3 Honourable things are spoken in Thee, O city of God. Selah.
and he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and did shew to me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God, and her light `is' like a stone most precious, as a jasper stone clear as crystal, having also a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve messengers, and names written thereon, which are `those' of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, at the east three gates, at the north three gates, at the south three gates, at the west three gates; and the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who is speaking with me had a golden reed, that he may measure the city, and its gates, and its wall; and the city lieth square, and the length of it is as great as the breadth; and he did measure the city with the reed -- furlongs twelve thousand; the length, and the breadth, and the height, of it are equal; and he measured its wall, an hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is, of the messenger; and the building of its wall was jasper, and the city `is' pure gold -- like to pure glass; and the foundations of the wall of the city with every precious stone have been adorned; the first foundation jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates `are' twelve pearls, each several one of the gates was of one pearl; and the broad-place of the city `is' pure gold -- as transparent glass. And a sanctuary I did not see in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, is its sanctuary, and the Lamb, and the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they may shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp of it `is' the Lamb; and the nations of the saved in its light shall walk, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it, and its gates shall not at all be shut by day, for night shall not be there; and they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations into it; and there may not at all enter into it any thing defiling and doing abomination, and a lie, but -- those written in the scroll of the life of the Lamb.
And I saw, and lo, a Lamb having stood upon the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty-four thousands, having the name of his Father written upon their foreheads;
But, ye came to Mount Zion, and to a city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of messengers, to the company and assembly of the first-born in heaven enrolled, and to God the judge of all, and to spirits of righteous men made perfect,
And My tabernacle hath been over them, And I have been to them for God, And they have been to Me for a people. And known have the nations that I Jehovah am sanctifying Israel, In My sanctuary being in their midst -- to the age!'
And I have multiplied on you man and beast, And they have multiplied and been fruitful, And I have caused you to dwell according to your former states, And I have done better than at your beginnings, And ye have known that I `am' Jehovah. And I have caused man to walk over you, -- My people Israel, And they possess thee, and thou hast been to them for an inheritance, And thou dost add no more to bereave them. Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because they are saying to you: A devourer of men `art' thou, And a bereaver of thy nations thou hast been, Therefore, man thou devourest no more, And thy nations thou causest not to stumble any more, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. And I proclaim not unto thee any more the shame of the nations, And the reproach of peoples thou bearest no more, And thy nations stumble not any more, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.' And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Son of man, The house of Israel are dwelling on their land, And they defile it by their way and by their doings, As the uncleanness of a separated one hath their way been before Me. And I do pour out My fury upon them For the blood that they shed on the land, And with their idols they have defiled it. And I scatter them among nations, And they are spread through lands, According to their way, and according to their doings, I have judged them. And one goeth in unto the nations whither they have gone, And they pollute My holy name by saying to them, The people of Jehovah `are' these, And from His land they have gone forth. And I have pity on My holy name, That the house of Israel have polluted among nations whither they have gone in. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Not for your sake am I working, O house of Israel, But -- for My holy name, That ye have polluted among nations whither ye have gone in. And I have sanctified My great name, That is profaned among nations, That ye have polluted in your midst, And known have the nations that I `am' Jehovah, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, In My being sanctified in you before your eyes. And I have taken you out of the nations, And have gathered you out of all the lands, And I have brought you in unto your land, And I have sprinkled over you clean water, And ye have been clean; From all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, I do cleanse you. And I have given to you a new heart, And a new spirit I give in your midst, And I have turned aside the heart of stone out of your flesh, And I have given to you a heart of flesh. And My Spirit I give in your midst, And I have done this, so that in My statutes ye walk, And My judgments ye keep, and have done them. And ye have dwelt in the land that I have given to your fathers, And ye have been to Me for a people, And I -- I am to you for God. And I have saved you from all your uncleannesses, And I have called unto the corn, and multiplied it, And I have put no famine upon you. And I have multiplied the fruit of the tree, And the increase of the field, So that ye receive not any more a reproach of famine among nations. And ye have remembered your ways that `are' evil, And your doings that `are' not good, And have been loathsome in your own faces, For your iniquities, and for your abominations. Not for your sake am I working, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Be it known to you, Be ashamed and confounded, because of your ways, O house of Israel. Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In the day of My cleansing you from all your iniquities, I have caused the cities to be inhabited, And the wastes have been built, And the desolate land is tilled, Instead of which it was a desolation before the eyes of every passer by, And they have said: This land, that was desolated, Hath been as the garden of Eden, And the cities -- the wasted, And the desolated, and the broken down, Fenced places have remained. And known have the nations who are left round about you, That I Jehovah have built the thrown down, I have planted the desolated: I Jehovah have spoken, and I have done `it'. Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Yet this I am required, By the house of Israel to do to them, I multiply them as a flock of men, As a flock of holy ones, as a flock of Jerusalem, In her appointed seasons, So are the waste cities full of flocks of men, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah!'
