A coronation is a grand event that doesn’t happen too often. The last time there was a coronation in the United Kingdom was back in June of 1953, some 68 years ago. That was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and was the first time such an event was allowed to be televised. Being able to watch such a ceremony is a special event, and so much more special to be one of the privileged few to be able to attend the ceremony. Today’s psalm is a coronation psalm, written for the coronation of King David’s son and heir, King Solomon. Let’s briefly look into the Scripture passage.
The psalm begins as a prayer for the new king Solomon, praying that the Lord would bring His blessings upon him. The author of the psalm beseeched the Lord that the new king would faithfully mediate God’s justice and righteousness upon the nation (vs. 1-4). He also prayed for his prosperity and peace for the land, and that the Lord would increase the dominions of the new king (vs. 5-11). The people desired and prayed that their new king would be a merciful king and that he would help the poor and needy (vs. 12-14). With the beginning of Solomon’s reign, they prayed that this would usher in a new golden age for the nation (vs. 15-17).
In addition to being a psalm for and about the coronation and new reign of King Solomon, this is also a messianic psalm, speaking of the crowning and coming reign of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The reign of Jesus, the Messiah, will come when He returns. At this time He will bring the justice and righteousness the psalmist prayed for. There will also be prosperity and peace, along with no more poverty, all that the psalmist desired to happen with the new king.
In this psalm the psalmist speaks of many nations coming to offer gifts and homage to the new king. Though during the reign of Solomon trade was extended to many far-away places, his reign was not universal. This psalm mentions several ancient kingdoms whose kings would come and offer gifts to the new king (vs. 10). They mention the land of Tarshish. Some believe that this was an ancient kingdom located in present-day Spain. Others have hypothesized that it was much further, possibly ancient Cornwall in southwest England, or even ancient Sri Lanka. These would be places that would be some of the farthest that traders from Israel would travel to and from. Sheba was thought to be The Horn of Africa (present day Ethiopia and Somalia) and across the Gulf of Aden to the southern Arabian peninsula (present day Yemen). It is unclear where Seba was located. Though these places were far and distant in that ancient time, they would not encompass “all kings'' and “all nations” as spoken of in verse 11. However, the Messiah’s reign will be universal, as all nations will worship Him.
Solomon reigned over the nation for forty years, approximately the same length as his father King David. The longest reigning king in the Old Testament was King Manasseh, with 55 years on the throne. None, of course, lasted forever. That is not the case with the Lord Jesus, as His reign will last forever.
Though King David was a greatly beloved king, his reign started out with much fighting and struggle to keep the throne, and was filled with many wars with neighboring countries. It was not a peaceful time. People were filled with hope for a peaceful and prosperous time under Solomon, and it was, indeed, a golden age for the nation. However, due to Solomon’s desire to please his many foreign wives, the nation also fell headlong into idolatry and pagan worship.
When the Lord Jesus returns to set up His reign on earth, all false, pagan worship will be destroyed. He will govern with justice and compassion. He will care for the needy, afflicted, and the weak. Much as we hope for good at the start of a new reign of a king, or the new term of office of a president or prime minister, true peace and prosperity, true righteousness and justice will only come from the Lord Jesus, and as believers, we look forward to that time.
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