Psalm 133

I think reading this psalm we can all give a hearty, “amen!” Isn’t it pleasant when we live in unity?  David here writes a short psalm about the beauty of unity.  The history of Israel shows us that the country itself was not always in unity, being separated for quite some time, but David ruled over a united Israel.  In John 13, Jesus is addressing His disciples at the Last Supper, and gives them a new commandment:

34 “A new commandment I give to you: that you love one another—just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another.”

It is a reflection of what David wrote in this psalm!  It is interesting that David uses the imagery of oil dripping down the beard and robe of Aaron, reminding us of Israel’s time in the wilderness when Aaron was anointed as the priest.  Consider what Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s possession, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, 10 who once were not a people, but now are the people of God, the ones who were not shown mercy, but now are shown mercy.  11 Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires which wage war against your  soul, 12 maintaining your good conduct among the Gentiles, so that in the things in which they slander you as evildoers, by seeing your good deeds they may glorify God on the day of visitation.

It is interesting how many times, when thinking of “fleshly desires,” I have considered that to refer to the overt sins that we all think about.  However, disunity is also a sin!  Jesus commanded us to love one another.  Peter’s exhortation echoes Jesus’ commandment.  They both tie back to Psalm 133.

I am currently reading a book by Ronald Rolheiser called The Holy Longing and in his chapters on unity, he discourses on the original language of John 6:53, explaining what Jesus inferred by saying that you must eat my flesh and drink my blood in a way that directly relates to Christian community.

In essence, Jesus is saying: You cannot deal with a perfect, all-loving, all-forgiving, all-understanding God in heaven, if you cannot deal with a less-than-perfect, less-than-forgiving, and less-than understanding community here on earth. You cannot pretend to be dealing with an invisible God if you refuse to deal with a visible family.

While this is a quaint little psalm, easy to skip over or recall to memory, it is extremely important in our walk as followers of Jesus today.  He provides unity, both in His anointing and in the dew that appears in the morning.  Who are you in disunity with today?  Are you struggling in your relationship with a fellow believer?  Maybe you disagree with another believer that you don’t even have a relationship with (i.e. a preacher you heard say something online).  Pray for the Lord of unity to help!  

Our spiritual enemy, Satan, has a nickname “the accuser of the brethren” for this very reason.  He tries to plant seeds of distrust and disunity in our hearts against one another.  This is because he knows if we squabble against each other, it distracts us from the real enemy and also delays our progress of bringing God’s Kingdom to earth.