And they have come in, And have sung in the high place of Zion, And flowed unto the goodness of Jehovah, For wheat, and for new wine, and for oil, And for the young of the flock and herd, And their soul hath been as a watered garden, And they add not to grieve any more. Then rejoice doth a virgin in a chorus, Both young men and old men -- together, And I have turned their mourning to joy, And have comforted them, And gladdened them above their sorrow,
Turn back, O backsliding sons, An affirmation of Jehovah. For I have ruled over you, And taken you one of a city, and two of a family, And have brought you to Zion, And I have given to you shepherds According to Mine own heart, And they have fed you with knowledge and understanding. And it hath come to pass, when ye are multiplied, And have been fruitful in the land, In those days -- an affirmation of Jehovah, They say not any more, `The ark of the covenant of Jehovah,' Nor doth it go up on the heart, Nor do they remember concerning it, Nor do they inspect, nor is it made again. At that time they cry to Jerusalem, `O throne of Jehovah,' And gathered unto her hath been all the nations, For the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem, Nor do they go any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
Enlarge the place of thy tent, And the curtains of thy tabernacles they stretch out, Restrain not -- lengthen thy cords, And thy pins make strong. For right and left thou breakest forth, And thy seed doth nations possess, And desolate cities they cause to be inhabited. Fear not, for thou art not ashamed, Nor blush, for thou art not confounded, For the shame of thy youth thou forgettest, And the reproach of thy widowhood Thou dost not remember any more. For thy Maker `is' thy husband, Jehovah of Hosts `is' His name, And thy Redeemer `is' the Holy One of Israel, `God of all the earth,' He is called. For, as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Called thee hath Jehovah, Even a youthful wife when she is refused, said thy God. In a small moment I have forsaken thee, And in great mercies I do gather thee, In overflowing wrath I hid my face `for' a moment from thee, And in kindness age-during I have loved thee, Said thy Redeemer -- Jehovah! For, the waters of Noah `is' this to Me, In that I have sworn -- the waters of Noah Do not pass again over the earth -- So I have sworn, Wrath is not upon thee, Nor rebuke against thee. For the mountains depart, and the hills remove, And My kindness from thee departeth not, And the covenant of My peace removeth not, Said hath thy loving one -- Jehovah.
And Zion saith, `Jehovah hath forsaken me, And my Lord hath forgotten me.' Forget doth a woman her suckling, The loved one -- the son of her womb? Yea, these forget -- but I -- I forget not thee. Lo, on the palms of the hand I have graven thee, Thy walls `are' before Me continually. Hastened have those building thee, Those destroying thee, and laying thee waste, go out from thee. Lift up round about thine eyes and see, All of them have been gathered, They have come to thee. I live, an affirmation of Jehovah! Surely all of them as an ornament thou puttest on, And thou bindest them on like a bride. Because thy wastes, and thy desolate places, And the land of thy ruins, Surely now are straitened because of inhabitants, And far off have been those consuming thee. Again do the sons of thy bereavement say in thine ears: `The place is too strait for me, Come nigh to me -- and I dwell.' And thou hast said in thy heart: `Who hath begotten for me -- these? And I bereaved and gloomy, A captive, and turned aside, And these -- who hath nourished? Lo, I -- I was left by myself, these -- whence `are' they? Thus said the Lord Jehovah: `Lo, I lift up unto nations My hand, And unto peoples I raise up Mine ensign, And they have brought thy sons in the bosom, And thy daughters on the shoulder are carried. And kings have been thy nursing fathers, And their princesses thy nursing mothers; Face to the earth -- they bow down to thee, And the dust of thy feet they lick up, And thou hast known that I `am' Jehovah, That those expecting Me are not ashamed. Is prey taken from the mighty? And the captive of the righteous delivered? For thus said Jehovah: Even the captive of the mighty is taken, And the prey of the terrible is delivered, And with thy striver I strive, and thy sons I save. And I have caused thine oppressors to eat their own flesh, And as new wine they drink their own blood, And known have all flesh that I, Jehovah, Thy saviour, and thy redeemer, `Am' the Mighty One of Jacob!'
