Holy Bible

His foundation is in the holy mountains. Psalm 87 A material portrait of the spiritual Church Homilist. I. It is GLORIOUS IN ITS ELEVATION (ver. 1). The spiritual Church is a city set upon a hill. Though elevated it is safe; its foundation is in the everlasting mountains. "Upon this rock," etc. II. It is SPECIALLY REGARDED BY GOD (ver. 2). The infinitely loving One must be interested in all the works of His hand; even the sparrow that falls not to the ground without notice. But for those Christian men who constitute the true spiritual Church He has a special regard. III. It is ILLUSTRIOUS IN ITS HISTORY (ver. 3). Many glorious things had been said of Zion. It was said that they should call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and they should call all the nations to it; it was said they should come to see the city of Zion, and flow together to the goodness of the Lord. It was said by God ( 1 Kings 9:3 ; 2 Chronicles 7:16 ). But what far more glorious things have been said of the true Church. Read what victories she has won, not only in the time of the apostles, but in every subsequent age. It has been said of the true Church, that it is "a royal priesthood." IV. It is SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHER COMMUNITIES (ver. 4). Compare commercial, scientific, political, and other religious communities with it, and in all that is morally great and glorious, the brightest of their fires pales into dimness. V. IT IS THE BIRTH-SCENE OF THE GOOD (ver. 5). In the true spiritual Church, souls are born again. VI. It is DIVINELY REGISTERED (vers. 6, 7). Jehovah kept a register of all that were born in Jerusalem, and so He does of all who are spiritually born in the true Church. "When He writeth up the people." Ah I the time will come when He will write up a register of all true men. No others, however lofty in rank and illustrious in genius, will find a place in that book. No one shall enter heaven who is not found written in "The Lamb's Book of Life." VII. IT is INFINITE IN ITS RESOURCES. "All my springs are in Thee." This is what the poet says, as the representative of all that were born in Zion; and this is what all the members of the true spiritual Church can also say and most deeply feel. All my fountains are in Thee, in Thee, that is, in Zion or in God. If in Zion, it is from God. ( Homilist. ) The city of God J. O. Keen, D. D. I. ITS FOUNDATION (ver. 1). Christ's charactor, teachings, miracles, and merit. II. ITS FAVOUR (ver. 2). God canopies the city with His wing of covenant promise, and belts it with the attributes of His Being. III. Its FAME: (ver. 3), ( 2 Chronicles 7:16 ; Psalm 132:18 -17; Zechariah 1:14 ; Zechariah 2:4-12 ). IV. ITS FRATERNITY (vers. 4-6). Here are the true aristocracy of souls, the real nobility of earth. V. ITS FUTURE (ver. 5). VI. ITS FOUNTAINS (ver. 7). ( J. O. Keen, D. D. ) The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Psalm 87:2 The gates of Zion John Ramsay, M. A. I. GOD HAS ALWAYS SHOWN A PARTICULAR RESPECT TO HOUSES SET APART FOR HIS WORSHIP. Nor is He less present with us than He was with His ancient worshippers. Now God, dwelling in a tent and a temple, prefigured the incarnation of our Saviour, who having taken upon Him our nature, dwelt, or tabernacled among us. II. WORSHIPPING GOD IN SUCH PLACES IS MORE CONDUCIVE TO THE SPIRITUAL IMPROVEMENT OF THE WORSHIPPERS THAN ELSEWHERE. 1. The character and perfections of God never appear with such bright lustre as in the sanctuary, where numbers of His faithful subjects are assembled before Him, to present the sacrifices of prayer and thanksgiving. 2. The worship performed in the house of God is the most direct testimony of our homage and obedience. 3. Worshipping God in such places animates and strengthens us in our devotional exercises. 4. Worshipping God in the sanctuary contributes to promote peace and happiness among all orders and degrees of men. III. THE IMPORTANCE OF A REGULAR ATTENDANCE UPON THE SERVICES THAT ARE THERE PERFORMED. Like the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, we must continue our attendance till it please God to give a blessing to the means of His own appointment. ( John Ramsay, M. A. ) God's peculiar regard to places set apart for Divine worship R. South, D. D. I. THAT GOD BEARS A DIFFERENT RESPECT TO PLACES SET APART AND CONSECRATED TO HIS WORSHIP, FROM WHAT HE BEARS TO ALL OTHER PLACES DESIGNED TO THE USES OF COMMON LIFE. 1. Those eminent interposals of the Divine providence for the erecting and preserving such places, will be one pregnant and strong argument to prove the difference of God's respect to them, and to others of common use. 2. The second argument for the proof of the same assertion shall be taken from those remarkable judgments shown by God upon the violators of things consecrated and set apart to holy uses. A coal, we know, snatched from the altar, once fired the nest of the eagle, the royal and commanding bird; and so has sacrilege consumed the families of princes, broken sceptres, and destroyed kingdoms. 3. The ground and reason why God shows such a concern for these things is that He has the sole property of them. It is a known maxim, that "in Deo Runt jura omnia"; and consequently, that He is the proprietor of all things, by that grand and transcendent right founded upon creation. Yet, notwithstanding, He may be said to have a greater, because a sole property in some things, for that He permits not the use of them to men, to whom yet He has granted the free use of all other things. Now, this property may be founded upon a double ground.(1) God's own fixing upon and institution of a place or thing to do His peculiar use. When He shall say to the sons of men, as He spoke to Adam concerning the forbidden fruit, of all things and places that I have enriched the universe with, you may freely make use for your own occasions; but as for this spot of ground, this person, this thing, I have selected and appropriated, I have enclosed it to Myself and My own use; and I will endure no sharer, no rival or companion in it: he that invades them, usurps, and shall bear the guilt of his usurpation. Now upon this account, the gates of Zion, and the tribe of Levi, became God's property. He laid His hand upon them, and said, "These are Mine."(2) The other ground of God's sole property in any thing or place is the gift, or rather the return of it made by man to God; by which act he relinquishes and delivers back to God all his right to the use of that thing, which before had been freely granted him by God. II. THAT GOD PREFERS THE WORSHIP PAID HIM IN SUCH PLACES ABOVE THAT WHICH IS OFFERED HIM IN ANY OTHER PLACES WHATSOEVER. 1. Because such places are naturally apt to excite a greater reverence and devotion in the discharge of Divine service than places of common use. The place properly reminds a man of the business of the place, and strikes a kind of awe into the thoughts, when they reflect upon that great and sacred Majesty they use to treat and converse with there: they find the same holy consternation upon themselves that Jacob did at his consecrated Bethel, which he called "the gate of heaven": and if such places are so, then surely a daily expectation at the gate is the readiest way to gain admittance into the house. 