Psalms 72:11
Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.
Study Note
Study Note
'May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him' — Psalm 72's vision of the ideal Davidic king attracting the world's rulers into submission draws on the ancient Near Eastern royal ideology of universal dominion while directing it toward the Israelite monarch as YHWH's regent. The psalm's petitions for justice for the poor (verses 1–4, 12–14) ground the claim to universal rule in righteous governance — the king's legitimacy flows from his advocacy for the vulnerable. Jewish tradition attributed the psalm to Solomon and read it eschatologically as a vision of messianic universal rule; the New Testament sees its fulfillment in Christ, whose reign over 'all nations' is declared in Matthew 28:18–20 and Revelation 11:15. The concluding doxology (verse 18–19) closes Book II of the Psalter, making the vision of universal royal submission the climax of the collection's second movement.
Other Translations
Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; All nations shall serve him.
And all kings do bow themselves to him, All nations do serve him,
Yes, let all kings go down before him; let all nations be his servants.
Cross References
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a …
All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth.
Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge …
Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom …
Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard …
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with …
For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of …