Sermon Tone Analysis
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It is common knowledge that the creators of Superman modeled the famous superhero after Jesus himself.
Their inspiration came from the gospels and the gospels fueled their stories.
Superman was the role model for generations of kids.
In the first Superman movie, released in 1978, the young man Clark Kent discovers he is not from Earth.
On his journey of self-discovery, through holographic projection, he meets his father, who teaches him everything about who he is.
Speaking of the human race, the last lines in this scene go like this: “They can be a great people Kal-El, they wish to be.
They only lack the light to show the way.
For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you…my only son.”
I have said for the past several weeks that there is a severe lack of godly leadership in every aspect of life.
In politics, in business, in healthcare, and even in the church we see time and time again the people in power abuse their power for selfish gain.
The majority of Israel’s kings did this.
They abused the people God placed them as leaders over.
In business you sometimes have people in management who have no idea what they are doing.
In politics we certainly have many who should not be there.
In the church there are people in leadership positions who should not have them.
All of this makes us yearn for something better.
Who will come and lead us?
Who will treat us rightly?
Who will come and deliver u:s from all this?
None other than God himself.
Psalm 72 has an inscription as its first line, and it says in most English translations that it is a psalm of Solomon.
This leads many to believe that Solomon is its author, and that may be the case.
However, I don’t think he wrote it.
I think it may have been written by his father David to be used at Solomon’s coronation when he would have been crowned king.
The preposition in the title may mean of like it is often translated, but it may also be translated as for, toward, or about.
Solomon is the subject, but perhaps not its author.
The psalm also is written in the third person.
The psalm, written about the king, always refers to him as he, never I.
If Solomon wrote this, it would follow that it would be written in first person instead of third.
Then there is the final verse, which is likely an editorial addition added when the psalms were collected and organized to mark the end of the second book of Psalms (The book of Psalms is a five volume collection of psalms).
This last verse suggests that David may be the author, not Solomon.
As I stated before, its purpose was to be spoken at the coronation ceremony and is a prayer over the king and his rule.
Similar to the virgin birth prophecy, there is an immediate application to king Solomon, but careful reading reveals there is a Messianic component to it as well.
As we explore this psalm, we will see how we might pray for godly leaders in an age where it is uncommon.
Pray for leaders to lead well.
We see that the psalm begins with a petition to God to give the king his judgments and his righteousness.
If a leader is to lead rightly, his wisdom must come from the Word of God.
If one is to judge rightly, it has to be in accordance with the Word of God.
For if God has spoken through his written word, then what is written must be true, for God cannot lie.
Mountains and hills often represent governments, and here in this psalm, it is like saying, “Let the government established by the king bring peace and deliverance through properly executed justice.”
When leaders exercise their responsibilities properly, reverence for the leader and refreshment for the people are the outcome.
The writer speaks of fear of the Lord, which is not a go hide under your bed kind of fear, but rather a profound honor and respect kind of fear.
He prays for this to happen for all time as indicated by the endurance of the sun and moon.
Refreshment is described here as rain falling on freshly mowed grass.
While rain can be an interruption in our plans, it brings new life.
We have seen a lot more green this year because of rain.
We have seen an unbelievable amount of acorns because of rain.
When the rain falls, the ground is fertile and new life grows.
This prayer was that Solomon might lead like this, but we get an indication from this that it also applies to Christ, who will lead on forever, through all generations.
As we wait for his return, we must pray that God will raise up leaders who will lead like him.
This kind of leadership is rare, which is all the more reason to pray for leaders who will seek God.
Pray for the increasing influence of godly leadership.
The prayer here is that Solomon’s territory would increase from sea to sea and from the River, which is likely a reference to the Euphrates, to the ends of the earth.
There is certainly a desire to see the land portion of God’s covenant with Abraham to be realized, but the idea that Solomon’s territory should be to the ends of the earth also hints at the Messianic kingdom.
Solomon did not rule the whole earth, but when Jesus returns, his kingdom will not be only Israel.
It will encompass all of the earth.
It would be unrealistic for us to pray that any human leader have a global rule.
But what we can pray for is the maximizing of his influence.
We ought to pray that the leader who follows after God would grow in his number of allies and decrease in his number of enemies.
While the leaders we pray for might not conquer the world, we would hope that they attract the support of other nations.
That is what we see in verse 10 and 11.
When godly leaders execute the duties of their office in a manner that glorifies God, people generally respond with some sort of tribute.
In today’s world, it may not be that one conquers kingdoms, but that nations desire participation in what is taking place.
Godly leadership exists, but to lead effectively requires boldness, courage, resilience, humility, and more.
We ought to pray that God would give his leaders those things and in the process, grow their influence.
Pray for protection and deliverance.
Great leadership is marked by protection of those who are most vulnerable.
A shepherd does not care for just the sheep that he likes or the sheep that make his life easier.
He cares for the sheep that are smelly, dirty, and downright dumb as well s the ones that don’t find themselves in a lot of trouble.
The world needs better shepherds than it needs those who know how to give orders.
The prayer here is that the king would be one who would deliver people in times of trouble, that he would look compassionately on the poor and needy.
We see this culminate in the life of Jesus, who called himself the good shepherd.
Let’s look at John 10:11-13 together:
A good leader is marked by protection of those who are most vulnerable.
Sheep are completely helpless if left unattended.
A hired hand does not care about the people entrusted to him.
A shepherd will take care of the sheep even if they are not his.
A great leader puts his people first, not sell them out to a foreign country.
The blessings of the people are the reward of great leaders.
The second the leader does it for the reward, he has lost his true motivation.
I have zero concern following one who stewards his leadership responsibility well.
While Solomon was a good king, he strayed from the Lord.
We see this pattern continue as successive kings come to power in Israel’s history.
The good news is that there is coming a leader who will lead perfectly and exercise compassionate care for his people.
Jesus, being God himself, always cares perfectly for his people.
Jesus is the greatest leader we can hope for.
Pray for the blessings that flow from godly leadership.
When leaders lead properly, everybody gets better.
There are two choices every leader has.
First, he leader can grow the organization by finding people from outside the organization with the skill set needed for any given position, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
The other choice is to identify people within the organization who exhibit a level of teachability and train them to become the people needed in key positions to propel the organization forward.
I believe a good leader will first look for those within the organization with the passion and drive and love for the organization who will receive the training to become better leaders.
Sometimes people from outside the organization will need to be brought in, but I would say for the most part, an organization has the people it needs if its leaders will invest in them.
The legacy of a leader lives on in those he leads.
Think about this for a moment.
Jesus had a ton of followers.
The all had varying levels of commitment.
Only twelve of them were poured into directly by their leader.
Jesus knew that his time on earth was short.
He is still the head of the church, but the hands and feet work was going to be done by those he intentionally trained to go out and do the work.
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