A Study in Psalms - Psalm 87

So tonight, I don't want to begin.

Everybody who was born in the United States raised their hand.

Yeah. I can't raise my hand because I

wasn't born in the United States.

Not bad. Not bad.

OK. Who was born outside the United

States? Will you tell me tonight?

Tell me the country of the city, El Salvador.

Praise the Lord. Belize, Vietnam.

Who else? Mexico, Mexico.

Costa Rica. OK, Back Mexico, Philippines,

Nicaragua, Korea, where Mexico, praise the Lord of the lot.

OK, I wasn't born in the United States.

I was born in Khartoum, Sudan, Africa.

My parents were missionaries and I don't remember anything about

Sudan because when I was one years old they moved over the

mission board moved them to Ethiopia.

So I remember Ethiopia, but my father was a Canadian at the

time and my mother was American. So they went to the embassy and

they registered me as a United States citizen, even though my

dad was Canadian. So I always thought I wasn't

able to be the president of the United States because to be the

president of the United States, you have to be born in America.

But I have since learned that you can be a natural born

citizen. You can be born overseas as long

as your parents register you, you can be the president.

Well, I never was the president, not because that reasons, but

but I became a natural. I wasn't a natural born citizen,

but of course I was AUS citizen. And our Psalm tonight is Psalm

87. It's a really short one.

Follow Psalms 86 that we looked at last week.

By the way, who did their homework last week?

Anybody who memorized Psalm 8615?

I already had Bill chalk to me tonight.

Anybody else? OK, so you have to complete that

homework assignment. But Psalm 86, nine verse 9 says

all the nations whom you have made shall come and worship

before you. So our Psalm tonight, Psalm 87,

is a special one because it tells us that God welcomes the

nations of the world as natural born citizens of Zion.

Psalm 87 might be the best statement in Scripture of God's

love for all people and his intentions to save the nation's.

One commentator called it the greatest missionary Psalm in the

book of Psalms. Here is a vision, not of

destruction of the enemies, which we usually see in Psalms,

right? David is always calling him

preparatory prayers on his enemies, but here we're going to

see the the enemies conversion. God promised Abraham in Genesis

12 that in you all the nations of the world will be blessed.

We have a superscription and it says a Psalm of songs, of Korah,

a song. So let's read Psalm 87.

On the holy mount stands the city he founded.

The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling

places of Jacob. Glorious things of you are

spoken. O city of God, Among those who

know me, I mentioned Rahab and Babylon.

Behold, Phyllis stop and tire. And with Kush.

This one was born there, they say, and of Zion it shall be

said, this one and that one were born in her, for the Most High

himself will establish her. The Lord record records as he

registers the people. This one was born there.

Singers and dancers alike say, all my springs are in you.

Let's pray. Father, we love and thank you

for what you're doing at Christ Community Church this morning

with VBS and now a chance to study God's Word.

May we leave here tonight knowing more of you and your

plan for each of us in our lives.

In Jesus name, Amen. The type of Psalm.

This is called a song as it says in a superscription, or it could

be called the songs of Jerusalem.

There's about five of them. Psalms 46 Psalms, 48 Psalms 8487

and 122 are often called Songs of Jerusalem, and it's written

by the sons of Korah. They wrote 11 Psalms, and we've

already looked at, I think we looked at 44 earlier this month.

But according to the predictions of God through Moses, that the

Israelites, while they were still in the wilderness,

Jerusalem was going to become the central city of Israel, the

place where the temple would be built, and it would be a visible

expression of God's presence with his people.

Is there any history behind this Psalm?

A lot of the commentators and I noticed that a lot of

commentators skipped this Psalm, but a lot others think that it

was written after King Hezekiah's victory when the when

the Assyrian army was wiped out. We talked about that last week.

Remember 185,000 soldiers, The Angel of the Lord came in one

night and killed them all. But just a couple verses later

in Second Chronicles 3223, it says, and many brought gifts to

the Lord to Jerusalem. Who are those?

Those would be the enemy nations.

They brought gifts to the Lord in Jerusalem and precious things

to Hezekiah, king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight

of all nations from that time onwards.

So following that great victory, you know those enemy nations

would hear about 185,000 people from the the largest army in the

world and the most vicious army in the world were killed in one

night. Well they, they brought tribute

to King Hezekiah. So it's possible that this Psalm

was written after that great victory.

