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Psalm 87: Glorious Things Are Spoken of Thee

Ben Zornes on

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Introduction:

In this psalm we are encouraged to exult in the corporate realities of God’s salvation. God saves individuals one by one, but He never saves them to be alone. Just as we are not saved by good works, but rather to good works (Eph. 2:8-10), so also we are not saved by a crowd or a congregation, but we most assuredly are saved to a crowd and a congregation.

The Text:
“His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob . . .” (Psalm 87:1–7).

Summary of the Text:
The physical city of God was in the holy mountains (v. 1). His heavenly Jerusalem is in the holy mountains of His everlasting wisdom. The Lord Jehovah loves the individual dwellings of Jacob, but He loves the public assembly of His people more (v. 2). The city of God is glorious, and it is right to ascribe glory to her (v. 3). The psalmist then mentions a series of pagan powers which will be brought to worship the Lord, which will be “born” in Zion (v. 4). And of Zion itself, it will be said that men of eminence were born in her (v. 5). When the Lord Jehovah conducts His great census, He will be the one who marks that this one was born (again) there (v. 6). The musicians will be there, and all our springs will be in the Lord (v. 7).

His Foundation in the Holy Mountains:
The Temple that Solomon built was on Mt. Moriah. The Tabernacle of David, in which the sacrifices were largely musical, was on Mt. Zion. The tabernacle from the wilderness was on Mt. Gibeon (2 Chron. 1:3), about 6 miles northwest of Jerusalem. In a way, all of them merged into the Temple, and began to be known as Zion.
God’s intention was always to rebuild the Tabernacle of David (Amos 9:11-12). James cites this prophecy as the basis for including the Gentiles as Gentiles in the Christian church (Acts 15:16). And that lines with what this psalm teaches us about God’s purposes. And the thing that enabled the Gentiles to come in—the blood sacrifice of Christ—was also that which enabled us to substitute musical sacrifice for blood sacrifices.
So the eternal counsels of God are the holy mountains in which we dwell.
Rahab and Babylon . . .
Rahab is a poetic name for Egypt, and signifies her insolence and pride. Who will be brought into Zion, and reckoned among her children when the Lord conducts His census? The proud of Egypt will be there (Acts 2:10). The worldly of Babylon will be (Acts 2:9). The fiercely angry from Philistia will come (Acts 2:9). The covetous of Tyre were no doubt in the mix. The strangers of Ethiopia will be strangers no more (Acts 8:27).
It is striking that when the foreigners are itemized in Acts on the day of Pentecost, the only ones who are not indicated in this psalm in some way are the Greeks—Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia.

He Loves the Gates of Zion:
God does love the individual dwellings of Jacob. He loves it when children are brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. He loves it when the things of God are discussed with affection around the dinner table. He loves it when a family prays and sings together. He loves familial piety.
But He loves the public assembly more. God loves the public gates of Zion more than the private dwellings of Jacob. The two need not be adversarial, of course, but we need to know how God prioritizes things. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Heb. 10:25).

Pride in His People:
From the context we can tell that “this and that man” were born in her, and it is referring to men of some eminence. This is how we tell stories, is it not? When I was a child in Annapolis, the public library was a former tavern/inn from the 1700’s, and when you went down into the kids’ section in the basement, there was a plaque that informed you that “George Washington slept here.”

This expression is literally “a man and a man,” which may be a peculiar form of the superlative. The Israel of God has produced some of the most amazing warriors, inventors, workers, heroes, scholars, and adventurers who have ever lived. From David to Augustine, from Livingstone to Cranmer, and from Edwards to Antipas, the kingdom of God is the place of which we may say, “This one was born in her.”

Of course, the one who boasts must boast in the Lord. We know that unless the Lord had accomplished it, none of it would have been accomplished at all.

The Lord Himself Shall Count:
When Elijah despaired of everything, the apostle Paul reminds us that God had reserved for Himself 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18; Rom. 11:4). God is the one who maintains the number of the elect firmly in the palm of His hand (John 10:29).
When the Lord counts His people, you can be assured that He will not have to count twice.

All My Springs Are In You:
There are two ways to take this cryptic statement. All my springs are in the Lord could mean that all my life, all my resources, all my strength, come from Him. I draw on Him, my limitless source of living water. My springs are in Him. This takes it as that which flows to me.

