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Psalm 133:1-3 (page 552, NKJV)
“A Little Psalm Pictures Authentic Unity”
Pentecost 7 / June 29, 2008
Summerlin Evangelical Lutheran Church, Las Vegas, NV
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD command the blessing—life forevermore.” [Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Amen.] In the name of Jesus, fellow saints by His blood,
The world we live in is so disjointed, that people will celebrate any kind of outward display of unity, even when it’s evident there is no basic agreement between two parties. The United Nations building is a steel and stone symbol for attaining outward unity by agreeing to disagree. Real unity is about more than an embrace, a word of praise and a handshake—all of which are only outward signs.
But think about it. If an outward show of unity is so appealing even when there is no internal agreement behind it, how much more pleasing it is to see people getting together because of an authentic internal unity? That’s exactly what we see when Christians united in doctrine and practice gather to worship and work for the Lord and Psalm 133 teaches us about the path to real unity.
When the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land, they were divided up and assigned land according to their respective tribes. Of course, this led to endless tribal competition and in-fighting among them. But when David united the nation by his military victories, he eventually conquered the fortress of Jerusalem. Once he occupied that city and its fortress on Mount Zion, he brought in the Ark of the covenant and began worship in the tabernacle.
Having a central place of worship had a great unifying effect on Israel. From all over Israel, people trekked to Jerusalem three times a year to worship there. The travel invariably brought all the tribes into contact with each other, and when they arrived, they worshiped the Lord elbow to elbow in Jerusalem. Psalm 133 gives testimony to this unity enjoyed by the Israelites. In the opening verse, David writes, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
In Psalm 133 David uses two word pictures to describe the harmony his people enjoyed by joining in worship. The first picture may seem a bit strange to us at first. The people’s unity was like…“the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments” (verse 2).
According to the rules of worship a holy oil consisting of olive oil and special spices was poured on the head of the high priest before worship began.. This oil signified the gifts of God’s Spirit being poured out on the high priest.
Watching the anointing of the high priest was one of the first things the whole nation did together after their long journeys to gather at Jerusalem. Watching the oil run down on the priest’s clerical garments was a beautiful symbol of unity.
In the third verse of Psalm 133, David offers another picture of unity. He writes: “It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion…” Mount Hermon is considerably higher than Mount Zion, and it is some distance away. Because of its height, however, the peak of Mount Hermon is often covered with snow and frost. When the wind was just right the moisture from the mountaintop would take to the atmosphere and condense as dew on lower elevations. The glistening dew in the dryer elevations was always a welcome sight. This is also how the blessings of one part of the country fall as blessings to other parts. That’s also what happened when the tribes of Israel met together to worship the Lord.
But David was not so shallow as to believe that the outward displays of unity in mass pilgrimages and throngs of worshipers on Mount Zion was the motivation for the unity among his people. No! David knew that these outward displays of unity were inwardly motivated. He identifies that inner motivation in the closing verse of the psalm…“for there the LORD commanded the blessing—life forevermore.”
The inner agreement among the people which stood behind their outward displays of togetherness was all about a message they received in Jerusalem. David describes God’s message as “blessing—life forevermore.” God’s promise of eternal life through His coming Messiah was the bond, the glue that held Israel together during the days of Kings David and Solomon. When later the children of Israel forsook worship and followed after heathen gods, the terrible disunity in the country returned worse than ever and North and South were carried off into captivity.
The Christian church today needs to keep in mind the pictures of harmony David paints in this Psalm. If we want unity among Christians, we must understand that just getting together and yelling, “Let’s get together…Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” isn’t real unity. It wasn’t the march to Jerusalem that united Israel; it was the message proclaimed in Jerusalem. It was not standing elbow to elbow before the high priest in worship and watching they oil flow that brought them real unity; it was the word of promise that flowed from the mouth of God.
There’s always the temptation for the church to mistake outward displays of harmony for inner unity. Filling up the chairs and telling people what they want to hear is not the same as filling up hearts with what they need to hear. Far too many churches have bought into the commercial consumer mentality that numbers are the bottom line. Even good businesses in the secular world realize that the quality of the product is a better measure of the company than the number of customers.
Ten years ago a national news magazine did an in-depth report on the decline of major American Protestant denominations. The huge loss of membership in once large church bodies was dramatic. What made this article so compelling was the author’s objectivity. Not a religious man himself, he could draw the conclusion he did at the end of the article with no axes to grind. When he answered the question, “Why are these churches shrinking?” his conclusion was simple. “They are offering the same shallow moralizing and politicizing that people can get every day from their televisions and newspapers. Worshipers get a diet of this stuff for just so long from their pulpits, and come to realize their church is no longer offering them anything they can’t get from other sources and with a lesser investment of time and effort and money to boot! And they just drift away to nothingness.”
The true, unifying message of God’s church today is to be the same as it was on Mount Zion when David wrote Psalm 133. “For there the Lord commanded the blessing-life forevermore.” Yes, the Christian Church, God’s modern day Mt. Zion, exists to tell people what is going to happen to them when they die and prepare them for it. And the message is simply this: sin condemns to eternal death; Jesus saves unto eternal life…or ”life forevermore” as David calls it here in our text. To dodge or deny the reality of personal sin and its damnable consequences will not unite anybody over the long haul. To understand how God has dealt with our sin by punishing His only-begotten Son alone brings comfort and unity for the long term.
“Why are there so many different Christian denominations?” people will ask. The answer is shockingly simple. As long as churches cannot agree on the message that leads to “life forevermore” there will be no real unity. When St Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he pleaded with them to maintain the unity they had. “I…beseech you…” he wrote, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling” (4:3, 4). Notice that St. Paul did not call upon the Ephesians to create unity. Unity, he said, was a product of the Holy Spirit. We can only struggle to maintain the unity God creates by remembering the one hope to which we were called by God.
The Children of Israel are long gone from this earth, and soon we will be, too. The message a church brings to its people must be a gift that keeps right on giving. David calls it “life forevermore.” The sure prospect of eternal life in heaven, the goal of being in the very presence of God almighty forever is the single unifying factor a faithful church body, congregation, parishioner, preacher, teacher-- brings to their people. Where that message of the Gospel is being proclaimed in Word and Sacrament day in and day out, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade and century after century there is where real unity will always exist. And where there is no such agreement concerning the Gospel message and mission of God’s church all claims to unity are empty, hollow and counterfeit. In the meantime, let us treasure the substance of our unity by sharing it with a dying world and in so doing –to use the words of the apostle we thereby are ‘endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’ Lord, preserve such unity among us that the words of the inspired Psalmist may always be our own: “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.” Amen.
Hymn Response: 458:3; Apostles Creed p. 41
Prayer: We praise You, loving Father, for bringing unity to Your church through the saving message of forgiveness and eternal life in Your Son Jesus Christ. By Your powerful Spirit, lead Your churches and their messengers to remain faithful to Your message of hope and comfort in the Holy Scriptures. Address the divisi0ns in this world caused by our own sin and selfishness. Heal the minds and bodies of those distressed by strife. Make us bold and loving to speak about Jesus to hearts weighed down by public and private disunity. Help us to appreciate and rejoice in every evidence of fellowship and love created by Your promises. Make us peacemakers by proclaiming peace through Jesus. In His name we also pray the prayer He taught us…Our Father who art in heaven…