Hope you have an outline. We have three simple points.

The city that the city built by God verses one to three.

The city inhabited by his children 4 to 6, and the city

that enjoys his abundant blessings.

Let's look at point #1 the city that's built by God.

What does the Bible say about Mount Zion or Zion?

So let's just talk about the word for a minute.

The word Zion appears in my translation, the ESV here 163

times. OK, That's 156 times in the Old

Testament and only seven times in the New Testament.

It's listed in the history book 6 times.

It's listed in the poetry books 40 times, of which 39 are in

Psalms, once in the Song of Solomon, but then the Major

Prophets 79 times, the Minor Prophets 31 times, and we'll

talk about why that's important later In the New Testament,

Zionists listed seven times, in the Gospel in Acts 2 times, but

both those occurrences are quotes from the Old Testament.

Paul quotes it twice, but both times his quotes are from the

Old Testament and the General Epistles. 3 * 1 of which is an

Old Testament quote. So the importance of Zion in

Psalms. It's 39 times we hear about Zion

in Psalms. Psalms 129 five says let all who

hate Zion be put to shame and turn backward.

As I was preparing this Psalm the last couple weeks, missiles

were raining down on Zion and I'm thinking this Psalm let all

who hates Zion be put to shame and turn backward.

And boy did Israel have a stupendous victory.

Psalm 13213 says For Yahweh has chosen Zion, He has desired it

for his habitation. And Psalms 13521 blessed be

Yahweh from Zion who dwells in Jerusalem.

So let's talk about be the greatness of Zion.

The Bible describes Zion as the city of David, second Samuel 5

Seven First Kings 81. By the way, I'm going to give

you a lot of verses tonight. So if you want to write them

down. 11 Wednesday night when we were in the Book of Revelation,

I counted Lance quoted over a 100 passage of scripture.

I'm not going to break that record tonight, but I might get

half of it. So just write these verses down.

It's the Bible describes Zion as the city of David, Second Samuel

5, seven First Kings 81, the city of Jerusalem, Isaiah 3320,

Psalm 5118 the entire Jewish nation, Isaiah 3314, Zechariah

913 the millennial Jerusalem, Joel 232, Isaiah 2 verses 2 to 3

Isaiah 2:2–3

and the eternal heavenly Jerusalem, Hebrews 12/22.

Why is Zion so great? You know, most powerful cities,

and when you look through the history of the world, they're on

riverbanks or they're on oceans and, and because they need

water, and so very rarely is there a city like Jerusalem, one

commentator said. Archaeologists and historians

have long wondered why Jerusalem should have been established

where it was and why it should have become great.

It enjoys none of the physical features which favored the

advancement and prosperity of other important cities in the

world. It stands at the head of no

great river. It overlooks no great harbor.

It commands no great highway and no crossroads.

It is is not close to abundant sources of water, often the

major reason for establishment of a settlement.

The one main natural springs offered a modest supply.

It possesses no mineral riches. It's off the main trade routes.

It held no strategic key to conquest of vast areas prized by

the ancient warring empires. Indeed, it was blessed with

neither special economic nor topographical virtues, which

might explain why it should have ever become more than a small,

anonymous mountain village with a fade any different from that

of most of the contemporary villages which have vanished

from sight. The reason for its greatness, of

course, is that it was chosen by God.

He founded it upon the holy mountain, and He loves its gates

more than all the other cities or towns in the land.

And its greatest glory is still future, when it will be the

capital of the Messianic Kingdom, a royal city of the

long-awaited king. This Psalm looks forward to that

day when glorious things will be spoken of Zion, the city of God.

Let's look at numbers some point.

See the Mount Zion, the mountain.

Our text says on the holy mountain stands the city.

You know, upon this mountain, the sacred land.

There was a lot about scripture even before a lot about

Jerusalem even for Zion. The name Zion came up in Genesis

14/8. Remember the battle 5 Kings

verse the four kings and Abraham had to go rescue Lot.

And it says in Genesis 14-8 after the battle of the kings of

Abraham, he met Melchizedek the king priest of Salem.

And we know that Salem in Genesis 14 is Jerusalem before

it became Jerusalem because Psalm 76 two says so.

