Psalm 133 “Brothers living together”
Introduction to Psalm: This is the fourteenth Pilgrim Songs or Songs of Ascents. David penned this psalm on the occasion of the union between the northern tribes and southern Judah. They all met at Hebron to make David their only king after the death of Saul and Jonathan. It is attested by Targum and by some manuscripts of the LXX, the attribution of this Psalm to David is sustained by the Scroll of Qumran Cave. Here the psalmist emphasized the Unity, dignity, and Divinity of the saints and the chosen people.
Illustration: Two notorious brothers lived in town. All of their lives they had done horrible things. One day one of the brothers died and the other brother went to the Pastor to arrange for his funeral he told Pastor, "Pastor, during my brother's funeral could you do me a favor?" “Sure’ said the pastor. He told Pastor to call his brother a saint.” The Pastor agreed and word broke like wildfire in the congregation that Pastor would be calling the worst person a saint. During the funeral message, all were eager to hear what the Pastor would say. The pastor paid tribute: "Ladies and Gentlemen we are gathered here today to mourn upon the most wicked, the most hateful, and maybe the worst person we have ever met in our lives, but compared to his brother who is alive. He was a saint."(adopted).
Psalm 133:1 Unity of the Believers
He starts the psalm with the beautiful words “How good and how pleasant, Brothers dwelling together in unity”. The great scholar Matthew Henry says “Unity is not only not quarreling and devouring one another, but delighting in each other with mutual endearments, and promoting each other’s welfare with mutual services, and having one heart, one soul, and one interest”.
Further another commentary known as Treasury of David puts “When they join together and are one in affection, when they are all of one heart, though possibly they are not all of one mind; or, when they meet in affection, though not in one opinion” yet unity must be exhibited in their lives.
Hence, unity is the identity of the Disciples of Jesus Christ. The best and foremost important prayer of Jesus is found in John 17 calls for unity among the followers of Christ. Paul says “you agree with one another and have no divisions among you” (I Corinthians 1:10), agree for the sake of unity, for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the community, for the sake of Church existence, for the sake of unbelievers. And further Paul says “Be of one mind and live in peace” (II Corinthians 13:11), Live in harmony with one another (I Peter 3:8) with One thought, one purpose, one goal, and one aim.
Mom’s Bible Journal says “sadly, unity is not a word that describes the Church of today; division and factions are more accurate descriptions of the condition of today’s church”. Another scholar Coffman Comments “Despite its fragmentation, despite its bitter disputes, anathemas and denunciations are still surpassingly Church is beautiful”. Further, he elaborates “God has commanded us to keep the "Spirit of unity in the bond of peace"; but we cannot `keep' that which does not exist”. So that what we can do is only look up to God in our helplessness and plead with Him to look upon us all with loving compassion and pity to create unity.
Therefore, if we want to bring unity to the Church as Paul says “Make every effort to keep the unity” (Ephesians 4:3), such as the effort of forgiving, the effort of forgetting, the effort of accepting the weakness of one another, the effort of appreciating each other.
Psalm 133:2 Dignity of the believers
Here the Psalmist talks about Ointment/perfume. He refers to the perfume made by Moses and later passed on to the priestly family. That Ointment was holy. Here the Ointment is compared to Unity in Love (1 John 5:1). This composition of Ointment was a divine dispensatory; God appointed the ingredients and the quantities. It was very precious, and the like to it was not to be made for any common use.
The ointment and perfume make the heart rejoice. Aaron and his sons were not admitted to do ministry unto the Lord till they were anointed with this holy ointment. Therefore, our services are not acceptable to God without love and unity within us. Often the Church promotes things that do not exist in the Church, which is very difficult to put into practice. The oil signifies worship, feasting, and celebration in unity. The flow of oil from head to the floor is the fullness of the Holy Spirit among the united. If we are united our unity is known to the outsiders, unbelievers, they will testify. The Gospel will have its own advancement in the unrighteous and crooked society.
Psalm 133:3 Divinity of the Believers
The psalmist then turns to Dew. It is another natural blessing God bestowed on humanity. The early human race or the pre-historical community enjoyed the blessings of the dew. Till the times of Noah, the human race never knew what rain was.
Dew cools the scorching heat of men’s passions, as the evening dew cools the air and refreshes the earth. In the same unity contributes very much to our fruitfulness in everything that is good; it moistens the heart and makes it tender and fit to receive the good seed of the word of God. On the contrary, malice, and bitterness unfit us to receive the word and to receive the brothers and sisters (1 Peter 2:1). Where there is no love and unity there the bitterness takes its deep roots and destroys the noble atmosphere in the community and Church.
Mom’s Bible Journal writes “By comparing unity to the dew he was declaring it to be conducive to growth and prosperity. The dew is one of the sources of nourishment for strong and healthy plants. Unity always promotes healthy growth, strength, and prosperity—be it in families, nations, organizations, etc”. The flow of dew from Hermon to the mountains of Zion is geographically a mistaken identity. But the intention of the author was unity among the brothers. The unity should come between the northern tribes and the southern Judah. No more divisions but only unity for one purpose. Brotherly love is the beauty and benefit of civil societies. Both Hermon and Zion will wither without dew. Both north and south will deteriorate without love and unity.
We should have one spirit, one mind, and one thought to progress in our mission work. Our strategy should be evangelizing the nation for God. The disunity in activities and non-cooperation in administrations are leading to extinction rather than better existence. Criticizing us and accusing each other leads to destruction and annihilation.
Here I would like to cite three examples from the Bible of how disunity and fight among the brothers brought loss to the kingdom of God and God’s plan and purposes.
