(Psalms 133:1) “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”
David understood the culinary advantages for brothers to eat and to share a table around the finished work of Calvary. I would liken it to honey in the rock in a dry and barren land. It is something we must never take for granted and we must fight with all our might for unity amongst the brethren. How thankful I am to God my Father for the unity we as brothers in Christ share around God and His Word on a Saturday mornings. For a long time I was in a barren land, with very little unity around God’s Word as I battled to come to truth with certain realities, that had been misrepresented. I will say, amen! To what David has to say, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”
The strength of any well thought out plan is for people to be unified in their objective. That goes for both the honourable as well as the criminal. Even organised crime would be less effective if it was not unified with criminals standing together in unity to rip off the public. What David is saying is how sweet it is when, Christians get together around the finished work of Christ with the same objective and that is to bring glory to their God, praise His name! These kinds of encounter help us find new strength to fly the banner of truth in our lives. It is something well worth dying for.
Christianity is filled with many proud and conceited individuals and I have no doubt played my part amongst that number. However there must come a time in our lives when we put off childish things and we look to fight for the common good of all true Christians across the globe. This does not mean at the exclusion of sound doctrine, but on the contrary, to stand up for truth and to allow the Word of God to speak and to break down strongholds in the minds of babes and those who have been blindsided with error as if it was the truth.
The time is at hand for all of God’s children to fight the good fight of faith and to help those who as weak and in need of a helping hand. It is imperative that we begin at home with our own lives as we look for grace to strengthen our own relationships with God our Father through the finished work of our great redeeming King the Lord Jesus. Prayer a vital pillar to that relationship.
Instead of looking for reasons why we will avoid certain brothers if indeed they are brothers in Christ, let us fight to have sweet fellowship with them in unity around Christ. What is it that will change our understanding on any given topic? What will open our eyes to the truth if we have misunderstood certain doctrines and misrepresented them? I am convinced, for us to arrive at a place of understanding it is all about humility before our great God. If we can learn to echo the words of Paul to Timothy and make them our own, I believe we too with David will echo his statement about brothers and unity. This then was Paul’s instruction to Timothy; “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2Timothy 2:23-26)
We must act in a particular manner when handling the Word of Life, we must patiently endure evil in gentleness; however it is only God who can grant man repentance and help them come to their senses.
Let us not mistake gentleness for the accommodation of error and the doctrines of devils. Wolves are not to be accommodated in any shape or form, even the lion was no match for the shepherd boy David; at any sight of them he destroyed them and protected his sheep: "But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.” (1Samuel 17:34-35):- Elijah did exactly the same thing, he openly opposed those who opposed His God, if the challenge comes against the truth of God's Word it must be openly addressed so that the wolves are exposed.
My plea is to those who have Christ’s Spirit across the denominations, there are Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals as well as many other church groups that preach Christ and Him crucified and who have amongst their number those who confess Jesus as Lord, all of God’s children, His election and those who are known by God.
I have often wondered why any one particular church had not received the fullness of the measure in application on how a local assembly should operate. I think it has something to do with the necessity of keeping us humble. I may be wrong! But what I do know is what David teachers us; “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” And this must be our objective; we must fight for it and learn from one another.
The sooner we understand that our kidneys play their effective role in our own bodies and that we need then to flush out any impurities, the sooner we learn to work for them and not against them. If we learn that our kidneys are about to fail, we will not now go out of our way to go on an alcoholic binge, unless we have a death wish. So too has God placed each member in the body as it has pleased him; I now speak to the universal church and not the local assembly; we can and must learn from one another. For if we remain firm on our laurels and refuse to receive nourishment from our brothers we will not share and understand David’s sentiment on what it means to dwell in unity. We will suffer loss!
God help us to learn to stand on His truth and for us to lay down our lives for our brothers especially when we do not have unity as a common denominator. As the battle begins to gain momentum it is important that we know who is with us and who then is the true enemy.
“What it is that is commended - brethren's dwelling together in unity, not only not quarrelling, and devouring one another, but delighting in each other with mutual endearments, and promoting each other's welfare with mutual services. Sometimes it is chosen, as the best expedient for preserving peace, that brethren should live asunder and at a distance from each other; that indeed may prevent enmity and strife (Gen_13:9), but the goodness and pleasantness are for brethren to dwell together and so to dwell in unity, to dwell even as one (so some read it), as having one heart, one soul, one interest. David had many sons by many wives; probably he penned this psalm for their instruction, to engage them to love another, and, if they had done this, much of the mischief that arose in his family would have been happily prevented. The tribes of Israel had long had separate interests during the government of the Judges, and it was often of bad consequence; but now that they were united under one common head he would have them sensible how much it was likely to be for their advantage, especially since now the ark was fixed, and with it the place of their rendezvous for public worship and the centre of their unity. Now let them live in love.
II. How commendable it is: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is! It is good in itself, agreeable to the will of God, the conformity of earth to heaven. It is good for us, for our honour and comfort. It is pleasant and pleasing to God and all good men; it brings constant delight to those who do thus live in unity. Behold, how good! We cannot conceive or express the goodness and pleasantness of it. Behold it is a rare thing, and therefore admirable. Behold and wonder that there should be so much goodness and pleasantness among men, so much of heaven on this earth! Behold it is an amiable thing, which will attract our hearts. Behold it is an exemplary thing, which, where it is, is to be imitated by us with a holy emulation.” (Matthew Henry)
Signing off
Tyrone
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