“There is a river, the streams of which
make the city of God glad,

“The holy place of the tents of the Most High. ”
Psa 46:5

Psalm 87 speaks of Zion as the city of God

“2 Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God.”
Psa 87:2-3

Mount Zion is in essence “capital hill” in Jerusalem. There it was that Solomon’s temple was built to the Lord. There the kings palaces were built. Plainly many passages speak of Jerusalem as God’s city. For instance,

“Blessed be Yahweh from Zion,
Who dwells at Jerusalem.
Praise Yah!”
Psa 135:21

But there is something unsettling about this!

Because you see, Jerusalem is built on a mountain top! There are no major rivers on mountain tops. In fact Jerusalem was so water poor that it was big news when a tunnel was built to a spring outside the walls of Jerusalem. So a “a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad”? Of what could that be speaking?

But of course there are two Jerusalems

Paul also writes of these things.

“25 For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
Gal 4:25-26

So there is a Jerusalem “that exists now,” a Jerusalem below if you will, of this physical world, which is compared to a Jerusalem which is “above.” Jerusalem below is mentioned in Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah speaks of “the daughter of Zion” being isolated in Isa 1:8. Then Isaiah addresses the rulers and people of what we might call Jerusalem “below.”

“Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!”
Isa 1:10

But Isaiah is not speaking of the actual Sodom and Gomorrah, but of Israel and Judah. There are many passages in both the Old and New Testament that address either Jerusalem below, or Jerusalem above. Matthew writes of some coming out of the tombs at Jesus death, and says,

“and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many. ”
Mtt 27:53

And yes, once again Jerusalem will again become “the holy city.”

After the end of this universe, and it has passed away with a roar (2Pe 3:10-12), then we see coming down out of heaven a new Jerusalem.

“1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. 2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, …”
Rev 21:1-2

And there is a river there!

“He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,”
Rev 22:1

So there is indeed river which makes glad the city of God.

Scriptures are from the World English Bible (WEB), a copyright free revision of the original ASV American Standard Version 1901