The title of today’s Psalm also attributes it to the sons of
Korah whom we studied in Psalms 84 and 85.
Psalm 87 speaks of the city of Zion, or the New Jerusalem, God’s Holy
City created after the final judgment of the nations where He will dwell with
those who have been redeemed. This Psalm
is a song of praise to God. Don’t praise
songs make you feel closer to God and joyous?
How often do you sing praise songs?
Before we can read and understand this Psalm, we must know
about and understand the city of Zion.
Read about this city in Revelation 21 now. Doesn’t Zion sound wonderful? It will be a place with no more night, no
more tears, and no more dying. That is
certainly worth praising God for, isn’t it?
Praise Him now.
Who will live in this great city of Zion (Revelation
21:27)? We need to know more about this Book
of Life. What is it and how do you get
your name written into it? Psalm 69 is
another Psalm of David where he is asking for protection from his enemies. Read Psalm 69:27-28. We can see here that The Book of Life is
where God records the names of the Righteous, or those who have received
salvation from God. Sinners’ names are
excluded from this book. Philippians 4:3
tells us about Christians who were serving God that had their names
written in The Book of Life as does I Peter 2:4-6. Read Revelation 20:11-15 to see how this book
will be used. Is your name written in
The Book of Life?
Now let’s read Psalm 87.
The ‘holy mountain’ in verse 1 refers to the location where Jerusalem is
built. ‘Zion’, in verse 2, is referring
to the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21.
The Patriarch Jacob, from the book of Genesis, was renamed ‘Israel’ and
his descendants formed the nation of Israel.
Through the years this nation has dwelt in multiple places, but verse 2
tells us that, of all the dwelling places of Israel, Zion is the most loved by
God.
Verse 3 declares that glorious things are said of Zion. Isaiah 60 is an example of this. It is a chapter entirely dedicated to
praising Zion. Verse 4 makes reference
to several of the enemies of Israel.
Which enemy of Israel is represented by the reference to Rahab (Isaiah
30:7)? This verse is telling us that God
will credit individuals from enemy nations with native born citizenship in
Zion. Why do you think this might be
(hint: think about The Book of Life)?
Verses 5 and 6 go on to establish native born citizenship for all the
residents of Zion. This gives new meaning to the term 'Born Again'. Is this not also
something worthy of our praise?
Verse 7 concludes with Zion
making music and singing praises to God.
What a wonderful way to spend eternity!
The ‘springs’ (KJV) or ‘fountains’ (NIV) mentioned in this verse
probably refer to the fountain of life we receive when we accept Jesus as
Savior and Lord of our life (John 4:14).
Read another description of Zion
in Isaiah 65:17-25. Write Psalm 87:5 in
your journal.
Responding to God: Think about how often you sing praises to
God. How often do you feel His joy? If the answer is ‘not often’, pray and ask
Him to reveal His greatness to you. Ask
Him to show you His glory and the good things He gives. Is your name written in The Book of
Life? If you’re not sure, spend some
time talking to God about it. If your
name is not yet written in The Book of Life, think about taking care of that
today. God’s salvation is a simple
matter of being sorry for your sin (sorry enough to not want to continue), then
praying and asking for His forgiveness and salvation. Ask God now to help you turn away from your
sins (we all have them). Praise Him and
thank Him for His salvation. Review that
description of Zion in Revelation 21 and the one in Isaiah 65:17-25 and record in your journal the details
that are most exciting or meaningful to you.
Further Research: To learn more about God’s salvation, read
the following scriptures:
- Luke 1:76-77
- John 3:1-18
- Acts 4:11-12
- 2 Corinthians 7:10
- Ephesians 1:13-14
- Titus 2:11-14
- Titus 3:3-8
- I Peter 1:8-12
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