“A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song. His foundation is in the holy mountains. The LORD loves the gates of Zion More than all the other dwelling places of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. Selah. ‘I shall mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me; Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia: This one was born there.’ But of Zion it shall be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her’; and the Most High Himself will establish her. The LORD will count when He registers the peoples, ‘This one was born there.’ Selah. Then those who sing as well as those who play the flutes shall say, ‘All my springs of joy are in you’” (Psa 87:0-7 [1-7]).
Psalm 87 not only provides much-needed perspective for a world so filled with hate, but also incredible hope. In Psalm 83, the sons of Korah plead for the salvation of Zion from her enemies. But in Psalm 87, they prophesy about the salvation of her enemies, a salvation which comes from Zion. In Psalm 83, the sons of Korah ask that Israel’s enemies, through the shame of defeat, will finally know that the LORD alone is Most High (Psa 83:17-18 [18-19]). In Psalm 87, the sons of Korah celebrate through prophecy the granting of Zion citizenship to Israel’s former enemies, who will one day know God and glorify His name (see Psa 87:4; Psa 86:8-10). In Psalm 87, Zion is portrayed as a spiritual mother to Israel’s former enemies (Psa 87:4), and God as the proud papa who writes down the names of His adopted children in the ledgers of Zion: “This one was born there” (Psa 87:4, 6).
How easily we become captives to a prison of hate.
Oh, how desperately the world needs this perspective. How easily we become captives to a prison of hate. We walk around angry and defensive, longing for that day when God wipes our enemies from the face of the map. But the Bible’s eschatology, which includes the eschatology of the Hebrew Bible, forces us to lovingly pray for that day when God turns our former enemies into adopted siblings, and music and dancing replace the bitter cries of war and the chants of hate.
And for all those Evangelicals who have turned “Zion” (where we get the word “Zionism”) into a dirty four-letter word, I say: You are violating the fifth commandment (“Honor your father and your mother”) because you despise both your spiritual mother and your heavenly Father, who gave His only Son so that He could register your citizenship there!
