December 19

"I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her." Psalms 87:4, 5.

THE Jews, partly from their ignorance and partly from their aversion to Christianity, strangely pervert this passage. They contend that it is designed to intimate that while other places would produce only now and then a man of note, Jerusalem should abound with all kinds of illustrious characters. But the meaning is this: Zion, in whose name the writer speaks, is foretelling the vocation of the Gentiles; and viewing with ecstasy the accessions that should be made to her of such as should be saved.

Observe to whom she addresses the intelligence: "I will make mention to them that know me;" that is, to her friends and acquaintances. To such it is natural for us to divulge any thing that is interesting and delightful, as they are likely to receive it without envy, and to partake of the pleasure. In the parable, the shepherd having succeeded in his search, not only rejoices himself, but when he cometh home, calls together his neighbors and friends, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. The church well knew the mind of the godly, that they would not only understand such news, but that it would be to them like cold water to a thirsty soul, or as life from the dead. Thus, in the Acts, when the brethren were informed of the extension of the gospel to the Gentiles, "they glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."

Observe the places from which these additions should come. "I will make mention to them that know me of Rahab and Babylon: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia." These are parts put for the whole of the gentile world, and they are very strikingly put, for all these had been strangers or enemies. Some of them had been her bitterest persecutors and vilest oppressors. They were all at this time lying in wickedness, enveloped in ignorance, and enslaved to idolatry. But they should cast away their idols, and beholding the glory of the church, abandon their enmity, and take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. One should say, I am the Lord's; and another should call himself by the name of Jacob; and another should subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.

Mark the change they should experience. "This man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her." They were born naturally in Egypt, Philistia, Tyre, and Babylon; but they were to be born morally in Zion, by the word and Spirit of God. They should become new creatures; they should undergo such a conversion in their minds and hearts and lives as should constitute a new birth. For every subject of divine grace is "born again." And this is properly the date of our existence. We have not lived a moment longer than we have lived "the life of God." "Ye must be born again."

By this, therefore, we are to judge whether we are children of Zion, and may rejoice in her King. If we have experienced this change, we are written among the living in Jerusalem. We are enrolled, and though once aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, we shall be regarded as citizens, and have all the honor and advantages of natives. "The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there."

It was formerly deemed a most enviable privilege to be the free of some royal and distinguished city. But what was a citizen of Babylon or of Rome, compared with a denizen of mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem? Yea, were you an apostle, considered only officially—could you prophesy, and work miracles, and raise the dead; and the Saviour met you, elated with your endowments, he would say, "In this rejoice not; but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven."