2023 Lenten Season Week Six: Dwell Together in Unity! by Min. Teresa Robinson

 

Psalm 133

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

² It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments.
³ It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing—Life forevermore.

 

Dwell Together in Unity!

If I told you of a sure-fire way to be blessed, would you listen?  If I told you how to have the anointing of the Lord be upon you, would you be interested?   Learn to Live together, Learn to Love together, Psalm 133 tells us it is pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity!  Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  This simple command is the very thing the devil hates and fights against the most among believers. This simple command is the very thing Christians sometimes struggle with doing.  Unity in the household of faith takes prayer and work. What hinders believers from unity? The sin of pride is one thing and not dying to oneself is another.

Galatians 5:24- And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

In the bible, we see the egotistical, religious, prideful Pharisees accuse Jesus of working in concert with the devil himself and they often confronted Jesus when he healed.

(Matthew 12:25) Jesus told the Pharisees, that their statement was foolish! 

A house divided against itself cannot stand!” Jesus asked, “why would satan cast himself out?”  This makes no sense.  The devil will not fight against himself if dis-unity is his aim.  Even the devil knows how to work together with darkness to accomplish evil goals.  The bible tells us that we aren’t to be ignorant about his tricks or devices, 2^nd Corinthians 2:1, but sometimes we as Christians act worldly and we let disunity creep into our midst destroying the sanctity of peace between us.  Pride is what God detests, James 4:6, and when we won’t die to our flesh, pride blocks unity.  Too proud to yield one to another, too proud to serve, too proud to take the backseat and let a sister or brother go before us blocks a unified spirit and dries up the joy and peace we should have. When we find ourselves void and dry and when unity escapes us, let us look at Psalm 133 and notice oil and dew, two liquids that can be a refreshing, replenishing force. 

Perhaps we as Christians are dry and cannot produce unity because we have allowed our life circumstances to dry us out. Perhaps we don’t have joy and have let people and things dry us right up out of God’s presence.  We are dehydrated on the way to worship and sometimes we leave church just as dry as we came in because we don’t know how to embrace God and we don’t know how to humbly embrace each other.  We need one another to experience this type of unity in Psalm 133, but we can’t have unity if we are dry in our spirits.

Oil was not just used to anoint kings/priests, but even today is used to anoint the sick, (James 5:14), when one is fasting, (Matthew 6:17). Oil was used to set and mark furniture and people as “set apart” to be used for God’s purpose. (Exodus 30). A woman in all the gospel writings anointed Jesus with oil as a sacrificial act of worship. Most importantly, oil is used as a symbol for the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 25) The 5 unwise virgins had no oil, and that void caused their lamps to go out, while the 5 wise virgins stored oil and were able to go into the presence of the bridegroom. Oil is a powerful tool in the hands of believers that are unified, it is precious and needed in unity. The anointing of God in the congregation will spread throughout the church like precious oil running down from the leadership of our pastors then rolling forth from the leaders and stretching out to the congregation. A congregation of oily anointed people who can embrace the lost and unsaved among us is what God wants!  It is a precious thing to see the sick, lost and unsaved enter the presence of a unified church where they feel peace and go out with joy! We need to get in, sit in and spend time in the presence of God so that we can have him pour oil that flows from his word all over us!  Amen!

Dew is another form of liquid, and it comes as a protective barrier falling on leaves, grass and flowers. God allows dew to saturate greenery before the heat of the day gets a chance to set and scorch it. God allows the earth to produce dew, this means that plants will retain more moisture in their cells, making them more resilient in hot and dry conditions.  Moisture from the morning dew keeps the seed bed moist and the less intense sun rays from slowing down the rate of evaporation.  The same goes for the Christian.  In Hebrew, the word for dew and night mist is (tal). Moses was the first prophet to teach that God's word “shall distil as the dew” (Deuteronomy 32:2).  The manna that fed the children of Israel in the wilderness came down with dew from heaven (Numbers 11:9).  Dew is used in the Bible as a symbol of refreshment (Deut. 32:2, Psalm 133:3); a symbol of the loving power of God that revives and invigorates (Prov. 19:12) 

We need to be saturated with God’s presence so that the cares of this life won’t allow our joy to evaporate and dry up our unity!  Strengthened by God’s word, graced with prayer and showered with musical notes from skilled musicians sets an atmosphere where we are encouraged to gather Sunday to Sunday.  Our dry spirits are filled up again and again and once we are filled together Holy Spirit can step in and work the miraculous among us!

Remember Acts 1:8, they were all together with one accord, seeking the same thing, the Holy Spirit and got filled, together! Amen!

Dew comes in the night when nobody sees it,

We can’t see the Holy Spirit but he’s there

 

Dew doesn't make any noise when it comes,

God speaks in a still small voice and drops peace on us when chaos is around.   

Dew is best seen early in the morning

Fellowship with God in the quiet early morning before the activities of the day get started is always beneficial!

Dew saturates everything it touches but it is the thickest on things closest to the ground

At the lowest points in our lives God wants to saturate and replenish us 

It has been said that Mount Hermon is so high in altitude dew gets so thick on it that it begins to puddle because the mountain can't hold all of the dew that falls on it. Dew runs down the sides of Mt. Hermon, dew overflows and wets the land around it.  Verse 3 says "for it was there that the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore." The overflow, that is where the Christian needs to be so that unity can flow freely from us. Heart to Heart and flowing from breast to breast!  I love Juanita Bynum’s song; Like The Dew in the Morning

Let your presence, gently rest upon my heart

Lord, let your presence gently rest upon my heart

Like the dew in the morning, gently rest upon my heart

We need you Lord to come and rest Jesus, like the dew in the morning!

Rest, Rain, Move Jesus!  We say yes! 

Saturate us with your presence and glory Lord!

Our flesh will be dead our desires and pride will be dead and we will see and feel the brethren dwelling together in unity!