His Tabernacle is in Salem. His dwelling place is in Zion.

And then you just go a couple more chapters in Genesis,

Genesis 22, and you know the story God told Abraham.

Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to

the land of Moriah. And there Abraham agreed to do

the unthinkable. He bound his only son.

He prepared to sacrifice him, having faith that God would

instead provide a lamb for the burnt offering.

And it says in verse 14. So Abraham called that place the

Lord will provide. And if you go to Second

Chronicles 31, it says Solomon began to build the House of the

Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah.

So God provided a lamb instead of Isaac to be offered.

And many years later God would not let His son go.

He sacrificed his only son on the cross on Mount Moriah and

First Chronicles 21 verses 14 to 18.

1 Chronicles 21:14–18

You remember David had sinned when he did the census.

He getting prideful, he wanted to count all his troops and God

told her, Nathan told David that you need to go to the threshing

floor of Orn and the Jebusite and and that is where Solomon

built the temple there. So even before the word Zion

comes up and we'll talk about it in second Samuel 5 seven, why is

Mount Zion important? Mount Zion is not just an

important historical or spiritual landmark for Israel.

From the time the Ark of the Covenant was moved into the city

of David, then later into the temple that Solomon built, Zion

became the hub of worship that represents the presence of God.

Psalms 50 verse one and two says the Mighty One, God the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to

where it sets from Zion. Perfect in beauty, God shines

forth. It's also called a holy

mountain, Psalms 26 says, But As for me, I have installed my king

upon Zion, my holy mountain. Isaiah 11/9 says they shall not

hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.

Isaiah 56 seven. These I will bring to my holy

mountain and make them joyful in my House of prayer.

It's also D Zion is a strong city.

It says he founded that means God founded it, the creator of

the universe, the omnipotent Almighty God.

So the first time the word Zion is found in our Bible is second

2 Samuel 5 · chapter mention

Samuel chapter 5 verses six to seven.

And you remember the story it says, and the David and his men

went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of

the land, who said to David, you shall not come in here, but the

blind and the lane will ward you off thinking David cannot come

in here. Nevertheless, David captured the

fortress of Zion, that is the city of David.

So remember this is a strategic city, a strong city.

Remember Nebuchadnezzar in 586, it took him two years with the

most powerful army in the world to conquer Jerusalem.

So Zion is a strong city. E Zion is a beloved people.

It says the Lord loves the gates of Zion.

The gates of Zion is the city of Jerusalem, and it's the people

of Jerusalem. Isaiah 3314 says the sinners in

Zion are afraid, trembling has seized the godless.

So that's talking about the Jews in the city of Zion.

Zechariah 913 says, For I have bent Judah as my bow, I have

made Ephraim as its arrow. I will stir up your sons of Zion

against your sons, O Greece, and wield like a warrior's sword.

So the word Zion is first found in Second Samuel 5 seven.

And it's not a a word that today it's often used negatively.

You see these protests from these people in mostly, you

know, sometimes downtown LA. But in New York, they don't like

the word Zion and they'll have they'll have bad things to say

about Zionism. So the movement of Zionism where

we get the word Zion. It began in the year 1897 with

the First Zionist Congress in Basil, Switzerland, organized by

Theodore Herzl. It took years of struggle, but

eventually they became the nation of Israel and established

the State of Israel in 1948. The fundamental distinction

between Judaism and Zionism is that Judaism is a religion and a

cultural identity, while Zionism is a political ideology focused

on Jewish nationalism and statehood.

But today, many people hate Zion.

They hate Zionism and you see it all over, but God loves the

people of Zion. Number F Zion is a beloved city.

It says in verse two, the first part, the Lord loves the gates

of Zion. So what's it talking about here?

Some commentators think it could be the other cities that the the

Ark of the Covenant was at. The Ark of the Covenant was at

Gilgal, it was at Shiloh, it was at Knob, and it was at Gibeon

before David brought it into Jerusalem.

So the better translation might be God loves above all the

cities in the Holy Land. And I'll just give you a few

verses because there's so many of them.

