Today I'm wrapping up Book II of the Psalms with Psalm 72, a Psalm of Solomon.
This is a royal Psalm where Solomon prays that the king's reign will be based on God's judgments and righteousness, and that he may vindicate the afflicted and crush the oppressor. He also asks for a vast country to rule over, and victory over his enemies, and foresees other kings giving gifts to the king of Israel.
He foresees the king delivering the needy and afflicted, and having compassion on the poor and needy. He continues by asking for an abundance of grain (agricultural prosperity) and for those in the cities to flourish (general prosperity).
The Psalm ends (except for one concluding statement about David) with praise to the LORD God of Israel, "may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen" Psalm 72:19 NASB
The Psalm, while immediately applicable to Solomon, is ultimately fulfilled in the Lordship of Christ, who is the ultimate King of Kings. Some of the statements in the Psalm have little relevance to Solomon, who did not have to engage his enemies in warfare. He also did not have a great reputation for compassion, being mainly known for his wisdom and wealth, and having a reputation for tyranny as cited by his son Rehoboam when Rehoboam was due to inherit the throne.
The Psalm closes with the statement "The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended" Psalm 72:20 NASB. This is either a reference to Solomon reciting this Psalm soon after his father's death, or to a rearranged or abbreviated book of Psalms in Solomon's possession at that time.
What happened to Solomon to make him turn from God later in life? He is known to have been very wise. His wisdom was not sufficient for him to love God all the days of his life however, even though he states that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7). One obvious answer is that he married many foreign wives and they turned his heart away from God. But why would he do that - allow his heart to be turned like that? I'm not sure what went on in his heart, but I think he began to look to materialistic wealth and the pleasures of having many wives, and began to seek love from them rather than from God, and it probably happened slowly, over a long time -- a little disobedience today (what could it hurt?) leads to a greater tolerance for greater disobedience tomorrow. The famous saying of Lord Acton may also apply "Absolute power corrupts absolutely", and no king of Israel had more power than Solomon. Before you know it, God was a stranger to Solomon, and Solomon's wisdom was compromised by his lack of love for God.