Ps. 87.7 (familial liturgy)

And the singers sing / as they dance
“All my springs / are in you” 

In this concluding verse I want to focus on a few things. In particular, the shift in imagery from the motherhood of Zion to her being the source of “all my springs”. The dominant image of Zion up to this point has been that of the beloved mother of all the living. As we have indicated, rather interestingly, her only activity in the psalm is ‘giving birth’. She is the object of attention (and love) and proclamation, but she is only active in her giving birth. There is a deeper level of significance to this, as we start to see in this final verse. As mother, she is also the source of the world’s familial relationship to Yhwh: it is through her that everyone becomes a ‘child of Yhwh’. The unity she provides is the unity of her womb. It is, also, the unity of origins. It is the fact that everyone is born in and through Zion that is in focus; their life begins in her. Here, the image shifts but not the theme. Zion is now not the ‘mother of all the living’ but a type of headwater to “all my springs”. In other words, just as ‘everyone’ is born in Zion so too, now, are these ‘springs’ now seen to flow from Zion. Springs are often an image for ‘life’. As such, all of life is now seen as originating and flowing from Zion. There is perhaps a deeper implication to this verse. We have seen how all the nations are ‘born again for the first time’ in Zion. Zion, unlike Eden, is made into the source of all life, within time (not at the beginning of time). As such, her ‘becoming mother of all the living’ through the election of Yhwh transfers to her all of the world. They, in a sense, are adopted into the family of God through her. As the nations are ‘reborn’ in Zion, so too are their life-giving springs (those springs that they would have regarded as constituting the divine headwaters) transferred to Zion.  I think this is why the verse refers to all my springs, just as the psalm earlier referred to everyone being born in Zion. There is the sense that Zion becomes the ‘absolute mother’; there is no remainder existing outside of her. All water—all life—is transferred to and flows from her.


The final thing to note about this verse is that it concludes the psalm on a liturgical note. There has been a hint of this earlier, in verse 3, where it is claimed that “glorious things” are spoken of Zion. However, it is only here where the psalm finds its consummation in liturgical praise. Concluding the psalm thus tracts several other psalms we have looked at—by which I mean that praise and liturgy often marks the ultimate end of God’s action on behalf of his people. For example, in psalms of deliverance, the deliverance itself is only penultimate to the ultimate act of offering liturgy to God. Here, the image is different but the result the same—the psalm moves from “love of Zion”, to “children of Zion”, to “familial liturgy”. As such, the actual ‘birth of everyone from Zion’ is not the ‘end’ toward which the psalm is headed but, rather, the liturgy those children offer in Zion. Notably, this ‘liturgy’ is actually a song of praise to Zion. “All my springs are in you” with ‘you’ being clearly Zion. This, of course, is no diminishment to Yhwh. Yhwh ‘established her’ and, through his love of her, made her divinely fruitful. She is his ‘bride’ and, as such, any glory given to her is one which he intended to be lavished upon her.

Ps. 87.5b (creation to marital and the consummation of Zion)

Yhwh recorded / in the register of the peoples,
“This one / was born there.” 

Following the previous reflection on Yhwh’s fruitful establishment of Zion, we again move into the realm of Yhwh’s activity as it relates to Zion. We have alluded to this throughout the reflections but it probably deserves more focus. Zion’s power to be the ‘mother of all the living’ is not a power she has simply within herself. Yhwh acts on Zion’s behalf from the beginning to the end. Zion is “his foundation” (vs. 1); Yhwh loves the gates of Zion (vs. 2); Zion is the “city of god” (vs. 3); Rahab and Babylon do not ‘know Zion’, but ‘know me’ (vs. 4), which is rooted in what Yhwh declares (vs. 4); the Most High “establishes her” (vs. 5). Indeed, the only ‘action’ taken by Zion is as an object of beauty to Yhwh (vs. 2) and her ‘giving birth’ to ‘everyone’. The point of all this is fairly clear: Zion’s ‘radiance’ and power is grounded, solely, in Yhwh’s love for her. In this way she is like Eve to Adam—on her own she possesses a beauty, but she has no power to give life unless and until Adam ‘turns toward her’ and ‘knows her’. Once this occurs, however, she takes into herself his power and actively appropriates it in her womb and gives life. Without Adam, Eve is barren; without Eve, Adam is alone and unable to procreate. 

