Ps 87.3 (proclamation in and out)

Glorious things / are spoken of you
O City of God. 

We see this often in Zion psalms—there is a dynamic between what occurs inside the walls of Zion and what happens outside the walls. In other psalms, when enemies are contemplated, the contrast is very marked: inside, there is liturgy and praise; outside, there is fear and flight.  Here, there is a contrast, but it is not a contrast of opposing reactions but rather a single one; the same thing that is said ‘inside’ is said ‘outside’. But we need to begin more fundamentally to see this. First off, this verse begins the body of the psalm proper, after the introductory verses 1 and 2. And, the first thing mentioned is this ‘proclamation’, this public announcement. This is Zion’s reputation, her public face to the world, how she is publicly known. And this reputation is ‘glorious’. Zion ‘shines’ in the public’s eye; she radiates the beautiful power and authority of ‘glory’. In the commerce and transaction and dialogue of the world, Zion is ‘glorious’. This public declaration is repeated twice more in the psalm, both of which relate to the fact that the world’s mother is Zion. It is this ‘motherhood of Zion’ that is the ‘glorious thing’ spoken of her. It is here that we can return to the ‘inside/outside’ dynamic. Zion’s reputation as a ‘glorious’ thing (rather than her being an object to be conquered, as in other psalms), operates as a sign of the world’s unification. Because it is ‘publicly proclaimed’ and it is something clearly positive, Zion herself is that which binds together those who speak of her thus. Second, the actual content of what is ‘proclaimed’ is unity: her motherhood to all nations and people. This is her ‘glory’, her overwhelmingly powerful fruitfulness and ability to known as the ‘mother of all the living’ (Zion is the ‘new Eve’). Through her the world is made into, not simply the ‘People of God’, but the ‘Family of God’. It is by and through Zion’s power to unify the world that what is spoken in her and about her are the same—the  proclamation that happens in Zion, now also happens outside of her. Importantly, the verse we are contemplated could be read as either, “Glorious things are spoken of you..” or “Glorious things are spoken in you…”. In this psalm in particular, it can carry both meanings.