Psalm 133:1-3 “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace”

Psa 133:1  A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 
Psa 133:2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
Psa 133:3  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.

In this study we will look at how God can bring about this most important, good and pleasant state of dwelling in unity in the body of Christ, by granting the body of Christ a peace that was ordained from the foundation of the world (Joh 14:23-27 Eph 2:10-18) and meant to be contrasted in a world that does not know this peace (Jer 6:14-15 Eze 13:10).

Php 2:1  If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
Php 2:3  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him [Php 2:1-3].
Joh 14:24  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
Joh 14:25  These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
Joh 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you [1Jn 4:6, 1Jn 5:14-15]. Joh 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 [Peace comes from obeying God’s commandments and keeping His words so that our Father loves us. There is no greater peace than knowing that our Father loves us (Joh 14:23) and conversely there is no greater sorrow than to know that our ways are not pleasing unto God and damaging to that relationship of love, but even when that does happen as a result of our falling seven times in this life, those falls were also ordained by our Father, and we need to recognize this and thank Him for washing us and blessing us to be among those who fulfill Proverb 24:16. When we come to see that is the case, we pray that our hearts will be pricked as was the case with these “Men and brethren” (Act 2:37-41) so that we repent, and through that repentance unity is granted to the body of Christ].

Act 2:37  Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men Act 2:38  Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 2:39  For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Joh 6:44)
Act 2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Eph 2:11  Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Eph 2:12  That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope [hope described Rom 8:35-39, 1Jn 5:16-18], and without God in the world: [Rom 11:20]
Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. [how we are made nigh by the blood of Christ (Joh 14:23)]
Eph 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15  Having abolished in his flesh [in the church Eph 5:30, Col 1:24] the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; [ongoing Col 1:24, Col 1:27, Mat 5:9]
Eph 2:16  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: [peace that is wrought in us by being dragged to the light Joh 3:20-21, Joh 6:44]
Eph 2:17  And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh [and then witnessed to in the earth (Joh 3:22-30)].
Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father [2Co 3:17].

Psa 133:1  A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 

Dwelling together in unity today is essential to overcoming all the fiery darts of the wicked one as we overcome every attack which comes against the church that is giving witness to true discipleship by obeying God’s commands with “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” that bear witness to the world that we are His disciples.

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Amo 3:3  Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Act 2:44  And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
Act 2:45  And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
Act 2:46  And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Act 2:47  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Those feet, like our lips, also must be put through the fire to be purified.

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Rev 1:15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

The readiness to preach the gospel is formed through trials that burn out Babylon within us, so that the true gospel is always on our lips which have been purged of our old ways of thinking.

Isa 6:7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

We have two type-and-shadow stories of this ‘split’ or ‘purge‘ from our old ways in the book of Genesis, with the parting of Lot from Abram and Esau from Jacob:

Gen 13:5  And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
Gen 13:6  And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

Gen 36:6  And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.
Gen 36:7  For their riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle.

On the other hand, the singleness of heart we share, and which is expressed in this first verse of our Psalm tonight, is something the body of Christ is doing together as a city set on a hill because we are unified through Christ, who is the hill (Psa 121:1) or rock (Mat 16:18) or cornerstone (Isa 28:16) of new Jerusalem (Rev 21:1-4), the church that has been “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Rev 21:1  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband [Rev 19:7].
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Psa 133:2  It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; 

The unity we talked about in the first verse is now revealed as something that can only come about by God’s holy spirit that is likened unto “the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard“, Aaron being a type of Christ in this case. The spirit of God works in each member as it flows down from the head, Christ, through each of us as we are many members but one body, affected by each other’s lives that are quickened by the spirit of God that is very precious and able to help us endure the cross that each of us must bear in this life together to fulfill the law of Christ. If we are not doers of the word bearing each other’s burdens, then we deceive ourselves.

Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Joh 12:3  Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

Gal 6:2  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
Gal 6:3  For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

The oil going down to the skirts of his garments is symbolic language reminding us there is no depth of sin or unrighteousness that Christ’s blood does not cover, and it is upon the foundation of the church this mercy will be shown to all of humanity as was symbolized with these verses in God’s word in both Matthew and Exodus:

Mat 9:20  And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:

Exo 28:33  And beneath upon the hem of it thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, round about the hem thereof; and bells of gold between them round about: [process of judgment 3 being shown [blue, purple, scarlet], the end of that process being receiving the spirit of God “blue” spoken first as God declares the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10). The “purple” is the bruising that we go through in order to have Adam, the red vail, torn.]
Exo 28:34  A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. [When we hear the word of God (a golden bell)] and receive it we are healed, and we are healed by the blood of Christ that symbolizes his word. The witness of hearing Christ is with two golden bells, and the need for repentance of touching the hem of his garment with a fruit that has a blood-like colour is witnessed with two pomegranates].

Psa 133:3  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. 

Dew in the bible is symbolic of God’s holy spirit that is given to us as a free gift to nourish and make flourish.

2Sa 1:21  Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.

Pro 3:20  By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

Num 11:9  And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.

Deu 32:2  My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil^H5140 [flow, drop down] as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

Zec 8:12  For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Joh 6:50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Joh 6:51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give [free gift] for the life of the world.

Christ is announcing in this section of scripture (of verse 3 tonight) a specific blessing that is being spoken for the elect who are in these temporal earthen vessels, which have been promised from the foundation of the world that we would have “life for evermore” (Oba 1:21).

We have that life today, right now, if we know God and His son Jesus Christ (Joh 17:3) and are being quickened by His word that is likened unto dew that descends like the oil from verse 2: “As the dew of Hermon [which is 9,232 ft high and to the north of mount Zion], and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion [also called “the city of David”, “my holy hill”, and is south of Hermon and 2,510 ft high]”.

Psa 128:4  Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD.
Psa 128:5  The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

Isa 4:2  In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
Isa 4:3  And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:
Isa 4:4  When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.

Notice it is “the remnant” who are spoken of in conjunction with dew, and none of these promises could ever be made manifest in our life without Christ being in us as that dew (Rom 8:9).

Hos 14:5  I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily [1Jn 4:17], and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

Mic 5:7  And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.

[The remnant – the dew which tarries not for man – called up to the first resurrection so to speak [Rev 11:12]: we do not wait for the sons of men during the thousand year reign, yet we affect them and prepare them by residing “upon the grass” until the lake of fire when that grass will be destroyed.]

Zec 8:12  For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things [Eph 1:11-12].

There is always an order or direction to God’s plan being revealed which glorifies our Father and demonstrates to us “the degrees” that must be taken in order to see God’s plan perfectly fulfilled for all of humanity as His word pours forth like the oil on Aaron’s beard that goes down to the skirts, or as the dew of Hermon that descended upon the mountains of Zion “who first trusted in Christ”.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

So, too, with the gospel that is comprised of the hope that is found in God’s word, it too, must go forth in a very particular manner, each man in his own order, receiving and hearing that true gospel and being saved at an appointed time as scripture declares (1Co 15:22-25).

Isa 1:27  Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
Isa 1:28  And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

Isa 33:5  The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. [note the order or direction: north-to-south or beard-to-skirts]
Isa 33:6  And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure.

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

It is those who are granted to see the abomination of desolation being spoken of in Matthew 24:15 as being within us today and being judged today as an enemy “under his feet” (1Pe 4:17) who will be that kind of first fruits to have this gospel of the kingdom preached to all the world within them and then the end shall come, which will result in being part of the all in all.

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Eph 4:1  I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Eph 4:2  With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Eph 4:3  Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Eph 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; Eph 4:5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Eph 4:6  One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

We have to endeavour to keep “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” and God has provided the means to do that through Christ who is beseeching us to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” in order to keep that unity in the body of Christ. Finally these are the things that God would have us endeavour at in this life in order to bring about that unity in Christ’s body:

2Pe 1:2  Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2Pe 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
2Pe 1:6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
2Pe 1:7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
2Pe 1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
2Pe 1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
2Pe 1:11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
2Pe 1:12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.