Psalms 87:1 - Meaning and Application

Some take the opening words of the psalm as part of its title. In that view, it is a psalm or song about the holy mountains, meaning the temple built in Zion on Mount Moriah. Others think the psalmist is looking at the tabernacle or temple and, while thinking about its greatness, suddenly says, “Its foundation is in the holy mountains.” Either way, the point is clear.

Three things are praised here about the temple. First, it was founded on the holy mountains, so the church has a sure foundation and cannot sink or shake. Christ himself is that foundation, the one God has laid. The New Jerusalem, the city above, is a city with foundations. It is set high, because the Lord’s house stands above the mountains (Isaiah 2:2). It is also built firmly, because mountains are rocky, and the church is built on a rock.

The world was founded on the seas (Psalm 24:2), which are always changing and give little support. Babel was built on a plain, where the ground was unstable. But the church is built on the everlasting mountains and the lasting hills. The mountains and hills will pass away sooner than God’s covenant of peace will fail, and the church rests on that promise (Isaiah 54:10). The foundation is on the holy mountains. Holiness is the church’s strength and stability. It stands because it is built on God’s promise, confirmed by his holiness, and on the sanctifying work of the Spirit, which secures the happiness of all believers.

Second, God showed special love for it (Psalm 87:2). “The Lord loves the gates of Zion,” meaning the temple gates, or, as the Chaldee explains it, the houses of teaching, “more than all the dwellings of Jacob,” whether in Jerusalem or elsewhere in the land. God had said of Zion, “This is my rest forever; here will I live.” There he met with his people, received their worship, and showed them signs of his favor. So we can see how much he loved those gates.

This teaches two things. God loves the homes of Jacob, that is, he has a kind and gracious regard for religious families and accepts their worship at home. Yet he loves the gates of Zion even more, not just more than some, but more than all the homes of Jacob. God is worshiped in homes, and family worship is a real duty that must not be neglected. Still, when both cannot be had, public worship should be preferred, all other things being equal.

Third, much is said about it in God’s word (Psalm 87:3): “Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God!” We should judge people and things by what Scripture says about them, and by the honor Scripture gives them. Many shameful things were said about the city of God by its enemies, to make it seem small and ugly. But the One whose judgment is always true has spoken glorious things about it. God said of the temple, “My eyes and my heart will be there always; I have set apart this house so that my name may be there forever” (2 Chronicles 7:16). “Beautiful in its setting” is Mount Zion (Psalm 48:2). These are glorious things indeed.

Even more glorious things are said about the gospel church. It is the bride of Christ, bought with his blood. It is a special people, a holy nation, and a royal priesthood, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. So we should not be ashamed of Christ’s church, even in its humblest state, or of anyone who belongs to it. We should not deny our place in it, even if that brings us reproach. Glorious things are spoken of it, and not one word of what God has said will fail.