Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God. Psalm 87:3

Psalm 87 – Called to Missions
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: Life in the Spirit  – June 2, 2024 (am)    

            In his book Learning to Love the Psalms, Robert Godfrey says, “Psalm 87 may well be the greatest missionary psalm of the Psalter. Here is a vision, not of the destruction of enemies, but of their conversion.”[i] If you know your OT history, you know that the Israelites had some serious enemies they had to deal with. Egypt. Babylon. The Philistines. Now, put yourself in the shoes of an ancient Israelite. It’s the Sabbath, and you’ve come to synagogue. The scrolls have been opened. Scripture has been read. And now it’s time to sing a psalm. And let’s say it’s the first time you’ve ever heard of what we now call Psalm 87. You hear the congregation begin to sing about Zion—the city of God. So far so good. It’s easy for an Israelite to sing about the holy city. But then all the sudden, the lyrics take a turn. You hear people singing favorably about Babylonians and Philistines.

            It would be like coming to Church and singing a praise chorus the people who enslaved your ancestors. It would be like singing about welcoming scoundrels into the Church, as though the doors were being opened to Hamas terrorists. Think of your enemies even today. Who makes your blood boil, or strikes you with fear? In Psalm 87, the Almighty God opens the door of his home and lets them in, into the household of faith.

Today we explore this psalm as it bears upon missions and church-planting broadly. All missions work and church planting is, in the end, the task of telling God’s enemies—and yours—how to come on in. And this psalm gives us a marvelous look at how this works.

 

1. God’s Household

Look with me there at vv. 1–3. Psalm 87 is zoomed in on where the most significant family meetings took place: Jerusalem. In vv. 1–3, this one location is referred to as the “city he founded” on the holy hills, “Zion,” and the “city of God.” And it’s not just any city. Verse 2 says that the Lord loves this place “more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.” So v. 2 is saying that Zion—the city of God—Jerusalem—is the highly favored city.

            Well, why? What made this city anything special beyond the other locations in the Promise Land? The answer of course is that God’s presence dwelt there in the tabernacle and later the Temple. The superscription of this psalm tips us off to remember that. That’s the all-caps heading just before v. 1. It refers to the sons of Korah. In 1 and 2 Chronicles, this is a group that David set in place to serve as singers and gate-keepers in the court of the tabernacle.[ii] In other words, they knew a thing or two about how special Jerusalem was. It’s where God’s family came to God’s household: the Temple.

            In the New Covenant, the place where God’s Spirit dwells is no longer a building, but a group of people. Listen to how Paul speaks about it in Ephesians 2:19–21, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”[iii] When Christians call unbelievers to believe in Christ, this is what we’re calling them to: the household of God. Into God’s family, where God himself is our Father, and Christ the Lord is our Elder Brother and Savior.

            My hometown is Madison, Indiana. In the Lord’s kindness, he’s allowed me to return there to plant a church. And, of course, we want to be all about this—we want to call people to come into the family of God and to come live in his household. And we want those already in the family to be nourished and growing. But guess what has taken up huge amounts of time in recent months. A building search. We’ve been in a one-room building for over two years now, and we outgrew it some time ago. So much time as been devoted to looking for a new building. And more time will be given to a rental agreement. And in the future, Lord willing, we’ll find a property to buy as our own. And we’ll have to renovate, or add on, or whatever the place needs to be usable.

All of these activities I just mentioned are legitimate. Every congregation needs a set place and time to meet for the worship of our great God, and it should be safe and livable. But all Christians, especially western Christians, are tempted to make some building into the household of God. But the true household of God is a heavenly reality. It is the city of God. And it is made up of people who have been purchased by the blood of Christ. Every church is called to the task of bringing outsiders inside—into the place where God dwells with his people. That’s the household of faith.

 

2. Who’s in God’s Household

            Verse 3 says, “Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God.” When we keep reading in vv. 4–6, we see what those glorious things are. In v. 4, God now speaks, and he says, “Among those who know me…” So if the question is, “Who belongs to this household?” the answer is “Those who know the Lord.” Look at God’s list of names on the registration:

He mentions Rahab first. That’s not the prostitute Rahab from Joshua. Rahab probably means “acting proudly” and it’s a poetic reference to Egypt.[iv] The same nation that kept Israel in chains for 400 years, and forced them to make bricks without straw, murdered their babies. Babylon—Nebuchadnezzar’s great empire, which marched into the city of God and burnt down the Temple of God in 586 BC. Philistia—the nation of the Philistines, who stole the ark of the covenant and killed untold thousands of Israelites in battle for years and years. Tyre in the north, and Cush in the far south below Egypt.

            The Lord now explains what he means when he says that these nations know him. He says now three times, in vv. 4–6: “This one was born there.”[v] I think most of us, if we were honest, have a “too far gone list” in our minds. That’s the list of people who just don’t strike us as potential Christians. They’re too far gone. Could be a prodigal family member. Could be someone on the other side of a culture war conflict. Their views are just repugnant to you. And, without even realizing it, you write them off. But brothers and sisters, enemies can be born in Zion. If you are a Christian today, it is because the Holy Spirit caused you—the enemy—to be born again. Born from above. Born into the city of God. And this is because the gospel we believe and proclaim says, “Christ died for the ungodly” and “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5). Those are the glorious things spoken of Zion (v. 3). It is the glory of the of God’s household that its former enemies now dwell there. That’s not its weakness; it’s its glory. God is not only not ashamed that his former enemies live there, he tells everyone about it. Like a mother dotes on her children to others. Like a father shows baby pictures to his co-workers and tells them about them. God holds up the registry for all to see, and says, “You remember him? Remember her? They’re mine now.”

 

3. Welcoming Enemies to God’s Household

            There are several lessons to draw from this passage as we think about the great task of reaching people with the gospel.

[1] We must trust the Lord’s timing. What it envisions stretches us all the back to the promise that God made to Abraham. Remember the promise of Genesis 12:3. God said to Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” God’s redeeming work has always been world-wide in scope. It was the plan all along to take to himself a people from every tribe, nation, and language. But that plan was worked out over millennia. And when the Gospel went forth from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth in Acts, the task of preaching and planting churches was often marked by obstacles. In Acts 17, Paul is in Athens expertly defending the resurrection and proclaiming Christ. And what happened? It says, “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, ‘We will hear you again about this.’ So Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed…”

When we as believers focus on the work of missions and church planting, some of the first thoughts we have tend to be about strategy, timeline, funding, and so on. All important things. It would be irresponsible not to cover them. But do our strategies include trusting the Lord’s timing? What does Psalm 87 say? Verse 5, “…the Most High himself will establish her.” This is God’s work, God’s timing. We’re just the means, not the makers. Pray along these lines for the missionaries you send and support—that they wouldn’t lose heart when plans don’t go on the timeline they hoped for. Pray along these lines for the lost of DuPage County. It is the Lord who opens hearts.

            [2] We must trust the Lord’s pronouncement. If God says, “This one was born there,” well then, that’s that. When God says, “saved” they’re “saved.” And we have to be especially careful about this when new converts struggle with old patterns of life. The early church was filled with difficulties as Jewish and Gentile Christians had to figure out how to live life together. They were former enemies. And sometimes former enemies forget that the fight is over. Many combat veterans know that some sounds and images will make them feel like they’re back in the conflict. They’ll have dreams that put them right back on the front line. And that’s how it is for every recovering enemy of God. Sometimes we fall back into old thoughts, words, and ways of living. But if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed. As missions-minded Christians, we have to learn the difficult lesson that Peter learned in Acts 10. What God calls clean, we must not call unclean.

            [3] We must trust their profession. Look with me at v. 7 (READ). The Psalms drop us right into the worship and piety of God’s ancient people. When you read or sing a psalm, you’re saying or singing the words that God spoke to the people and that the people spoke back to God. In other words, lots of psalms have a dialogue. And here in v. 7, after hearing the pronouncement from God, now there’s a response from singers and dancers. Singers and dancers here refers to those participating in worship, whether at the Temple or during a festival. And here this group of worshipers says together, “All my springs are in you.” The image of springs of water has to do with the origin, or source of something.[vi] It’s talking about the headwaters. In other words, this group of worshipers is saying, “I got my start in Zion.” It’s a profession of faith.[vii] It’s the profession that says, “I’m a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.” “I was from Egypt, but now I’m from Zion.”