2. Because in such places it is a more direct service and testification of our homage to Him. For surely, if I should have something to ask of a great person, it were greater respect to wait upon him with my petition at his own house, than to desire him to come and receive it at mine. ( R. South, D. D. ) God's love for the gates of Zion R. Hall, M. A. I. THE LORD LOVES THE DWELLINGS OF JACOB — He loves those that are true Israelites. These are succeeded by the name Christian, for the Christian Church is now become the true Israel of God. He loves His saints on account of that image of Himself which they bear: He loves them on account of those graces which are infused into them when they are renewed by the Spirit; He loves them on account of the relation they stand in to Him as His people, and as His Church, who are qualified for the duties of the relation by that love of their Father, that reliance upon His care, that delight in His person, that enjoyment in His service which belongs to dutiful and affectionate children. II. HE LOVES THE GATES OF ZION MORE THAN ALL THE DWELLINGS OF JACOB — nothing in the dwellings of Jacob so much attracts His attention as the people of God connected together in a social capacity. He regards with peculiar complacency the worship of His saints — 1. On its own account, as a yielding to Him that which is His prerogative. 2. On account of that union of mind and consent of heart evinced in the assembling of His people together and constituting themselves into a Church. 3. On account of that deference to His authority which is evinced by maintaining and keeping up the practice of those institutes which rest entirely on that authority. III. CONSIDER HOW IT IS THAT GOD MANIFESTS THIS COMPLACENCY IN THE GATES OF ZION ABOVE THE DWELLINGS OF JACOB. 1. By making the assembly of the saints the grand means of conversion, 2. By continually maintaining in operation those gifts which are for the edification of the saints, and without which the union of the saints would be with difficulty maintained. 3. By that marvellous protection which is afforded to the interests of the Church of God; whereby, though weak, and frequently reduced to a handful of disciples yet they have been protected, and their society on earth continued. ( R. Hall, M. A. ) God's regard for His Church J. Burns, D. D. I. THE IMPORTANT FACT IMPLIED. "The Lord loveth the dwellings of Jacob," i.e. the righteous in their personal and domestic capacities. 1. He loves them in their individual character as His people. 2. He loves them in their domestic capacity ( Psalm 128 .; Proverbs 20:7 ; Jeremiah 31:1 .), 3. He loves them in all their religious services. II. THE GLORIOUS DECLARATION GIVEN. "He loveth the gates of Zion better," etc. That is, He greatly prefers the public assemblies of His people over all the dwellings of Jacob. 1. The evidences of this preference.(1) The special promises given. One of the most ancient promises is, "Wherever My name is recorded," etc. Then the one given to Solomon, "My eyes, and Mine heart shall be there continually." "Wherever two or three," etc.(2) The Divine manifestations afforded. In His house He reveals His truth, and faithfulness, and goodness, and grace, etc.(3) The invaluable blessings communicated. Here He says to the benighted chaotic minds. "Let there be light," etc. Here He speaks to heavy-laden, sin-sick souls, "Go in peace — thy sins are forgiven thee."(4) By perpetuating the public assemblies of His saints despite of all opposition. 2. What reasons can be assigned for this affectionate preference. It is in Zion, or the public assemblies of His saints,(1) That the graces and holy feelings of God's people are most fully displayed.(2) On account of the holy and happy harmony which is exhibited. Here men are brought together, to hear, and love, and pray.(3) Because it is the pillar and ground of truth.(4) Because of its resemblance to heaven.Application. — 1. Do we love the gates of Zion? What evidences do we give? Speak for it; think of it; pray for it; labour for it. 2. What advantages have we derived from it? Justification, comfort, holiness, longing for heaven. ( J. Burns, D. D. ) Zion the spiritual centre A. J. Campbell. The glory of a nation is in the quality of its manhood and womanhood. It is not determined by the number of square miles that it may possess, not by its geographical position, nor by its commerce, but by its men. There is a little village in the west of Scotland that has to-day no commercial value, but it is great because David Livingstone was born there. We come to this truth, then, that — 1. Personality gives value to place. Bethlehem was but an insignificant Eastern village; it was not the centre of any trade, it was off the main highway of commerce. It is the personality of Jesus that gives value to Bethlehem. 2. Zion is great also because God "records His name there. He loves the gates of Zion." A peculiar blessing ever attaches to the house of God. This is the place where the feet of our God rest, and is thereby made glorious. It is here where this man and that man was born into the new life of God. 3. We come then to this further truth that Zion is the place where souls are born. This is where men are detached from the world and attached to Christ, where they are polished and perfected. In all these souls born in Zion, God sees wonderful possibilities. 4. Let me say further that in Zion God is always wanting to work on the men born there, and to bring the best out of them. Aaron's rod was to him only a piece of ordinary timber, a dead stick, with no possibility of life in it; but when he laid it up in the sanctuary, and God began to work His silent wonders on it, Aaron gazed with astonishment on the transformed stick as he saw it bearing buds and blossoms and ripe almonds. We often wonder what God can ever make of the men and women that are born in Zion. They come in late, some of them, and come in sighing and moaning, "Give me back my lost years." There is a sense in which God cannot do this, but there is another sense in which He can. "I will restore unto you the years that the caterpillar and the locust and the palmerworm have eaten." "Where sin abounded grace did much more abound." It is a significant fact known to botanists that the late flowering plants have often the most magnificent blossoms. Of late florists have been treating plants to what is known as the "cold process." The plants are kept in an ice-house so that the blooms are repressed. This repression really does the plant no harm. They blossom all the more freely and rapidly when brought into a warm atmosphere. Many a man has for years been kept in a kind of spiritual ice-house, but some day, in the warmth of a gracious revival, he breaks out into unexpected splendour and glowing wonder. A recent writer states that an "Apollo" has been discovered in Rome amid a heap of rubbish. It was headless, and had only one arm. A sad sight. The artist's beautiful work marred by the rough handling of time and the weather. How many of Christ's works of art-saved men — get mutilated, debased, crushed, ruined. Some want a spiritual limb, an eye, a hand, a foot. They are full of defects and incompleteness; but it is the glory of God to work on them till not a coarse fibre is left, and His redemptive power produces in them spiritual completeness. 