Psalm 87 is a short hymn to Sion, the city God loves: “The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob. Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God.” Remarkably, it names foreign nations, Egypt, Babylon, Tyre and Ethiopia, as citizens born in Sion. Christians see the Church, mother of all peoples, and Mary, Mother of the Church. In the Douay-Rheims it is numbered Psalm 86. Below is the full Catholic text, what the psalm means, how the Church uses it, and a prayer.
Psalm 87 in the Douay-Rheims Bible
For the sons of Core, a psalm of a canticle. The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains:
The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob.
Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God.
I will be mindful of Rahab and of Babylon knowing me. Behold the foreigners, and Tyre, and the people of the Ethiopians, these were there.
Shall not Sion say: This man and that man is born in her? and the Highest himself hath founded her.
The Lord shall tell in his writings of peoples and of princes, of them that have been in her.
The dwelling in thee is as it were of all rejoicing.
Psalm 87 or Psalm 86?
The Douay-Rheims Bible follows the numbering of the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Septuagint, while most modern Bibles follow the Hebrew. So the Douay’s Psalm 86 is Psalm 87 in the New American Bible and other modern translations. In Latin the psalm begins Fundamenta eius in montibus sanctis. See how many psalms are there?
Mother of all nations
In this psalm, peoples who were once enemies are registered as natives of Sion: “Shall not Sion say: This man and that man is born in her? and the Highest himself hath founded her.” The Fathers saw it fulfilled in the Church, the new Jerusalem, where people “of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues” are born again in Baptism (Apocalypse 7:9).
The Church also prays this psalm on feasts of the Virgin Mary, in whom the Most High founded his dwelling, and who became the mother of all the faithful. The hymn “Glorious things of thee are spoken” (John Newton, 1779) is based on its third verse. See Marian feast days.
What the psalm means
- A city founded by God: “The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains.”
- God loves Sion: “above all the tabernacles of Jacob.”
- Glorious things: the city’s glory comes from God’s presence.
- Born in Sion: even foreign nations are counted as its children.
- Joy: “The dwelling in thee is as it were of all rejoicing.”
How the Church uses Psalm 87
- On feasts of the Virgin Mary in the Liturgy of the Hours.
- At the dedication of a church and in prayers for Christian unity.
A prayer with Psalm 87
Written for this page:
Glorious things are said of you, O city of God, the holy Church.
In you the peoples of every land are born to new life.
Mary, Mother of the Church, gather all nations into God’s family.
Let us rejoice for ever in the city whose foundations God has laid. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Where is “Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God”?
Psalm 87:3 (86:3 in the Douay-Rheims: “Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God”).
Why is Psalm 87 used on Marian feasts?
Because Sion, the city founded by God and mother of all peoples, is a figure of Mary and of the Church.
More psalms and prayers
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Psalm 86 (87); Apocalypse 7:9, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayer was written for this page.