Psalm 087

Introduction

Today’s psalm has a link to the previous one, because in Psalm 86 David foretold how all nations will come and worship before the Lord and will bring glory to his name. And in today’s psalm, the psalmist anticipates a time when people from foreign nations will live as citizens of God’s holy city. And at that time, God’s holy city will be glorious. The psalms are linked, therefore, by the idea that all the nations will gather before the Lord in his holy city.

Verses 1 to 3

In verses 1 to 3 the psalmist praises the city of God which is located on God’s holy mountain. When he refers to God’s holy mountain, he’s thinking of Mount Zion where Jerusalem was located. It’s a holy mountain because God chose it as the site for his city. And the psalmist says that God has set his foundation on this holy mountain. He means that God has built this city. He has set it in place. He has established it and made it firm.

According to verse 2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. When he refers to the gates of Zion, he means the city of Jerusalem. And when he refers to the dwellings of Jacob, he perhaps means all the other cities and towns throughout the land of Israel. While God loves all the cities of Jacob (Israel), Jerusalem is his favourite. It’s the city he loves the most. It’s clear that he loves it most, because this is the place he chose for his own dwelling-place. His temple — his dwelling-place among the people — was in Jerusalem.

And then he says about Jerusalem that glorious things are said of it. He’s anticipating a time when people will praise the city and say glorious things about it. And they’ll praise it in this way because it’s the city God chose for himself. God did not choose any other city in the world for his home.

And so, the psalmist praised Jerusalem because it was established by God on his holy mountain; and it’s the place he loved more than other place. And the psalmist anticipates a time when people will say glorious things about it. That’s verses 1 to 3.

Verses 4 to 6

In verses 4 to 6 the psalmist mentions the different people who will gather in the city.

God is speaking in verse 4 and he says that he will record Rahab (i.e. Egypt) and Babylon among those who acknowledge him. Acknowledging him means they will worship him: they will acknowledge that he is the one, true and living God who deserves their worship and praise. And so, the psalm is anticipating a time when people from these pagan nations will worship the Lord. There will come a time when they will turn from their false gods and they will turn to him. And the psalmist mentions other nations in verse 4: Philistia and Tyre and Cush. Cush is another name for Ethiopia. They will come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.

But it’s more than that, isn’t it? It’s one thing for foreigners to move to Belfast and to be treated like foreigners; and it’s another thing for foreigners to move to Belfast and to be treated as if they were born here. And that’s what the psalmist is anticipating. Take a look at the last line of verse 4 where God says about the people from these pagan nations: ‘This one was born in Zion’. God will treat them as if they were born in his holy city. He will regard them as his own people who belong there. He will treat them as native-born inhabitants of Jerusalem.

In Old Testament times, foreigners could come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. These were the ones known as God-fearers. They had heard about the Lord and they wanted to worship him. But when they came to the temple, they could only enter what was known as the Court of the Gentiles. In other words, they were kept to the outskirts of the temple. They were kept on the outside. But the psalmist is anticipating a time when that kind of ethnic distinction is done away with. There will be no dividing lines among God’s people. These people from foreign nations will be treated as if they were born in Jerusalem and belong there.

The language of being born there foreshadows the language of the new birth and regeneration which we find in the New Testament and how God sends his Spirit into the lives of his people to give them the new birth so that they’re able to repent and believe the good news. And whoever repents and believes is adopted into God’s family. They are brought near to God and now belong to him.

And the psalmist goes on in verse 5 to say that it will be said of Jerusalem that this one and that one were born in her. So, more and more people will be added to Zion. More and more people will come and worship the Lord. And he once again makes clear that those who come in ever-increasing numbers will be treated as if they were born there. And in this way, the Lord, who is the Most High God, will establish and build up Jerusalem.

And then in verse 6, we’re to imagine the Lord taking a census of his people. And as he counts them and records their names, he includes those people from the nations who now believe in him and who worship him. And so, he regards them as native-born inhabitants of Zion.

