Psalms 87:1

His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Jewish writers connect these words with the title of the psalm, and make the sense to be this; "the foundation" or argument "of it", the psalm, "is

His foundation is in the holy mountains. Psalms 87:1-7.-Zion is the city loved and founded by God (Psalms 87:1-3); it is the spiritual birthplace of the nations (Psalms 87:4-7).

Psalms 87 THE This Psalm was doubtless composed after the building of the temple; and, as learned men think, and it seems probable, when the people were newly returned out of Babylon, and laboured under many discouragements about the return of most of their brethren, and the difficulties which they met with in the rebuilding of their temple and city. The prophet speaketh of the nature and glory of the endureth and God’ s love to it, ; of the increase, honour, and comfort of the members thereof, . His foundation: whose foundation? Either, 1. The foundation, i.e. the argument or matter, of this Psalm or Song. So these words are thought to be a part of the title, the words lying thus in the Hebrew text, For the sons of Korah, a Psalm or Song whose foundation is in the Holy mountains. But, 1. The Hebrew word rendered foundation is no where used in that sense. 2. There is no example of any such like title in the Book of the Psalms. Or rather, 2. Of the city or temple of God, of which he speaks in the following verses. And whereas the beginning is somewhat abrupt, which seems to be the only ground of the foregoing exposition, that is no unusual thing in Scripture, and the pronoun relative, such as this is, is often put without any foregoing antecedent, and the antecedent is to be fetched out of the following words or verses, as , I shall see him, or it, to wit, the star, which follows afterward; , his word, i.e. the Lord’ s; , to her house, i.e. the harlot’ s, mentioned ; and especially , let him kiss, to wit, my beloved, who is there understood, but not expressed till . And the ground of that abrupt and imperfect speech there seems to be the same with this here; for as the church was there in deep meditation and a great passion about her beloved, which caused that abruptness of speech, which is usual in such cases, so the psalmist’ s thoughts were strongly fixed upon the temple and city of God; and therefore this relative his had a certain antecedent in his thoughts, though not in his words. The word foundations may possibly be emphatical, because this Psalm might probably be composed when the foundations of the second temple were newly laid, and the old men who had seen the glory of the former house were dejected at the sight of this, of which see ,12.

Psalms 87:1 « A Psalm [or] Song for the sons of Korah. » His foundation [is] in the holy mountains.A Psalm or Song] Made, likely, by David, after that he had settled the ark in Mount Sion, 2 Samuel 6:1-23, and understood that the temple should be built in Mount Moriah; in which two mountains (or rather one mountain with two tops) the Rabbis say that this psalm was composed, and thereunto they draw the next words, "His foundation," or the argument of this psalm, is in and of those holy mountains. But this seemeth not to be the sense. Ver. 1. His foundation is in the holy mountains] Which cannot be removed, but abide for ever, Psalms 125:1. Some read it, The foundation thereof, viz. of the temple, but especially of the Church universal, that spiritual temple (built of living stones by God, the best architect, Christ himself being the chief cornerstone), is in the holy mountains; for out of Zion went forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; which is therefore called the mother Church, and τωνεκκλησιωνακροπολις, the chief Church, the reef of the Gentile Churches, Romans 11:1-36, the conversion whereof is here foretold, Psalms 87:1, and perpetual happiness promised (Damasc. l. 4. c. 13).

(1) His foundation.—This abrupt commencement with a clause without a verb has led to the conjecture that a line has dropped away. But this is unnecessary if we neglect the accents, and take gates of Zion in apposition with His foundation:His foundation on the holy hill Loveth Jehovah, (even) Zion’s gates, More than all Jacob’s dwellings. Here His foundation is equivalent to that which He hath founded, and the gates are put by metonymy for the city itself. (Comp. Jeremiah 14:2.) With regard to the plural, mountains, it is probably only poetical, though geographically it is correct to speak of Jerusalem as situated on hills. Dean Stanley speaks of “the multiplicity of the eminences” which the city “shares, though in a smaller compass, with Rome and Constantinople” (Sinai and Palestine, p. 177).

PSALM LXXXVII The nature and glorious privileges of Zion and Jerusalem, 1-3. No other city to be compared to this, 4. The privilege of being born in it, 5, 6. Its praises celebrated, 7. NOTES ON PSALM LXXXVII The title, A Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah, gives us no light into the author or meaning of this Psalm. It begins and ends so abruptly that many have thought it to be only a fragment of a larger Psalm. This opinion is very likely. Those who suppose it to have been made when Jerusalem was rebuilt and fortified, imagine it to have been an exclamation of the author on beholding its beauty, and contemplating its privileges. If this opinion be allowed, it will account for the apparent abruptness in the beginning and end. As to its general design it seems to have been written in praise of Jerusalem; and those who are for mystic meanings think that it refers to the Christian Church; and, on this supposition it is interpreted by several writers, both ancient and modern. To pretend to have found out the true meaning would be very absurd. I have done the best I could to give its literal sense. Verse 1. His foundation is in the holy mountains.] Jerusalem was founded on the mountains or hills of Zion and Moriah. The after increase of the population obliged the inhabitants to inclose all the contiguous hills; but Zion and Moriah were the principal. We know that ancient Rome was built on seven hills.

1–3. The glory of Zion the city of God.

His foundation - This is an abrupt commencement of the psalm.

1. His foundation—God’s foundation, the ground whereon he rests the temporal structure of his Church, and proposes to accomplish his covenant purposes.