(A Solomon psalm.)
Make the king wise,
Thoughtful,
Discerning.
Make our ruler righteous,
Deciding what’s best for the people,
Providing for your poor, God.
Let peace and freedom ring
From every mountainside
And justice
From every hill and molehill.
May he stand up for the poor,
For children born in poverty,
Crushing anyone who might abuse them.
Under such leadership,
The people will live toward God.
As long as there is a sun and a moon
In the sky,
All generations will know him.
Yes, the land will flourish under this kind of leadership
Like well-watered fields,
Like lush rain-soaked countryside.
The righteous will be a bountiful crop
And wealth will spread around
Till the moon goes down for the last time.
Extend this kind of leadership
From ocean to ocean,
From pole to pole —
From the Euphrates to the North,
Arabia to the East,
Spain to the West,
Africa to the South,
World leaders will come from every compass point
To honor him,
To give gifts of tribute to him,
To bow, offering service to him.
Why?
Because he will take care of the needy who cry out,
Standing up for those who have no one
To stand up for them.
His heart will bend toward
Those bent over under life’s load —
Those with empty hands and empty bank accounts,
Those vulnerable to the hands and bank accounts
Of predators.
He’ll snatch them from violent oppression,
Counting every drop of their blood spilled
By injustice.
This is the kind of leader we want
To live forever.
We’d spend our life savings for such a leader.
We’d devote ourselves to praying for him,
To seeking his well-being.
Because when he succeeds,
We all succeed.
The land enjoys health and green growth,
The people enjoy economic prosperity.
May his goodness be so good
It’s never forgotten,
As long as the sun keeps crossing the sky.
As they are blessed by the reach of his rule,
May far away nations use his name
As a blessing.
[Concluding salvo of praise to end Book 2 of the Psalms]
Yahweh-God, the God of Israel,
Deserves all the praise we can give him,
Because he alone is the source
Of the best kind of life possible.
Let the songs about his great name
Keep going on and on and on
Till every corner of the globe
Is filled with his glory.
Oh yes! That’d be the best!
Oh yes! That’d be the very best!
(And so, here end the prayers of David, Jesse’s son.)