But Second Chronicles 6, verses 5 to 6, you see the love that

2 Chronicles 6:5–6

God has for Jerusalem and Zion. It says Second Chronicles 6

2 Chronicles 6:5–6

verses 5 to 6. Since the day that I brought my

people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the

tribes of Israel in which to build my house, that my name

might be there. And I chose no man as Prince

over my people Israel. But I have chosen Jerusalem that

my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my

people Israel. Zachariah one verse 14 says so

the Angel who talked with me said to me, Cry out.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, I am exceedingly jealous for

Jerusalem and for Zion Psalms one O 2 verse 13 you will arise

and have compassion on Zion for it is time to be gracious to it.

God loves Zion. You know who hates Zion?

Satan. And I think you see that today

with these college students and the anti-Semitism.

I watch these videos by by Charlie Kirk and others and

he'll ask some of these why do you hate Israel?

And they, they, they say because of apartheid, which is so

ridiculous because there's over 1,000,000 Muslims living in

Israel, but Satan hates Zion. Which might explain why

Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, has endured multiple

conflicts and wars over the thousands of years since

Jerusalem was founded. It has been attacked 52 times,

recaptured 44 times, completely destroyed twice, yet it endures.

So God loves Zion and he loves the people of Zion.

And then verse 3 some point G the glory of Zion.

It says glorious things of you are spoken.

We just sang this song OK about that's what it's called.

The Hebrew word for glorious things is only here in no other

part of Scripture. And Scripture is full of

beautiful poetic verses about Zion.

And one of them with Psalms 48 I think mentioned Zion three

times, which is more than any other Psalm.

But Psalms 48 reveals the kind of things spoken about Zion when

our verse here says glorious things are spoken of.

Psalms 48 verses one and two says greatest the Lord and most

worthy of praise in the city of our God, His holy mountain,

beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth, like the

heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King.

God is in her citadels. He has shown her to be our

fortress. So last week we looked at Psalms

86 and I called that a Psalm of grace and we sang Amazing Grace

last week. And you know who wrote Amazing

Grace, right? John Newton well John Newton

wrote the song we sang tonight glorious things are spoken of

you and that might be the first time that's ever sung at Christ

in the church. But it was a very popular hymn

in the 18th and 19th century and the verse we we sang one of the

verses says glorious things of the are spoken holy city of our

God form thee for his own abode on the Rock of Ages founded.

What can shake thy sure repose with salvation?

Walls surrounded, Thou mayest smile at all thy foes.

What are the glorious things that are spoken?

Well, Jesus Christ died and rose again outside the walls of

Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit descended on the

day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. The early Jewish believers were

scattered from Jerusalem to take the gospel outside, and

Revelation prophesied that there will be a New Jerusalem, a New

Zion, and a Heavenly Jerusalem Zion.

So you have a hymn that was written by John Newton about the

first line in verse 3, glorious things are spoken of you.

Then the second line says O City of God, and that might ring a

bell for some of you. O City of God is the place where

God has chosen to dwell. And Augustine, one of our early

church fathers, wrote the most important book in the 1st 100

years of Christianity and that was called The City of God.

And he got that from Psalm 87, verse 3.

Psalms 87:3

Saint Augustine was the Bishop of Hippo.

He was one of the great early church fathers and he chose

verse 3 of Psalm 87 as the theme for his great masterpiece, The

City of God. And some, most commentators

would say that's one of the greatest theological books ever

written. It's also called My City.

Isaiah 4513 God says I have stirred him up in righteousness,

and I will make all his ways level.

He shall build my city. God says it's also called a holy

city. Isaiah 48 Two, for they call

themselves after the holy city and stay themselves on the God

of Israel. The Lord of hosts is his name.

Isaiah 52 one says, awake, awake, put on your strength, O

Zion, put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy

city. It's also the city of the king.

Matthew 21 five, which is a quote from Zechariah 99 says,

say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to

you lowly and mounted on a donkey on a colt, the foal of a

pack animal. And you know, that's when Jesus

rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The last time Zion is mentioned

in the Bible is Revelation 14 one.

And it says then I looked and behold, the Lamb that's Jesus

Christ was standing on Mount Zion with him 144,000 having his

name and the name of his father written on their name.

So that's a lot about Zion, mostly the current Zion.

Let's look at verses 4 to 6, the city inhabited by his children,

and it says among those who know me, I mentioned he's going to

mention five world powers, Rahab, Babylon, behold Philista

and Tyre with Kush. So the Lord here is taking a

census. He says that one and this one in

verses 4 to 6. What's what's remarkable here is

these are Gentile nations, most of them hostile at times against

Israel, But God is saying that he's going to make these nations

his own children. So he's taking a census on them.