5. What lots of different material there is in Zion for God to work on. There are so many different characters, many of them unpromising and unlikely that God has much to do. Yet He never despairs. Out of Peter, that handful of sand blown away by a maiden's breath, God brings the man of rock-like solidity. He cares for the stars, will He not care for the man and woman for whom His own Son died upon the cross? The God who works with completeness in the starry realms will bring out perfectness in you, His own child. 6. And believe me, our God does not work haphazardly. He has a plan. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." No, God has not finished with us yet. 7. But all this must begin down here. "When God counts up the people, He shall say this man and that was born there." The only important question about any Church is, "Are souls born there?" This was the glory of the ancient Church. "Multitudes turned to the Lord." What value the Bible places on the individual! Christ thought very little of the tyranny of numbers. This old Jew saw them coming from the most unlikely places. From Rahab and Babylon, Philistia and Tyre and Ethiopia; "all sorts and conditions of men "were to find a resting-place, a home within the walls of God's Zion. God's house is not a select club for the rich. It is a home for all. What an honour to open the gates of Zion to the night-wanderer and the outcast. ( A. J. Campbell. ) A Divine preference and its reasons W. A. Gray. When the Roman soldier went out to fight, his battle-cry was "Pro aris et focis" — that is, for altars and hearths. It was not of his fields that he thought, it was not of his beeves — or at any rate it was not of these in the first place, but of treasures he held dearer still, the inmates of his dwelling, the honour of his gods. Now, it is these two thoughts, of home and of sanctuary, that are brought together in the text. What are the "dwellings of Jacob"? Are they not just the peaceful homesteads scattered up and down the land, in which families dwelt together in unity with themselves, and in covenant with their God? And what are the "gates of Zion"? Are they not a symbol of the common convocations when they gathered for religious worship — to pray, to praise, and to sacrifice? I. GOD'S REGARD FOR THE FAMILY. We may prove it by various facts, and in especial by three, 1. Consider the place God has given to the family in the economy of nature. For what is home — home, I mean, where it attains its destined ideal and fulfils its appropriate ends? It is a means of protection for the young, hiding them in their defenceless years from the sight of evil and the strife of tongues. It is a ministry of refreshment for the old, calming and recruiting them in their hours of weariness after the bustle and fret of toil. And it is a school of charity for all. 2. Consider the place God has given the family in the kingdom of grace. Let us never forget that there is a law of heredity in grace. There exists a principle of transmission, on which Scripture lays abundant stress, by which the generations are made one, linked together in a chain of blessing. 3. Consider, too, the place that God has given the family in the discipline of Christ. Can there possibly be a stronger proof of the honour which God sets on the household than the fact that to the household's keeping and to the household's care He entrusted the most precious treasure of heaven, the noblest life on earthy II. GOD'S GREATER REGARD FOR THE CHURCH. The text says that, good and beautiful as home is, the assembly of the saints is better. And why? Why is it that, while God delighted in these peaceable habitations, each beneath its vine and fig-tree, the nurseries of brave young men and pure and gentle maidens, sons as plants grown up in their youth, daughters as corner-stones polished after the similitude era palace, He took still greater delight in the temple services at Jerusalem? 1. The Church's fellowship is more catholic. However close, however sacred, and however enriching the fellowship of the family is, it is the fellowship of those that are one in blood. As such it is circumscribed. And there is an element of selfishness in it, innocent selfishness if you will, permissible selfishness, but selfishness notwithstanding, a certain home-contrariness which may easily turn to exclusiveness, coldness towards the wants, and indifference towards the interests, of those beyond. But in the fellowship of the Church the range is extended, the horizon is enlarged. We are out on the open platform of grace. 2. The Church's testimony is more public. Home means privacy, home means seclusion; there is the erection of a certain barrier, the intervention of a certain screen. And therefore the witness of home, however consistent and faithful, may be said to begin and to end with the inmates of home; it is seldom far-reaching, because little observed. It is otherwise with the Church; publicity is of its very essence. The character of the Church is maintained, the ends of the Church are fulfilled, not when it edifies itself merely, but when it makes confession to the world. 3. The Church's character is more spiritual. The Church is the special abode of the Holy Ghost, whose living and personal presence gives meaning to every privilege and might to every agency, purifying the Church's life, prospering the Church's work. And, in comparing the Church with the family, may we not say that the Church has ampler provisions, finer adaptations, more sacred and select appliances, more ample and effective energies, for the maintenance of God's worship, the proclamation of His message, and, as a consequence of both, the saving and the sanctifying of souls? 4. The Church's experiences are more permanent. There are duties and joys of the domestic life which it would be wrong to say, "I am acting and feeling now as I shall act and feel in heaven," for we shall be changed in more ways than we think, if by grace we get there. But we can say so of worship. For the exercises of worship are spiritual, they are therefore abiding and unalterable; the future can make no real change in them. Both home and Church have their close connection with the heavenly life. But while home life prepares for it, Church life anticipates it. The one is a training, the other is an earnest. III. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE TEXT, with its elevation of Church over home, in the aspects, and for the purposes we have spoken of, is suggestive of various practical lessons. I. It means comfort for the homeless. Though God has denied you the lesser good, He offers you the greater. If He has shut the door of home, He has thrown wide the door of the Church. 