I.　Psalm 87 reveals that God's heart is set on Zion, the city ofGod, with Christ within it—vv. 2-3:

A.　Zion is central in God's heart—2:6; 48:1-2; 50:2; 99:2; 132:13;135:21.

B.　Restoration, salvation, and release from sufferings are thedesires of the saints, but God's desire is for Zion with HisChrist—85:4; 86:2; 88:1-3; 87:2-3:

1.　Salvation is not for ourselves—salvation is for God's purposeand economy.

2.　God saves people for His Christ, for His house, and forZion, the city of God, in order that one day He might gainthe entire earth through Christ with His overcomers—51:18; Eph. 2:4-6, 8, 10, 21-22; Rev. 11:15.

II.　"His foundation is in the holy mountains"—Psa. 87:1:

A.　This divine foundation, typifying Christ as God's unique foundationfor the building up of His house, the church, is built inthe "holy mountains," which typify the local churches—1 Cor. 3 :11.

B.　As the Christ and the Son of the living God, the Lord Jesus isthe unique foundation laid by God for His building—Matt.16:16, 18; 1 Cor. 3:11.

C.　According to Paul's word in 1 Corinthians 3, Christ is a livingfoundation, a foundation that grows:

1.　God gives the growth, and to give growth is a matter ofgrowing Christ; the Christ who grows within us is a living,growing foundation—vv. 6-7, 11.

2.　The foundation grows in us, and this growth producesgold, silver, and precious stones for the building up of thechurch—v. 12a.

D.　As Christ, the unique foundation, holds and supports God'sbuilding, He dispenses Himself into every part of the building,imparting His element into all the believers—Col. 2:19.

III.　"Jehovah loves the gates of Zion"—Psa. 87:2a:

A.　Gates are for coming in and going out, signifying fellowship—1 Cor. 1:9.

B.　Fellowship is related to oneness; fellowship brings all themembers of the Body of Christ into oneness—10:16-17; Eph. 4:3-6:

1.　The fellowship among the churches is the fellowship of thebody of Christ—1 Cor. 10:16.

2.　Fellowship is the reality of living in the Body of Christ—12:12-13, 27.

C.　The fact that the New Jerusalem has twelve gates indicatesthat God's holy city will be full of fellowship—Rev. 21:12, 21.

IV.　"Glorious things are spoken of you, / O city of God"—Psa. 87:3:

A.　Zion is a poetic title of the church in both the universal senseand the local sense—v. 2.

B.　Zion was the city of King David (2 Sam. 5:7), the center of thecity of Jerusalem as God's dwelling place on earth:

1.　Zion within Jerusalem typifies the body of overcomers, theperfected and matured God-men, within the church as theheavenly Jerusalem—Heb. 12:22; Rev. 14:1-5.

2.　As the highlight and beauty of the holy city Jerusalem,Zion typifies the overcomers as the high peak, the center,the uplifting, the strengthening, the enriching, the beauty,and the reality of the church—Psa. 48:1-2, 11-12; 50:2; 20:2;53:6a; 87:2.

3.　The overcomers as Zion are the reality of the Body ofChrist and consummate the building up of the Body in thelocal churches to bring in the consummated holy city, NewJerusalem, the Holy of Holies as God's dwelling place, ineternity—Rev. 21:1-3, 16, 22.

C.　For the Lord to do good in His good pleasure unto Zion is forHim to build up the church, fill the church with His glory, andgrant the church His rich presence with Himself as joy, peace,life, light, security, and every spiritual blessing—Psa. 51:18;cf. Eph. 1:3.

D.　Although the Lord has the right, the title, to the earth, todaythe earth is usurped by His enemy; yet on this usurped earththere is the mountain of Jehovah, Mount Zion, which is absolutelyopen to the Lord and absolutely possessed by Him—Psa. 24:1-3, 7-10; 2:6; 87:3.

E.　In the new heaven and new earth the entire New Jerusalemwill become Zion, with all the believers as overcomers—Rev.14:1; 21:1-2, 16.

V.　"But of Zion it will be said, / This one and that one wereborn in her, / And the Most High Himself will establish her. /Jehovah will count / When He records the peoples: / ThisOne was born there"—Psa. 87:5-6:

A.　In verses 5 and 6 God's intention is to make a contrast, a comparison,of all other places with Zion.

B.　Psalm 87 unveils Christ with all the saints to be God's housefor God's city and for God to gain the whole earth—27:4;36:8-9; 48:1-2; 72:8.

C.　This One in 87:6 and this one and that one in verse 5 indicatethat Christ Himself and all the saints were born in the heavenlyZion—Matt. 1:20; Gal. 4:26-31; Heb. 12:22-23a.

D.　This One is the unique One, Christ, who is the totality of allthe saints (Psa. 87:5) as the One who is all the saints and inall the saints—Col. 3:11.

E.　In resurrection God begot a Son, Jesus Christ, and in resurrectionGod regenerated many sons; this shows us that theresurrection of Christ was a great delivery—Acts 13:33; Rom.1:3-4; John 20:17; 1 Pet. 1:3:

1.　Christ was born as the Firstborn, and we were regeneratedas His many brothers, the many sons of God; hence,that birth in resurrection was a corporate birth—the birthof the firstborn Son and His many brothers—Rom. 8:29;Heb. 1:6; 2:10-11.

2.　The birth of a new corporate child comprising Christ andHis believers was the birth of the new man—Col. 3:10:

a.　The corporate man brought forth by Christ's work inHis resurrection is the new man spoken of in Ephesians 2:15.

b.　The Head is the firstborn Son of God, and the Body is acomposition of all the many sons of God, the manybrothers of the Lord—1:22-23.

c.　This child, this corporate new man, was brought forththrough Christ's work in resurrection—John 16:20-22.

VI.　"All my springs are in you"—Psa. 87:7b:

A.　You is the city of God; all the springs are in Zion.

B.　The processed Triune God is the fountain, the springs, andthe river of water of life; the Father is the fountain, the Sonis the springs, and the Spirit is the river of water of life—John 4:14; 7:38; Isa. 12:2-3.

C.　In eternity the Lamb will shepherd God's redeemed and guidethem to springs of waters of life—Rev. 7:17:

1.　As our Shepherd, Christ will lead us into Himself as thesprings of water of life so that we may enjoy the eternaldispensing of the Triune God.

2.　Springs of waters of life refers to the unique water of life indifferent aspects—v. 17; John 7:38; Rev. 22:1.

3.　In the New Jerusalem, the eternal Mount Zion, we willdrink of many springs and enjoy many different waters;for eternity we will be able to declare, "All my springs arein you."