            Nicole and I were reflecting on this psalm this week. She’s been reading books on the experience of refugees and immigrants in this country recently. When they go through the arduous process of becoming legal citizens, it’s a joy, emotional experience. Sometimes new citizens know more about our Constitution than natural born citizens. And yet, because they still look and sound like a different nation and culture, they might not ever feel fully welcomed. May it never be in the household of faith. May it be instead that all our efforts to reach the lost are marked not just by serious proclamation, but also serious, heartfelt welcome. Let us trust that the profession of faith of new believers is real, and treat them as those who streams are in Zion. They’re from here now.

            Praise God that he welcomes enemies. And praise him that he uses former enemies to welcome more in. Loved ones in Christ, you are the household of faith. You belong to the city of God. Glorious things are spoken of you. Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven—born in Zion. Amen.

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Notes:

[i] W. Robert Godfrey, Learning to Love the Psalms (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2017), 149. Also helpful here is O. Palmer Robertson, The Flow of the Psalms: Discovering their Structure and Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2015, 140: “In Psalm 87, this deliverance from international enemies takes a distinctive turn. For in this psalm, some of the identical enemies previously catalogued in Book III are overcome, not by force of arms but by conversion. Rahab, representing Egypt, alongside Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush, is ‘born in Zion.’ To make this startling point more emphatic, the same truth is repeated three times over in three consecutive verses: ‘born in Zion,’ ‘born in her,’ ‘born in Zion’ (vv. 4, 5, 6). Can you believe it? Israel’s perpetual enemies transformed into native-born citizens of Zion. What a way to conquer an adversary!”

[ii] Allan Harman, Psalms: A Mentor Commentary, vol. 1–2, Mentor Commentaries (Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor, 2011), 349–350.

[iii] See Augustine’s take on the temple imagery, in which he focuses on Psalm 87’s emphasis (at the beginning and end) on the city of God being laid on a foundation, i.e. the foundation of the prophets and apostles, Christ Jesus being the chief cornerstone. St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, NPNF, trans. A. Cleveland Coxe (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004), 8:419–23.

[iv] Harman, Psalms, vol. 1–2:646–47.

[v] Verse 4: the final clause “This one was born there” is unattributed in the MT. The English translations take different positions. ESV: “‘This one was born there,’ they say…” apparently putting the declaration in the mouths of the Gentile nations mentioned earlier in the verse, or maybe implying that other (Israelite?) worshipers are saying it. NIV: “…and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion,” making it the words of YHWH himself, following the clause, “I will record…” earlier in the verse. The KJV does not make attribution explicit, which makes it the words of YHWH by default. The ESV’s approach is the least plausible for both thematic and grammatical reasons. Best to take YHWH himself as the speaker. On the grammar of HB'-dL;yU vyaiw> vya in v. 5 (“This one and that one were born in her”), Waltke & O’Connor say, “A singular noun may be repeated syndetically to form a phrase indicating diversity” (IBHS §116; see n7, which cites Ps. 87:5).

[vi] !y"[.m; “spring” – “The word designates a flow of water from an opening in a hillside or valley.” Associated with blessing and abundance: “The land of Canaan was described as ‘a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains (‘ayin) and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills.’ Jacob in blessing his sons, reserved one of his greatest blessings for Joseph … likening him to a fruitful bough by a spring (Gen 49:22). This perhaps refers to the ‘planting’ of Manasseh and Ephraim in Canaan, suggesting their securing of fertile and significant territories” (Carl Schultz, TWOT §1613a); cf. HALOT, 612.

[vii] Godfrey, Learning to Love the Psalms, 149: “The nations are not just adopted into the family of God; they are reckoned as those native born. And when the nations raise their voice in praise, they see Zion as their true mother: they will sing of Zion, ‘All my springs are in you’ (v. 7).”

 

Next SUNDAY:  Called to Missions: Called to the Gospel, Steve Leston