Psalms 87:5

5 And of Zion it shall be said, "This one and that one were born in it"; for the Most High himself will establish it.

Psalms 87:5 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 87:5

And of Zion it shall be said
The same with the city of God, the church before commended:

this and that man was born in her;
this and that great man, in opposition to a mean person, in the preceding verse: "or a man and man" {d}; men of all sorts, and of different nations, Jews and Gentiles, and great numbers of them:

and the Highest himself shall establish her;
the church of God, though founded by him, and laid on a sure foundation, on the Rock of ages, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail, yet is sometimes fluctuating and unsettled;

it is tossed with tempests,
the persecutions of men, the errors and heresies of false teachers, and the contentions and divisions of its own members; and is not always in one place, but is removed from one place to another, and is obliged to flee into the wilderness; but in the latter day it will be established and settled; it will be a tabernacle that shall not be taken down nor removed; but shall be established for ever, ( Psalms 89:37 ) , and this is the work of God, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, whatever instruments he may make use of, as ministers of the word, and kings of the earth; as it is his work, and his only, to establish particular believers, ( 2 Corinthians 1:21 ) , so it is his to establish the church in general: or it may be rendered, "he shall establish her on high" F5, which will be the case when she is established upon the top of the mountains, and exalted above the hills, ( Isaiah 2:2 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (vyaw vya) "vir et vir", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Vatablus, Gejerus, Michaelis.
F5 So the Targum, and Ainsworth.

Psalms 87:5 In-Context

3 Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. (Selah)
4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; Philistia too, and Tyre, with Ethiopia — "This one was born there," they say.
5 And of Zion it shall be said, "This one and that one were born in it"; for the Most High himself will establish it.
6 The Lord records, as he registers the peoples, "This one was born there." (Selah)
7 Singers and dancers alike say, "All my springs are in you."
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.