There is great blessing in unity

¹ How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together
in unity!
² It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
³ It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.

Unified Undertaking

God expects the church to be united.  There is a recollection by the author of this psalm of a time when he remembers the unity of God’s people.  He ponders it, and declares it to be good and pleasing.  We too should ponder this and declare the same.  When God’s people are in unity, they are able to fulfill His plans and purposes to the fullest extent possible.  And when they are in unity, any anger, disillusionment, sorry, or angst is swallowed up in love, focus, and purpose.  God’s people are submitting themselves to Him and to each other.

Precious Provision

Oil of anointing was a very precious and costly concoction to make:

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels[about 12 1/2 pounds or about 5.8 kilograms.  Source: NIV Bible] of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels[about 6 1/4 pounds or about 2.9 kilograms.  Source: NIV Bible] of fragrant calamus, ²⁴ 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel^***—and a hin [probably about 1 gallon or about 3.8 liters.  Source: NIV Bible] of olive oil. ²⁵ Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.”

This was a very costly liquid to prepare, and was to be prepared by a professional perfumer.  This was not something that everyone had or could even afford.  The priests would have this costly liquid for anointing or for whatever special purposes God instructed them to use it.  It was highly fragrant, and would have been recognized as a time of joy, for the event would have been very special for this precious liquid to have been used.  This oil was used to consecrate the priests as well as to consecrate things to make them holy.  Once consecrated, they were deemed dedicated to the Lord.

Gentle Grazing

The picture here is of the gentleness of the dew as it settles on the ground.  This is a beautiful picture of serenity.  The Holy Spirit descended and settled upon Jesus just after He had been baptized by John the Baptist.  Jesus refers to the Spirit as living water.  This may be the author’s view of the presence of the Holy Spirit of God among God’s people when they are together and unified in thought:

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Beatific Blessing

The blessing of God is foreseen by the Psalmist, and he may be recounting the joy of it.  He sees even that the blessing extends to everlasting life.  This is not to be discounted, since our chief need in life is to be awakened from spiritual death into spiritual life.  This only comes by God, and only through His Son, Jesus Christ:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.“

A Qualifying Question

Let’s ask ourselves a question: Are we unified in thought and purpose with the body of Christ for the will and purpose of God’s plan?

A short prayer of preparation:

Father in Heaven, You give good gifts to Your children.  As I ponder Your Word, remember me and reveal new and wondrous things in it.  Help me to see these things from Your perspective, that I would have the right frame of thought for viewing them.  Help me to get into the same state of worship and understanding as this Psalmist that I too would rejoice in the unity of Your people.  Help me to better understand how important and significant that is to You.  Help me to greatly desire unity in the body of Christ, and to do all that I can, within the power and scope that I am permitted, to encourage it and to model it.  I pray, Lord God, that as I model unity as You desire it, that others would see and desire to do so as well.  May unity in the body spread throughout my community, and then throughout the region, and then throughout the country.  May my country then be known for the great unity of the body of Christ.  May it be a blessing to You and to us, and may You work great and mighty things in us and through us as we submit ourselves to You and each other.  This I humbly pray in the precious name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Want more?  Why not try A. B. Simpson or A. W. Tozer?

^***The sanctuary shekel was 20 gerahs to the shekel.  A gerah was about ¹/₅₀^th of an ounce.  Source: http://biblehub.com/weights-and-measures/