Psalms 87
ButlerAdonai is used, “O Lord;” but then El, strong God, is the same word. The meaning is, let all the strength and power Thou the strong God hast in Thee be for my advantage. Now, is it not a bold request to say, Lord, wilt Thou give me all Thy strength to help me? A very bold request indeed; but His mercy moves Him to grant it. Thus, then, petition Him: Thou art a God merciful and gracious, give Thy strength to me! Thou, O God, givest all Thy attributes up to Thy children, to serve their advantage, as well as to serve Thy own glory; give me Thy strength! T. Goodwin.
1. His 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 as among them that know me: Behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; This one was born there.
5. Yea, of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was born in her;
And the Most High himself shall establish her.
6. The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the peoples,
This one was born there. [Selah
7. They that sing as well as they that dance shall say,
All my fountains are in thee.
Zion the Birthplace of Nations.
THE Messianic character of this beautiful Psalm, which declares the nature and glory of the Church, and the increase, honor, and comfort of the members thereof, is recognized by all modern commentators. It bears a close resemblance to the prophecies of Isaiah, which describe the future conversion of the bitterest enemies of Zion. Cook.—We have here a glorious exhibition of the kingdom of the Messiah, as covering the whole earth, but having its beginning and permanent centre at Jerusalem. The keynote is v. 9 of the preceding Psalm:
“All the nations Thou madest shall come,
And shall worship before Thee, O Lord;”
which is itself an echo of chap. 22: 27 in the earlier worship of Israel:
“All the bounds of the earth
Shall remember and turn to Jehovah;
All the families of nations
Shall worship before Him.”
Several representative nations are mentioned, not as subjugated enemies, but as highly honored members of the household of God, in fellowship with Israel, and entitled to look with joyful pride to Zion as their birthplace and spiritual home. This is connected with a Divine declaration in vs. 3, 4 that they shall enjoy this great distinction. Its central thought is presented so boldly and concisely that it might be obscure were it not illuminated by other prophecies, especially Isa. 2: 2-4; 11: 10-18; 19: 18-25, and 45: 14. The regenerative grace which shall bring all nationalities of the earth into the most intimate and exalting relation with God is ever represented as issuing from Zion, the city of the Great King. De Witt.
The Jewish Church was not a missionary Church. So far as the Jews looked upon the world around them, it was with feelings of antipathy, and with the hope, which was never quenched in the midst of the most terrible reverses, that finally they, as the chosen race, should subdue their enemies far and wide, and that, by the grace of Heaven, one sitting on David’s throne should be king of the world. Psalmists and prophets shared the feeling. They exulted in the thought that the king who ruled Zion would dash the nations in pieces like a potter’s vessel, fill the places with dead bodies, and lead rival kings in the long array of His triumph. But mingling with these anticipations, and correcting them, there were others of a nobler kind. The prophets speak not only of victories, but of voluntary submission. The vision which arises before them is not only of a forced unity of nations, such as that which was achieved by the iron hand of Roman dominion, but of a unity of faith and love. They see the mountain of the Lord’s house exalted above the hills, and all nations flowing to it with one impulse, not led thither in the conqueror’s train, but attracted by its glory, longing to taste its peace (Isa. 2 : 2-4). They see Gentiles coming to the light of Jerusalem, and kings to the brightness of her rising. They foretell a time when all wars and all national antipathies shall cease, when “the root of Jesse” shall be as a standard round which all nations shall flock, and the temple of Jehovah the centre of a common faith and worship. It is this last hope which expresses itself in this Psalm, but which expresses itself in a form that has no exact parallel in other passages. Foreign nations are here described, not as captives or tributaries, not even as doing voluntary homage to the greatness and glory of Zion, but as actually incorporated and enrolled, by a new birth, among her sons. Even the worst enemies of their race, the tyrants and oppressors of the Jews, Egypt and Babylon, are threatened with no curse, no shout of joy is raised in the prospect of their overthrow, but the privileges of citizenship are extended to them, and they are welcomed as brothers. Nay more, God Himself receives each one as a child newly born into His family, acknowledges each as His son, and enrolls him with His own hand in the sacred register of His children.