This points to a deeply significant point in light of our previous reflections, but we need to move slowly. One of the first things we noted was how when Yhwh elects Israel or Zion he demonstrates his mastery over time. He does so by, within time, ‘starting again’ or ‘starting for the first time’. For example, Israel is elected as his chosen people not at the origin of time, but ‘in the midst of time’; she is ‘late in the game’. Zion, likewise is chosen and taken ‘later’. They both, in the midst of time, become the ‘source’ of God’s blessing to the world. They are like a ‘second, greater creation’. A second thing we noted was how, in verse 4, the ‘birth of the nations’ comes about by the dual action of Yhwh and Zion: they come to know Yhwh through their birth from Zion. What we saw was that this progression mirrored the ‘marriage’ relationship. First, the husband loves the beauty of the wife and then that love between the two becomes the power of fruitfulness for children. 

With these two observations in mind, and with the Adam and Eve analogy, we can begin to see something remarkable. God’s first act of creation is without the aid of anything. He creates by his own divine speech. In this way God is profoundly different than Adam, who can only ‘create’ with the aid of Eve. However, when Yhwh acts in time, in the second ‘greater act’ of creation, he incorporates an aspect of creation into it. In other words, it tracks the marital act. Zion, like Eve, becomes a mediator and participant in this second act of creation. That said, this ‘second act of creation’ is grounded in and founded upon the ‘first act of creation’. We might put it this way: the ‘marital’ relationship of Yhwh with Zion is grounded on Yhwh’s prior act of election and creation (which, in turn, is an expression of the Trinitarian relationship(s)). But, the marital is the consummation of Yhwh’s action and desire. This establishes in Zion a truly remarkable, even astounding, dignity akin to Eve (even, greater than Eve’s for now she is the mother of Yhwh’s children and not just Adam’s).   

Mary. We can’t conclude this without pointing toward Mary. In the gospel of John, on the ‘seventh’ day of creation, at a wedding in Cana, Jesus shows deference to Mary’s commands (Mary is already participating in and mediating Christ’s ‘hour’ to the world). Then, at the foot of the Cross, as Christ ‘pours himself out in love’ (just as Yhwh ‘loves Zion’ in vs. 1), he makes Mary the mother of his children (the beloved disciple ‘taking Mary’ into his home and her becoming his mother). Then, in Revelation, when Mary is revealed as the ‘queen of heaven’, and the ‘arc of the covenant’, she is described as giving birth not just to Christ but to ‘all the faithful’. All the images of ‘one greater than Eve’, the woman who participates in and mediates God’s love for the world and her utterly astonishing fruitfulness, are found, as consummated, in Mary—this “Bride-Mother”—not as symbolic, but as real as (in fact, more real than) Zion. Mary is the consummation of Zion.

Ps. 87.5a (established fruitfulness)

Of Zion indeed / it will be said
“Everyone was born in her.
The Most High himself / has established her.”

The previous verse initiated us into the explosive and tremendous power of fruitful unity that God establishes in Zion. There, the emphasis fell on specific nations that not only surround Israel but nations that were its most threatening enemies. Through Zion, they become not only pacified, but, in fact, ‘sons of God’, born through Zion. Here, that power is evoked again but in the broadest manner possible. Now, no specific nation is referenced because the claim for Zion’s motherhood has become absolute and total: “Everyone was born in her”. It is at this point that we see Zion as the ‘new Eve’—the mother of ‘all the living’. Her unity extends far beyond the subjugation of Israel’s enemies to her motherhood. She becomes the ‘womb’ for all mankind. 

Establishment and fruitfulness. The following verse, on first glance, seems odd. We just concluded with Zion’s total motherhood of ‘everyone’. The following verse will likewise be in regard to her motherhood. So why the reference to the Most High’s establishment of Zion between these two? Preliminarily, we must conclude that this ‘establishment’ is related to Zion’s fruitfulness. In other words, it is the Most High’s ‘establishment’ that empowers her to be this world-mother to the all the living. This type of initiative on God’s part, as it relates to fruitfulness, is similar to that which he promised to Abraham. God’s primal command to Adam and Eve was “to be fruitful and multiply”. When we get to Abraham, however, we find a man and wife whose fruitfulness is essentially ‘dead’. It is into this ‘death’ that God makes the promise not that Abraham will be fruitful and multiply but that God will make him fruitful and multiply. In other words, the children of Abraham, his ‘life from death’, is one that is sourced in the divine fruitfulness of blessing and power. For Abraham, this power not only brings ‘life to his body’, but becomes an astonishing and utterly prodigal fruitfulness (“as many as the stars” or “sand on the shore”). Through Abraham, God’s fruitfulness is unleashed upon the earth. I think something similar is at work here in the sandwiching between the lines on fruitfulness this “establishment” by the Most High. Now, unlike through Abraham, a male, this Zion-woman, will become the one through whom God’s fruitfulness will be unleashed.

