"In His days the righteous shall flourish..."

    Solomon was blessed among other things with knowledge of Jesus - who would come 24 generations (or 1200 years) after him! Psalm 72 declares the glory of Jesus' coming and how His coming would bring good things to the world.

    "He will judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice." (vv.2, 4; 12-14, see Acts 17:30-31, 2 Timothy 4:8, Revelation 19:11, 1 John 3:17, Matthew 11:5, James 2:5)

    "He shall come down like rain upon the grass before mowing, like showers that water the earth." (v. 6) Jesus' coming to earth would be a time of refreshing (Acts 3:18-21). The Word of God would come in the flesh (John 1:1-5, 14) and give hope and sustenance to all who believe in Him "as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations" (v.5, see Luke 9:56; 19:10, Mark16:15-16, Hebrews 13:8, 1 Peter 1:22-23)

    From the time Jesus came to earth and until the moon is no more "the righteous shall flourish" (v.7) Flourish means to spring up, grow, and spread - and that is exactly what happened! Consider the book of Acts, just as Jesus declared in Acts 1:8, that His gospel message would begin in Jerusalem (a city, fulfilled in Acts 2-7), then go into all of Judea and Samaria (the large regions North and South of Jerusalem, fulfilled in Acts 8 and beyond), then spread to the end of the earth (see Colossians 1:23). We here, on the other side of the world in North America, are proof that the gospel spread to the end of the earth - we have had it sown in our hearts and it has sprung up and grown and we flourish!!

    The "abundance of peace" that was foretold by Solomon (in verse 7) is the peace that we now have with God through the reconciliation provided by Christ (Colossians 1:19-23). Our sin separated us from God, but Jesus' sacrifice paid the price and we now can seek God and be holy, blameless, and above reproach in His sight IF we continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard!

    The righteous continue to flourish because the the word of God is living and powerful (Hebrews 4:12)! The truth, the peace, the hope, the strength, the comfort we find in Jesus allows us to flourish and grow as we become rooted and built up in Him (Colossians 2:6-7, 2 Peter 3:18)! And our joy and thanksgiving for what we have in Jesus will motivate us to tell others of our hope (Matthew 5:13-16, 1 Peter 3:15) - the flourishing continues as more people come to Jesus, obey the gospel, and live faithfully before God!!

    What a wonderful thing it is to consider that we are living proof of a bible prophecy!!

    Please make time to read the whole of Psalm 72. Think on Jesus - and just how much God loves us to have sent Him (John 3:16). Think on these things as you continue to faithfully flourish and make every effort to walk in righteousness before God!!

    You can do it! So can I!!