Psalm 72 is the psalm that concludes the second book of Tehillim, ending with the words: "The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended." The Radak explains that King David composed this psalm concerning his son Solomon when he anointed him king, at the end of his days while lying on his deathbed. From that point on, no further significant events occurred in his life that prompted him to compose psalms - which is why this is his final psalm, and with it the prayers of David son of Jesse came to an end. Now, one might ask: If so, why does this chapter not conclude the entire Book of Tehillim? Surely there could be no more fitting conclusion! The answer is that it is proper to conclude the Book of Tehillim with words of praise and psalms of Halleluyah; therefore, the psalms were not arranged chronologically, and those songs of praise were reserved for the very end.
לִשְׁלֹמֹה אֱלֹהִים מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ לְמֶלֶךְ תֵּן וְצִדְקָתְךָ לְבֶן מֶלֶךְ׃ - For Solomon: O God, give Your judgments to the king, and Your righteousness to the king's son.
Rashi explains: "For Solomon" - David offered this prayer concerning his son Solomon. David saw that Solomon was destined to reign, and foresaw through divine inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh) that Solomon would ask Hashem for "an understanding heart to judge" - not for wealth, nor for honor, nor for anything else, but for discernment in judgment. Therefore, David preempted this and prayed: Master of the Universe, what my son is destined to ask of You, grant him! "Give Your judgments to the king" - grant my son Solomon the wisdom of the laws, how to rule according to what You commanded in the Torah. "And Your righteousness" - the power to bring forth true justice - give to the king's son. And why does the verse refer to him as "the king's son"? Rashi explains that both titles refer to Solomon himself: he is called "king" on account of his own kingship, and "the king's son" because he is the son of King David.
Rashi cites a Midrash: "Give Your judgments to the king" - let the afflictions be exhausted upon me, and perform acts of righteousness and charity with my son so that there may be peace in his days. According to this, it is very fitting that the verse opens with the divine name "Elohim," which represents the attribute of strict justice. Master of the Universe, the judgments - which bring hardship and suffering - place them upon me, upon the king; but "Your righteousness," the peace and blessing, grant that to the king's son, to my son Solomon. One might say, as it were: Master of the Universe, I am already accustomed to suffering, and if You bring a little more affliction upon me, I will endure; but my son Solomon was not raised this way. Therefore, grant Your righteousness to the king's son, and if suffering is required, place it upon me.
The Radak further cites commentators who explain that this psalm was composed concerning the King Messiah (Mashiach), alluding to the verse "The thousand are for you, Solomon." "Give Your judgments to the king" - that he may judge according to Your laws and not err in his judgment, but rather that his ruling be righteous, and that the King Messiah be endowed with profound knowledge and discernment. The second verse then elucidates the first: "May he judge Your people with righteousness, and Your afflicted with justice" - that the King Messiah will have the ability to judge the people with true justice and equity. "And Your righteousness to the king's son" - You commanded the monarchy to his father, King David, and since the king's son reigns by Your command, grant that he be a righteous king and bestow upon him the strength and uprightness to judge equitably. Likewise, it is said of the King Messiah that he will judge the humble with equity, and his method of judgment will be "his scenting shall be in the fear of Hashem" - he will judge by spiritual scent, and he will even judge through his speech: by mere utterance, without need for physical action.
From here we learn an important principle: some people believe that when the era of the King Messiah arrives, all problems will instantly cease. Scripture indicates otherwise: the King Messiah comes to administer justice, which implies that there will still be disputes and issues that require resolution. Hence the prayer: "May he judge Your people with righteousness, and Your afflicted with justice" - that he be granted the strength to execute true justice when the King Messiah arrives.
The Radak also cites Midrash Shocher Tov: "Give Your judgments to the king" - just as You judge without witnesses and forewarning, so too may my son Solomon judge without witnesses and forewarning. For the verse does not say "Give judgment to the king," but rather "Your judgments" - the very style and manner of Your judgment, Master of the Universe. What is unique to Hashem's judgment? The Holy One, Blessed be He, needs neither two witnesses nor rigorous cross-examination to judge a person. David prayed that his son Solomon likewise would not depend on witnesses and warning, but rather, through his immense wisdom, would intuitively perceive the truth and justice without procedural inquiries to bring the truth to light.
