The Bible is one story, a single plot that unfolds through a series of covenants God made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David—all of which point towards, and are fulfilled in, the New Covenant in Christ.
There are many passages of Scripture that we could draw on in order to demonstrate this key idea, but recently I’ve been struck at how Psalm 72 pulls everything together so well.
The Psalm’s title is “Of Solomon,” and the opening request is “Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son!” (Psalm 72:1). These words recall God’s promise to David that “I will raise up your offspring after you… and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:12). In fact, much of the Psalm could be described as a prayer from David’s heir that God would keep the promises of the Davidic covenant (found in 2 Samuel 7).
But that’s not all. The Psalm also envisions Israel’s king as an inheriting the charge given to Adam and Eve to “have dominion” over the earth. “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” (Genesis 1:28). “May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!” (Psalm 72:8). The idea of “subduing” the earth is further reflected in the request that the peoples of the earth would bow down to David’s son (Psalm 72:9-11).
In His covenant with Noah, God entrusted him with the responsibility to protect human life and bring justice to those who shed innocent blood (Genesis 9:5-6). This mantle is carried by David’s heir in Psalm 72 who “has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight” (Psalm 72:13–14).
God promised Abraham that all nations would be blessed through one of his offspring (Genesis 22:18). Psalm 72 identifies this offspring with the Davidic king when it prays, “May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!” (Psalm 72:17).
Through Moses, God promised His people profound material prosperity if they would obey Him and keep His covenant (Deuteronomy 7:13, 28:4-5, 30:9). According to Psalm 72, these promises will be fulfilled through David’s son, who so leads the people in righteousness (Psalm 72:2, 5, 7) that the land abounds in the fertile blessings of the Mosaic covenant (Psalm 72:3, 16).
In short, Psalm 72 pictures the entire history of redemption, with its series of progressive covenants, coming to a point in a single person: the son of David, the son of Abraham, who wears Adam’s mantle, leads his people to faithfulness to the Mosaic covenant, and in whom all nations of the earth are blessed.
We know that not a single Israelite king fulfilled this description. The prayer is Psalm 72 was unanswered for centuries, until the birth of “Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). Jesus fulfills Adam’s mission, is right now blessing the nations through His death and resurrection, has applied the law to our hearts through His new covenant, and has already begun a heavenly reign which will one day meet no opposition and no end.
It’s really all about Jesus. There’s no-one more important than Him, more powerful than Him, or more central than Him.
Want to explore these ideas even further? Start your journey here.👇
