Dance of nations

Psalm 87 is a Psalm of Gentile inclusion. Five nations, several of them traditional enemies of Israel – Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia – are born again, given a fresh genealogy as if they were naturally born citizens of Zion. Psalm 87 is the Ephesians 2 of the Psalter (or, more accurately, one of the Ephesians 2s).

What do these reborn nations do? “Those who sing as well as those who play flues [or, those who dance] shall say, ‘All my springs are in you” (v. 7). They join Zion’s orchestra, choir, and dance company.

This is God’s purpose in history: To form a choir from every tribe and tongue, to make warring nations into dance partners.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War

R. R. Reno

What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…

How the State Failed Noelia Castillo

Itxu Díaz

On March 26, Noelia Castillo, a twenty-five-year-old Spanish woman, was killed by her doctors at her own…

The Mind’s Profane and Sacred Loves

Algis Valiunas

The teachers you have make all the difference in your life. That they happened to come into…