Can we have a great leader?

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

The troubles faced by the writers of surrounding Psalms make Psalm 72 stand out to me as vital, an urgently needed and deeply heartfelt cry of praise for a brilliant leader.

At first glance, this is a blessing for the king of Israel. “Of Solomon” suggests it’s by or about David’s successor, who was well known for his wisdom and general lack of understatement. He was the king of bling, with a more extensive household, network of allies and sense of his own significance than perhaps any other leader of his time.

Did that make him great? Is a vision of Solomon’s potency fuelling this Psalm? I don’t think so. He would have relished bringing prosperity through wise rule “from sea to sea”, but even his expansive ego did not envisage his reign “to the ends of the earth.”

What may have started as a call to bless a human leader quickly becomes, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, a recognition of the greatest leadership to come. Encouraged by this vision, people could hope to flourish and prosper, with the weak defended and oppressors crushed. They could imagine this leadership being recognised far beyond the boundaries of Israel. They could live with strength and stability we can scarcely dream about if this leadership could in fact “endure forever”. But how could this be possible?

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

The writer credits God directly “who alone does marvellous deeds.” God does bless human leaders and gives us glimpses of his character through them, but God’s plan was always for us to be able to approach and know him, so that we can be led by him directly.

God arranged Israel in a way that would point each generation as well as surrounding peoples towards him and the fulfilment of his plan to answer this prayer for a great leader. We know that leadership in Jesus.

If you haven’t yet imagined this Psalm as a recognition of Jesus, why not read it again with Jesus in mind? Does this start to look like the kind of leader you want to follow forever?

What am I going to do differently as a result?

Reading the stories of mostly terrible leaders in the Bible this week, as well as our own mixed bag of leaders in the news every day, I feel extremely keen to find and associate myself with better leadership. I don’t want to settle for leaders who talk tough to get votes but fail to grasp their need to grow in wisdom, serve people better and defend those that need the most help. I don’t want to fall into the same trap of believing that riches and cleverness can do what only God and his love can do. So I want to be better at being led directly by Jesus, his example and Spirit, and maybe God can use me to lead others too.

Who am I going to share this with?

My family and others I follow Jesus with.