1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
2 Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah.
4 I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia: “This one was born there.”
5 Yes, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one was born in her”; the Most High himself will establish her.
6 Yahweh will count, when he writes up the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah.
Free Grace note
God writes former enemies onto the birth roll of his city The surprise of this psalm is who gets counted as native born. Rahab is a poetic name for Egypt; then come Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia, the old enemies of Israel. Of each God says, this one was born there, verse 4, and he keeps the register himself, verse 6. Belonging to Zion was never about bloodline or passport; it was about God choosing to write your name down. This looks forward to the gospel throwing the gates open to every nation, and to a book of life whose names are not erased, Revelation 3:5. If you ever fear you came from the wrong background to belong to God, this psalm answers it. Your place rests on the God who records names, not on the pedigree you were born with.
7 Those who sing as well as those who dance say, “All my springs are in you.”
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