And usually, as I mentioned, these cities are enemies of

Israel. The first two names were world

powers, Rahab. Now, our text doesn't tell us

what Rahab is, but the Bible tells us that Rahab is Egypt.

And you know, Egypt, Egypt put Israel in slavery for over 400

years and Egypt which is mentioned as Rahab in Isaiah 30

Isaiah 30:7

verse 7 says Egypt's help is worthless and empty.

Therefore I have called her Rahab who sits still.

And there's other verses like Psalm 8910, Isaiah 51, nine.

Rahab means arrogant and boisterous.

So a country, Egypt, that enslaved the nation of Israel,

yet is going to share in its citizenship in Zion the 2nd.

And by the way, Egypt is a power to the South.

Then you of course have Babylon. And Babylon was one of the great

empires that God would use to punish Israel and actually

destroy Jerusalem in 586. But because Babylon did not rise

to power until the later kings of Judah.

That's why a lot of commentators think that this Psalm is after

the time of Hezekiah. But we mentioned last week,

Psalm 137, verses 189 is in preparatory prayer by the

captives. And they're they're, they're

asking God to destroy Babylon, to pay back Babylon.

Here, we're seeing the opposite. OK, so Babylon is to the east,

Egypt's to the South, Babylon's to the east.

Philista, you all know Goliath with the Philistine.

And they were constantly at war with especially Saul and King

David. And so Philista is to the West.

And then you have Tyre. Tyre is a powerful city state to

the north. Now, Tyre was not necessarily

hostile to Israel. You remember the king of Tyre

helped King David build his house.

But Tyre was a filthy rich city consumed with with wealth and

worldly success that would tempt Israel in many ways to go the

way of the world. So the first four names

encompass NE, South and West. They're all covered.

And then you have Cush. Cush would be Ethiopia.

The name Cush is often used to represent distant nations below

Egypt. And you remember that one time

Zara the Ethiopian, he came out against King ASA with 1,000,000

soldiers and God wiped them completely out.

So all these places here, it says in verse 4, the last second

part, this one was born there, they say.

So the people of these nations will be given a new birth

certificate that says they were born in Zion.

So they were born in Egypt, but they were born again in Zion.

They were born in Babylon. They're going to be born again,

born, born again in Zion. They were born in Philista.

They'll be born again in Zion. They were born born in Tyre.

They'll be born again in Zion, born in Cush, they'll be born

again in Zion. And you know that's in the

future. But it's already happening,

isn't it? Through the preaching of the

gospel that happens today. Remember what Paul said in

Ephesians chapter 2 verses 11 to 12 He says.

Ephesians 2:11–12

Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh

called the uncircumcision by what is called circumcision,

which is made in the flesh by hands.

Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ,

alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the

covenant of the promise, having no hope, and without God in the

world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who

are once far off have been brought near by the blood of

Christ. So from Acts 2 to now, they're

having people from these nations coming to the Lord.

But there's really more of a future where many, many, many

will come to the Lord. There's that beautiful verse in

Habakkuk 214. For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover

the sea. So we have a vision here of the

Gentiles joining the Jews in Jerusalem to worship the one

true God. And you know, it's almost

shocking. That's why as I'm preparing

this, there is verse after verse after verse in the Old

Testament. Now we know the Old Testament is

law, and we know the Jews were chosen by God and they were to

be the source of salvation for the world, but they disobeyed

God and God punished them. And we know that now is the time

of the Gentiles. But there are so many verses in

the Old Testament that I don't think I ever realized that that

Israel was to be the light of the Gentiles.

It says in Psalms 22, verse 27, All the ends of the earth shall

Psalms 22:27

remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the

nation shall worship before you. Isaiah 2 two.

It shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain

of the House of the Lord shall be established as the highest of

mountains, and it shall be lifted above the hills, and all

the nations shall flow to it. Isaiah 56, verse six and seven.

And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to

minister him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his

servants, Everyone who keeps the Sabbath, and does not profane

it, and hold fast my covenant, these I will bring into my holy

mountain, and make them joyful in my House of prayer.

And their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be

accepted on my altar. And my house shall be called the

House of prayer for all peoples. Micah 41.

