Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19970525.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm Seventy-Two - The Leadership Ingredient God Looks For To Bless
(Psalm 72:1-20)
  1. Introduction
    1. Oversight over other people carries with it privileges and responsibilities, depending on the type of organization that is involved. Leaders want to succeed in their callings, whatever they may be.
    2. However, God's blessings come on those overseers in business, family, church or marriage who heed God's specific purpose in permitting or establishing human oversight, and that irrespective of the views of leaders or their organizations. Psalm 72:1-20 details the basis of getting God's blessing in oversight:
  2. The Leadership Ingredient God Looks For To Bless, Psalm 72:1-20.
    1. Psalm 72 is a psalm of Solomon, although it concludes the second book of the Psalter that is primarily attributed to David's authorship, Ps. 72:1, 20.
    2. As such, Solomon directed this psalm towards God as a call for God to bless his reign, Ps. 72:1a.
    3. Within the psalm resides the following formula for gaining God's blessing in Solomon's reign:
      1. Step One - God's blessing tends toward Solomon for his valuing the weak and needy people in his realm, Ps. 72:14b with 72:13.
      2. Step Two - As a result of valuing the weak and needy, the leader God blesses tends to use his leadership influence to defend the oppressed and helpless from those who abus e them, Ps. 72:12-13, 4.
      3. Step Three - Then, God comprehensively blesses this king (Ps. 72:18-20) as follows:
        1. God blesses him with financial prosperity, Ps. 72:3, 7, 10, 15-16.
        2. God blesses him with a long reign, Ps. 72:5, 15.
        3. God supplies him with sustained political support from his subjects, Ps. 72:15b;
        4. God gives him respect from neighboring nations that tends toward international peace, Ps. 72:10, 17.
        5. God upholds the spiritual vibrancy of the subjects during such a ruler's reign, Ps. 72:15b.
        6. God sees to it that the people under the king then respect him, Ps. 72:5.
        7. God gives the king enormous influence over all people with whom he relates, Ps. 72:8.
        8. God offers him the deterioration of the strength and abilities of his enemies, Ps. 72:5.
        9. God makes this ruler a source of blessing to all under his reign so that they will accept his rule, 72:6.
        10. God supplies agricultural blessings with rainfall and resulting high crop yields, Ps. 72:16.
    4. This divine blessing on such a reign fits with God's ORIGINAL purpose for human oversight of humans:
      1. The dispensation of Human Government, established after the Noahic Flood, was intended to protect the human race from oppressions by godless bullies, Gen. 9:5-6:
        1. The Noahic Flood came because of uncontrolled oppression against innocent people, Gen. 6:12-13.
        2. Thus, after the Flood, God instituted the Dispensation of Human Government to check abuses done against the weak: God required leaders to use capital punishment to destroy those who killed other humans, abusing the weak and helpless, Gen. 9:5-6. (Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today, p. 59-60).
      2. Thus, for a leader like Solomon to commit his reign to upholding the cause of the oppressed and the helpless against ruthless bullies was to fulfill the divine purpose of human leaders, and was to bring on God's blessing for that commitment in his reign.
Lesson: When one is put into any kind of leadership over others, GOD'S main concern in that oversight is for the overseer to check the abuses against the weak and oppressed from oppressors. To the DEGREE that the overseer TRIES to do so, to that d egree God blesses his or her oversight.

Application: (1) A husband who seeks God's blessing on his marriage needs to commit himself to protecting his wife from other abusive people as well as to protect her from his OWN tendencies to take emotional, physical or relational advantage of her. (2) A parent who seeks God's blessing on his or her children must commit himself or herself to protecting each child from abuses or oppressions by others or from a parent for the individual child's development. (3) Church and business leaders who desire to see God's blessing on their oversight e xperiences must likewise focus mainly on protecting vulnerable subordinates from abuses by themselves or by other people.