Psalm 72:8

Psalm 72:8

The River to the ends of the earth

It’s a bit much, isn’t it, to expect a king of Israel to rule from sea to sea? Not according to the Bible. Isaiah speaks of the reign of Messiah and that Israel will be a “Light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6. In chapter 60:3 we read, “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

If this psalm was written for Solomon, he certainly had an influence over a vast area of the then-known world, kings and queens and statemen came to consult with him, bringing gifts and their adulation. A king was installed in Zion and the world came to pay their respects. (See 1 Kings 9-10.) What a day it will be when another King takes His place on Zion’s holy hill and the world comes to honour Him! Zechariah 14:16.

So, what is the “River” referred to in today’s verse? Notice that it is described with a capital letter to underline its importance. There was only one River that was depicted in this way in ancient times and it was the Euphrates, flowing as it did, from Mesopotamia (Turkey) down through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris and eventually emptying into the Persian Gulf. The Euphrates was far and away the biggest and most important River in western Asia and it remains so to this day. Exodus 23:31 tells us that the eastern boundary of the land of Israel should always have been the Euphrates River. It was only because of disobedience and faithlessness that the Israelites never fully retained the territory God had promised to them. 


The full extent of the Promised Land. 

The River Euphrates was to be the NE boundary.

Biblical Boundaries of the Land of Israel - The Israel Bible

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