2. The text suggests a caution to those who have homes. For though the Church may be a substitute for home, home can in no wise be a substitute for the Church. Beware of imagining that it may. See to it that the home points upwards to the Church. Teach your children to take their place at the Church's services. Accustom them to bear a share in the Church's work. Always keep before them the duty of communicating at the Church's table, and making avowal of the Church's Lord. ( W. A. Gray. ) Public worship to be preferred before private D. Clarkson. Public worship is to be preferred before private. So it is by the Lord, so it should be by His people. So it was under the law, so it must be under the Gospel. 1. The Lord is more glorified by public worship than private. God is then glorified by us when we acknowledge that He is glorious. And He is most glorified when this acknowledgment is most public. 2. There is more of the Lord's presence in public worship than in private. He is present with His people in the use of public ordinances in a more especial manner, more effectually, constantly, intimately. 3. Here are the clearest manifestations of God. Here He manifests Himself more than in private. Why was Judah called a valley of vision, but because the Lord manifested Himself to that people in public ordinances? 4. There is more spiritual advantage to be got in the use of public ordinances than in private. Whatever spiritual benefit is to be found in private duties, that, and much more, may be expected from public ordinances when duly improved. There is more spiritual light and life, more strength and growth, more comfort and soul refreshment. 5. Public worship is more edifying than private. In private you provide for your own good, but in public you do good both to yourselves and others. And that is a received rule, that good is best which is most diffusive, most communicative. Example has the force of a motive; we may stir up others by our example ( Zechariah 8:20, 21 ). 6. Public ordinances are a better security against apostasy than private, and therefore to be preferred: an argument worthy our observation in these backsliding times. 7. Here the Lord works His greatest works; greater works than ordinarily He works by private means. 8. Public worship is the nearest resemblance of heaven. In heaven, so Ear as the Scripture describes it to us, there is nothing done in private, nothing in secret, all the worship of that glorious company is public ( Hebrews 12:22, 23 ). They make one glorious congregation, and so jointly together sing the praises of Him that sits on the throne, and the praises of the Lamb, and continue employed in this public worship to eternity. 9. The examples of the most renowned servants of God, who have preferred public worship before private, is a sufficient argument. 10. Public worship is the most available for the procuring of the greatest mercies, and preventing and removing the greatest judgments. 11. The precious blood of Christ is most interested in public worship, and that must needs be most valuable which has most interest in that which is of infinite value. The blood of Christ has most influence upon public worship, more than on private: for the private duties of God's worship, private prayers, meditation, and such like, had been required of, and performed by, Adam and his posterity, if he had continued in the state of innocency; they had been due by the light of nature, if Christ had never died, if life and immortality had never been brought to light by the Gospel. But the public preaching of the Gospel, and the administration of the federal seals, have a necessary dependence upon the death of Christ. As they are the representations, so they are the purchase of that precious blood; as Christ is hereby set forth as crucified before our eyes, so are they the purchase of Christ crucified, so are they the gifts of Christ triumphant. 12. The promises of God are more to public worship than to private ( Exodus 20:24 ; Isaiah 4:5 ; Isaiah 55:2, 3 ; Psalm 36:8, 9 ). ( D. Clarkson. ) The gates of Zion Homiletic Monthly. The gates of our Zion ought to be — I. GREETING GATES. Think how the welcoming heart of Jesus opened itself to all sorts and conditions of men during His earthly life — to the leper, the Samaritan woman, the thief on the cross, etc. Surely, if the Church is to represent her Lord, her gates ought to be gates of greeting. II. ESTABLISHED AND GUARDING GATES. Our churches stand for great facts and doctrines — like God, the humanity and Deity of Jesus, the authority of Scripture, the atonement, the sacredness of the Sabbath, righteousness, beneficence, etc. III. LOVED GATES. What our Lord loves we should love. And especially your own Church should you thus love. IV. SUPPORTED GATES, Every Church-member should be willing and glad to do his share toward the support of worship. V. ATTRACTIVE GATES. So winning, so wrapped in genial and cheerful atmosphere should our Church services be, so evident in their holding forth the attractive Christ, that the Churchless throng should be constrained to enter and to share. ( Homiletic Monthly. ) Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Psalm 87:3 The glorious city Andrew Gray. The inspired singer had the ransomed Church in view, and his soul was stirred by a vision of the new Jerusalem, its regenerated myriads gathered from every nation, and its crucified King, when he broke forth into this eulogy. I. There are glorious things with respect to THE ERECTION OF THE CITY. 1. The plan of its erection. Faultless, complete, wonderful for beauty and grandeur, worthy of its Divine Architect and of the end in view, viz. to rear a city for Him to dwell in. 2. The site. The sure decree, the Divine perfections, the promise of Him that cannot lie, and the incarnate Son Himself, are the holy mountains, 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. 3. The date of its erection. It is older than any of the cities of the ancient world — Rome — Nineveh — Babylon; it reaches a higher antiquity than any of them all. It was standing before the flood; Noah, Enoch, Abel, dwelt in it. It is almost as old as the creation. II. There are glorious things to tell of THE DEFENCES OF THE CITY. It is well fortified — encircled by the sleepless providence of Jehovah, girt about with the power of the Almighty. When its bulwarks were reared, He that made them "saw that they were good"; and He said, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." III. There are glorious things in connection with THE STORES AND SUPPLIES ON WHICH THE CITY DEPENDS. 1. The excellence of the city's supplies. It is little to say that there is the best of everything — the finest of wheat, honey from the rock, water clear as crystal. The bread, the water, the wine, the milk, and the pleasant fruits, are without a parallel. 2. The abundance of the city's supplies. There is enough for all the citizens. "He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters," etc. 3. The source whence the supplies are derived.