Cry aloud, and sing, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in thy midst `is' the Holy One of Israel!'
Rejoice doth Mount Zion, The daughters of Judah are joyful, For the sake of Thy judgments. Compass Zion, and go round her, count her towers, Set your heart to her bulwark, Consider her high places, So that ye recount to a later generation,
Beautiful `for' elevation, A joy of all the land, `is' Mount Zion, The sides of the north, the city of a great king. God in her high places is known for a tower.
And these `are' the names of the tribes: From the north end unto the side of the way of Hethlon, at the coming in to Hamath, Hazar-Enan, the border of Damascus northward, unto the side of Hamath, and they have been his -- side east and west, Dan one, and by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, Asher one, and by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, Naphtali one, and by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, Manasseh one, and by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, Ephraim one, and by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, Reuben one, and by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, Judah one, and by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side is the heave-offering that ye lift up, five and twenty thousand broad and long, as one of the parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary hath been in its midst. The heave-offering that ye lift up to Jehovah `is' five and twenty thousand long, and broad ten thousand. And of these is the holy heave-offering for the priests, northward five and twenty thousand, and westward `in' breadth ten thousand, and eastward `in' breadth ten thousand, and southward `in' length five and twenty thousand: and the sanctuary of Jehovah hath been in its midst. For the priests who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept My charge, who erred not in the erring of the sons of Israel, as the Levites erred, even the heave-offering hath been to them, out of the heave-offering of the land, most holy, by the border of the Levites. `And `to' the Levites over-against the border of the priests `are' five and twenty thousand `in' length, and `in' breadth ten thousand, all the length `is' five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. And they do not sell of it, nor exchange, nor cause to pass away the first-fruit of the land: for `it is' holy to Jehovah. And the five thousand that is left in the breadth, on the front of the five and twenty thousand, is common -- for the city, for dwelling, and for suburb, and the city hath been in its midst. And these `are' its measures: the north side five hundred, and four thousand, and the south side five hundred, and four thousand, and on the east side five hundred, and four thousand, and the west side five hundred, and four thousand. And the suburb to the city hath been northward, fifty and two hundred, and southward, fifty and two hundred, and eastward, fifty and two hundred, and westward, fifty and two hundred. `And the residue in length over-against the heave-offering of the holy `portion is' ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward, and it hath been over-against the heave-offering of the holy `portion', and its increase hath been for food to the servants of the city, even `to' him who is serving the city, they serve it out of all the tribes of Israel. All the heave-offering `is' five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand, square do ye lift up the heave-offering of the holy `portion' with the possession of the city. `And the residue `is' for the prince, on this side and on that side of the heave-offering of the holy `portion', and of the possession of the city, on the front of the five and twenty thousand of the heave-offering unto the east border, and westward, on the front of the five and twenty thousand on the west border, over-against the portions of the prince; and the heave-offering of the holy `portion', and the sanctuary of the house, hath been in its midst. And from the possession of the Levites, from the possession of the city, in the midst of that which is to the prince, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, there is to the prince. `As to the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin one, and by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon one, and by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar one, and by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun one, and by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad one, and by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border hath been from Tamar `to' the waters of Meriboth-Kadesh, the stream by the great sea. This `is' the land that ye separate by inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these `are' their portions -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. `And these `are' the outgoings of the city on the north side, five hundred, and four thousand measures. And the gates of the city `are' according to the names of the tribes of Israel; three gates northward: the gate of Reuben one, the gate of Judah one, the gate of Levi one. And on the east side five hundred, and four thousand, and three gates: the gate of Joseph one, the gate of Benjamin one, the gate of Dan one. And the south side five hundred, and four thousand measures, and three gates: the gate of Simeon one, the gate of Issachar one, the gate of Zebulun one. The west side five hundred, and four thousand, their gates three: the gate of Gad one, the gate of Asher one, the gate of Naphtali one. Round about `is' eighteen thousand, and the renown of the city `is' from the day Jehovah `is' there.'
