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Psalm 87 · a question people ask

Who says "I" in 87:4?

In the text

The psalm doesn't name the speaker. The verse says, "I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me" (87:4), and the psalm has no "I" or "me" before it. The verse before speaks to the city: "Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God" (87:3). The verses after speak of God in the third person: "the Most High himself will establish her" (87:5), and "The LORD will count, when he writes up the peoples" (87:6). The WEB prints no quotation marks around 87:4's "I". These notes don't name the speaker either; what the psalm does say plainly is that the LORD counts and writes (87:6).

The verses

“Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah. I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia: “This one was born there.” Yes, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one was born in her;” the Most High himself will establish her. The LORD will count, when he writes up the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah.”
Psalm 87:3-6 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 87

Psalm 87: This one was born there

Psalm 87 names Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia, and then says, "This one was born there" (Psalm 87:4): the same three Hebrew words the LORD counts when he writes up the peoples (Psalm 87:6). And its last word, in you (Psalm 87:7), is in Hebrew the word it used to speak to the city of God (Psalm 87:3).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions