The End of the Matter: The Prayers of David Text: Psalm 72:20
Introduction: An Inspired Postscript
We come today to a curious verse, a verse that feels less like a part of the song and more like a note from the editor. And in one sense, that is exactly what it is. But we must remember that the editor here is the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who inspired David and Solomon to write the psalms also inspired the men who gathered them, arranged them, and placed this inspired signpost right here at the end of Psalm 72.
This verse is not an afterthought. It is a load-bearing wall in the architecture of the Psalter. It tells us that we are at a significant juncture, a turning point in the great hymnbook of Israel. To read this verse and simply move on is like walking past a monumental pillar in a cathedral without considering why the builders put it there. It is marking something. It is telling us that a great movement has concluded and another is about to begin.
The book of Psalms is not a haphazard collection of religious songs, like a modern hymnal put together by a committee. It is a book with a deliberate structure, a flow, a theological argument that develops from beginning to end. It is arranged into five books, mirroring the five books of Moses. And this verse, Psalm 72:20, marks the definitive end of the second book. What we have here is a divine colophon, a publisher's note from Heaven, telling us that a particular volume of prayers, the prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are now complete.
But this raises immediate questions. We find more psalms attributed to David later in the Psalter, so in what sense are his prayers "completed"? This is where we must dig deeper. This verse is not just about authorship; it is about an era. It is about a kind of prayer, a kind of crying out to God that was characteristic of David's life and reign. It is about the prayers of a warrior-king, a man after God's own heart who was nevertheless a man of blood, a man of constant strife and conflict. These are the prayers of the church militant. And in placing this verse here, at the end of a psalm about the glorious, peaceful reign of the Messiah, the Spirit is telling us something profound about how God answers prayer and how He brings history to its appointed end.
The Text
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
(Psalm 72:20 ESV)
A Note from the Editor (v. 20a)
Let us first consider the plain meaning of the phrase.
"The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended."
This is a concluding statement. The preceding two verses, 18 and 19, form a doxology, a burst of praise to God that formally closes the second book of the Psalms. "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!" And then, as if to put a final stamp on this section, we have our text. This is the end of a collection. The scribes who compiled the Psalter under the inspiration of the Spirit are telling us that the main body of Davidic prayers, which dominate the first two books, has now been presented.
Think of it as a multi-volume set. We have just finished Volume Two. While there may be other writings from the same author scattered in later volumes, the primary collection is finished. Books One (Psalms 1-41) and Two (Psalms 42-72) are overwhelmingly Davidic. They are filled with the cries of a man in distress, surrounded by enemies, betrayed by friends, and confessing his own sin. These are the prayers from the battlefield, from the cave of Adullam, from the flight from Absalom. They are raw, earthy, and shot through with a desperate faith in the promises of God.
The designation "son of Jesse" is also significant. It is not the more common "King David." It points us back to his humble origins, to the shepherd boy anointed by Samuel. It reminds us that these are the prayers of a man who was raised up from obscurity by the sheer grace of God to be the sweet psalmist of Israel. It is a reminder of the covenant God made with this man, this son of Jesse, a covenant that finds its ultimate fulfillment not in Solomon, but in the one who is both the Son of David and David's Lord.
The End of an Era (v. 20b)
But as I said, this is more than just a literary marker. It signifies the end of an era of prayer and the anticipation of another.
"The prayers of David... are ended."
David's life was one of constant warfare. He fought Goliath, he fought the Philistines, he fought the Amalekites, he fought Saul, and he even fought his own rebellious son. His reign was about establishing the kingdom through conflict. Consequently, his prayers are filled with petitions for deliverance, for judgment on his enemies, for vindication. They are imprecatory prayers. "Break their teeth in their mouths, O God!" (Psalm 58:6). "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living!" (Psalm 69:28).
These are the prayers of the Church Militant, the church at war. And they are our prayers. We are still in the Davidic era of church history, fighting Philistines in every sense of the word. We battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. We cry out for God to vindicate His name and crush His enemies. We pray these psalms, and we are right to do so.
However, this verse is placed at the end of Psalm 72 for a specific reason. Psalm 72 is a prayer for Solomon, David's son, but it swells into a glorious prophecy of the Messiah, the greater Solomon. It describes a reign of universal peace, justice, and prosperity. "May he have dominion from sea to sea... May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!" (Psalm 72:8, 11). It is a vision of the Church Triumphant.
The Spirit is showing us a progression. The prayers of David, the prayers of conflict and struggle, find their ultimate answer and their completion in the peaceful reign of the Son. The warfare of David gives way to the shalom of Solomon. The struggles of the present age will one day be "ended" in the glorious, global reign of Jesus Christ. This verse, then, is a statement of profound eschatological hope. The day is coming when the kind of prayers that characterized David's life will no longer be necessary. Why? Because the kingdom will have come in its fullness. The whole earth will be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.
Fulfilled in the Son (v. 20c)
This brings us to the most important point. All the prayers of David, and indeed all the prayers of all the saints, are ultimately completed and answered in one man: Jesus Christ.
"The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended."
Jesus is the true Son of Jesse, the root and the offspring of David. Every prayer David prayed for deliverance was a shadow of the great deliverance Christ would accomplish at the cross. Every cry for vindication was a type of the vindication Christ received in His resurrection and ascension. Every plea for the establishment of a righteous kingdom pointed to the kingdom that Christ is building now and will one day consummate.
When David prayed, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" he was praying prophetically, and his prayer was "ended" when Jesus cried those same words from the cross. The prayer was completed, fulfilled, and answered in the Son. When David prayed for forgiveness in Psalm 51, his prayer was answered at Calvary, where the Son of David secured a perfect and final atonement for all the sins of His people.
In Christ, the prayers of David are not just finished in the sense of being compiled; they are finished in the sense of being accomplished. Jesus is the great "Amen" to all of God's promises (2 Corinthians 1:20) and to all the prayers of His people that are in accordance with those promises. He is the one who takes up all the groaning, struggling, Davidic prayers of the saints throughout history and presents them to the Father, perfected by His own intercession.
Therefore, this little verse is a profound statement about Jesus. It tells us that the old era of struggle, typified by David, finds its goal and its finish line in the glorious reign of the Messiah. The prayers are ended because the King has come, and is coming, and will come to answer them all.
Conclusion: From Prayer to Praise
So what does this inspired editorial note mean for us? It means that our own Davidic prayers, our cries from the midst of the battle, have a definite expiration date. We are commanded to pray, to cry out, to wrestle with God. But we do so in the sure and certain hope that one day, these prayers will be "ended."
They will be ended not because God stops listening, but because He will have finally and fully answered. The struggle will be over. The enemies will be vanquished. The kingdom will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. The prayers of petition will give way to an eternity of praise. The doxology that precedes our verse will become the permanent soundtrack of the cosmos: "Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!"
This verse is a hinge. It closes the door on one great movement of prayer and opens our eyes to the glorious answer that was prophesied in the psalm just before it. It is a promise that the fight is not forever. The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are completed in the reign of the Son of David. And because we are in Him, our prayers are likewise gathered up, presented, and answered in His glorious and final victory. The story is heading somewhere. The prayers are not aimless. They are building toward that great day when they will be no longer needed, having been swallowed up by the unending reign of the King.