The Holy One, Blessed be He, replied: By your life, so shall I do - meaning, I accept your prayer. As it is stated: "And Solomon sat upon the throne of Hashem." Can mortal flesh and blood truly sit upon the throne of the Creator, blessed be He? Does not Daniel describe it as "His throne was sparks of fire," surrounded by flaming sparks? Rather, what does "the throne of Hashem" signify? That he judged like his Creator, without witnesses and warning. The prime example of this was the judgment of the two women, where the king judged without witnesses or documentary evidence, but through divine insight alone. This is the meaning of "And Solomon sat upon the throne of Hashem" - that he judged like Hashem, Who bestowed upon him the wisdom to judge the people without witnesses and without warning.
From here we see that the king's administration of justice differs from that of a court of law (beit din). A court cannot bypass the rules of evidence, witnesses, and forewarning (hatra'ah) - it simply lacks such authority. A king, however, does possess this power. Consider what King David said in response to the parable of the poor man's ewe: "As the Lord lives, the man that has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold." Where in the Torah do we find that someone who steals a sheep is liable to the death penalty? "And the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up; and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto the rich man... and he took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan: As the Lord lives, the man that has done this deserves to die; and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity." In the king's hands lies the authority to erect fences and breach barriers, and to decree that a particular offense warrants execution even if strict Torah law does not demand it - the king possesses unique judicial discretion. And this is the request: that the king may attain true equity, integrity, and justice through the power of judgment that You, Master of the Universe, grant him.
The Malbim likewise explains that David composed this prayer when he anointed his son Solomon as king, and this was his final prayer; for this reason, the psalm concludes with the words, "The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended." And what is the distinction between mishpat (judgment) and tzedakah (righteousness)? The Malbim explains consistently that tzedakah pertains to the realm between man and God - the level of a tzaddik, who fulfills the will of Hashem; while mishpat - "Now these are the ordinances (mishpatim)" - pertains to interpersonal relationships, governing conduct and civil law between one person and another.
"O God, give Your judgments to the king" - this refers to the primary, overarching judgment, the foundation of all laws, the plumb line by which every statute is measured: human intellect cannot fathom or discover this fundamental standard on its own. The foundations of justice reside only with God; universal wisdom belongs to Him alone. As we have already explained at length in our study of Sefer Mishlei (Proverbs), in matters of character traits and ethics, man has no independent capacity to determine what is truly proper and what is wrong. You find entire societies subscribing to one code of morality, and other groups insisting that the exact opposite is the moral path. Look no further than the right and the left in our own country: the left is convinced of its righteousness, and the right feels no less justified. Where, then, is absolute justice? In questions of ethics and interpersonal law, we must depend on a Higher Authority to establish the standards.
Our Sages teach that at Mount Sinai descended Anochi ("I am the Lord"), which is linguistically related to the word anach - a plumb line, a true vertical measure. Anyone who wished to test his personal plumb line approached Sinai and measured against the standard revealed by the Torah. Place your standard beside the anach, beside the Anochi, and only then will you know whether your path is straight or crooked. Without this, a person can be entirely convinced that his conduct is noble and upright, while in truth it violates every principle of morality, Halachah, and justice, rendering him thoroughly wicked.
Once, while delivering a lecture in Be'er Sheva on behalf of the Arachim organization, a young student approached me and declared, "I believe in the Ten Commandments and I observe them." I asked him, "Do you keep Shabbat?" He replied, "No..." - he did not even realize that Shabbat is one of the Ten Commandments. This illustrates the prevailing ignorance of our generation, and that was twenty years ago. He went on to explain that he considers himself a moral person and that ethical matters are deeply important to him. I asked him, "May I present you with a moral dilemma?" He agreed. I asked him - phrasing it delicately - what would you do if your girlfriend informed you that an unplanned accident occurred; what exactly do you do? He thought long and hard, and was honest enough to say, "You have stumped me." Truly, what does one do? Do you tell her to terminate the pregnancy? People call it an "abortion," but simply because someone's arrival is inconvenient, am I entitled to discard them? May I take a human life merely because the timing is unwelcome? On the other hand, do you tell her to give birth? A seventeen-year-old girl, and you can well imagine the hardships awaiting her and the child. Here is a profound moral dilemma with no human resolution, had the Torah not resolved it by determining which value supersedes another. Without the Torah, you will always find compelling arguments on both sides.