1. Cain and Abel – Genesis 4:1-14
How good and how pleasant it could have been if Abel and Cain lived together in unity. If Cain could have appreciated Abel, Love could have prevailed in the early human race. Love could have prevailed in the Adams Family. Curses, Murder, enmity could have been avoided, and loss of a relationship and fear of living could have been avoided. Cain could have been another blessed race to multiply on the earth. Where there is no love and unity, there the suspicion grows, and susceptibility increases in Church Day by day. Finally ends up eliminating one another.
In the history of Cain and Abel, fighting was not based on their wives or in-law instigation, not based on property disputes or real estate, not on money matters or profession but because of devotional life. The fight broke out in the place of worship. Instead of changing their attitude, Cain changed the altar. Instead of repentance, he took revenge. Abel never heard the voice of God but Cain had the privilege of God speaking to him, warning him of his sinful behavior and future life. How often do we fight over the procedures of the services, the programs of the Church, and we fight over the things which may be more worthwhile, and advantageous to neither Church nor individual?
2. Saul and David - I Sam. 13-31
How good and how pleasant it could have been if Saul and David lived together in unity. The problem with Saul was not only his disobedience to God and the Prophet Samuel but also not acceptance of a young talented leader. Saul acknowledged that God has raised David as his successor, as a promising leader. Saul knew that God had good plans for David. Samuel told Saul “David is better than Saul” (I Samuel 13:14), and “David is more righteous than Saul” (I Samuel 15:28). Saul knew that God was with David (1 Samuel 18:28,29). Even then he became an enemy of David which no doubt means an enemy of God. Saul said to David that you will surely become a King over Israel (I Sam 24:20, 26:21,25). Yet, Saul made false claims saying that God has handed over David to me (I Sam 23:7) but never God did that (I Sam 23:14).
Saul wasted precious time, valuable energy, a good amount of money, and men power by searching for David (1 Samuel 23:26). It was a futile exercise. Saul heeded to evil counsels of men that David is against Saul and trying to grasp leadership from him (I Samuel 24:9). David decided not to repay Saul with evil (1 Samuel 24:4-15; 26:8-12).
How often in Church and our ministries, do we waste God’s money, our creative times, and contributively positive energy on the futile and unfruitful meetings and events. Because of lack of love and trust in each other from the local to the national or sometimes misuse of the trust and confidence leads to loss to Church.
If David and Saul lived together in Unity, they could have expanded the Kingdom of Israel to a greater height. What a wonderful team of Jonathan and David who lived together and went to battle under the leadership of Saul. They could have been an unbeatable army in those days. They could have subdued all nations; they could have established the name of YHWH among the nations, and people groups. Wow-what a joy to see that.
3. Jacob and Esau – Genesis 25:24-24, 33:1ff
The twins were fighting from the womb. The fight continued in their childhood days and young adult stage. Jacob always took the upper hand over Esau. He took the blessings from his brother by using all wrong methods and unethical ways. Sometimes we see that Church suffers from this kind of practice. Esau was a very violent and high temperament personality. He was very emotional, had outbursts, outgoing character. He was cheated on twice by his own brother, and mother. He had the support of his father who was helpless when compared to his mother. His wives were too not helpful to him in relating to his father and mother. He was alone and lived a defeated life. Finally, he took a vow to kill his brother (Genesis. 27:41).
Meanwhile, the separation of the brothers brought some remarkable healing in the life of Esau and not in Jacob. Esau confessed his sins and converted to God. He forgot the evil deeds of his brother and started to look unto God and had a radiant and shining face. Jacob testifies that seeing Esau’s face is like seeing God’s face (Gen.33:10). Esau looking forward to meeting his brother, when he saw Jacob, he ran to him, hugged him, kissed him (Genesis 33:4), and said to Jacob (Genesis 33: 8-9) that “God has blessed me with plenty” (33:11) and further said that “God has shown me a favor and given me everything”. According to Genesis 36:7, their property was enormous; they were not able to live together.
Who needs to be repented, Esau or Jacob? But Jacob had the same thought, attitude, and fear about his brother. Jacob really needs to convert himself to accept his brother, which is why God met him at river Jabbok (Genesis 32:22-23, 29 – after long wrestling in prayer, God blessed Jacob. Who is identical to you, Esau or Jacob? “How good and how Pleasant brothers living together in unity”
Conclusion:
How often, do seniors have the fear of stepping down from leadership. Keep playing the politics, survival games will not last forever. One day everyone needs to retire from everything, stop breathing and go to the graveyard. So, one thing we need to do is evangelism and soul-winning everything else in the Church is temporary and changeable. All posts and memberships in the committees will go from each one except the work of soul-winning and establishing the congregations. Church also needs creativity and newness. God loves to raise new leadership. We need to retire honorably from the Church committees and conferences. All you need is good health, good fellowship, and a soothing atmosphere. Enjoy the Church Worship, Bible Study, Fellowship, and Ministry. Give more time to soul-winning than administrations.
Why do you need to increase your Diabetes and BP by involving yourselves in the Church administration and politics? Why do you need to become a stranger and enemy to the person who worships next to you on the pew? Why do you need to avoid attending Church services, fellowships, and programs because of your unforgiving attitude and stubbornness of the heart?
Here one question may come to mind. Then what is the place for personal opinions? Is it bad to express our views and thinking in certain meetings for Church development and growth? Nothing wrong and you are most welcome as long as you express anything without the idea that you are superior and your thought is more valuable and correct than others. As long as you never take it as a defeat when others think that your idea may not be suitable for the present context. Leave the attitude that you are always right and others are always wrong. Unity in diversity is important. Unity is a collective acceptance, collective giving, and collective taking the responsibilities.
(Rev. Dr. Andrew B Natarajan, Senior Pastor, Email: revandrew@rediffmail.com Mobile: 09443586008)