(1) They do not come from without. Its well-springs are not in the world. The corn, and the wine, and the oil, are grown where the foe is without any power.(2) There is a river that maketh glad the city of God. Yes, the city has a river — a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal. But cannot Satan do to the river of our city as Cyrus did to the river of Babylon? The river is beyond his reach. The fountain whence it issues is within the city walls. The river-head, the perennial spring of the stream of life, is in the heart of the fortress, and in the very throne of the King.(3) The windows of heaven are right above the city; and the windows of heaven are frequently opened, and manna and other celestial products showered down, till there is not room enough in the magazines of the city to receive them. IV. There are glorious things respecting THE KING OF THE CITY. 1. He is glorious in Himself.(1) His name — Wonderful. He is Adam, Jacob, David, Israel; Jesus, Immanuel, Shiloh, Christ; the Second Man, the Mighty God; the Lamb, the Shepherd, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah; the Branch, the Plant of Renown, the Rose of Sharon; the Morning Star, the Sun of Righteousness, the Word of God, the Alpha and the Omega, the Amen. And these are not the whole. There are many titles and appellations behind.(2) His person — full of grace and dignity.(3) His character. 2. There are glorious things respecting the King, when we consider Him in connection with the city.(1) His choice of the city is one of these. He made choice of the city before the foundation of the world; yea, the city itself was not built when it became the object of His choice, He foreknew the city; raising the curtain of futurity in the past beginning, He saw the city, He fixed upon it His love, and resolved to be its King.(2) The circumstance that He dwells in the city is glorious.(3) His sufferings for the city are glorious.(4) His victories for the city are glorious. V. There are glorious things in connection with THE CITIZENS OF THE CITY. 1. The Dumber of the citizens. It was foretold long since that they of the city should flourish like grass of the earth, and that they should be like the stars of heaven for multitude. The population of the city is increasing accordingly. Sometimes its progress is greater, and sometimes it is less, but it is always advancing. 2. The rank of the citizens. All of them are princes — the King's own kinsmen. They are born of God, and the glorious King is their elder brother! 3. The circumstances of the citizens. In other places some are rich and some are poor. But here all the citizens are poor. "To this man will I look," says the King, "to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit," etc. 4. The character of the citizens. All of them are on the way to perfection. They are being fashioned to the pattern of the character of the King. The climate in which they live, the atmosphere which they breathe, the diet on which they are fed, and the exercises they engage in, have a powerful tendency to produce a resemblance between them and Him, and to conform them to His image. The beauty of the Lord descends upon them more and more. 5. The employment of the citizens. 6. The privileges of the citizens. (1) They are served and protected by the King's attendants and guards. (2) They are permitted to eat fruit in the King's garden. (3) They may enter the King's palace, and approach His throne. ( Andrew Gray. ) The glory of the Church W. Dickson. Glorious things are spoken of our New Testament Zion — 1. AS A MAGNIFICENT CITY. I. It is populous. The polished European is there, and the rude islander from the great Pacific; the dark Ethiopian on whom the sun has looked down; and the wild dweller under the North Star from his dreary regions of perpetual snow. The philosopher is in Zion with his extensive learning and habits of independent thought, in humble submission to the Cross. The cottager is there, who has read and known little but his Bible; and the child, who, receiving the Gospel in its simplicty to his infant heart, has been set forth as a pattern to the older by Him who said, "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." 2. It is increasing; but its past triumphs are not to be compared with its fut

Benson Commentary Psalm 87:1 A Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah. His foundation is in the holy mountains. Psalm 87:1 . His foundation — Namely, the foundation of the city, or temple of God, of which he speaks in the following verses. The psalmist’s thoughts, we may suppose, were strongly fixed upon the temple and city of God; he had them full in his view, and was contemplating the glories of them, and at length breaks out into this abrupt expression, which has a reference, though not to what he had written before, yet to what he had deeply thought of; nor was his meaning obscure to any one who knew what had been the subject of his meditation. Thus Dr. Horne: “The psalmist having meditated on the strength, the beauty, and the glory of the holy city, and imagining the thoughts of his hearers or readers to have been employed on the same subject, breaks forth at once in this abrupt manner.” Is in the holy mountains — Hebrew, ????? ???? , beharree kodesh, the mountains of holiness; by which he means those mountains, or “hills of Judea, which God had chosen and separated to himself from all others, whereon to construct the highly-favoured city and temple, namely, mount Zion, mount Moriah, and other lesser hills. They are called holy mountains, or mountains of holiness, because the city and temple were, in a peculiar sense, consecrated to God, and because God in an especial manner dwelt therein, the ark of his presence being fixed there. The doctrines, and merits, and laws of Christ are those holy mountains on which his church, here typified by the city and temple of Jerusalem, is built; for it is built on Christ our Prophet, Priest, and King, and other foundation than this can no man lay. It is founded in and on holiness; Christ is a holy Prophet, a holy Priest, and a holy King; his doctrine, and merits and laws are all holy. And holiness is the strength and stability of his church; that, and that alone, will support it, and keep it from sinking: not so much,” says Henry, “that it is built upon mountains, as that it is built on holy mountains;” upon the word and promise of the holy God, for the confirming of which he hath sworn by his holiness; upon the mediation of his holy Son, who was manifested to take away our sins, and gave himself for his church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it; and upon the sanctifying influence of his holy Spirit and holy laws, all which, taken together, secure both the holiness and happiness of its members. Psalm 87:2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Psalm 87:2 . The Lord loveth the gates of Zion — That is, the city of Zion, or Jerusalem, gates being often put for cities. He saith Zion rather than Jerusalem, to intimate that he loved Jerusalem for Zion’s sake, or for the