It is this mode of anticipating a future union and brotherhood of all the nations of the earth, not by conquest, but by incorporation into one state, and by a birthright so acquired, which is so remarkable. In some of the prophets, more especially in Isaiah, we observe the same liberal, conciliatory, comprehensive language toward foreign States, as Tyre and Ethiopia, and still more strikingly toward Egypt and Assyria. But the Psalm stands alone among the writings of the Old Testament, in representing this union of nations as a new birth unto the city of God. It is the first announcement of that great amity of nations, or rather of that universal common citizenship of which heathen philosophers dreamed, which was “in the mind of Socrates when he called himself a citizen of the world,” which had become a commonplace of stoic philosophy, which Judaism tried finally to realize by the admission of proselytes, through baptism, into the Jewish community; which Rome accomplished, so far as the external semblance went, first by subduing the nations, and then by admitting them to the rights of Roman citizenship. But the true fulfilment of this hope is to be found only in that kingdom which Christ has set up. He has gathered into His commonwealth all the kingdoms of the earth. He has made men one, members of the same family, by teaching them to feel that they are all children of the same Father. He has made it evident that the hope of the Jewish singer is no false hope; that there is a Father in heaven who cares for all, whatever name they bear. Thus the Psalm has received a better and higher fulfilment than that which lies on the surface of its words. It was fulfilled in Christ. Its tone, as has already been observed, falls in with that of some of the prophecies of Isaiah. Hence it has been referred, not without reason, to the reign of Hezekiah. P.—This Psalm must be dated in the times of Hezekiah for the following reasons: The five Gentile nations named here were prominent in that age, while in the age of David, Egypt was not known under the name Rahab, and Babylon was scarcely if at all known on the map of the nations. (See Isa. 30 : 7 ; 51 : 9.) The name appears also in Psalm 89 : 10, but this belongs to the age of Hezekiah. The prophetic sentiment of this Psalm—viz., the conversion of all the great nations of the earth to the true God, is remarkably in harmony with the prophecies of Isaiah, which were suggested by the same event—the fall of the Assyrian hosts and God’s glorious triumphs therein. (See Isa. 10-12 ; 17 : 12-14, with chaps. 18 : 7 ; 19 : 23-25.) This coincidence is very remarkable, showing that this great thought was not in the mind of Isaiah alone, but belonged to that age; that the good men of Hezekiah’s time saw in that wonderful overthrow of Assyria a sure presage of the fall of every opposing power and of the conversion of the great nations of the earth to the living God. C.
The outline of the Psalm is as follows: It opens with an outburst of intensely national feeling, celebrating the glory of Zion as the city of God (vs. 1-3). But the patriotic sentiment is too large and too grand to suffer any narrow jealousy to interfere with it, and therefore all nations are said to be gathered to her as children to one mother. It lends more force and dignity to this idea, that God Himself appears as the speaker, declaring of one and another, foreign and hostile nations, that their true birthplace is there, in Zion. Finally, one brief, obscure verse tells of the joy and happiness of the holy city, welcoming new children on all sides, and making them partakers in her joy (v. 7). P.
1-3. The group of hills upon which Jerusalem was built is described as holy or sacred, because there was the temple, the seat of Jehovah’s glory; and since Zion was the hill first occupied by David, and the most conspicuous quarter of the city, this stands for the whole. The glory of this sacred capital is here celebrated in the prospect of its universal supremacy. It is not of the physical Jerusalem, its streets, walls, gates, palaces, that these glorious things are spoken, but of Jerusalem as representing the presence, the Word, the Spirit, of the true God. J. P. T.
1. “His foundation,” the place of His abode, where the strong pillars of His earthly temple are laid, is in the holy mountains; i.e., of Jerusalem, made sacred ages before by God’s choice of them as the site of His house. C.—The Church has a foundation, so that it cannot sink or totter; Christ Himself is the Foundation of it, which God has laid. The Jerusalem above is a city that has foundations. The foundation is upon the mountains; it is built high, the mountain of the Lord’s house is established upon the top of the mountains (Isa. 2 : 2). It is built firm; the mountains are rocky, and on a rock the church is built. The world is founded upon the seas (Psalm 24 : 2), which are continually ebbing and flowing, and are a very weak foundation; Babel was built in a plain, where the ground was rotten; but the Church is built upon the everlasting mountains, and the perpetual hills; for sooner shall the mountains depart, and the hills be removed, than the covenant of God’s peace shall be disannulled, and on that the Church is built (Isa. 54 : 10). The foundation is upon the holy mountains. Holiness is the strength and stability of the Church, that is it which will support it, and keep it from sinking; not so much that it is built upon mountains, as that it is built upon holy mountains; upon the promise of God, for the confirming of which He has sworn by His holiness; upon the sanctification of the Spirit, which will secure the happiness of all the saints. H.
The foundation that God has given His city is in “the holy mountains.” What are these holy mountains whereon the city of God is built, and in which its deep and sure foundations are laid? The sure decree, the Divine perfections, the promise of Him that cannot lie, the oath and covenant of God, and the incarnate Son Himself, are the holy mountains, the perpetual hills, whose summits are gloriously crowned by the city of the Great King. There the city sits securely, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth. Andrew Gray.
2. The Lord loveth the gates. The gates of a walled city give access to it and power over it, and are therefore naturally here put for the whole. The Hebrew participle (loving) implies constant and habitual attachment. A.
3. “Glorious things were spoken of Zion.” The spirit of exultant prophecy pervaded the inspired writers of that time. Well might the sons of Korah write “Selah” after the expression of a thought so suggestive. Let every reader pause and think of it! In our times we may profitably read over and dwell long upon these “glorious things” as we find them in Isa. 2, 9, 11, 12, and 35; not to name also his later prophecies, chaps. 42, 49, 54, 55, 60, and 66; also Micah 4, 5. C.
4. The words are the words of God. We have the same abrupt introduction of the Divine speaker in other Psalms. P.—The glorious purport of the promise is now unfolded in a most vivid and direct manner; Jehovah Himself begins to speak and sets forth the glorious calling of His chosen and beloved city as the minister of salvation to the whole world. It is to become the birthplace of all peoples. D.—This declaration is one of the strongest found in the prophetic writings. It does not speak of the subjugation, much less of the overthrow, of the enemies of Zion, but of their free admission to every blessing upon their conversion. Cook.
The nations thus announced as belonging to God’s people are mere samples of the whole Gentile world, those being chosen for the purpose who were or had been most connected with the history of Israel, and were at the same time ruling powers of antiquity. Rahab is an enigmatical name given to Egypt by the Prophet Isaiah. The last words are obscure, but may be rendered clearer by supplying before them, as to each of these it shall be said. The pronoun (this) is then to be referred not to individual men, but to the nations as ideal persons. The idea of regeneration or spiritual birth, applied in the New Testament to individuals, is here applied to nations, who are represented as born again, when received into communion with the Church or chosen people. A.
“Rahab,” “Babylon,” “Philistia,” “Tyre,” “Ethiopia.” This is the glory of the Church, that into her the fulness of the nations shall enter: the proud from Egypt, who for her haughtiness is called Rahab; the worldly from Babylon, the city of confusion; the wrathful from Philistia, so long the enemies of Israel; the covetous from Tyre, the rich city of the traders, and the slaves of ignorance from Cush, and from the land of Ham—all these shall learn the love of Christ and confess His truth, and shall enter into that all-glorious city, and be admitted and acknowledged as citizens of the celestial Zion. Plain Commentary.
Born there. It is remarkable that the figure of a new birth is used to express the admission of the different nations to the rights of citizenship in Zion. So Cicero speaks of his restoration to his privileges and honors on his return from banishment as “a regeneration.” P.
5. And of Zion; or, and to Zion.** The Psalmist represents the Almighty as presenting every convert to the holy city, and saying, “This and this, one and all, belong to thee, every one is thy own child.” Such, in fact, is the exact language of God to the Church, the true Zion, in which alone promises and predictions have an adequate and perfect fulfilment. Cook.
Zion should be the spiritual birthplace of all nations. It is not merely said, as in other places, that they should “come to her,” should “flow into her,” but that they should be “born in her.” “Of Zion it shall be said, This and that man (i.e., all, one by one), was born in her;” Egyptians, Babylonians, Ethiopians, Tyrians, Philistines, should be “born in her,” and by being “born there,” should become children of God, citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. The Lord shall account them as His, being reborn in His Church. Pusey.—The thought is precisely that of all the Old Testament prophets. “The nations shall flow unto it,” the mountain of the Lord’s house (Isa. 2 : 2). “Many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem and to pray before the Lord” (Zech. 8 : 22). So throughout those ancient prophecies, the Gentile nations come up in vast masses, flying as doves to their window-cotes, to learn of God and to give Him the homage of their hearts, in Zion. Here again “Selah” is altogether in place. Let all readers contemplate these marvellous things said of the future Zion of the Lord Jehovah. C.
6. Jehovah shall count, in enrolling the nations: This (one) was born there. Selah.** The theme or idea of the whole Psalm, that Zion should yet be the birthplace of all nations, is again repeated, under a new figure, that of registration. The meaning is that, as He counts the nations, He shall say of each, in turn or one by one, this one was also born there. In enrolling, literally, writing, i.e., inscribing in a list or register. A.
When he takes a census of the nations (compare the figure of Ezek. 13 : 9), the most glorious thing that he can say of each of them, the crown of all their history, shall be this, not the record of their separate national existence or polity or dominion, but the fact that they have become members by adoption of the city of God. Zion shall be the metropolis of the world.
This one is born there. The words are repeated, as by God Himself, as he enters one after another in the register of his city. P.
7. And singers as well as players** (shall be heard saying), All my springs are in Thee. The image present to the Psalmist’s mind seems to be that of a procession or triumphal march, composed of the nations on their way to Zion. At the head of this procession are the minstrels, who, as the spokesmen of the rest, acknowledge that the source of their happiness is henceforth to be sought in Zion, not as a mere locality, but as the place where God was pleased to manifest His gracious presence. It matters little, therefore, whether the closing words (in Thee) be referred to God directly, or to Zion, as the channel through which He imparted spiritual blessings to the Gentiles. A.