Verse 7

In verse 7 the psalmist describes how the people sing and make music and praise the Lord. So, these people from the nations have gathered into Jerusalem to worship before the Lord and to sing his praises. Once they worshipped false gods and idols. They trusted in Baal and Dagon. But now they trust in the Lord and they want to worship him.

And they declare: ‘All my fountains are in you.’ It’s not entirely clear what that expression means, but it’s likely it means that the Lord is the source of every good thing we enjoy. Every good thing comes from him. Perhaps in the past the people trusted in one god for one thing and another god for something else. One god was said to control the rain and another god controlled the sun. But now they have come to see that every good thing we enjoy comes from the Lord. He is the source of our life and joy and peace and salvation.

Conclusion

The psalmist began by praising Jerusalem, because it was established by God on his holy mountain; and it was the place he loved more than other place; and the psalmist anticipated how people will say glorious things about it. And then he went on to anticipate a time when people from other nations will gather in Jerusalem to worship the Lord. And God will regard them as if they were born there. And when they gather there, they will sing and make music to the Lord, who is the source of every good gift.

John Calvin’s approach to interpreting this psalm is interesting. As many commentators do, he takes it that Zion represents the people of God. That is to say, it represents the church. So, we’re not to think about the present day city of Jerusalem. We’re to think about the church.

In Old Testament times, God’s church consisted of the Jews. The church now consists of everyone who believes in the Saviour. But the point is that Zion represents the church.

And Calvin makes the point that the church is often far from glorious. Israel did prosper under Solomon. In his day, it was a glorious city and people came from far away to see his wealth. But after Solomon’s death, Israel was divided and weakened and the people often turned from the Lord because of their sinfulness. Then, because of their persistent rebellion over many generations, the Lord sent his people into exile to the land of Babylon and the land was left desolate and Jerusalem was in ruins.

Though the Lord eventually brought his people back to the Promised Land and allowed them to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the temple, it was never the same. Remember the beginning of Ezra? The exiles who returned began to rebuild the temple and the older people (who remembered the former temple) wept, because they could see that the new temple was nothing like the old temple. The old temple was glorious and the new one was not. There was nothing glorious about the church in those days.

And we can say something similar about the church in every generation. Yes, there are some glorious days and periods. But very often the church seems weak and feeble and small. The church around the world suffers because of persecution. Often we are despised by those who are indifferent to the gospel. And then many abandon the faith and believers fall into sin and bring shame to Christ and his church. Other go astray because of error. And all of us in one way or another dishonour the Lord and his church by the things we do and say each day. The church of God on earth is far from being glorious; and not many people want to belong to it.

And yet, as Calvin says, this psalm encourages the faithful ‘to wait for a more perfect state of the church.’ That is to say, we are to look forward with hope to the life to come when God’s people will gather in the new Jerusalem in the new heavens and earth. At that time, a great multitude of people from every nation of the world will gather on God’s holy mountain where they will live as citizens of God’s holy city. And God will dwell with us and his glorious presence will fill the city and will permeate everything. His presence will make the city all-glorious.

And the gates of the city will never be shut so that no one who belongs in the city will ever be shut out of it. And people from every nation will come into it and the kings of the nations will bring their splendour into it; and the glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it. People from every nation will stream into the city and it will be a beautiful, glorious place, where all of God’s people will praise him forever and forever and where they will drink from the fountain of life and live forever.

And so, the future state of God’s people will indeed be glorious. As Calvin says, the Lord not only promises restoration, but he assures his people of incomparable glory to come. Though we may groan under the scornful reproaches of the world, though Satan attacks us, though unbelievers do not want to join us, though we ourselves dishonour the Lord our God because of our shortcomings, we can read this psalm and take hope that God has something glorious in store for us in the life to come. And since we have this hope to sustain us, we should persevere and not give up.