This psalm celebrates Zion as the city specially loved and established by the LORD. It begins by exalting God's foundation in the holy mountains and by declaring that glorious things are spoken about the city of God. The song then moves unexpectedly outward, naming traditional foreign peoples such as Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush, yet speaking of them as if they too can be counted as born in Zion. It ends with the joyful confession that all the singer's springs are found there, making Zion the source of life, belonging, and praise for a redeemed international people.
Psalm 87 is a brief but expansive Zion psalm. It presents God's chosen city not merely as Israel's center, but as the surprising birthplace and gathering point of people from the nations under God's own reckoning.
A continuous BSB reading flow. Turn on the guide when you want authored orientation; leave it off when you simply want the text.
A1 Psalm of the sons of Korah. A song. 2The LORD loves the gates of Zion 3Glorious things are ascribed to you,
4“I will mention Rahab and Babylon 5And it will be said of Zion: 6The LORD will record in the register of the peoples:
7Singers and pipers will proclaim,
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