In the twenty and fifth year of our removal, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in this self-same day hath a hand of Jehovah been upon me, and He bringeth me in thither; in visions of God He hath brought me in unto the land of Israel, and causeth me to rest on a very high mountain, and upon it `is' as the frame of a city on the south. And He bringeth me in thither, and lo, a man, his appearance as the appearance of brass, and a thread of flax in his hand, and a measuring-reed, and he is standing at the gate, and the man speaketh unto me: `Son of man, see with thine eyes, And with thine ears hear, And set thy heart to all that I am shewing thee, For, in order to shew `it' thee, Thou hast been brought in hither, Declare all that thou art seeing to the house of Israel.' And lo, a wall on the outside of the house all round about, and in the hand of the man a measuring-reed, six cubits by a cubit and a handbreadth, and he measureth the breadth of the building one reed, and the height one reed. And he cometh in unto the gate whose front `is' eastward, and he goeth up by its steps, and he measureth the threshold of the gate one reed broad, even the one threshold one reed broad, and the little chamber one reed long and one reed broad, and between the little chambers five cubits, and the threshold of the gate, from the side of the porch of the gate from within, one reed. And he measureth the porch of the gate from within one reed, and he measureth the porch of the gate eight cubits, and its posts two cubits, and the porch of the gates from within, and the little chambers of the gate eastward, three on this side, and three on that side; one measure `is' to them three, and one measure `is' to the posts, on this side and on that side. And he measureth the breadth of the opening of the gate ten cubits, the length of the gate thirteen cubits; and a border before the little chambers, one cubit, and one cubit `is' the border on this side, and the little chamber `is' six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side. And he measureth the gate from the roof of the `one' little chamber to the roof of another; the breadth twenty and five cubits, opening over-against opening. And he maketh the posts of sixty cubits, even unto the post of the court, the gate all round about; and by the front of the gate of the entrance, by the front of the porch of the inner gate, fifty cubits; and narrow windows `are' unto the little chambers, and unto their posts at the inside of the gate all round about -- and so to the arches -- and windows all round about `are' at the inside, and at the post `are' palm-trees. And he bringeth me in unto the outer court, and lo, chambers and a pavement made for the court all round about -- thirty chambers on the pavement -- and the pavement unto the side of the gates over-against the length of the gates `is' the lower pavement; and he measureth the breadth from before the lower gate, to the front of the inner court, on the outside, a hundred cubits, eastward and northward. As to the gate of the outer court whose front `is' northward, he hath measured its length and its breadth; and its little chambers, three on this side, and three on that side, and its posts and its arches have been according to the measure of the first gate, fifty cubits its length, and the breadth five and twenty by the cubit; and its windows, and its arches, and its palm-trees `are' according to the measure of the gate whose face `is' eastward, and by seven steps they go up on it, and its arches `are' before them. And the gate of the inner court `is' over-against the gate at the north and at the east; and he measureth from gate unto gate, a hundred cubits. And he causeth me to go southward, and lo, a gate southward, and he hath measured its posts and its arches according to these measures; and windows `are' to it and to its arches all round about, like these windows, fifty cubits the length, and the breadth five and twenty cubits; and seven steps `are' its ascent, and its arches `are' before them, and palm-trees `are' to it, one on this side, and one on that side, at its posts; and the gate of the inner court `is' southward, and he measureth from gate unto gate southward, a hundred cubits. And he bringeth me in unto the inner court by the south gate, and he measureth the south gate according to these measures; and its little chambers, and its posts, and its arches `are' according to these measures, and windows `are' to it and to its arches all round about; fifty cubits the length, and the breadth twenty and five cubits. As to the arches all round about, the length `is' five and twenty cubits, and the breadth five cubits; and its arches `are' unto the outer court, and