temple, which he chose for his peculiar dwelling-place. He loved the gates of the temple, of the houses of doctrines, as the Chaldee interprets it; more than all the dwellings of Jacob — More than all other places of the land of Canaan in which the Israelites dwelt. For though the tabernacle was for a season in some other parts of the land, yet the temple, the place of God’s fixed residence, was nowhere but in this city of Zion. Concerning this God had said, This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it. There he met his people, and conversed with them, received their homage, and showed them the tokens of his favour. From which we may infer how well he loved those gates; God indeed loved, and loves, the dwellings of Jacob. He has a gracious regard to religious families, and accepts their family worship; yet he loves the gates of Zion better; not only better than any, but better than all the dwellings of Jacob. God was worshipped in the private dwellings of Jacob; and family worship is family duty, which must by no means be neglected; yet when they come in competition, public worship is to be preferred before private. Psalm 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. Psalm 87:3 . Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God — “As the prophet began, in a rapture, to speak of the holy city, so now, in a fresh transport, he changes the person, and suddenly addresses himself to it. The old Jerusalem was the city of God, and glorious things were therefore said of it by the Spirit. “Pleasant for situation, and magnificent in its buildings, it was the delight of nations, the joy of the whole earth; there was the royal residence of the kings of Judah; there were the temple, and the ark, and the glory, and the king of heaven dwelling in the midst of her: her streets were honoured with the footsteps of the Redeemer of men; there he preached and wrought his miracles, lived, died, and rose again; thither he sent down his Spirit, and there he first laid the foundation of his church.” — Horne. Yet of this church of Christ, the gospel church, more glorious things are spoken. It is the spouse of Christ, the purchase of his blood, a peculiar people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, the light of the world, the salt of the earth, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High, the temple of God, and a habitation of God through the Spirit. And he, the Holy One of Israel, is said to be in the midst of her, and that therefore she shall not be moved; for he is mighty, and will save her; yea, he will rejoice over her with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over her with singing, 1 Peter 2:9 ; Psalm 46:5 ; Ephesians 2:21-22 ; Zephaniah 3:17 . Let us not be ashamed, then, of this church, in its meanest condition, nor of any that belong to it: let us not disown our relation to it, though it be turned never so much to our reproach, since such glorious things are spoken of it, and not one iota or tittle of what is said shall fall to the ground. We must remember, many base and ill things were spoken of Jerusalem by its enemies, to render it mean and odious; but by Him whose judgment is according to truth, glorious things were spoken of it; and therefore its genuine citizens, believing what God had spoken, rather than the slanders of its enemies, were not ashamed of it; and shall we be ashamed of that church, of which Jerusalem was but a type, and of which things so much more glorious are spoken by Him who cannot lie? Psalm 87:4 I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. Psalm 87:4 . I will make mention — Hebrew, ????? , azchir, I will record, or, cause to be remembered, Rahab — That is, Egypt, so called, Psalm 89:10 ; Isaiah 51:9 , but whether from its pride, or natural strength, both which the word signifies, is not material; and Babylon — I will reckon upon the inhabitants of Egypt and Babylon, though most alienated from the profession of the truth, yea, even on all the church’s enemies, as those that shall become members of it. For under these two, and Philistia, he seems to comprehend all the enemies of God’s people, of whom he prophesies that they should be not only reconciled, but united to them. To them that know me — Or with, or among them, that is, with or among those that truly, affectionately, and practically know me; so as to love, serve, and obey me. I will reckon these nations among the number of those that shall be converted; or, among my worshippers, subjects, and children; they seem to be God’s words, foretelling that he would account, and cause these Gentiles to be recorded as his people, when they should receive the gospel of Christ, as truly as Israel was his people, and would own them as born in Zion, that is, born again there, and entitled to all its privileges as freely as true-born Israelites. That though they had been strangers and foreigners, they should become fellow-citizens with the saints, Ephesians 2:17 . Thus Isaiah 19:23-25 , The Lord shall say, Blessed be Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. Behold — Take notice of it, as a thing new, and strange, and delightful. Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia — That is, the nations on every side of them, for Philistia was on the west, Tyre on the north, and Ethiopia, or Arabia, (which rather seems to be intended by the word Cush, here,) on the south. So that those nearest to them, and those more remote from them, are here mentioned, as converts to the gospel church: this man was born there — Or, in her, as it is Psalm 87:5 , namely, born by adoption and regeneration, John 1:12 ; John 3:7 ; Galatians 3:26 ; 1 Peter 1:23 ; that is, the Gentiles, from all countries, shall be brought into the church of God, and be accounted genuine members thereof. Psalm 87:5 And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her. Psalm 87:5 . Of Zion — Concerning the church of God, whether composed of Jews or Gentiles, it shall be said — It shall be mentioned by God, and acknowledged by men, as a great and wonderful work of Jehovah, that this and that man was born in her — That is, persons of this and that nation: not only a few of one nation, as formerly, but now multitudes of all sorts and conditions, without difference of nations, shall become members of the church, Galatians 4:28 ; Colossians 3:11 . Hebrew, ???? ????? , ish veish, man and man, that is, every man, or, all sorts of men, without respect of persons; any man whosover that shall turn to God; so this very phrase, man and man, is rendered Leviticus 17:10 ; Leviticus 17:13 ; as, by day and day, is meant every day, or, from day to day, Esther 3:4 ; Psalm 61:8 . And the Highest himself shall establish her — Uphold her to perpetuity, Matthew 16:18 . This shall not be a sudden and transient, but a lasting work: and the accession of proselytes, out of divers nations, shall be so far from occasioning discord and division, that it shall contribute greatly to Zion’s strength; for God himself having founded her upon a rock, whatever convulsions and revolutions there may be of states and