Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel - The God who rules over Israel; the God who is worshipped by the Hebrew people, and who is recognized as their God. They adore him as the true God; and he "is" their God, their Protector, their Friend.

Who only doeth wondrous things - Things that can properly be regarded as "wonders;" things suited to excite admiration by their vastness and power. Compare Exodus 15:11.

Blessed be the Lord God - David foresaw all Solomon's grandeur; his justice equity, and the happiness of the subjects under his government; and his soul has, in consequence, sensations of pleasure and gratitude to God, which even his own wondrous pen cannot describe. But it is worthy of remark, that God did not reveal to him the apostasy of this beloved son. He did not foresee that this once holy, happy, wise, and prosperous man would be the means of debasing the Divine worship, and establishing the grossest idolatry in Israel. God hid this from his eyes, that his heart might not be grieved, and that he might die in peace. Besides, there was still much contingency in the business. God would not predict a thing as absolutely certain, which was still poised between a possibility of being and not being; the scale of which he had left, as he does all contingencies, to the free-will of his creature to turn.

Who only doeth wondrous things - God alone works miracles: wherever there is a miracle there is God. No creature can invert or suspend the course and laws of nature; this is properly the work of God. Jesus Christ, most incontrovertibly, wrought such miracles; therefore, most demonstrably, Jesus Christ is God.

Blessed be the Lord God,.... The Messiah, who is truly and properly God, Jehovah, Lord of all, and the Lord our righteousness; to whom such a doxology or ascription of glory and blessing properly belongs, since all good things are from him, and by him;

the God of Israel; that brought Israel out of Egypt; went before them in the wilderness; redeemed and saved them, and bore and carried them all the days of old; and in whom all the true Israel of God are justified, and shall be saved with an everlasting salvation;

who only doeth wondrous things; in the creation of all things out of nothing; in the government of the world; and in the redemption and salvation of his people; which is a very marvellous thing: as that God should become man, suffer and die in the room of men, and save them from sin and ruin; this wondrous thing. Christ has done alone, and there was none with him.

18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.

19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory: Amen, and Amen.

20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

Psalm 72:18, Psalm 72:19

As Quesnel well observes, these verses explain themselves. They call rather for profound gratitude, and emotion Of heart, than for an exercise of the understanding; they are rather to be used for adoration than for exposition. It is, and ever will be, the acme of our desires, and the climax of our prayers, to behold Jesus exalted King of kings and Lord of lords lie has done great wonders such as none rise can match, leaving all others so far behind, that he remains the sole and only wonder-worker; but equal marvels yet remain, for which we look with joyful expectation. He is the Blessed God, and his name shall be blessed; his name is glorious, and that glory shall fill the whole earth. For so bright a consummation our heart yearns daily, and we cry "Amen, and Amen."

Psalm 72:20

"The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended." What more could he ask? He has climbed the summit of the mount of God; he desires nothing more. With this upon his lip, he is content to die. He strips himself of his own royalty and becomes only the "son of Jesse," thrice happy to subside into nothing before the crowned Messiah. Before his believing eye the reign of Jesus, like the sun, filled all around with light, and the holy soul of the man after! God's own heart exulted in it, and sung his "Nunc dimittis:" "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation!" We, too, will cease from all petitioning if it be granted to us to see the day of the Lord. Our blissful spirits will then have nothing further to do but for ever, to praise the Lord our God.

Closing Beracha of the Second Book of the Psalter. It is more full-toned than that of the First Book, and God is intentionally here called Jahve Elohim the God of Israel because the Second Book contains none but Elohim-Psalms, and not, as there, Jahve the God of Israel. "Who alone doeth wonders" is a customary praise of God, Psalm 86:10; Psalm 136:4, cf. Job 9:8. שׁם כּבודו is a favourite word in the language of divine worship in the period after the Exile (Nehemiah 9:5); it is equivalent to the שׁם כּבוד מלכוּתו in the liturgical Beracha, God's glorious name, the name that bears the impress of His glory. The closing words: and let the whole earth be full, etc., are taken from Numbers 14:21. Here, as there, the construction of the active with a double accusative of that which fills and that which is to be filled is retained in connection with the passive; for כבודו is also accusative: let be filled with His glory the whole earth (let one make it full of it). The אמן coupled by means of Waw is, in the Old Testament, exclusively peculiar to these doxologies of the Psalter.

Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth {p} wondrous things.

(p) He confesses that unless God miraculously preserves his people neither the king nor the kingdom can continue.

18, 19. These words close the Psalm in terms consistent with the style of the context, while Ps 72:20 is evidently, from its prosaic style, an addition for the purpose above explained [see on [608]Ps 72:1].

72:18-20 We are taught to bless God in Christ, for all he has done for us by him. David is earnest in prayer for the fulfilment of this prophecy and promise. It is sad to think how empty the earth is of the glory of God, how little service and honour he has from a world to which he is so bountiful. May we, like David, submit to Christ's authority, and partake of his righteousness and peace. May we bless him for the wonders of redeeming love. May we spend our days, and end our lives, praying for the spread of his gospel.