palm-trees `are' unto its posts, and eight steps `are' its ascent. And he bringeth me in unto the inner court eastward, and he measureth the gate according to these measures; and its little chambers, and its posts, and its arches `are' according to these measures: and windows `are' to it and to its arches all round about, the length fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits; and its arches `are' toward the outer court, and palm-trees `are' toward its posts, on this side and on that side, and eight steps `are' its ascent. And he bringeth me in unto the north gate, and hath measured according to these measures; its little chambers, its posts, and its arches; and windows `are' to it all round about: the length fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits; and its posts `are' to the outer court, and palm-trees `are' unto its posts, on this side and on that side, and eight steps `are' its ascent. And the chamber and its opening `is' by the posts of the gates, there they purge the burnt-offering. And in the porch of the gate `are' two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slaughter on them the burnt-offering, and the sin-offering, and the guilt-offering; and at the side without, at the going up to the opening of the north gate, `are' two tables; and at the other side that `is' at the porch of the gate, `are' two tables; four tables `are' on this side, and four tables on that side, at the side of the gate, eight tables on which they slaughter. And the four tables for burnt-offering `are' of hewn stone: the length one cubit and a half, and the breadth one cubit and a half, and the height one cubit: on them they place the instruments with which they slaughter the burnt-offering and the sacrifice. And the boundaries `are' one handbreadth, prepared within all round about: and on the tables `is' the flesh of the offering. And on the outside of the inner gate `are' chambers of the singers, in the inner court, that `are' at the side of the north gate, and their fronts `are' southward, one at the side of the east gate `hath' the front northward. And he speaketh unto me: `This chamber, whose front `is' southward, `is' for priests keeping charge of the house; and the chamber, whose front `is' northward, `is' for priests keeping charge of the altar: they `are' sons of Zadok, who are drawing near of the sons of Levi unto Jehovah, to serve Him.' And he measureth the court: the length a hundred cubits, and the breadth a hundred cubits, square, and the altar `is' before the house. And he bringeth me in unto the porch of the house, and he measureth the post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side, and the breadth of the gate, three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side; the length of the porch twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; and by the steps whereby they go up unto it: and pillars `are' at the posts, one on this side, and one on that side.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 87
Commentary on Psalms 87 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 87
The foregoing psalm was very plain and easy, but in this are things dark and hard to be understood. It is an encomium of Zion, as a type and figure of the gospel-church, to which what is here spoken is very applicable. Zion, for the temple's sake, is here preferred,
Some think it was penned to express the joy of God's people when Zion was in a flourishing state; others think it was penned to encourage their faith and hope when Zion was in ruins and was to be rebuilt after the captivity. Though no man cared for her (Jer. 30:17, "This is Zion whom no man seeketh after'), yet God had done great things for her, and spoken glorious things of her, which should all have their perfection and accomplishment in the gospel-church; to that therefore we must have an eye in singing this psalm.
A psalm or song for the sons of Korah.
Psa 87:1-3
Some make the first words of the psalm to be part of the title; it is a psalm or song whose subject is the holy mountains-the temple built in Zion upon Mount Moriah. This is the foundation of the argument, or beginning of the psalm. Or we may suppose the psalmist had now the tabernacle or temple in view and was contemplating the glories of it, and at length he breaks out into this expression, which has reference, though not to what he had written before, yet to what he had thought of; every one knew what he meant when he said thus abruptly, Its foundation is in the holy mountains. Three things are here observed, in praise of the temple:-
Psa 87:4-7
Zion is here compared with other places, and preferred before them; the church of Christ is more glorious and excellent than the nations of the earth.