Psalms 87:7

As well the singers as the players on the instruments shall be there,.... In Zion, in the church; signifying that there should be great spiritual joy there when the above things should be

As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.

There shall be great rejoicing and praising God, both with vocal and instrumental music, for this glorious and stupendous work of the conversion of the Gentiles. He describes evangelical worship by legal phrases and customs, as the prophets frequently do. In thee, i.e. in Zion, or the church. These words may be here added as the burden or matter of the song, which these singers are supposed to have sung; and that either, 1. In their own names, and in the name of all the Zionites or people of God. So the sense is, All our desires and delights are in thee, all the springs of mercy, grace, and glory flow to us only in and through thee; for springs or fountains are oft put for all precious or desirable things, as . Or, 2. In God’ s name, whose words were frequently sung by the singers in the Old Testament. And so the sense is, All the springs or fountains of good things, or of my blessings are in Zion, or in the church, out of which no true blessings are to be expected or found. And this sense seems best to suit with the phrase, my springs; partly because it seems more proper to call them God’ s springs, who is the author and giver of them, than men’ s springs, who are only the receivers of them; and partly because this is more agreeable to the phrase and usage of Scripture, which every where ascribes and appropriates them to God.

Psalms 87:7 As well the singers as the players on instruments [shall be there]: all my springs [are] in thee.Ver. 7. As well the singers as the players, &c.] There shall be an exuberancy of joy in the Holy Ghost, the only comfortable soul ravishing music, far beyond that of the material temple. All my springs are in thee] i.e. All my thoughts run upon thee, with greatest delight. My eyes are wholly fixed upon thee, so some read it; others, My bowels are in thee, making these to be the words of the psalmist (Calvin; R. Solomon); but methinks they do better that make them to be the words of God, promising plenty of grace and comfort to his people, as from everflowing, overflowing fountains.

(7) The literal sense of this most obscure verse is— “And singers as trumpeters All my springs in Thee, which we may paraphrase, keeping in the same line with the rest of the psalm, For such an one (celebrating his birthday, Genesis 40:20, Matthew 14:6) the singers and musicians will sing (to Zion), “All my offspring is in Thee.” Not only is it a boast to have been born in Zion, but in the genuine Hebrew spirit the boast is continued into the future generations, and the Hebrew of the Hebrews exults in addressing the sacred city as the cradle of his family. For this figurative application of the word “springs” to posterity, comp. Psalms 68:26; Isaiah 48:1; Proverbs 5:16.

Verse 7. As well the singers, c.] Perhaps, this may mean no more than, The burden of the songs of all the singers and choristers shall be, "All my fountains (ancestors and posterity) are in thee" and consequently, entitled to all thy privileges and immunities. Instead of שרים sharim, "singers," many MSS. and early printed editions have, sarim, "princes." Some for מעיני mayenai, "my fountains," would read with several of the Versions, מעוני meoney, "habitations;" but no MS. yet discovered supports this reading. It would be a very natural cause of exultation, when considering the great privileges of this royal city, to know that all his friends, family, and children, were citizens of this city, were entered in God's register, and were entitled to his protection and favour. Applied to the Christian Church, the privileges are still higher: born of God, enrolled among the living in Jerusalem, having their hearts purified by faith, and being washed and made clean through the blood of the covenant, and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, such have a right to the inheritance among the saints in light. I need not add that springs, wells, fountains, and cisterns, and waters are used metaphorically in the sacred writings for children, posterity, fruitful women, people, c. see among others Proverbs 5:15-16; Psalms 68:26; Isaiah 48:1; and Revelation 17:15. The old Psalter understands the whole as relating to Gospel times; and interprets it accordingly. Bishop Horne takes it in the same sense. The whole Psalm is obscure and difficult. I will venture a literal version of the whole, with a few explanatory interpolations, instead of notes, in order to cast a little more light upon it. 1. A Psalm to be sung by the posterity of Korah. A prophetic song. 2. "Jehovah loves his foundation, the city built by him on holy mountains. He loves the gates of Zion more than all the habitations of Jacob." 3. "Honourable things are declared of thee, O city of God. Selah." 4. "I will number Egypt and Babylon among my worshippers; behold Philistia and Tyre! They shall be born in the same place." They shall be considered as born in the city of God. 5. "But of Zion it shall be said, This one, and that one," persons of different nations, "was born in it, and the Most High shall establish it." 6. "Jehovah shall reckon in the registers of the people, This one was born there." 7. "The people shall sing, as in leading up a choir, All my fountains," the springs of my happiness, "are in thee." I have nearly followed here the version of Mr. N. M. Berlin, who wonders that there should be any doubt concerning this translation of the last verse, when Symmachus and Aquila, who must have well known the sense of the Masoretic text, have translated: Καιᾳδοντηςῳςχοροιπασαιπηγαιενσοι· "And they shall sing, as in leading up a dance, All my fountains are in thee." The translation cannot be far from the meaning.

7. Conclusion. The Psalm ends as abruptly as it began, with a verse which is enigmatic in its brevity. It is best explained as an outline picture of the universal rejoicing with which the citizens of Zion greet their mother. And singing as well as dancing (shall they chant,) ‘All my fountains are in thee.’ The rendering dancing is preferable to playing on the flute (cp. A.V., R.V. marg.). For dancing as an expression of religious rejoicing see Psalms 30:11; Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4; Exodus 15:20; 2 Samuel 6:16. The second line is their anthem. It may even be a fragment of some well-known hymn. My fountains is to be understood metaphorically, as ‘fountains of salvation’ in Isaiah 12:3. Cp. Psalms 36:9 f.; Psalms 84:6; Ezekiel 47:1; Joe 3:18; Zechariah 14:8. It is possible, but less satisfactory, to take the verse as the Psalmist’s apostrophe to Zion: Both they that sing and they that dance, All my fountains are in thee: “meaning that every source of pleasure, music, singing, &c. was to be found in Zion” (Bp Perowne). So Milton in his paraphrase: Both they who sing and they who dance With sacred songs are there; In thee fresh brooks and soft streams glance, And all my fountains clear. The obscurity of the verse must however be acknowledged. Cheyne thinks that it may be “a fragment of a description of a joyous procession.” Cp. Psalms 68:25. Is it possible that it is not, strictly speaking, part of the Psalm, but a liturgical direction to sing the anthem “All my fountains are in thee” at the end of the Psalm, as an expression of the joy of Zion’s citizens?

As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there - literally, “The singers as the players on instruments.” The image is that of a musical procession, where the singers go before,

7. As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there— The words “shall be there” are not in the text, and they destroy the sense.