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Psalm 133
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
Running down upon the beard, As on Aaron’s beard,
The oil which ran down upon the edge of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon
Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;
For the Lord commanded the blessing there—life forever."
“Take this tea and drink it my son,” the mother exclaimed. “Why?” the child questioned? “Because it is good for you,” the mother affirmed. I can’t count the amount of times I heard this in my life. When parents handed a decoction of some type of home remedies to their children and tell them “it is good,” that normally meant it was beneficial, although at times it might have not been pleasant to the taste.
God is our perfect Father. He introduced to David, something that is both good (that is beneficial), but also pleasant. In other words, not only was it for his own good, but it also felt good. That blessing was unity among the brethren. Money can’t buy it, fame can’t generate it, and neither can we achieve it by simply being under the same roof. If that was the case, New York city wouldn’t have “earned a reputation for feeling lonely,” according to New York Post (1).
Unity must come from God. David associated the idea of unity with two things. Firstly, the oil that used to be poured over a person’s head when consecrated for a certain ministry. Secondly, the dew which God gently poured every morning over the mountains in order to revive the herbs of the field (see Isaiah 26:19) and cause the grass to grow. It was unto Hosea that God said: “I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon” (Hosea 14:5). The dew was associated with growth; and the oil, a symbol of the Holy Spirit (see Zechariah 4:6-12) was often associated with consecration of a person to a ministerial office.
Notice that both oil and dew come from nature, and can’t be manufacture by man. This means neither can we manufacture that good and pleasant experience that the people of God need to have. It results from both having God with us and maintaining unity among the brethren. This lesson goes deeper than we may expect. The unity of trees and vegetations, increase the likelihood of rain. In other words, “by growing more vegetation, we get more rain” (2). Much in a like manner, when we, as Christians, come together as God pours the dew or rain of the Holy Spirit.
Two major things emerge when we receive the gift of the Spirit from Christ. According to Paul, Christ gives the Holy Spirit “for the work of ministry,” and “for the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith” (Ephesians 4:12, 13). Once again, unity is linked to growth and consecration to ministry, which in turn strengthens our unity.
Is it possible that through unity, we are enabled to perform our ministry more effectively and grow in Christ? Paul argues that when the body is held together, united in Christ, with every joint working properly, this “causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16). Where two or three are gathered God indeed honors the unity (Matthew 18:19, 20). Notice what one author said regarding this promise.
1. The promise is made on condition that the united prayers of the church are offered, and in answer to these prayers there may be expected a power greater than that which comes in answer to private prayer. The power given will be proportionate to the unity of the members and their love of God and for one another.—Letter 32, 1903, p.5 (To Brother and Sister Farnsworth, January 28, 1903.).
Therefore, dear brother and dear sister, do you feel the need for the Holy Spirit? Do you feel the need for growth in Christ and consecration for ministry? Gather some friends, talk it over, enter an agreement, and plead to God for His blessings. He will honor your unity and guide you to even stronger unity. May you be blessed today with the rich blessings of the SPIRIT. AMEN.
Reference
(1) Archive, View Author, Follow on Twitter, and Get author RSS feed. 2023. “NYC’s the Loneliest City — Newbies Are Using Apps to Help Make Friends.” New York Post. August 24, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/08/24/nycs-the-loneliest-city-newbies-are-using-apps-to-help-make-friends/#.
(2) “How Trees Make Rain.” 2020. Learning from Nature. January 15, 2020. https://www.learningfromnature.com.au/drought-proof-increasing-rainfall/ (https://www.learningfromnature.com.au/drought-proof-increasing-rainfall/)
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