THE BLESSEDNESS OF UNITY
After such a wonderful Psalm as Psalm 132, we see a wonderful church life, the wonderful life of the brethren living together in unity. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Psa. 133:1). No one can explain how truly wonderful this is. You can only come and experience it yourself. To hear about it is not sufficient; to read and learn of it is not adequate; you simply must “come and see.” I am so very happy that nearly all the dear ones who have come and have seen have been captured. “Behold, how good!” Just behold! If you would like to know what is going on in the church in Los Angeles, you had better come and see. It is marvelous!
“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” (v. 2). The unity is like the precious ointment. This ointment is the Spirit, the Spirit which includes all that Christ is and all He has accomplished. It runs down from the Head to the entire Body. Now, praise the Lord, we are under His skirt. Since we are all His members, we are all under His skirt, under His garments. Hence, we all partake of the anointing ointment. This is a picture of the Body.
Another aspect of the unity is that it is like the dew of Hermon which descends upon the mountains of Zion. Hermon, a high mountain, signifies the heavens, the highest place, from which the dew descends. The mountains are the local churches, and the dew is the refreshing Christ. In Psalm 110 we are the dew to Christ, but here in Psalm 133 Christ is the dew to the church. Praise the Lord, we are His refreshment, and He is ours. Day by day He is refreshed by us, and we are refreshed by Him. The refreshing element of Christ comes down upon all the local churches. Sometimes when we are in the meetings late in the evening, we experience the refreshing dew as in the dawn of the morning. Many times we are very tired in body, but tremendously refreshed in spirit. We would like the meetings to continue through the entire night. Such unity is as the dew of Hermon that descends upon the mountains of Zion. It is not only as ointment upon the Body of Christ, but also as heavenly dew upon the local churches for our enjoyment. It is not only a Body life, but also a local church life. Hallelujah for such unity!
It is here, in such a place of unity, that “the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore” (v. 3). Note that it does not say “the Lord gave the blessing,” but “the Lord commanded the blessing.” The blessing is life, fullness of life, for evermore. How glad we are to hear of the local churches being full of life. This is the fulfillment of Psalm 133. Where the brethren are dwelling together in unity, the Lord commands the blessing, even life for evermore. The beauty, the joy, and the blessing of the unity of God’s people are with the Body of Christ and in the local churches.
We have one further Psalm of ascension, Psalm 134. Both Psalm 133 and 134 have only three verses. They are short Psalms, but how precious! Never before have I appreciated Psalm 134 as much as I do today. Psalm 133 is a continuation of Psalm 132, and Psalm 134 is the conclusion of Psalm 133. By the close of Psalm 132 God enters into His rest, and we obtain satisfaction in the habitation of God. Hence, following that, we have the church life in Psalm 133. Psalm 134 now is a conclusion to that wonderful church life presented in Psalm 133. “Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord” (vv. 1-2). This was the word of the people to the priests. All the people were telling the priests, “All ye servants of the Lord, you must bless the Lord.” Then the last verse of Psalm 134 is the answer, the reply, of the priests to the people: “The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.” God’s servants bless Him in His house, and God blesses His people out of Zion. This little Psalm means that we all must fellowship and communicate in this way. After a good meeting, after a rich enjoyment of Christ, some of us may say, “Bless the name of the Lord.” Then others may answer, “The Lord bless you out of Zion.” How blessed! Let us try it. This is a good fellowship, a good communication, a good conclusion to a meeting of the church.
Hallelujah for the church life!
(Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms, Chapter 21, by Witness Lee)