The singers and dancers are the leaders in a procession of redeemed Gentiles, representing the peoples mentioned in v. 4. These in their turn represent the whole world, as brought into fellowship with the living and true God, through the gracious influences that proceed from His dwelling-place in Zion. De Witt.
This verse seems to express the joy of the converted Gentiles, who are represented as coming in a procession with singing and choral dancing unto Zion, and there one and all exclaiming, “All my fresh springs; i.e., all sources of life and joy, are in thee.” Cook.—Great shall be the joy, great the pomp of festival and music when Zion welcomes her new inhabitants. This is doubtless the sense; but the compressed brevity of this verse makes it extremely obscure. The preferable rendering is: “Both they that sing and they that dance, All my fountains of (delight) are in Thee;” meaning that every source of pleasure, music, singing, etc., was to be found in Zion. P.
Song and dance went together among the ancient Hebrews as expressions of religious joy, and here we have the singers and dancers with but one thought in the mind of each. And what more appropriate close could there be to this stirring lyric? If there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, how unspeakable must be the joy over whole nations crowding to the temple gates and counting it their highest privilege to be registered as newborn children of the Zion of God. Then, indeed, may the mountains and the hills break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field clap their hands (Isa. 55 : 12). Chambers.
All my fountains are in Thee. There could be no more beautiful refrain than this. It refers especially to the spiritual life, the fountain of which is the Spirit of God. But it comprehends also the propitiation and the forgiveness of sin, both of which must also come from God. It may be even extended to the creation and providence as well as to the grace of God. This is the true and beautiful confession of the repentant, ransomed, and adopted children of God. M.—How truly does all our experience lead us to look to the Lord by faith, and say, “All my fresh springs are in Thee”! The springs of my faith and all my graces; the springs of my life and all my pleasures; the springs of my activity and all its right doings; the springs of my hope, and all its heavenly anticipations—all lie in Thee, my Lord. S.
God is such a good that not only all can choose Him and find Him as adequate to each as if no other had thus chosen Him, but that each new choice of Him, both as augmenting His glory and increasing the good of others, augments the joy of those who have already thus chosen. And not only must we receive all things from Him, but it is only as we give back to Him our active love, as we love Him for His own sake as infinite in being and in excellence, that the highest joys of holiness can come. Those joys are indeed from the very activity that constitutes the holiness. Whether we regard ourselves then as passive or active, God is our good. “All our springs are in Him.” M. Hopkins.
The images under which the Church is described in the Psalms are principally three. It is a city, Zion or Jerusalem. It is a kingdom. It is a bride. Here (as in the forty-sixth and forty-eighth Psalms) we have a City of God, enclosed and fenced, situated on the mountains, with strong foundations. This implies elevation, glory, strength, organization. And this City of God becomes the centre of some strange and resistless attraction. The most hostile and remote nations seek to be enrolled among her citizens. A thrill of exultation runs through the Psalmist’s style, as his heart overflows with joy.
The eighty-seventh Psalm marks a turning-point in Revelation. It stands absolutely alone up to its own time, and, indeed, it may almost be said, even afterward, in one important particular. It shows that the unification of nations is to be effected by the welding power of a spiritual influence hitherto unknown. And it becomes more remarkable if we attribute it to the times of Hezekiah, and (with the inscription) to the sons of Korah. “The Korahite author of the Psalm, himself a chief singer in the sanctuary,” writes the Bishop of Lincoln, “does not grudge the admission of foreign nations into its sacred choir, but with generous and large-hearted sympathy rejoices in the prospect.” Thus the Psalmist here touches one distinctive peculiarity of the Christian Church. This is a great missionary Psalm. Bishop W. Alexander.
This short Psalm is by emphasis the missionary lyric of the Psalter. It transcends all other utterances by its startling statements of the spiritual unity one day to be effected. Elsewhere we read of a victorious chieftain who dashes in pieces all opposition and becomes sole ruler, leading rival kings in the long array of his triumph. Or we are told of the exaltation of Zion’s hill above all other hills so that from all directions the nations flow to it, attracted by its glory and seeking to be enlightened by its teachings. Or it is predicted that one day in every place from the rising of the sun to his going down incense and a pure offering shall be presented to the Lord of Hosts. These are glowing prospects, and may well enkindle the believer’s hope and zeal, but the Psalm before us reaches a higher mark in that it selects as specimens just those nations which had been conspicuous for ages as wicked oppressors of the covenant race, and declares that they shall come into close union with the people of God, and that not under compulsion nor influenced by secular considerations, but by a new birth, so that they are sincerely welcomed as brothers. “God Himself receives each one as a child newly born into the family, acknowledges him as a son, and enrolls him with His own hand as in the sacred register of the household.” What a conception is thus given of the brotherhood of all nations and of their final incorporation into a single state, and that state the city of God! Chambers.