Today’s Passage: Psalm 87
God has founded His city upon the holy mountains, and the LORD loves the gates of Zion. Then, in the middle of the psalm, God Himself reads out a list of names: rahab, pronounced RAH-hahv. Strong's H7294, pride, arrogance; poetic name for Egypt / a sea-monster of chaos. Rahab here is a poetic name for Egypt, a word that carries the sense of pride, and in other passages it pictures a sea-monster of chaos. It is not the Rahab who hid the spies at Jericho; two different Hebrew words simply happen to meet in the same English spelling. Here the verse names Israel’s oldest oppressor, and then, wonder of wonders, claims that oppressor among those who know Him. , Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush. Over each one He says the same astonishing thing, that this one was born in Zion. The nations are not erased, and Zion is not erased. Both of them are kept.
As you read, hold this: This one was born in Zion.
Context Old enemies on the register
Verse 4 names the nations that had enslaved, exiled, or fought Israel: Egypt, Babylon, and Philistia. The psalm does not pretend that history was kind. Instead it announces that God will register citizens of His own city from among these very peoples, born there, not merely visiting and not merely tolerated.
Psalm 87:1-3 (BSB)
A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A song.
¹ He has founded His city on the holy mountains. ² The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. ³ Glorious things are ascribed to you, O city of God. Selah
The city is founded, and it is loved, loved more than all the other dwellings in the land. This is no metaphor waiting to be dissolved. It is a real place, and God loves it.
Psalm 87:4 (BSB)
⁴ “I will mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me—along with Philistia, Tyre, and Cush—when I say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’”
Here God Himself speaks, and He promises to mention these nations among those who know Him. Then comes the sentence that keeps returning through the psalm: this one was born in Zion.
Psalm 87:5-6 (BSB)
⁵ And it will be said of Zion: “This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High Himself will establish her.” ⁶ The LORD will record in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion.” Selah
This one and that one were born in her, and God Himself keeps the register of the peoples. It is the Most High who establishes Zion, and it is He who writes the nations into her book. The nations are written in, and Zion is not crossed out.
Study notes Egypt My people
Isaiah opens the same door wider.
"In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the earth. The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, 'Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.'" Isaiah 19:24-25 (BSB)
Egypt, Assyria, and Israel, each of them called by name: My people, My handiwork, My inheritance. The circle that this psalm begins to draw, Isaiah names out loud. The nations are kept, and Zion is kept.
Psalm 87:7 (BSB)
⁷ Singers and pipers will proclaim, “All my springs of joy are in You.”
The psalm does not end with a census but with music. Singers and pipers name their springs of joy, and every one of them is found in the city. This one was born in Zion.