of singing.  Till men are redeemed, they are like instruments out of tune; but when once the precious Blood has set them at liberty, then are they fitted to magnify the Lord Who bought them.  Our being bought with a price is a more than sufficient reason for our dedicating ourselves to the earnest worship of God, our Saviour.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, pages 307-308)

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation (entire lifestyle) received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.”         (1 Peter 1:18-19)

Let us make the unsaved world all around us KNOW we belong to Christ – sing it out!

Silence is not always golden – often it is just merely YELLOW!  Speak out, Christian!

“How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach, except they be sent?  As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”  (Romans 10:14-15)

Thought: Verse 24. “My tongue also shall talk of Thy righteousness all the day long. I will talk to myself, and to Thee, my God, and to my fellow-men: my theme shall be Thy way of justifying sinners, the glorious display of Thy righteousness and grace in Thy dear Son; and this most fresh and never-to-be-exhausted subject shall be ever with me, from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 308)