As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.

PSALMS 87:7KJV
Know the Bible

Psalms 87:7 (KJV)

What does Psalms 87:7 mean?

Psalms 87:7 describes a scene where both singers and musicians are present, celebrating and declaring that all their sources of joy and life are found in Zion, the city of God. The verse uses the image of springs to express that everything good and life-giving comes from being connected to God’s chosen place.

The psalm is written by the sons of Korah and focuses on the special status of Zion (Jerusalem) as God’s city. The verse pictures a joyful gathering, with music and singing, where people recognize that their deepest satisfaction and blessings flow from their relationship with God, centered in Zion. The springs symbolize the source of life and refreshment, emphasizing Zion as the spiritual heart for God’s people.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 87:7

  • singers (שָׁרִים, shārîm): This word refers to those who sing, especially in worship or celebration. Their presence highlights the joyful and communal aspect of the scene.
  • players (חָלִיל, ḥālîl): This word often means those who play instruments, particularly wind instruments. It shows that music, not just singing, is part of the praise and celebration.
  • springs (מַעְיָן, ma‘yān): This word means a source of water, like a fountain or spring. Here, it is used as a metaphor for the source of life, joy, or blessing, pointing to Zion as the place where all good things flow from.

Why Psalms 87:7 matters

  • Psalms 87:7 clears up the idea that Jerusalem’s importance is only political or historical; the verse emphasizes its spiritual role as the wellspring of blessing for God’s people.
  • The verse connects music and worship directly to the recognition of God as the source of life, showing that celebration and praise are rooted in gratitude for what God provides.
  • In the context of the whole psalm, this verse wraps up the theme that people from many nations will find their spiritual home and deepest satisfaction in Zion, not just ethnic Israelites.

Where else these words appear

“springs” Hebrew H4599 · used in 23 verses

  • Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
  • 2 Kings 3:25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.
  • Proverbs 8:24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

“singers” Hebrew H7891 · used in 79 verses

  • Exodus 15:1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
  • Ezra 7:7 And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, unto Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
  • Psalms 65:13 The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.

“players” Hebrew H2490 · used in 131 verses

  • Genesis 4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
  • Judges 20:31 And the children of Benjamin went out against the people, and were drawn away from the city; and they began to smite of the people, and kill, as at other times, in the highways, of which one goeth up to the house of God, and the other to Gibeah in the field, about thirty men of Israel.
  • Jeremiah 16:18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.