And two, it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the

mountain of the House of the Lord, it shall be established as

the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted above the

hills, and peoples shall flow to it.

And many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go to the

mountain of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob, that

he may teach us his ways, and then we walk in his paths.

For out of Zion shall come forth the law and the word of the Lord

from Jerusalem. Zechariah 211 And many nations

shall join themselves. To the Lord in that day shall be

my people. Zechariah 822 Many peoples and

strong nations shall come and seek the Lord of hosts in

Jerusalem, and entreat the favor of the Lord.

Malachi 111 From the rising of the sun to its setting, My name

will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will

be offered to My name, For My name will be great among the

nations. So it always was God's plan that

all the nations would come and worship at Jerusalem.

But here in Psalm 87, we're going to see some point B, that

these nations will become natural born citizens.

Maybe some of you were born in a foreign country, many of you

tonight, and you became a citizen of the United States of

America. But many of these countries,

they will become natural born citizens of Zion it says in

verse 5 to 6. And of Zion it shall be said

this one and that one were born in her, for the Most High

himself shall establish her. The Lord records as He registers

the peoples, This one was born there.

So you're going to see three times.

Verse 4, it says this one was born there.

I'm sorry. Verse 4.

This one was born there. Verse 4.

This one and that one were born in her, Verse 5.

This one was born there, verse 6.

So it's you see that word born, born, born and it's not on

physical born birth. It's a new birth mostly as I

mentioned, some of the people now and the last 2000 years

since the day of Pentecost. But mostly it's talking about

people in the future glorious Kingdom will experience a new

birth and they'll belong to the family of God.

Isaiah. I'm sorry, it's it's a quote

from Isaiah 2816. First, Peter 26 says, behold, I

lay in Zion, a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who

believes on him will not be put to shame.

We know that cornerstone was Jesus Christ.

And you know in John three, you know the story, Nicodemus came

to Jesus by night. Nicodemus was probably the most

righteous, upright man in Israel at that time.

History tells us he was a very rich man and he saw the

miracles. And it says that there was a man

of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we do

not know. We know that you are a teacher,

come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless

God is with him. Jesus answered him and said,

truly, truly. I say to you, unless one is born

again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old?

Can he enter a second time into his mother womb and be born?

Jesus answered truly, truly. I say to you, unless one is born

of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of

Spirit is spirit. So we have had nations since the

day of Pentecost coming to the Lord, but they had to be born

again in knowledge of Jesus Christ.

So it's really remarkable that this Psalm is so different than

most of the Psalms we've looked at.

We've looked at 7 psalms, not all of them, but most of the

Psalms. David asks for deliverance,

right? He's always in a predicament.

There's at least fourteen psalms where David is being chased by

enemies and that we have history stories about him, but there's

also a lot of other Psalms that we don't know the history behind

it. So David is always asking for

deliverance from his enemies and he's always calling down in

preparatory prayers on his enemies.

Yet this Psalm tells us that the children and generations of

generations from all the nations of the world, some of them

enemies of Israel, will be natural born citizens of Zion.

Let's look at some point #3 verse 7.

And as usual, mostly usual, the Psalm ends with praise.

Almost every Psalm, with the exception of Psalm 88 and Psalm

137, in with some type of chorus or crescendo of praise.

And ours does tonight are short. Psalm means with joy and their

singing and their satisfaction. It says singers and dancers

alike say 69 times in the 44 Psalms we see the word sing,

singers and singing. And here it's a picture of Jews

and Gentiles. They will not only live

together, they will sing together, play musical

instruments together as they rejoice in God's blessing.

If you have time tonight or sometime, Google Jewish

Christians and Arab Christians worshipping together.

And there's a just a absolutely beautiful video out there and

it's in Jerusalem and there are Arab Christian pastors and

Jewish Christian pastors worshipping together.

And it's absolutely beautiful. And it's a picture of what I we

read last week, Revelation 79, when there will be people from

every nation, every tribe, every language and every people.

But sometimes we think, you know, Arabs, all Arabs hate

Jews, but there are many Christian Arabs.

Zechariah 210 says, Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for

you, behold I come, and I will dwell in your myths, declares

the Lord. So there's going to be a lot of

singing and dancing, celebration with joy, and then there's

satisfaction. Our Psalm ends with just a

simple words. All my springs are in you.

