1Of Solomon. O God, give the king your judgments, and your righteousness to the king’s son.
2May he judge your people with righteousness, and your afflicted ones with justice.
3Let the mountains bear peace for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.
4May he defend the afflicted of the people, save the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor.
5May they fear you as long as the sun endures, and before the moon, generation after generation.
6May he come down like rain on mown grass, like showers that water the earth.
7In his days may the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace, till the moon is no more.
8May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9Before him may the desert-dwellers bow down, and his enemies lick the dust.
10May the kings of Tarshish and the coastlands render tribute, the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts.
11May all kings bow down to him; may all nations serve him.
12For he delivers the needy who cries out, and the afflicted who has no helper.
13He has pity on the poor and needy, and the lives of the needy he saves.
14From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and their blood is precious in his eyes.
15May he live, and may gold of Sheba be given to him; may prayer be made for him continually, all the day may he be blessed.
16May there be an abundance of grain in the land, on the top of the mountains; may its fruit wave like Lebanon, and may they blossom from the city like the grass of the earth.
17May his name endure forever; before the sun may his name flourish. And may all nations be blessed through him; may they call him blessed.
Doxology
18Blessed be Yahweh God, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
19And blessed be his glorious name forever, and may his glory fill all the earth. Amen and amen.
Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.
A Prayer for the King's Reign
allusionGenesis 12:3— The promise that 'all nations be blessed through him' echoes the Abrahamic promise that all families of the earth will be blessed.
allusionGenesis 22:18— 'All nations be blessed through him' reflects the covenant blessing to Abraham's offspring that in his seed all nations are blessed.
echoed inJob 29:1— Both describe rescuing the poor who cry out and the fatherless who have no helper as the mark of righteous rule.
echoed inMatthew 2:1— Foreign dignitaries bringing gifts and bowing to the king echoes the psalm of kings offering tribute.
echoed inMicah 7:14— The image of enemies licking the dust in submission is shared with the royal psalm.
allusionZechariah 9:10— Both describe the king's dominion 'from sea to sea' and 'to the ends of the earth', a shared distinctive phrase for universal messianic rule.
echoed inZechariah 9:9— Shared description of universal royal dominion 'from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.'
thematicIsaiah 60:6— Both depict foreign kings and nations bringing gold and tribute to the king/Zion, including Sheba.
thematicMatthew 2:11— The magi bringing gold and doing homage echoes this psalm's kings rendering tribute and bowing to the king, a traditional connection.
thematicPsalms 21:1— Both develop the ideal Davidic king's enduring life and everlasting blessing.
thematicPsalms 116:12— Both affirm that the life/blood of God's faithful ones is precious in his sight.
Doxology
parallelPsalms 41:13— This closing doxology 'Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel' matches the standard doxology closing each book of the Psalter.
allusionNumbers 14:21— The prayer that 'his glory fill all the earth' echoes God's declaration that the whole earth will be filled with his glory.
thematicIsaiah 6:3— Both express that the whole earth is filled with God's glory.