Ps. 87.4 (born again for the first time)

I will declare / that Rahab and Babylon are among / those who know me
even of Philistia, Tyre and Cush too.
I will declare / “This one / was born there!” 

This verse is truly remarkable, and for many reasons. The most obvious is the unity that is envisioned. This, in and of itself, is not unique. There are many other psalms that see the nations gathered around Yhwh, a vision of the ‘kingdom of God’. However, what those lack is the specificity found in these verses. Here, the startling and almost unfathomable reality of unity is deepened and made visceral when Babylon and Egypt and joined together. With the addition of the ‘minor nations’ of Philistia, Tyre and Cush, we are witnessing two things. First, the most terrifying powers (Babylon and Egypt) are now entirely, not only pacified, but incorporated into Israel’s relationship with God. Second, this ‘incorporation’ is by way of the truly significant ‘knowledge’ of Yhwh (“those who know me”). This is, next to ‘seeing the Face’, one of the most significant modes of relationship with Yhwh. It signals the intimate familiarity of a man for a woman, that ‘knowledge’ that springs forth from covenantal devotion. It is, in other words, usually seen as something that is Israel’s, Yhwh’s ‘bride’s’ unique prize. 

From bride to mother. This reality, however, is moved into a different ‘key’ in this verse. Whereas Israel is often seen as Yhwh’s ‘bride’ and, as such, is the object of his special devotion, Zion is now seen not as bride but as ‘mother’. This is an important shift in imagery, especially in light of the above incorporation of the nations into the ‘knowledge’ of God.  Here is why: God declares two things in this verse—1) the nations will ‘know me’; and 2) they will be ‘born in Zion’. This is key. These two realities are synonymous. You don’t ‘know Yhwh’ without being ‘born in Zion’. That ‘knowledge’ that was so often seen as exemplified in the marital relationship between Yhwh and Israel (as in Hosea) is now transferred into the familial, ‘being born’ from mother-Zion. This shift moves from Israel as recipient to Zion as fruitful. Whereas the wife-knowledge originated from Yhwh’s choosing, the mother-knowledge now incorporates Zion herself into the process; it now ‘flows forth’ from her. It is because of this shift that the nations can now be brought into relationship with Yhwh. We can propose the following: just as in any marital relationship, so too does Yhwh first marry Israel and then, through that marriage, does she become fruitful and the ‘mother of all the living’. This progression can be seen in this psalm. Verse 2 says Yhwh ‘loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob’. His love of Zion is the embodiment of his spousal love of Israel. This love, in verse 2, is entirely contained in Israel. Yhwh ‘pours himself’ into her (Zion). Yet, this love now ‘flows forth’, making Zion ‘fruitful’. She has, in a sense, become impregnated with Yhwh’s love of her such that she now becomes the ‘new Eve’ as ‘mother of all the living’. 

We need, however, at this point to highlight the fact that Zion’s role in this verse is limited to these particular nations. The reason, as we indicated above, is to show how truly powerful and efficacious is Yhwh’s love for her. We need to back up and recall what we said in the opening reflection to this psalm—that when Yhwh chooses and elects a people/person, that decision establishes that person/people as the source of Yhwh’s blessing. Yhwh is not bound by history. We typically think that the ‘source of blessing’ must come ‘first’, historically. Rather, Yhwh can act within time, as the lord of time, and establish the source of blessing later (as he does with Zion and Israel). This reality is now dramatically portrayed: Babylon, Rahab, Tyre, Cush and Sidon are now regarded as truly born. They have in a sense been born again for the first time, through Zion. Yhwh’ s love of her makes a new and more powerful creation than what came before. These terrible and tremendous enemies of Israel are, through Yhwh’s love of Zion and through her fruitfulness, made into ‘sons of God’. 

The world will be born through Yhwh’s love of a woman and her faithful/fruitful response to him…