What does that mean? Well, Warren Weirsby says the

word fountains or springs refer to living water and not water

brought up from a well. And John 7.

Jesus would say, and John 737 to 39 on the last day of the feast,

the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone

thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, out of his

heart will flow rivers of living water.

Now he said this about the Spirit, whom whom those who

believed in him were to receive for as he has.

Yet the Spirit had not been given because Jesus had not been

glorified. 1 commentator says just as natural springs are

essential for the life of many in a village and a town, so

Jerusalem, the city of God is here being depicted as a source

of all that's essential to God centered life.

The bubbling over with all the good things that God gives.

You know, we began tonight by asking where you were born.

Were you born in the United States?

Were you born in a different country?

But if you have Jesus Christ in your heart tonight, you belong

to the city of Zion. You are registered in the city

of Zion. It's both our origin and our

destiny. Regardless of where you're born,

if you have Jesus Christ in your heart tonight, Augustine said

only Zion is established by God. And Augustine said all earthly

cities will fade and fall. God's city, however, endures.

Glorious things are spoken of her because God himself

establishes hers. If you have Jesus Christ in your

heart tonight, you may have an American passport.

We have 19 people going to Argentina in just about two to

three weeks and they all have AUS passport to get into

Argentina. Doesn't cost anything, but you

have it. If you have Jesus Christ in your

heart, you have a passport of heaven.

Philippians 320 says our citizenship is in heaven from

where we await A Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So what do we learn from this short 7 verse Psalm?

Well, there's a current Zion, right?

Jerusalem is loved and chosen by the Almighty God.

Missiles may be raining down. I think they're some type of

peace treaty now. anti-Semitism is increasing all over the

world. It's almost shockingly that I

was listening to a sermon by Jack Hibbs last week and he was

talking about, you know, it's just World War Two.

We had the Holocaust, so it's almost shocking today, the

anti-Semitism, the Holocaust deniers and the hatred and the

increase and I guess we might even have a Muslim mayor of New

York if that happens in the next few weeks and there's so many

Muslim immigrants coming United States.

So but just remember when those missiles are raining down,

Jerusalem is loved, beloved by God.

Psalms 122 six says we're to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

God loves Zion and he's not finished with it yet because

Romans 11/26 is some great day. It's going to probably be in the

tribulation. All Israel will be saved because

that verse says the deliverer will come from Zion and that

delivers our Lord Jesus Christ, and he will banish ungodliness

from Jacob. And this will be my covenant

with them when I take away their sins.

So someday in the tribulation, even though many Jews will die,

there will be a remnant that will be saved.

So there's a current Zion today, then there's a millennial Zion.

And remember I said of the 163 times Zion is mentioned in

scripture, 110 of those are in the minor and major prophets.

So that tells you right there, there is a lot of of Zion to

come and there'll be a millennial Zion.

This Psalm must be read in 2 levels.

It's a prophecy of a future Kingdom when all the nations

will come and worship at the millennial Kingdom.

And we read last week Psalms 86.9.

All the nations you have made shall come and worship before

you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.

There's, there's 59 Islamic countries in the world when you

look on a map, right? And there's that little tiny

spot of Israel right there. There's not many nations that

are coming to worship with Israel.

One or two of them might have made a peace treaty, but they're

not worshiping Israel. But Isaiah chapter 2, verse one

Isaiah 2 · chapter mention

to five. And this is in the millennial

Kingdom. It says that it shall come to

pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the House of the

Lord shall be established as the highest mountain, and it shall

be lifted above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to

it. And many people shall come and

say, Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the

House of the Lord, the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his

ways, and then we walk in his paths.

For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord

from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the

nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples.

And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their Spears

in the pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword

against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

So the Gentiles who know God are going to be included among His

people. You know, we read many verses

tonight and I could have given you almost 50 more that that

Israel was to be the light of salvation for the nations of the

world. Jesus Christ came in came into

Israel in John 111. It says he came into his own.

His own were the Jews and his own people did not receive him.

And then John 112 says, but to all who did receive him, who

believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of

God. Then on Acts 2, on the day of

Pentecost, it lists 15 different languages, 15 different cities

or countries. That that would become one many

of the 3000 who came to Christ that day.

