150 Days of Psalms - Psalm 87

John Newton, the writer of "Amazing Grace," wrote many hymns. The first line of "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" was taken from Psalm 87. (It is sung to the tune AUSTRIAN HYMN by Franz Joseph Hayden.)


I was fascinated by the stocky guy standing next to the organ. Will he sing? Is he a body guard? Ends up he turns the page a couple of times.

1. Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God;
God, whose word cannot be broken,
formed thee for his own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded,
thou mayst smile at all thy foes.

4. Blest inhabitants of Zion,
washed in our Redeemer's blood;
Jesus, whom our souls rely on,
makes us monarchs, priests to God.
Us, by his great love, he raises,
rulers over self to reign,
and as priests his solemn praises
we for thankful offering bring.

As you can see from his hymn text Christians have always seen references to Zion - although originally written about Jerusalem - to ultimately refer to the New Jerusalem. So you may want to re-read this Psalm with that in mind.