The same applies to the classic dilemma of two men traveling through the desert with only a single flask of water, "lest one of them witness his companion's death." Or the well-known trolley problem: an engineer is driving a train, five people are tied to the track ahead, and he has the ability to switch the train onto a siding - but one person is standing there. He cannot stop in time. Does he divert the train and kill the one, or allow it to proceed and kill the five? Intuitively, purely from human notions of equity and saving the majority, it would seem preferable that one die rather than five. Yet the Halachic ruling is entirely different: killing that single individual is an active deed you take upon yourself; you are deliberately intervening to take his life in order to save the others - and who granted you that authority? What about the five? Their demise occurs passively; you initiated nothing against them. Here, however, you would be actively taking one innocent life to spare others, and the Talmud asks: "What makes you think that their blood is redder than his?" Countless examples could be brought of moral dilemmas that can never be decided by mortal reasoning; only the Creator of man, who established the foundations of morality, law, and justice, has the authority to decide them.
This is why the Malbim explains: "O God, give Your judgments to the king" refers to supreme judgment, Divine morality. The philosophers themselves admitted that human intellect cannot discover the ultimate law, the foundational root of justice; that resides exclusively with God, who possesses universal understanding. From that singular foundation of Divine justice branch out all specific statutes - every other law is merely a derivative and application of that core. And this is precisely what King Solomon himself asked for: "Give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people," a discerning heart to comprehend justice - that the bedrock of Divine justice should be engraved upon his heart, reflecting the justice of the Holy One, Blessed be He.
And what is "and Your righteousness to the king's son"? Righteousness refers to devotion between man and the Omnipresent, and this too man cannot discover on his own. Indeed, we find this with the King of the Khazars, who would awaken every morning from the dream that told him, "Your intention is desirable, but your deeds are not desirable," yet he continued to intensify his futile forms of worship, convinced that he simply was not serving enough and not exerting himself enough. Whoever wishes can study this in lessons on the beginning of Sefer HaKuzari. What was his error? He assumed that one could serve God without having received an instruction manual, without having received guidance on how He is to be served. In this error all the nations of the world stumble, for each serves God according to its own understanding - Islam has Muhammad, Christianity has that man - and the only ones who serve God in accordance with what God Himself commanded in a unique event in history, giving the Torah before the eyes of millions, are the Jewish people. All the others act merely on their own understanding.
The Malbim explains: Divine service and the righteousness of actions - what constitutes the correct deed by which to serve the Creator - is also something man cannot discover on his own. The pathways of the soul are exceedingly numerous, and the deed desirable to God remains concealed; one cannot know His ways except from God Himself. Would one ever understand on his own that the Holy One, blessed be He, wants him to observe Shemittah? Or to avoid shaatnez? Or to fulfill the mitzvah of tefillin? These are hidden matters that can be received only as a command from God. Regarding this, David prays: "And Your righteousness to the king's son" - grant the path of Your service to Solomon my son, so that he will know how to serve You, and may Hashem guide him with the proper leadership of justice and righteousness.
Yet one must still examine the wording closely: "Your judgments" to the king, "and Your righteousness" to the king's son. What is the difference? The Malbim explains based on what we learn in Sefer Yeshayahu: "To establish it and to sustain it with justice and with righteousness." The initial establishment of the king and the founding of his throne come about through justice - and when Israel came to ask for a king, what did they request? "And our king shall judge us," a king who would arbitrate between us. But for the dynasty to endure for his offspring after him, he must be righteous. All the righteous kings had their dynasties endure, whereas the wicked kings had their dynasties cut short. "To establish it" - through justice; "and to sustain it," ensuring continuity - through righteousness, for in righteousness a throne is established.
Therefore, "Give the king Your judgments" - justice is required of him inasmuch as he is a king, so that he may judge the people and guide interpersonal affairs; "and Your righteousness" - inasmuch as he is the king's son, receiving the monarchy by inheritance, where continuity depends on righteousness. We see in Solomon himself what happened when there was a shortcoming in his righteousness - the kingdom fractured. King David was righteous, and therefore Solomon inherited one hundred percent of the kingdom; but once his wives turned his heart aside, only two parts out of twelve remained in the hands of the House of David, while the ten tribes passed to Jeroboam. Thus, the continuity of kingship from the king to his son after him depends on righteousness.
יָדִין עַמְּךָ בְצֶדֶק וַעֲנִיֶּיךָ בְמִשְׁפָּט׃ - May he judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice.
