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Psalm 133 Brothers and Sister Together in the Faith: During The

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Psalm 133 Brothers and Sister Together in the Faith: During The Psalm 133 Brothers and Sister Together in the Faith: During the year, major Festivals took place in Jerusalem. Israelites from all over would gather their families, bring animals for sacrifice, and head for the holy city and the Tabernacle/Temple. No matter where you were in Israel, when you traveled to Jerusalem you had to head uphill because the city was on top of Mt. Zion. As they traveled, they would often pray and sing. These traveling songs were called “songs of ascents” as they ascended the hill of the Lord. Psalm 133 is one of these songs. The words show how these pilgrims anticipated the joy of gathering together with fellow believers at the festival. Please hang onto this mental image as I as read Psalm 133: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! 2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. 3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forev- ermore.” Today let’s consider “How Good and Pleasant” Is Our Unity. (1) Acknowledge its source, and (2) Enjoy its blessings. 1 There’s a lot of talk about unity in our nation these days. With all the divisiveness going on, that’s a good discussion to have. After all, we are the United States of America. However, Jesus told us in the Bible that during these last days we humans would be more and more pulled apart by our self- ishness, pride, self-love, and lack of respect for authority. The unity David speaks about in Ps.133 is much more than national unity or organizational uni- ty. It’s much more than unity based on political ideologies or favorite regional sports teams. Now, cer- tainly many of our humanly-instituted unities are enjoyable. Being a 4-H member with friends or a Packers fan with fellow Wisconsinites can bring us a lot of enjoyment! However, the unity talked about in Ps. 133 is a divinely instituted unity based on our common faith. Therefore, it is our most important unity because it lasts forever -- if we treat it with care. David compares “living together in unity” with “oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard…” Aaron, Moses brother, was the beginning of the priestly tribe in Israel. When a priest was installed into his position, he would be anointed with oil. Exodus 30 gives specific instructions about this oil -- a mixture of olive oil, myrrh, cinnamon, and other spices. The oil itself symbolized the unity of these ingredients, but it also was a symbol of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was anointed as Prophet, Priest, and King at his Baptism in the Jordan, it was not with oil, but with the Holy Spirit himself. Ps. 133’s picture is that this unity we enjoy as believers is a holy unity, a God-given, God- created unity. Think of how Joel in the OT prophesied about the future Christian church: “I will pour out my Spirit on all people…I will pour out my Spirit in those days…” (Joel 2:29). He uses the pic- ture of pouring out, the anointing of the Spirit -- and the action is all God’s. In the NT Paul wrote, “[God] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generous- ly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:5-6). God the Holy Spirit, poured out on us, is the source of our faith and therefore, the source of our unity. It is also the Holy Spirit who moved men to write the Holy Scriptures, the solid foundation on which we stand together. Perhaps we can picture it this way. God, the Holy Trinity, a perfect unity of Father, Son, & Ho- ly Spirit, draws near to us so we can draw near to each other (vertical/horizontal). He creates in each of us faith in Jesus so that faith can be our glue of unity. This unity grows stronger as we hear the Word together and receive the Supper together. It’s a beautiful fellowship based on our agreement with all of Jesus’ teachings. But that unity begins to crumble when we neglect the gluing process by refusing to worship or receive the supper. It is then that we begin to let our own opinions guide us rather than God’s Word (because either we don’t know what God’s Word says, or our sinful pride causes us to fall in love with our own opinions more than God’s Word), and then our unity begins to disintegrate. Sometimes people complain about churches that stick to the Bible and don’t “change with the times.” They say that churches that teach the same thing today as 150 years ago are causing disunity in the Christian church. That’s interesting, but not correct, because Jesus spends a lot of time warning his Church about false prophets and wolves in sheep’s clothing, and says “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” The Apostle Paul does the same in his 13 letters of the New Testament. Mar- tin Luther (1500s) said that Christian pastors and teachers are not only to build the structure of the church with the brick and mortar of God’s Word, but they must also stand guard against those who at- tempt to tear the structure down by their false teachings and human opinions. Even Charles Spurgeon (1800s), a famous English Reformed Baptist preacher, said this: “[We hear people say] ‘Christians of all doctrinal shades and beliefs must come together in one visible or- ganization. Unite!’ Such teaching is reckless and dangerous. Truth alone must determine our alignments. Truth comes before outward unity. Unity without truth is hazardous. Jesus said, “Sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth.” To teach otherwise is to betray the Gospel.’” We can’t just say, “We agree to disagree.” Where God has spoken, God’s Church must also speak clear- ly. In John 17, Jesus prayed for unity among his followers. But he also said the basis for that unity was agreement with the truth. 2 And when there is agreement and unity, what blessings flow! “It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mt. Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” The ele- vation of Mt. Hermon was over 9,000 ft. high; Mt. Zion over 2,000 ft. When the dew fell on the heights of Mt. Hermon, it was thick and life-giving. How “good and pleasant” it would be if that dew could fall on Zion and quench the parched land. How refreshing! And how refreshing it is when we can love and trust each other completely and live in unity. I’ve heard it said, “The world at its worst needs the church at its best.” We are at our best to reach out and help a very troubled world when you and I as Christians are sticking together and all on the same page: unified. Everything seems to be “good and pleasant,” more enjoyable, when everyone is working toward the same end and cause. Great things get done. That’s why the Lord says to us at the end of many of our services as part of the blessing: “Live in harmony with one another.” It’s easy to snap a single stick/twig. But you take 900 sticks and bind them together, and you’ve got something strong! There’s an old children’s fable about the tools in the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth arguing with one another about which was the most important. The saw, the plane, the file -- all had reasons why they thought they were better than the others. Then in walked the Great Carpenter of Nazareth. He put on his shop apron and went to the workbench and used all these tools to create a walking stick (shep- herd’s staff) for his journey to preach the gospel throughout Israel. After the day’s work, the handsaw remarked to the other tools, “Brothers, I see now that all of us are workers together for the Lord.” Ultimately, that’s what matters, that we are “workers together for the Lord” even with all our different talents. When we work together as God’s tools, his saving truth gets shared better than ever and souls are blessed eternally. How “good and pleasant” is our unity! It’s actually our little foretaste of heaven! Amen. .
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