#818 City of God

On the holy mount stands the city he founded;

2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

3 Glorious things of you are spoken,

O city of God. Selah

4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;

behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush—

“This one was born there,” they say.

5 And of Zion it shall be said,

“This one and that one were born in her”;

for the Most High himself will establish her.

6 The Lord records as he registers the peoples,

“This one was born there.” Selah

7 Singers and dancers alike say,

“All my springs are in you.” Psalm 87 ESV

A Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah.

On the holy mount stands the city he founded - As the inhabitants are elect so is the city. God has established it.

ii. “The psalmist’s fervent love for Jerusalem is something more than national pride. It is the apotheosis of that emotion, clarified and hallowed into religion. Zion is founded by God Himself. The mountains on which it stands are made holy by the Divine dwelling.” (Maclaren)

We cannot perceive outside of time and space where God first chose this place, but we can look back at the time of Abraham, for this is where he offered up his son, Isaac. This is where God revealed some of  His redemptive plan in providing a ram in place of Isaac. 

Your only son

This is the place of the threshing floor that David refused to take for free. It became the home of the tabernacle and then later the temple that was built by David's son.

Mt. Moriah

This is the city that Messiah would visit at the time of the feasts. He would teach in this temple, be accused, taken outside and offered up for our sins as the only Son of God. It is a special place to God and rightly so, this is the place where all of history culminates. No one is made right with the Father without the Son, and there is not in all of history a more sacred place or time than the redemptive act of God, Who's holy wrath was poured out upon His Son in this place. They say, all roads lead to Rome, but only one Way leads to reconciliation with God.

Jerusalem was also the birth place of the church and it will be a focal point in the end of times.

…11“On that day many nations will join themselves to the LORD, and they will become My people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. 12 And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His portion in the Holy Land, and He will once again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”… Zechariah 2: 11-13

O city of God - 

i. This line from Psalm 87 was the inspiration of the title and concept of Augustine’s great work, The City of God. “Saint Augustine also chose it as the theme verse for his great masterpiece of Christian historical philosophy, The City of God.” (Boice)

Rahab and Babylon - Rahab means insolent and proud, and was used as another name for Egypt in the Bible. Babylon was the nation God brought against Judah for it's sin and they destroyed the city, bringing captives back to Babylon. Even there, in the countries of Israel's greatest enemies, there will be those that God has called forth. At different times God called out from among the gentiles people unto salvation. The harlot Rahab was saved alive during the destruction of Jericho. Ruth was a Moabite, who with Rahab, is also in the lineage of David and Messiah. 

Among those who know Me - There is also mention of Tyre, Philistia, and Cush (Ethiopia).

iii. Who know Me: “A translation of the Hebrew verb yadah, which has a rich variety of meanings. It can mean ‘know,’ ‘acknowledge,’ ‘understand,’ ‘be sure,’ ‘know about,’ ‘experience,’ and other variations… Here it means more than merely admitting that there is such a God as Jehovah or even acknowledging him as the one true God. It means coming to him in a saving relationship, bowing before him, and seeking to know him better.” (Boice)

This one was born there - No matter where we come from geographically, we are in Christ numbered as citizens of the new birth.

v. This also speaks to God’s love and attention for the individual. “Man by man will the Lord reckon them, for they are each one precious in his sight; the individual shall not be lost in the mass, but each one shall be of high account.” (Spurgeon)

iii. “Foreign nations are here described not as captives or tributaries, not even as doing voluntary homage to the greatness and glory of Zion, but as actually incorporated and enrolled, by a new birth, among her sons.” (Perowne, cited by Spurgeon)

…22 Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels 23 in joyful assembly, to the congregation of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven. You have come to God the judge of all men, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.… Hebrews 12: 22-24

…25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”… Galatians 4: 25-27