1 <Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm. A Song.> This house is resting on the holy mountain.
For this cause says the Lord God, See, I am placing in Zion as a base, a stone, a tested stone, an angle-stone which is certain and of great value: and he who has faith will not give way.
<A Song. A Psalm. Of the sons of Korah.> Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, in the town of our God, in his holy mountain. Beautiful in its high position, the joy of all the earth, is the mountain of Zion, the mountain of God, the town of the great King.
And it will come about in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and all nations will come to it. And the peoples will say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will give us knowledge of his ways, and we will be guided by his word; for out of Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
I will make them come to my holy mountain, and will give them joy in my house of prayer; I will take pleasure in the burned offerings which they make on my altar: for my house will be named a house of prayer for all peoples.
And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock will my church be based, and the doors of hell will not overcome it.
In the measure of the grace given to me, I, as a wise master-builder, have put the base in position, and another goes on building on it. But let every man take care what he puts on it. For there is no other base for the building but that which has been put down, which is Jesus Christ.
Resting on the base of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief keystone, In whom all the building, rightly joined together, comes to be a holy house of God in the Lord; In whom you, with the rest, are united together as a living-place of God in the Spirit.
To whom you come, as to a living stone, not honoured by men, but of great and special value to God; You, as living stones, are being made into a house of the spirit, a holy order of priests, making those offerings of the spirit which are pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. Because it is said in the Writings, See, I am placing a keystone in Zion, of great and special value; and the man who has faith in him will not be put to shame. And the value is for you who have faith; but it is said for those without faith, The very stone which the builders put on one side, was made the chief stone of the building; And, A stone of falling, a rock of trouble; the word is the cause of their fall, because they go against it, and this was the purpose of God.
And this voice came from heaven even to our ears, when we were with him on the holy mountain.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 87
Commentary on Psalms 87 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 87
Ps 87:1-7. This triumphal song was probably occasioned by the same event as the forty-sixth [see on Ps 46:1, title]. The writer celebrates the glory of the Church, as the means of spiritual blessing to the nation.
1. His—that is, God's
foundation—or, what He has founded, that is, Zion (Isa 14:32).
is in the holy mountains—the location of Zion, in the wide sense, for the capital, or Jerusalem, being on several hills.
2. gates—for the enclosures, or city to which they opened (Ps 9:14; 122:2; compare Ps 132:13, 14).
3. spoken of thee—or, "in thee," that is, the city of God (Ps 46:4; 48:2).
4. This is what is spoken by God.
to them … me—literally, "for My knowers," they are true worshippers (Ps 36:10; Isa 19:21). These are mentioned as specimens.
this—that is, nation
was born there—Of each it is said, "This was born," or is a native of Zion, spiritually.
5. The writer resumes—
This and that man—literally, "man and man," or many (Ge 14:10; Ex 8:10, 14), or all (Isa 44:5; Ga 3:28).
the highest … her—God is her protector.
6. The same idea is set forth under the figure of a register made by God (compare Isa 4:3).
7. As in a great procession of those thus written up, or registered, seeking Zion (Isa 2:3; Jer 50:5), "the singers" and "players," or pipers, shall precede.
all my springs—So each shall say, "All my sources of spiritual joy are in Thee" (Ps 46:4; 84:6).