Radak explains: "May he judge Your people with righteousness" - that he must not show favoritism to the prominent and the wealthy when they have a dispute with the poor, nor seek to curry favor with the rich man by tilting the verdict toward him, thinking that nothing will be gained from the pauper whereas it is advantageous to maintain ties with the wealthy man. And if the psalm refers to the King Messiah, it corresponds to what is written: "He shall not judge by the sight of his eyes," but rather shall judge righteously in accordance with divine law.
The Malbim explains: Law (*mishpat*) governs interpersonal affairs according to established statute - and the word *nimus* here means formal statute, not merely manners and etiquette. This expression already appears in the Midrash: "When you go to a city, conduct yourself according to its *nimus*" - when you enter a city, abide by its laws. If you arrive in England, do not say, "I tolerate no nonsense; I know only how to drive on the right side, and my views are right-wing as well" - there traffic moves on the left, and you must follow the local rule if you value your life. Thus, *mishpat* follows fixed statutory law, whereas *tzedek* (equity) follows the evaluation of the individual case.
To explain: When adjudicating, judges often look through the lens of strict law - the statute dictates that person A must pay person B a certain sum. You have administered strict law, but you have not achieved true justice. Why? Because in reality, the one obligated to pay is destitute and has nothing to give, and the entire misfortune befell him through circumstances beyond his control and without any fault of his own. Had you consulted "Rabbi Google," it would tell you immediately what the formal law requires. But there is also equity, and equity is not merely what is written in the legal codes, but a careful examination of the details of the case - what constitutes genuine justice for this particular matter. The Malbim notes that individual equity sometimes requires deviating from universal law. For example: if a wealthy man has a dispute with a poor man, and according to strict law - that is, according to the formal statute - the law is on his side and he is entitled to the claim, yet true equity suggests otherwise, there are grounds to compel the rich man to act beyond the letter of the law (*lifnim mishurat hadin*).
This resembles the well-known Talmudic incident: porters carrying a barrel broke it, and the employer sued them. The judge told him: absolve them and return their garments. Then the porters sued him: "We worked all day, and in the end the barrel broke." The judge told the employer: "You must pay them." He protested: "Is this the law, that I must also pay them?" He answered: "'That you may walk in the way of good men.'" We see that one should not insist solely on strict law; there is also equity - taking into account that these laborers worked all day and are returning home with nothing to eat. You ask if you are strictly obligated? The Torah stated, "That you may walk in the way of good men," and that means acting beyond the letter of the law.
In contrast, "and Your poor with judgment" - you must judge the case of the poor with justice, according to Torah law, letting the law pierce the mountain; do not tilt the judgment beyond the strict letter of the law simply because of their poverty. That is: if you consider the specific circumstances and conclude that it is appropriate to act beyond the letter of the law - well and good. But if you decide in advance that because one party is wealthy and the other is poor, the poor man is necessarily in the right and the rich man must lose the case - that is perverting justice, and it is forbidden. Poverty in and of itself is no reason to act beyond the strict letter of the law.
This makes complete sense: otherwise, a poor person would allow himself to commit any wrongdoing, knowing that whenever he goes to court against a rich person he will be exonerated - "he is poor and you are rich." Could such a thing be conceivable? Certainly not. Therefore, the Torah forbids: "You shall not pervert the judgment of your destitute in his dispute" - neither to acquit him just because he is destitute, nor to find him liable just to curry favor with the wealthy. You are obligated to judge righteously; and if there are additional circumstances that warrant acting beyond the letter of the law, those are what must be taken into account.
In this final psalm of the prayers of David son of Yishai, David prays for his son Shlomo at the time of his coronation: "O God, give Your judgments to the king, and Your righteousness to the king's son." According to Rashi and the Midrash, David asks that suffering conclude with him, and that blessing and peace be granted to his son. According to Radak, there is also a prayer here for Melech HaMashiach, that he judge with justice and equity, as well as a request that Shlomo merit to judge "without witnesses and prior warning" through the authority of a king, which is the meaning of "And Shlomo sat on the throne of Hashem." And according to the Malbim: "Your judgments" refers to the foundation of Divine law between man and his fellow, which human intellect cannot arrive at on its own, and which the king requires to establish his kingdom; "and Your righteousness" refers to the paths of Divine service between man and God, which are likewise beyond human intellect and can only be transmitted directly through Divine revelation, and upon which the continuation of the monarchy to the king's son depends. And in the second verse: "He will judge Your people with righteousness" - examining the specific justice of the case and even compelling action beyond the strict letter of the law; "and Your poor with judgment" - that poverty in itself is not evidence, and the law must not be bent because of it.