kingdoms, and however heaven and earth may be shaken, she shall be found among the things which cannot be shaken, but must remain, Haggai 2:6-7 ; Hebrews 12:27 . Zion shall continue in its strength and fertility, because the almighty God is its founder and protector, and will finish the work which he hath begun; the Highest himself who can do it effectually, shall undertake to establish her. Psalm 87:6 The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah. Psalm 87:6 . The Lord, shall count, when he writeth up the people — In the book of life, that register of heaven, kept by God himself, in which men’s names are entered, not as born of flesh and blood, by the will of man, but as born of the Spirit, by the will of God; that this man was born there — By a spiritual birth, and therefore, that he is a genuine and free citizen of Zion, that is, God shall esteem such a one, though of Gentile race, a true member of his church, when he takes a particular account and survey of all his citizens and subjects. The psalmist alludes to the custom of princes or governors of cities, who used to write and preserve a register of all their people. Observe, reader, the birth here spoken of, the second birth, the birth from above, not of water merely, but of the Spirit, producing love to God, deadness to the world, and holiness of heart and life, ( 1 John 4:7 ; 1 John 5:4 ; 1 John 3:9 ; 1 John 5:18 ,) is the only birth we ought to value ourselves upon, because this alone gives us a title to “the inheritance of the saints in light.” Such, and only such, are written among the living in Jerusalem, Isaiah 4:3 . Or, written in the writing of the house of Israel, Ezekiel 13:9 . Or, in the language of the New Testament, such only have their names in the Lamb’s book of life, Php 4:3 . And we know the consequence of not being found written there: see Revelation 20:15 . Psalm 87:7 As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there : all my springs are in thee. Psalm 87:7 . As well the singers, &c., shall be there — That is, in the church, and among the people of God. Indeed God’s people have the greatest, nay, the only cause of rejoicing, being his children, and heirs, and joint heirs with Christ. As to all others, the divine injunction is, Be afflicted, and mourn and weep: let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into heaviness. But the psalmist seems here to intimate, that when the prediction, contained in the preceding verses, should be fulfilled, and the Gentiles should be converted, and added to the church, there should be great rejoicing and praising of God, both with vocal and instrumental music, for that glorious event. He describes evangelical worship by legal phrases and customs, as the prophets frequently do. All my springs are in thee — In Zion, or the church. All graces, comforts, privileges, and blessings, are to be found in thee, O church of God, and are only to be expected in and through the word preached, and the ordinances administered there. These words are thought by many commentators to be here added as the burden of the song which the forementioned singers are supposed to sing, either in their own names, or in the name of the people of God. And so the sense is, all our desires and delights are in thee, O Zion. All the springs of mercy, grace, and glory, flow to us only in and through thee. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 87:1 A Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah. His foundation is in the holy mountains. Psalm 87:1-7 ONE clear note sounds in this remarkable psalm. Its single theme is the incorporation of ancestral foes and distant nations with the people of God. Aliens are to be enrolled as home-born citizens of Jerusalem. In modern words, the vision of a universal Church, a brotherhood of humanity, shines radiant before the seer. Other psalmists: and prophets have like insight into the future expansion of the nation, but this psalm stands alone in the emphasis which it places upon the idea of birth into the rights of citizenship. This singer has had granted to him a glimpse of two great truths-the universality of the Church, and the mode of entrance into it by reception of a new life. To what age of Israel he belonged is uncertain. The mention of Babylon as among the enemies who have become fellow citizens favours the supposition of a post-exilic date, which is also supported by resemblances to Isaiah 40:1-31 ; Isaiah 41:1-29 ; Isaiah 42:1-25 ; Isaiah 43:1-28 ; Isaiah 44:1-28 ; Isaiah 45:1-25 ; Isaiah 46:1-13 . The structure is simple. The psalm is divided by Selah into two strophes, to which a closing verse is appended. The first strophe bursts abruptly into rapturous praise of Zion, the beloved of God. The second predicts the gathering of all nations into her citizenship, and the closing verse apparently paints the exuberant joy of the festal crowds, who shall then throng her streets. The abrupt beginning of the first strophe offends some commentators, who have tried to smooth Psalm 87:1 into propriety and tameness, by suggesting possible preliminary clauses, which they suppose to have dropped out. But there is no canon which forbids a singer, with the rush of inspiration, either poetic or other, on him, to plunge into the heart of his theme. Psalm 87:1 may be construed, as in the A.V. and R.V. (text), as a complete sentence, but is then somewhat feeble. It is better to connect it with Psalm 87:2 , and to regard "His foundation upon the holy mountains" as parallel with "the gates of Zion," and as, like that phrase, dependent on the verb "loves." Hupfeld, indeed, proposes to transfer "Jehovah loves" from the beginning of Psalm 87:2 , where it now stands, to the end of Psalm 87:1 , supplying the verb mentally in the second clause. He thus gets a complete parallelism:- His foundation upon the holy mountains Jehovah loves, The gates of Zion before all the dwellings of Jacob. But this is not necessary; for the verb may as well be supplied to the first as to the second clause. The harshness of saying "His foundation," without designating the person to whom the pronoun refers, which is extreme if Psalm 87:1 is taken as a separate sentence, is diminished when it is regarded as connected with Psalm 87:2 , in which the mention of Jehovah leaves no doubt as to whose the "foundation" is. The psalmist’s fervent love for Jerusalem is something more than national pride. It is the apotheosis of that emotion, clarified and hallowed into religion. Zion is founded by God Himself. The mountains on which it stands are made holy by the Divine dwelling. On their heads shines a glory before which the light that lies on the rock crowned by the Parthenon or on the seven hills of Rome pales. Not only the Temple mountain is meant, but the city is the psalmist’s theme. The hills, on which it stands, are emblems of the firmness of its foundation in the Divine purpose, on which it reposes. It is beloved of God, and that, as the form of the word "loves" shows, with an abiding affection. The "glorious things" which are spoken of Zion may be either the immediately