This psalm is written like a prayer, though it would have been sung like a song. Many of the songs that we sing in our times of worship should be viewed as prayers. I often find that some of my most intimate times of worship are during corporate worship in which I focus my singing as a prayer to my God. It seems as if the rest of the world disappears, and I am communing with God.

This psalm was written as a prayer for the king. It is likely that it was written by King David for his son Solomon. It is also possible that it was written by Solomon for his son. As Christians we can easily pray this prayer for our leaders. That might seem like a difficult thing to do if our leaders are not godly men. We should do it anyway because if God blesses our leaders there is a higher likelihood that we will be blessed.

As a leader of a family and a church this is how I would like people to pray for me. In fact, it wouldn’t hurt if I was praying many of these things for myself as a leader. Today’s verse is a great example. It is God’s desire that I should judge people in the right way. Now this doesn’t mean that I act as a judge in their lives but that I help them determine right from wrong. I can do that with those that God has given me some level of authority or influence over.

If I have a desire to help people judge right and wrong correctly, I am going to need some help. I need the Righteous Judge to guide me in those things. In my own ability, I am unlikely to do the right thing every single time. In fact, I am thankful if I stumble upon the right thing occasionally. But with God’s help, I can rest in the knowledge that he never makes mistakes. Everything He does, He does perfectly right every time. Only with His help can I hope to make good judgments.

The verse goes on to tell us that we, as leaders, need to make sure the poor are treated fairly. God calls us to be defenders of those that are not able to defend themselves. That means that we should never do anything to take advantage of or abuse those less fortunate than ourselves. But the issue for me in this part of the verse was the word ‘fairly’. Who determines what fair is? Is it me? Is it the poor person?

Only God can determine what fair is. That is why we need to pray for ourselves what this psalm says as well as encourage others to pray this for us. We need to let the Holy Spirit lead us to the right treatment of others. Jesus told the disciples that they would always have the poor among them. Treating the poor fairly does not mean meeting all their needs so they are not poor any longer. For some God might lead us to extravagant forms of help. To others He might direct us to withhold any assistance. Of course, if we have any doubt, we should always err on the side of grace. We will never be the kind of leaders God can bless if we are unwilling to ask Him to help us. Jesus, teach us to come to You daily for Your help.

Read: Isaiah 60:1-62:5; Philippians 1:27-2:18; Psalm 72:1-20; Proverbs 24:11-12