Psalm 133
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
1 Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. 2 “In times past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and you shall be prince over My people Israel.’ ” 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord through Samuel.
16 Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. 17 David went out to meet them, and said to them, “If you come peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on it and decide.” 18 Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, who was the chief of the thirty, and he said, “We are yours, O David, And with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, And peace to him who helps you; Indeed, your God helps you!” Then David received them and made them captains of the band.
Its historic= occasion is variously given. 1. Some refer it to the three great annual festivals celebrated in Jerusalem. 2. Others think it was written upon the termination of the civil war between the house of Saul and the house of David. 3. Others find occasion for it in the termination of Absalom’s rebellidn, and the happy return of the king. On either of these occasions it might have been fitly sung Patrice observes that it was “ fitly used by the first Christians to express their joy for the blessed union of Jews and Gentiles ; and may now serve the uses of all Christian societies, whose happiness lies in holy peace and concord.
David becomes king and sets up his kingdom in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 5:1-10)
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
1. Unity, the good and pleasing (v. 1)
1. Unity, the good and pleasing (v. 1)
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell together in unity!
Unity among God’s people is good and pleasant to the people of God.
We are meant to give our ‘amen’ to this first verse, but before moving to the second we must examine how brothers might dwell in unity.
In the second line it says, “...for brothers to dwell together in unity!” It’s interesting to think that ‘brothers’ wouldn’t dwell together in unity. After all, brothers share a kinship; they are brothers. Here David speaks of Jewish brothers who share the same ancestry, the same history, the same culture, the same religion. It is good and pleasant for brothers who share so much to dwell in unity.
As Christian brothers and sisters it is good and pleasant for us to dwell in unity. In order to do that we must keep before us our kinship rather than our differences. There is the sense in which we could say that we share the same ancestry (back to Adam), same history (human history), same culture (worldly culture), and definitely the same religion. But it is more accurate to say that our kinship is in Jesus Christ who is our God, our Savior, our Lord, our Great High Priest, our Brother; and our kinship is in the gospel--the good news of God’s saving work in Jesus Christ which we have believed in faith; and our kinship is in the Holy Spirit who dwells within as the guarantee and seal of our faith.
In the second line it also mentions brothers ‘dwelling together in unity.’ Can brothers who do not dwell together be unified? I think not. Separation and isolation is not unity. David would’ve referred to Jewish brothers dwelling together in unity in the Promised Land. The church is not the Promised Land, but as the Bride for which Christ died it is far more precious in the sight of God. How much more then should brothers and sisters in Christ be dwelling in unity in the church? We should also remember that the church exists ‘in Christ’. If the Jews were to dwell together in unity in the Promised Land, how much more should we who dwell together in Christ, the Son of God?
We also might consider why brothers wouldn’t dwell in unity? 1. Perhaps they aren’t really brothers. 2. Perhaps they are envious of one another. 3. Perhaps they are unforgiving of one another.
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All the Jews were brethren, as descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as bound by the same national covenant, and as having a commor civil and ecclesiastical head and national capital All pious men are brethren, being born of God, having one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one hope, one aim, one end, one God and Father. For unity Edwards reads the closest unity, as expressing no more than the original imports.
Families cannot too highly prize the quiet and harmony resulting from sentiments, words and deeds. Even where there is not found vilest form of discord in houses, resulting in fights or broils, there may still be unhappiness arising from snappishness. When father and mother, parents and children, brothers and sisters are tart and keen, peace flies away. Ill nature is easily engendered and transmitted in a family.
The peace of neighborhoods is of the greatest importance. The disturbers concord among neighbors are not merely murderers, robbers and fighters, but their blood relations-backbiters, busy-bodies, slanderers, knaves adulterers, fornicators, of the greatest curses to a community is low quarrelling.
It is a great thing for churches to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. No command of Christ is more weighty or inore stringent than this: “Have peace one with another,” Mark ix, 50 We are no more at liberty to be schismatics than we are to be heretics. Luther: “ Where there are dissensions, divisions, and discord, there is the dwelling of Satan: ‘Live in peace, and the God of peace shall be with you,” 2 Cor. xiii. 11; Phil. iv. 9.
How blessed is peace in a nation?! Its great foes are of two classes. One consists of selfish, cruel, incompetent rulers, who make the government burdensome and vexatious. “As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the vexatious. As a roaring The other class of persons, who disturb the peace of nations consists of agitators and revolutionists, who hate good laws and rulers, and would rather seelall the horrors and harassings of civil war than not be successful in carrying out their fanatical or ambitious schemes.
Peace in the world— Another class of peace-breakers are those who stir up strife between nations, and involve at least two countries in international war and bloodshed. Madison: “ Of all the evils to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the genius of every other. Wax is the parent of armies; from these proceed debt and taxes. And armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the dominion of the few. .. No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.