following Divine oracle, or, more probably, prophetic utterances such as many of those in Isaiah, which predict its future glory. The Divine utterance which follows expresses the substance of these. So far, the psalm is not unlike other outpourings in praise of Zion, such as Psalm 48:1-14 . But, in the second strophe, to which the first is introductory, the singer strikes a note all his own. There can be no doubt as to who is the speaker in Psalm 87:4 . The abrupt introduction of a Divine Oracle accords with a not infrequent usage in the Psalter, which adds much to the solemnity of the words. If we regard the "glorious things" mentioned in Psalm 87:3 as being the utterances of earlier prophets, the psalmist has had his ears purged to hear God’s voice, by meditation on and sympathy with these. The faithful use of what God has said prepares for hearing further disclosures of His lips. The enumeration of nations in Psalm 87:4 carries a great lesson. First comes the ancient enemy, Egypt, designated by the old name of contempt (Rahab, i.e . pride), but from which the contempt has faded; then follows Babylon, the more recent inflicter of many miseries, once so detested, but towards whom animosity has died down. These two, as the chief oppressors, between whom, like a piece of metal between hammer and anvil, Israel’s territory lay, are named first, with the astonishing declaration that God will proclaim them as among those who know Him. That knowledge, of course, is not merely intellectual, but the deeper knowledge of personal acquaintance or friendship-a knowledge of which love is an element, and which is vital and transforming. Philistia is the old neighbour and foe, which from the beginning had hung on the skirts of Israel, and been ever ready to utilise her disasters and add to them. Tyre is the type of godless luxury and inflated material prosperity, and, though often in friendly alliance with Israel, as being exposed to the same foes which harassed her, she was as far from knowing God as the other nations were. Cush, or Ethiopia, seems mentioned as a type of distant peoples, rather than because of its hostility to Israel. God points to these nations-some of them near, some remote, some powerful and some feeble, some hereditarily hostile and some more or less amicable with Israel-and gives forth the declaration concerning them, "This one was born there." God’s voice ceases, and in Psalm 87:5 the psalmist takes up the wonderful promise which he has just heard. He slightly shifts his point of view: for while the nations that were to be gathered into Zion were the foremost figures in the Divine utterance, the Zion into which they are gathered is foremost in the psalmist’s, in Psalm 87:5 . Its glory, when thus enriched by a multitude of new citizens, bulks in his eyes more largely than their blessedness. Another shade of difference between the two verses is that, in the former, the ingathering of the peoples is set forth as collective or national incorporation, and, in the latter, -as the expression "man after (or by) man" suggests, -individual accession is more clearly foretold. The establishment of Zion, which the psalmist prophesies, is the result of her reinforcement by these new citizens. The grand figure of Psalm 87:6 pictures God as taking a census of the whole world; for it is "the peoples" whom He numbers. As He writes down each name, He says concerning it, "This one was born there." That list of citizens is "the Book of the Living." So "the end of all history is that Zion becomes the metropolis of all people" (Delitzsch). Three great truths had dawned on this psalmist, though their full light was reserved for the Christian era. He had been led to apprehend that the Jewish Church would expand into a world wide community. If one thinks of the gulfs of hatred and incompatibility which parted the peoples in his day, his clear utterance of that great truth, the apprehension of which so far transcended his time, and the realisation of which so far transcends ours, will surely be seen to be due to a Divine breath. The broadest New Testament expression of Universalism does not surpass the psalmist’s confident certainty. "There is neither Greek nor Jew, barbarian, Scythian," says no more than he said. More remarkable still is his conception of the method by which the nations should be gathered in to Zion. They are to be "born there." Surely there shines before the speaker some glimmering ray of the truth that incorporation with the people of God is effected by the communication of a new life, a transformation of the natural, which will set men in new affinities, and make them all brethren, because all participant of the same wondrous birth. It would be anachronism to read into the psalm the clear Christian truth "Ye must be born again," but it would be as false a weakening of its words to refuse to see in them the germ of that truth. The third discovery which the psalmist has made, or rather the third revelation which he has received, is that of the individual accession of the members of the outlying nations. The Divine voice, in Psalm 87:4 , seems to speak of birth into citizenship as national; but the psalmist, in Psalm 87:6 , represents Jehovah as writing the names of individuals in the burgess roll, and of saying in regard to each, as He writes, "This one was born there." In like manner, in Psalm 87:5 , the form of expression is "Man after man," which brings out the same thought, with the addition that there is an unbroken series of new citizens. It is by accession of single souls that the population of Zion is increased. God’s register resolves the community into its component units. Men are born one by one, and one by one they enter the true kingdom. In the ancient world the community was more than the individual. But in Christ the individual acquires new worth, while the bands of social order are not thereby weakened, but made more stringent and sacred. The city, whose inhabitants have one by one been won by its King, and have been knit to Him in the sacred depths of personal being, is more closely "compact together" than the mechanical aggregations which call themselves civil societies. The unity of Christ’s kingdom does not destroy national characteristics any more than it interferes with individual idiosyncrasies. The more each constituent member is himself, the more will he be joined to others, and contribute his special mite to the general wealth and well-being. Psalm 87:7 is, on any interpretation, extremely obscure, because so abrupt and condensed. But probably the translation adopted above, though by no means free from difficulty or doubt, brings out the meaning which is most in accordance with the preceding. It may be supposed to flash vividly before the reader’s imagination the picture of a triumphal procession of rejoicing citizens, singers as well as dancers, who chant, as they advance, a joyous chorus in praise of the city, in which they have found all fountains of joy and satisfaction welling up for their refreshment and delight. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.