Psalms 87 KJV
The City of God
About This Psalm
Zion is God's favorite city - and people from all nations will be 'born' there. A vision of global inclusion.
1is foundation is in the holy mountains.
2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.
4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.
5 And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.
6 The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah.
7 As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.
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Did You Know?
The psalm's inclusion of traditional enemies like Rahab (Egypt) and Babylon as having citizens 'born' in Zion presents an unusually expansive vision of Gentile incorporation into God's people, distinct from more exclusive tones in surrounding psalms.
As a Korahite psalm, it likely served in temple liturgy performed by descendants of the rebellious Korah, transforming a narrative of judgment into one of musical praise for Zion's universal reach.
The phrase 'when he writeth up the people' alludes to ancient royal censuses but reorients them toward a divine enrollment of foreigners, prefiguring later Jewish and Christian ideas of a heavenly citizen registry.
Zion is depicted as founded on 'holy mountains' in a way that subtly echoes Canaanite mythology of divine abodes while asserting Yahweh's supremacy over all other sacred sites.
The closing focus on singers and pipers 'in thee' positions music not merely as response but as the very medium through which the nations' new birth in Zion is proclaimed and enacted.
Commentary & Study Notes
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Psalms 87 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: This Triumphal Song Was Probably Occasioned By The Same Event As The Forty-Sixth [See On Ps 46:1, Title]. The Writer Celebrates The Glory Of The Church, As The Means Of Spiritual Blessing To The Nation.
This Triumphal Song Was Probably Occasioned By The Same Event As The Forty-Sixth [See On Ps 46:1, Title]. The Writer Celebrates The Glory Of The Church, As The Means Of Spiritual Blessing To The Nation v1-7
1. His--that is, God's foundation--or, what He has founded, that is, Zion (Isa 14:32). is in the holy mountains--the location of Zion, in the wide sense, for the capital, or Jerusalem, being on several hills. 2. gates--for the enclosures, or city to which they opened (Ps 9:14; 122:2; compare Ps 132:13, 14). 3. spoken of thee--or, "in thee," that is, the city of God (Ps 46:4; 48:2). 4. This is what is spoken by God. to them . . . me--literally, "for My knowers," they are true worshippers (Ps 36:10; Isa 19:21). These are mentioned as specimens. this--that is, nation was born there--Of each it is said, "This was born," or is a native of Zion, spiritually. 5. The writer resumes-- This and that man--literally, "man and man," or many (Ge 14:10; Ex 8:10, 14), or all (Isa 44:5; Ga 3:28). the highest . . . her--God is her protector. 6. The same idea is set forth under the figure of a register made by God (compare Isa 4:3). 7. As in a great procession of those thus written up, or registered, seeking Zion (Isa 2:3; Jer 50:5), "the singers" and "players," or pipers, shall precede. all my springs--So each shall say, "All my sources of spiritual joy are in Thee" (Ps 46:4; 84:6).