The second way can take it as that which flows from me, as in, a man’s posterity (Prov. 5:16). All my posterity, all my descendants, all the children of my children’s children, are in the Lord.

And of course, if Christ is everything to us, it is possible to take it in both senses.

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Psalm 86: A Token for Good

Ben Zornes on

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Introduction: 

In this world, it is not possible to be a friend of God and not be in trouble with the world. Friendship with the world is enmity with God, James tells us (Jas. 4:4). It goes the other way also. Friendship with God means that you will be constantly and regularly at odds with the world. This provides you with material to pray about.

The Text: 

“Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: For I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee . . .” (Psalm 86:1–17).

Summary of the Text:

The text divides into three sections, with an expression of confidence or gratitude at the conclusion of each (vv. 7, 13, 17). This psalm is a prayer of David, with God being addressed directly with petitions throughout.
The petitioner is poor and needy, and asks God to bow down to hear (v. 1). He prays that God would deliver him with his innocence and trust in view (v. 2). God, be merciful, because the prayer is offered every day (v. 3). The soul is lifted up to God so that God might pour joy into it (v. 4). God is good and ready to forgive, and full of mercy to those who call upon Him (v. 5). God, please listen (v. 6). When the psalmist is in trouble, he will call upon God and God will answer (v. 7).
None of the other gods are like God at all, and their works are not like His (v. 8). The nations will all stream to Him, and will glorify His name (v. 9). God is great, and does wonderful things (v. 10). Teach me to obey; integrate my heart (v. 11). I will praise God with everything I have (v. 12). God’s mercy is great, and He has delivered me from the very worst place, the lowest hell (v. 13).
Here is my trouble—proud and violent men are after me (v. 14). By contrast, God is full and overflowing with compassion, grace, patience, and abundant mercy and truth (v. 15). God, give me strength—I was born in your house, the son of your handmaid (v. 16). Show me a token for good, so that those proud men who come after me might see that You are with me and be ashamed (v. 17).

The God Who Reveals Himself: 

In this psalm, David echoes in several places what Jehovah had declared to Moses when He passed by him at the second inscription of the Ten Commandments. “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Ex. 34:6).
All prayer carries within it an assumption of what God is like. Faithful prayer is that which echoes God’s self-revelation of what He is like.
All Nations Bow Down:

David is praying for his own deliverance. He looks forward to his rescue by God. But at the same time, he marks his deliverance in the context of a much larger deliverance. All nations that God made will come before Him and will acknowledge it (v. 9). The coming salvation will gather up much more than David, much more than Israel. The coming salvation encompasses all nations.

Charles Spurgeon commented on this verse this way: “Earth’s sun is to go down amid tenfold night if some of our prophetic brethren are to be believed. Not so do we expect, but we look for a day when the dwellers in all lands shall learn righteousness, shall trust in the Saviour, shall worship thee alone, O God, ‘and shall glorify thy name.’ The modern notion has greatly damped the zeal of the church for missions, and the sooner it is shown to be unscriptural the better for the cause of God.”

Proud Men Gather:    

Proud men are wolves and they hunt in packs. It looks as though it will all go their way. Violent men gather in their assemblies. They assume it will all be theirs because they do not take God into account. This is because proud men serve false gods, and yet among the gods there is none like our God. Their works of accusation and persecution are not like God’s works of triumph and deliverance.

A Token for Good:  

The prayer is not just for deliverance. The prayer is for a very public deliverance. David does not just want to be delivered from his enemies; he wants his enemies to see him being delivered. He wants them to see him getting away.
The token for good might be the deliverance itself. On the other hand, it might be a down payment on the deliverance, placed there in the middle of the troubles, in such a way as to make his enemies think uh oh to themselves. It could be either or both, and one commentator suggests that the token for good might be found earlier in v. 4. When the psalmist lifts up his soul to God, and God pours out His joy into it, that joy in the midst of the trial may be the token for good. A peace that passes all understanding, given in the midst of great trial, is something that can only be explained in terms of the presence of God.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6–7).

A Savior Who Loves:
So come back to what God revealed of Himself to Moses (and to David). Jehovah God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, loves you and loves to deliver you. Assuming you are in Christ at all, God could not love you more than He does. He could not desire your well-being with greater intensity than He has. He could not have done more for you than He has done. Remember the cross, and remember the resurrection. Remember your forgiveness, your salvation, and your justification.

 

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