Psalms 87:2

The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OF ZION MORE THAN ALL THE DWELLINGS OF JACOB - (). "The gates" are specified because it is against them that the enemy directs his first assault. When they are safe the city is safe. They symbolize a compact kingdom (; )....

2_Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion above all the dwellings of Jacob. _Here we are taught that all the excellence of the holy city depended on the free choice which God had made of it. With this agrees what is stated in Psalms 78:60, that God rejected Shiloh, the tribe of Ephraim, and the tabernacle of Joseph, that he might dwell in Zion which he loved. The prophet then points out the cause why God preferred that one place before all others; and the cause which he assigns is, not the worth of the place itself, but the free love of God. If it is demanded why Jerusalem was so highly distinguished, let this short answer be deemed sufficient, _Because it so pleased God. _To this the divine love is to be traced as its source; but the end of such a choice was, that there might be some fixed place in which the true religion should be preserved, and the unity of the faith maintained, unt

1-3 Christ himself is the Foundation of the church, which God has laid. Holiness is the strength and firmness of the church. Let us not be ashamed of the church of Christ in its meanest condition, nor of those that belong to it, since such glorious things are spoken of it. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, even Jesus Christ. The glorious things spoken of Zion by the Spirit, were all typical of Christ, and his work and offices; of the gospel church, its privileges and members; of heaven, its glory and perfect happiness....

Verse Psalms 87:2. _THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OF ZION MORE THAN ALL THE_ _DWELLINGS OF JACOB._] That is, he preferred Zion for his habitation, to be the place of his temple and sanctuary, before any other place in the promised land. Mystically, the Lord prefers the Christian Church to the Jewish: the latter was only a type of the former; and had no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth. To this position no exception can be made....

THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OF ZION - Compare Psalms 78:68. The gates of a city were the places of concourse; where business was transacted; where courts were held. The particular allusion here seems to be to the thronging multitudes pressing into the city for public worship - the numbers that gathered together at the great feasts and festivals of the nation; and the meaning is, that he looked with more pleasure on such multitudes as they thronged the gates, pressing in that they might worship him, than on any other scene in the land. MORE THAN ALL THE DWELLINGS OF JACOB - Than any of the places where the descendants of Jacob, or where his people dwell. Much as he might be pleased with their quiet abodes, with their peace, prosperity, and order, and with the fact that his worship was daily celebrated in those happy famil

EXPOSITION THIS short psalm, opening with the praise of Zion, or of the Jewish Church (Psalms 87:1), passes into a glorification of the Church universal, when all the nations have come into it (Psalms 87:4). The glorification falls under two heads—God's acknowledgment of those who flock into his Church (Psalms 87:4), and their acknowledgment of the blessings which they receive through it. The two "selahs" divide the psalm into two stanzas, each of three verses, and a short epode consisting of a single verse. PSALMS 87:1 The praises of Zion. (1) She is bui

THE LORD LOVETH THE GATES OF ZION,.... Which the Targum interprets of the schools, as preferable to the synagogues: the Lord loves Zion herself; that is, the church, and therefore has chosen it for his habitation, took up his rest and residence in it, has founded it, and set Christ as King over it, and by whom he has redeemed it; and he loves her gates, the public ordinances; he loves them that come to Zion's gates, and wait and worship there, and who enter in and become members thereof; and he loves what is done there, he being there publicly prayed unto, and publicly praised by a large number of his people; where his word is faithfully preached, and reverently attended to, and his ordinances truly administered, and the graces of his saints exercised on him: wherefore, because all this is done socially, and in a public manner, and so much for his own manifestative glory, he esteems thes...

Psalms 87 Zion and Its Coming Glories Another Korah Psalm. Zion is the object of Jehovah's love where He will manifest His glory. Glorious things are spoken of the city of God. This we learn from many visions of the prophets. When these prophecies are fulfilled and the glory has come, then Rahab (pride--Egypt) and Babylon shall know, as well as Philistia, Tyre and Cush. Nations will be born again and turn to the Lord and share the blessings of the kingdom. Then the singers will sing “All my springs are in Thee,” in Him who dwelleth in Zion. The Christian believer gives now this testimony and knows its blessed truth, that Christ is all and in Him we have all our resources. But what will it be when nations with Zion shall know this!...

LXXXVII. ZION THE MOTHER OF ALL YAHWEH'S PEOPLE. When this Ps. was written, the Jews were scattered everywhere in the known world. But every true Jew recognised Jerusalem as his mother city. The glory of Zion was due to the establishment there of David's court and to the great principle of the Deuteronomic reform, one Yahweh and one altar, viz. at Jerusalem. Attempt was made by interpolation in ancient records (see Genesis 14:18 * and Genesis 22:2 *) to carry the consecration of Jerusalem back into patriarchal times. PSALMS 87:3. ARE SPOKEN: read, he speaketh. Psalms 87:4_ a._ A short speech by Yahweh. Render

THE LORD. Hebrew. _Jehovah._ App-4. ZION. See App-68. JACOB. Israel viewed in connection with the natural seed, and with material blessings. See notes on Genesis 32:28; Genesis 43:6; Genesis 45:26; Genesis 45:28....