Lost Blessings

The Songs of Ascent

Text: Psalm 133

Title: Lost Blessings

Introduction

The returnees from Babylon have reached the end of their journey, Here they gather in the company of the faithful and praise the Lord. In Psalm 55:13 and 14, David is complaining about a supposed friend who betrayed him and he recalls the sweet fellowship of former times in the company of God’s people, But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God. It is the blessedness of that past fellowship that makes the present betrayal so depressing and deplorable. This psalm has a distinguished history in the Presbyterian church. In 1830 the minutes of the General Synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church concluded as follows: “The Synod then adjourned to the first Wednesday in August, 1831 to meet in Philadelphia. The moderator concluded by prayer and the singing of the 133rd Psalm.” The scottish metrical version is, “ Behold, how good a thing it is, and how becoming well, Together such as brethren are in unity to dwell! Like precious ointment on the head, that down the beard did flow, Ev’n Aaron’s beard, and to the skirts, did of his garments go. As Hermon’s dew, the dew that doth on Sion’ hills descend: For there the blessing God commands, life that shall never end.” Sadly, singing the Psalm is not the same as doing it, and three years later in 1833, the church split down the middle, forming the New Light and Old Light RP Synods. The strictness of the Old Light views had led to previous divisions but they continued to insist on exclusive Psalm singing in worship and in members abstaining from civic duties such as office holding and voting. Ironically, over a century and a half later we are still singing that Psalm at the conclusion of meetings. Regardless of the right or wrong of the issues that caused the divisions, it can be said that many blessings of the Scottish Reformation were lost. Lost blessings characterize the history of many denominations and churches. Sometimes the blessing is lost because people depart from the truth, but other times it is lost because personal agendas become too important. Let us examine this unity. It is a solidarity in the Spirit, in the Savior and in service.

I Solidarity in the Spirit

We read in verse 1, How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! We are one in the Spirit because the Holy Spirit according to Romans 8:14-16 is the Spirit of adoption through whom we all come into the family of God, Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. True unity is a spiritual thing. The Holy Spirit is quenched and grieved by our divisions. Yet the church, as well as society at large, is riddled with dissension. We might expect dissension in government, in business, and other aspects of our culture, but in the church it should not be. This unity w exceedingly important to Jesus as he prays for the church in John 17:20 and 21, My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. In Philippians 2 Paul tells us that unity is impossible without the mind of Christ, a mind of service and sacrifice, and he says in verses 2-4, Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. It is a unity which we find difficult to achieve, even in our own families. Ultimately it is the sins of unbelief and disobedience that destroy solidarity. The apostle John often talks of “fellowship.” This is the translation of the Greek word “koinonia,” being translated “fellowship” twelve times, “sharing” three times, and “participation” and “contribution” twice each. It means community, relationships, communion and communication. John remind us in I John 1:3, 6 and 7, We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ… If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. As you can plainly see from his words, unity is impossible if we do not hold to the truth and walk in the truth. Whether in the family or in the church, it is not our commitment to one another, by blood or by baptism that fosters unity. It is our commitment to knowing and doing the truth. Unless this supersedes our personal agendas, we will not have unity.

II Solidarity in the Savior

In verse 2 we have a unique description of this unity, It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. The New International Version renders the Hebrew word “collar,” but you may have noticed that the metrical version quoted above follows the King James Translation which says the oil flowed to the skirt of the priest’s garment. The Hebrew is ambiguous because the word in Hebrew could refer to either the collar or the bottom hem of the garment. I would maintain that the hem is probably correct because If we compare the two options, we find that the point of the comparison is the uniting power of brotherly feeling, as that which unites in heart and soul those who are most distant from one another and brings them together in outward circumstance. If this is the point of the comparison, then Aaron’s beard and the hem of his garments stand diametrically opposed to one another. This was a picture of the grace of the Spirit, the unction from the Holy One; which has been poured on Christ, the head of the church, without measure; and with which he has been anointed above his fellows; and from him it is communicated to all his members; and particularly brotherly love is compared to this ointment; because of the preciousness of it; and because of the extensiveness of it, reaching to head and members, to Christ and all his saints, the meanest and lowest of them. As Spurgeon writes, “ Christian affection knows no limits of parish, nation, sect, or age. Is the man a believer in Christ? Then he is in the one body, and I must yield him an abiding love. Is he one of the poorest, one of the least spiritual, one of the least lovable? Then he is as the skirts of the garment, and my heart’s love must fall even upon him. Brotherly love comes from the head, but falls to the feet.” In short the unity and solidarity here is the work of the Holy Spirit who is sent by Christ so that He can continue to do and teach as He did when on earth.

III Solidarity in Service

The unity is also a solidarity in purpose and service as portrayed in verse 3, It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. The translators of the New International Version have got it right. The King James Version translated this verse, As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. It is not a dew that falls on Hermon and also falls on Zion as if it were separate events. The psalmist sees the moisture which fertilizes the Holy Land, and makes it the fertile land that it is, all given forth from Hermon, the one great mountain at its head. Physically, Hermon was to Canaan what Aaron was ceremonially to Israel— and what Jesus our great high priest is to the church, its head and crown, from which the fertilizing stores of heaven descended over the land. The one great river of Palestine, the Jordan, issue from the roots of Hermon, and the giant mountain is constantly gathering and sending off clouds, which float down even to Southern Zion. However, verse 3 is not merely giving another illustration like verse 2, but reminding us that the dew represents the blessing of God through the Holy Spirit. As we read in Hosea 14:4 and 5, I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; and as Zechariah says when promising future blessing to Israel in 8:12 and 13, The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. As you have been an object of cursing among the nations, O Judah and Israel, so will I save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong; and as Proverbs 19:12 declares, A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass; and as Isaiah says in 26:19 predicting the future resurrection of Israel, But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. And the dew of the Spirit enables us for service. In Acts 1: 4 and 5 we read, On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” In other words they could not serve in spreading the gospel until Pentecost. So they were gathered in Jerusalem, Zion, and the dew of God’s blessings fell on them in the form of the Holy Spirit’s advent. With this baptism they could now undertake the great commission that Jesus gave them in Matthew 28:16-20, Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” So this Psalm teaches us that God’s eternal purpose and plan is only fulfilled in those who are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, and thus anointed for service. Let’s not lose the blessing.