Psa 87 | EE | STEP | This is a song with music, for the sons of Korah. He built it on the mountains of holiness.

Psalms 87

The Two Jerusalems ^{▼▼87:0 Verses 1-3 are about Jerusalem, the capital city of the Jews. Verses 4-6 are about the Church. The Church is the City of God, the New Jerusalem. The person that wrote Psalm 87 did not know this. But God inspired them to write verses 4-6. ‘Inspired’ means ‘gave them words to say.’ The person that wrote the psalm thought that Jerusalem would become the most important city on earth. God knew that the NEW Jerusalem would be the most important city! But it would not be on earth, but in heaven where God lives.}

This is a song with music, for the sons of Korah.

1 He built it on the mountains of holiness.

2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion.

He loves them more than all the places where Jacob lives. ^{▼▼87:2 Verses 1-2: These verses are about the Jerusalem that is on earth. To give you help to understand this difficult psalm we can show it like this:
He built – it on the mountains of holiness
The LORD – loves the gates of Zion
He loves them – more than the places where Jacob lives
To the left it is about the LORD God; to the right it is about the Jerusalem on earth, the capital of Israel. The ‘mountains of holiness’ are the hills on which they built Jerusalem. They were holy because they thought that God lived there. ‘The gates of Zion’ means the whole city of Jerusalem. Jacob is another name for Israel, and the land where the Jews lived.}

3 People say wonderful things about you, city of God.

SELAH

4 I will remember the people that I know, from Rahab and Babylon;

also from Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia.

I will remember that this man was born there.

5 They will say in Zion, ‘A man – this man – was born there.’

So he – the Most High – will build her up.

6 The LORD will write in his book the name of everyone that says,

‘This man was born there.’

SELAH ^{▼▼87:6 Verses 4-6: These verses are about the Church. The person that wrote the psalm did not know about our Church. He thought that people from all over the world were becoming Jews. This was probably true. But the New Testament of the Bible repeats Psalm 87:5 and says that it is about the Church (Galatians 4:26). People come to it from all over the world: Rahab (Egypt), Babylon (Iraq), Philistia, Tyre (Lebanon) and Ethiopia (Sudan) were countries near Israel.
We think that God is speaking in verses 4-6. He says that everyone that is born in Jerusalem is in his book. What does ‘born in Jerusalem’ mean? We believe that it means ‘born again.’ This is another way of saying ‘becoming a Christian.’ The name of every Christian is in God’s book. He will not forget any of them. They are all included in those that say, ‘this man was born there.’ In verse 6, this means ‘I was born there.’}

7 The singers and the musicians will say,

‘All my springs are in you.’ ^{▼▼87:7 Verse 7: This verse is difficult to translate. It probably means one of:
– The singers and musicians must use music that is called ‘All my springs are in you’
– The singers and musicians all say that their springs are in Jerusalem (this means that Jerusalem gives them new life)}