Established by God (3)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 87.6, 7
The LORD will record,
When He registers the peoples:
“This one was born there.”
Selah
Both the singers and the players on instruments say,
“All my springs are in you.”

Sing Psalm 87.6, 7
(St. Anne: Our God, Our Help in Ages Past)
The Lord will count and tally all in Jesus born again.
Then let them sing, who on Him call, “We joy in God, Amen!”

Read Psalm 87.4

Preparation
1. Which nations are mentioned here?

2. What historically had been their relationship to Israel?

Meditation
The phrase, “I will make mention”, is neither strong enough nor sufficiently pointed to capture the meaning of the Hebrew word, אַזְכִּ֤יר, ezchir. This word, from the root which means “to remember” or better, “to attend”, is frequently used of God with respect to His covenant (cf. Ex. 2.24). God “remembers” His covenant, that is, He “attends continuously to it” so that it will not fail to accomplish all that He has promised.

Here God is promising to “attend to” nations that historically were the enemies of Israel. They, too, would be incorporated by His grace into the promise and privileges of those God loves. The “there” mentioned at the end of this verse seems to refer to Zion, the City of God (vv. 2, 3). Though peoples from these nations are foreign-born, yet by grace they shall be born again in the city whose gates the Lord loves most of all.

Here the sons of Korah tap into Psalm 72, which David wrote to bless his son Solomon, but which looks beyond Solomon to David’s greater Son and His eternal Kingdom. In the last days – the time in which we live (Acts 2.14-17), the Spirit-filled people of God will live and declare the Good News of Jesus throughout the world; and nations and peoples will stream up to the mountain of the Lord’s house to learn about Him (Mic. 4.1-8).

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“I will make mention…I will attend to…I will remember” (Ps. 87.4).

Rahab (Egypt) and Babylon. Most of what is written in the Scriptures about these two places has a negative connotation. But the point here is that people who please the LORD, who know Him, can be found anywhere. Or, sadly, they are missing from the places you would most expect to find them. Happily, God can sort through all the highways and byways of life – continents, countries, towns, villages, jungles, deserts, and big and small cities – to find His special people. Those who trust, love, and obey Him.

God remembers and attends to all His people regardless of nation or background.
We are all the same in His loving eyes.
“I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved” (Rom. 9.25).
“I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (2Cor. 6.16).
“But you…who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (I Pet. 2.9, 10).

God makes mention of Rahab and Babylon and us, because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
“You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals;
for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood
out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation…” (Rev. 5.9).

Remembered. Attended to. Mentioned. Loved.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 Jn. 3.1)

Those who know and love Him – we, grateful inhabitants of Egypt and Babylon.

Reflection
1. Read Romans 5.8-10. How does this relate to our passage for today?

2. What has Jesus done to turn us from enemies of God to children of God and citizens of His city?

3. How does it encourage you in your walk with and work for the Lord to know that He always remembers and attends to His covenant?

… the verse anticipates a time when foreigners would know and worship the living God. Among those who came to Zion to worship the Lord were people from Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia. Earl Radmacher (1931-2014), NKJV Study Bible Note on Psalm 87.4

Closing Prayer: Psalm 87.3, 4
Pray for the nations and peoples of the world, that God would prepare their hearts and minds to hear and receive the Good News of Jesus.

Sing Psalm 87.3, 4
(St. Anne: Our God, Our Help in Ages Past)
For glorious things are spoken of the City of our God;
The nations know His matchless love wher’er His feet have trod.

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.