Psalm 87

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Psalm 87
• Sermon
• Pastoral Prayer

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Sermon Title: The Foundation, Inclusion, and Joy of the Holy Mountain

Scripture: Psalm 87

I. The Strong Foundation of Mount Zion

• A. In the Hebrew text, the word "foundation" is placed first for emphasis, conveying that Zion is a solid, immovable, unshakeable foundation for God's people — pointing to the doctrine of God's immutability.

• B. Malachi 3:6 — "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."

  1. God's unchanging character is comfort in the midst of chastisement, not license for sin.
  2. 1 John 1:9 — the immutable God has promised to forgive when we confess; he is equally immutable in judgment against unrepentant sin.

• C. Physical Zion was never the endpoint but a foretaste of a heavenly reality, as seen in Hebrews 11:10 — Abraham looked forward to "the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God."

• D. Hebrews 12:22 — at the coming of Christ, by the Spirit, believers now draw near to the heavenly Mount Zion and the city of the living God.

  1. When the church gathers on the Lord's Day, it draws near to heavenly Jerusalem — a foretaste of the eschaton.
  2. Revelation 21:10 — the heavenly city will one day descend, uniting heaven and earth in fullness when Christ returns.

• E. John 4 — Jesus affirms Zion as the true place of worship, then announces that true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, showing the progression from physical to spiritual Zion.

• F. Application (from James Montgomery Boice): As Israel cherished Zion as a foretaste of greater blessing, so new covenant believers should cherish the local church and corporate worship as a foretaste of the heavenly Jerusalem.

II. The Gentile Inclusion in Mount Zion

• A. Verses 4–6 contain a prophecy of all nations worshipping the Lord in Zion; five representative nations span all points of the compass and the ends of the earth.

  1. Rahab (Egypt) — south; the proud enemy humbled before Yahweh.
  2. Babylon — east; the great empire of exile.
  3. Philistia — west; the close and immediate threat to Israel.
  4. Tyre — north; the powerful city-state.
  5. Cush (Ethiopia) — representative of the very ends of the earth.

• B. Verse 5 — "This one and that one were born in her"; the Septuagint adds the word "mother," giving rise to Paul's language in Galatians 4:25–26 — "the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother."

• C. John 3:3 — being "born from above" means heavenly Jerusalem is the spiritual mother of all who are born of the Spirit through faith in Christ, extending to the ends of the earth.

• D. Verse 6 — God registers and records the names of his people; this is connected to the Lamb's Book of Life in Revelation 21:27.

  1. The Holy Spirit is the down payment (2 Corinthians 1) — we belong to heavenly Jerusalem now; the fullness comes when Christ returns.
  2. Church membership rolls reflect God's own act of registering his people; they are serious and should not be treated as automatic assurance of salvation, nor dismissed as unimportant.
  3. The duly ordained elders' acts of binding and loosing on earth correspond to heaven's register; removal from the rolls without transfer to another gospel church is a solemn warning.

III. The Fount of Every Blessing

• A. Verse 7 — "Singers and dancers alike say, all my springs are in you"; the language of springs points to Christ as the source of living water.

• B. John 7:37–38 — on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Feast of Booths), when priests poured water from the Pool of Siloam on the altar, Jesus stood and declared: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

  1. The water-pouring ceremony anticipated the outpouring of the Holy Spirit described in Ezekiel 40–48.
  2. Christ is the temple from whom the living waters flow into the hearts of his people, causing them to rejoice, dance, and sing.

• C. The sons of Korah, as temple worship leaders, wrote this Psalm envisioning the whole world joining them in singing and dancing before God — a sanctified imagination of the eschatological gathering.

  1. When believers gather for worship, their imaginations should soar to the day when every nation, tribe, and tongue worships before the Lamb — no longer by faith but by sight.
  2. Sunday worship is a foretaste of the eschaton; the Spirit in our hearts is the down payment of that glorious inheritance which will be revealed in fullness when Christ comes again.