Read Psalm 87:1, 2. What makes Zion such an esteemed place?

 Psalm 87 is a hymn celebrating Zion as God’s specially chosen and beloved city. The foundation of God’s temple is on Mount Zion (Ps. 2:6, Ps. 15:1). At the end of time, Zion will rise above all mountains, signifying the Lord’s sovereign supremacy over the whole world (Ps. 99:2, Isa. 2:2, Mic. 4:1). Psalm 87 refers to Zion as “mountains” to highlight its majesty (Ps. 133:3). God loves the gates of Zion “more than all the dwellings of Jacob” (Ps. 87:2, NKJV), expressing the superiority of Zion over all other places in Israel that were special gathering places of God’s people in the past, such as Shiloh and Bethel. Thus, the psalm affirms that true worship of God is in His chosen place and in His prescribed way.

 Read Psalm 87:3–7. What are the glorious things that are spoken of Zion?

 The glory of Zion draws all the nations to God, and so, the borders of God’s kingdom are extended to include the whole world. Notice that God does not treat the other nations as second-level citizens, even if Zion is portrayed as the spiritual birthplace of all peoples who accept the Lord as their Savior.

 The registering of individuals was done according to their birthplace (Neh. 7:5, Luke 2:1-3). Three times the psalm states that the nations are born in Zion, meaning that the Lord provides them with a new identity and grants them all the privileges of lawfully born children of Zion (Ps. 87:4-6).

 Psalm 87 points to salvation of both the Jews and the Gentiles and their being united in one church through Christ’s redeeming ministry (Rom. 3:22; Rom. 10:12; Gal. 3:28, 29; Col. 3:11). The psalm’s portrayal of the prosperity of Zion is reminiscent of Daniel’s vision of God’s kingdom becoming an enormous mountain that fills the whole earth (Dan. 2:34, 35, 44, 45) and of Jesus’ parable about God’s kingdom growing into a huge tree that hosts the birds of the air (Matt. 13:32).