2. Unity, the consecration for service (v. 2)
2. Unity, the consecration for service (v. 2)
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Coming down upon the beard, Even Aaron’s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes.
Unity among God’s people is an anointing commanded by God.
What’s described here is the anointing of Aaron, the first high priest to serve God’s people in the Tabernacle. The anointing with oil that Aaron received was precious (v. 2a) and abundant (vv. 2b-d). God commanded that the high priest be anointed in this way, but God’s people had to obey that command.
The question for us is will we abundantly anoint our fellowship precious unity? If so, how do we do that? 1. Make certain that we are brothers and sisters. 2. Remind ourselves of our kinship. 3. Commit to dwelling together rather than separating or isolating. (Within dwelling together we will have to obey the ‘one-another’ commands of the NT.)
God commands the anointing (Ex. 29:7)
The anointing is precious (Ex. 30:25)
The anointing is a consecration for ministry (Ex. 30:30; Lev. 8:12)
Any significance beyond abundance in oil reaching to the edge of his robes (Ex 28:33; 29:24).
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Precious, the same word rendered good in v.l.
Kamphuzzen well gives the proper use of this figure: ‘F’en as the ointment whose sweet odors blended, From Aaron’s head upon his beard descended, So doth the unity that lives with brothers Share its best blessings and its joy with others?
38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
3. Unity, the life-giving blessing (v. 3)
3. Unity, the life-giving blessing (v. 3)
3 It is like the dew of Hermon Coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever.
This unity is like the life-giving dew falling on Hermon and flowing down to the mountains of Zion. Without this dew, agricultural life would cease, but with it there is life.
In the same way, unity is life for God’s people and disunity is death.
What may block the flow of unity from coming down from God’s people? 1. They do not draw near t God. 2. They put themselves first and others last (Gen. 13:8 - Abraham a good example of putting unit ahead of preference; Unity often defers rather than prefers?). 3. They remember slights and refuse to overlook offenses. 4. They envy one another. 5. They don’t pray for one another. 6. They don’t know one another. 7. They have no patience with one another.
“For there the Lord commanded the blessing” - ‘There’ refers to Zion, which was to be a land flowing with milk and honey (Lev. 25:21; Deut. 28:8; Ps. 42:8). Unity is the blessing, but we might be tempted to think that with material abundance will come unity. If we all have enough, we own’t covet or envy one another. That, however, isn’t true. Our flesh will be pulled toward covetousness and envy until it is transformed in Christ’s presence. This means that the blessing of unity will not come without a fight, a fight against our own flesh. We will only receive the life-giving blessing of unity by fighting for it in obedience to God.
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There are mountains called Hermon; one is the highest ridge of those called Anti-Lebanon in the northern border of the country; the other is on the west side of the Jordan forms the southern boundary of the plain of Esdraelon. It is not certain which of these was in the eye of the prophet in penning this verse; nor is it important for us to decide. Neither of them was near to Jerusalem. 2. Another explanation is that suggested by the English translation, where before the seconds clause they add the words, and as the dew. This is legitimate and simply conveys the idea that the dew, which falls upon Hermon, falls upon Zion the same night. But this supposes that the force of the figure is to be sought in the fruitfulness and vigorous growth produced by the abundant dew, all delightful plants and shrubs and trees being thereby greatly refreshed. 3. Another explanation is that given by Scott who says: “This verse may be rendered ‘As the dew of Hermon, so is this, which descends upon the mountains of Zion; and thus mean, that, as the gentle dews, descending on Mount Hermon rendered it fruitful and delightful, so the dew of heavenly love,distilling upon the worshippers on Mount Zion would render them fruit,” in good works, happy in themselves, and blessings to all around them.” Either this last or the second mode of explanation is to be preferred.
Hengstenberg: “Brotherly unity resembles a lovely dew, which descends on the hills of Zion where this unity is So strikingly exemplified.” Calvin: “The figure of the dew distilning upon Moun Zion and Hermon denotes, that a holy unity has not only a sweet savor before but is productive of good effects, as the dew moistens the earth and supplies it with sap and freshness.
Such being the blessings of unity, let us study and adopt good rules for preserv ing concord, such as these: a. Prize highly the inestimable blessings of peace. 6. Pray earnestly that you may be able to lead a quiet and peaceable life in godliness and honesty. ¢. Remember that it is only the devil and his children, who hate peace and indulge C. d. Learn to deplore and abhor strife and all ts fruits e. Study to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, who was meek and lowly, who did not strive nor cry, nor lift up his voice in the streets, and never opened his blessed lips strive nor f- It would be a great matter if we could lay out our strength on weighty things of doctrine and morals, and not be over zealous concerning small matters.
Conclusion
Conclusion
David bring disunity to the kingdom (2 Sam. 11:1).
1 Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.
We have a better king—King Jesus—who always leads the people of God toward unity.
