Psalm 87:1-6

Glorious Things of You Are Spoken

1 On ¹the holy mount ²stands the city he founded;

2 the Lord ³loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

3 ⁴Glorious things of you are spoken, O ⁵city of God. Selah

4 Among those who ⁶know me I mention ⁷Rahab and Babylon; behold, Philistia and Tyre, with ⁸Cush^[a]—“This one was born there, ” they say.

5 And of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in her”; for the Most High himself will ⁹establish her.

6 The Lord records as he ¹⁰registers the peoples, “This one was born there. ”Selah

Psalm 87:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 87

\\<>\\. Whether this psalm was composed by David, in a view of the temple to be built by his son Solomon; or whether by one that returned from the Babylonish captivity, who wrote it for the comfort of those that wept at the laying of the foundation of the second temple; it seems evident that the subject matter of it is the church of God in Gospel times, and especially in the latter day glory: the title in the Syriac version is, ``concerning the redemption of Jerusalem.''

Cross References

• 1. 87:1 See Ps. 48:1
• 2. 87:1 Isa. 28:16
• 3. 87:2 Ps. 78:67, 68
• 4. 87:3 [Isa. 60:1]; See Isa. 54:1-3
• 5. 87:3 Ps. 46:4
• 6. 87:4 Ps. 36:10; [John 10:14]
• 7. 87:4 See Job 9:13; See Isa. 19:22-25
• 8. 87:4 See Ps. 68:31
• 9. 87:5 Ps. 48:8
• 10. 87:6 See Ps. 69:28

Footnotes

• [a] 87:4 Probably 'Nubia'