Ps. 72.5 (king and cosmos)

May he live / while the sun endures
and as long as the moon / through all generations. 

On first glance it would appear that the psalm has now shifted from the actions of the king to his person—from what he does to ‘who he is’. In other words, it appears that the first four verses focus on the dispensing of heavenly power to God’s people while now that heavenly power is to be applied to the person of the king himself. In one sense there is some truth to this. However, the real focus of these verses is still on the king’s dispensing of God’s authority and power—it is simply that now it is sought to be made perpetual in the life of the king. The point, in other words, is for the king to live perpetually so that he can perpetually administer God’s righteousness and justice. The longevity asked for here is the mediatorial, or kingly, longevity. They want a perpetual king who faithfully administers God’s compassion for his people (as in…the book of Hebrews; although there it is a priest). A second point to make is that the king’s life is aligned with cosmic duration—to live as long as the sun and mood endure. This is, probably, a type of courtly language but it cannot be reduced to mere hyperbole. It is much more than that. The people want to see the king’s life and perpetual reign to mimic the seeming ‘forever’ time of the cosmos. He will mediate God’s compassion as surely and as long as creation itself endures. This is profoundly important because now the king is understood as filling all of time itself (day and night). This is not simply perpetuity but perpetual security. The king moves into the ‘time of creation’. This is the ‘new Adam’, as Adam would have been this perpetual king, eating from the tree of life, ‘walking with God’ and ministering in his Garden. Creation/cosmos and God’s governing compassion will coincide by and through this perpetual king.