Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 78:72

"So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands." — Psalms 78:72 (ASV)

So he fed them—He performed toward them the office of a shepherd.

According to the integrity of his heart—literally, “According to the perfection of his heart.” That is, he was upright and pure in the administration of his government.

And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands—literally, “by the understanding of his hands,” as if the hand had been endowed with intelligence. Compare Psalms 144:1: Which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. See also Psalms 137:5.

The idea is that he administered the government with integrity and uprightness. This is a beautiful tribute to the integrity and purity of David’s administration.

It is not the language of flattery; it is a simple statement, flowing from the heart, in favor of a just and upright administration, and it is a true statement of what David’s administration was. Except in the matter of Uriah—over which he afterward wept so bitterly—his administration was eminently just, pure, impartial, wise, and benignant. Probably none among people have been more so.

The whole psalm is thus a beautiful argument showing why the government had been transferred from Ephraim to Judah, and why it had been placed in the hands of David.