Catholic Commentary on Psalm 87

"All my fountains are in you." (Psalm 87:7)

Zion, Mother of All Nations

Psalm 87 is brief but theologically remarkable. It celebrates Zion as the city of God, beloved above all the other settlements of Jacob, and then makes an extraordinary proclamation: even the traditional enemies of Israel, Rahab (Egypt), Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush, will one day be registered as born in Zion. This one was born in Zion. The city of God becomes the mother of all peoples. The nations that opposed Israel will be counted among her citizens.

The Church has always read this psalm as a prophecy of the universal Church, the new Jerusalem that gathers all nations into one people. St. Paul in Galatians 4 calls Jerusalem above our mother, the free city whose children are born not of the flesh but of the Spirit. The Catechism describes the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation, the means through which all peoples are called into the family of God (CCC 776). The psalm's final verse, All my fountains are in you, is a confession of absolute dependence: everything that gives life, all grace and truth, flows from the city where God has chosen to dwell.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the Church into which you were baptised is the Zion of Psalm 87. It is the mother of nations, the place where peoples who were enemies are registered as brothers. Every time the Church gathers people across every ethnic, national, and cultural barrier, it fulfils this psalm. Treasure your membership in this community. All your fountains are in it.

Prayer

Lord God, you founded Zion as the mother of all peoples. Gather the nations into your Church, register every tribe and tongue among the citizens of the new Jerusalem, and let all peoples say of her: all my fountains are in you. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

87
The LORD Loves the Gates of Zion
A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A song.
 
1 He has founded His city
on the holy mountains.* 87:1 Literally His foundation is on the holy mountains
2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are ascribed to you,
O city of God.
Selah
4 “I will mention Rahab † 87:4 Rahab is a poetic name for Egypt. and Babylon
among those who know Me—
along with Philistia, Tyre, and Cush ‡ 87:4 That is, the upper Nile region—
when I say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’ ”
 
5 And it will be said of Zion:
“This one and that one were born in her,
and the Most High Himself will establish her.”
 
6 The LORD will record in the register of the peoples:
“This one was born in Zion.”
Selah
7 Singers and pipers will proclaim,
“All my springs of joy are in You.”

*87:1 87:1 Literally His foundation is on the holy mountains

†87:4 87:4 Rahab is a poetic name for Egypt.

‡87:4 87:4 That is, the upper Nile region

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