But in Acts one to seven, it's almost all about Jews, right?

But then you get to Acts chapter 8, the church is persecuted and

Acts 8 · chapter mention

scattered from Jerusalem and it says many Samaritans believed in

Jesus. And then in Acts 8, we have an

Ethiopia from Cush who comes to the Lord, right?

Then in Acts 9, of course, the apostle Paul is a Jew, comes to

the Lord, and then in chat Acts after 10, we have a Roman

centurion coming to the Lord. And then when you get to Acts

13, Paul, who found Christ in Acts 9, begins the first

missionary journey. And that work would continue for

the last 2000 years. It continues today at VBS, Try

to talk to some of the parents and grandparents bringing their

kids today. We want them to know Jesus

Christ. We want their children to know

Jesus Christ. So VBS is emissions outreach.

We going to Argentina and then splitting the team.

When we get to Argentina, there'll be two places where

we'll be doing ministry. We'll be 6 hours apart from each

other. But salvation is for those who

were born not of blood nor the will of flesh, but of God.

And this precious gift of his presence is not limited to those

of Jewish descent. When we accept Jesus Christ as

our Savior, we're grafted in to the inherence of Zion as our

place of refuge, protection, and communion of God.

So I asked you where you were born.

It doesn't matter where you're born, but it matters.

Are you born again? That's what Jesus said to

Nicodemus, a righteous, upright man, the Pharisees.

Are you born again? Is your name written in the

Lamb's book of life? So there's a current Zion,

there's a millennial Zion, and there's going to be a heavenly

Zion. This is a picture of heavenly

Zion, and we see that in Hebrews 12/22 where it says, But you

have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the

heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon

thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the Church of the

first born whose names are written in heaven.

You have come to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of the

righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of the new

covenant, and to the sprinkled blood.

That speaks of a better word of Abel.

I was thinking, I have not been to the current Zion, but I'm

going to go to the millennial Zion and I'm going to go to the

heavenly Zion. So don't worry if you haven't

been to Jerusalem yet. So what what the commentator

said there about Hebrews 12/22. Remember in Exodus 19, the Lord

began to give Israel His covenant on Mount Sinai,

remember, and only Moses could go up to Mount Sinai and anybody

who came near Mount Sinai, including the animals, could be

killed. So they were when you, when it

was Mount Sinai, you were separated from God's presence as

the Israelites were. But here on Mount Zion, we have

full access to God. That's what Hebrews 12/22 is

saying. We have full access to God and

we get all His blessings. We can fully or be fully

confident that we can enter God's presence and dwell with

Him because He's forgiven us our sins.

So we're going to Mount Zion, OK, if you have Jesus Christ in

your heart. So let's pray tonight, Father in

Heaven, we do want to lift up the nation of Israel and we pray

for the peace of Israel. Father, we know that now is the

time of Gentiles. And because of that, everyone

here that's probably not Jewish has Jesus Christ in their heart

because it's the time of Gentiles.

But we pray for the peace of Jerusalem because we know you,

Yahweh, you love Jerusalem, you love the gates of Zion, you love

the people of Israel, even though they have rejected your

Messiah. So we pray for the peace of

Israel, that the the the missiles would stop raining

down, that Israel could make peace with those nations.

And we do pray for all the Messianic Jews, all the

missionaries, and all those who are working for salvation among

the Jews, that they could reap a bountiful harvest.

But Father, we pray that that day would come soon when all

Israel would be saved. And Father, we pray that every

person in here would not just be born a citizen of America or the

countries we listed, but that they'd be born again, that they

would understand that salvation is through grace alone in Jesus

Christ alone. And no works can get you into

heaven. You must be born not just a

physical family, but into a spiritual family.

And that's done through faith in you, Jesus, by believing what

you did on the cross and asking for forgiveness of sins.

So Father, we pray for the parents, the grandparents, the

children of EBS. We pray for those in Villa Maria

and those in San Jose to Argentina where we'll be sharing

the gospel in just a few weeks. And I pray if there'd be one

person here tonight that doesn't know of Jesus Christ and His

plan of salvation or is unsure that today would be the day of

salvation, now would be the time of God's favor.

May we leave here tonight excited about Zion, ready to go

to Zion and telling the unbelievers and other people

about Zion in Jesus name, Amen.