#885 Bone Of My Bone

Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when brothers dwell in unity!

2 It is like the precious oil on the head,

running down on the beard,

on the beard of Aaron,

running down on the collar of his robes!

3 It is like the dew of Hermon,

which falls on the mountains of Zion!

For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,

life forevermore. Psalm 133 ESV

A Psalm of Ascents of David, dwelling in unity. Reading through other's notes I think it best fits the time frame described in 2 Samuel 5.

When brothers dwell in unity - We must first ask ourselves, are we brothers? 

• David was related to Saul, who wanted him dead, through Abraham. Most all of Israel shared this genetic heritage.
• They had received the law and the knowledge of sin.
• They had in common the revelation of God through His Word and the prophets. 
• In 2 Samuel 5 Israel acknowledges these things, but also that God had anointed him to be king. This is the basis now of our brotherhood, God has anointed His Son, Jesus Christ, to be a Priest King. He has earned this by taking on humanity, becoming the God/Man, living the life we could not, dying for our sins, and rising from the dead. In this we are united through Christ by faith in His atonement. 

The parallels between the shadow of David and the reality in Christ are significant. He was, like David, rejected by His own. We, like all men, share in a fallen nature, and are in Christ reconciled to God and each other. We all come from Adam and Eve, we all fall short, and true unity does not exist outside of Christ. 

…22 I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— 23 I in them and You in Me— that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me. 24 Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.… John 17: 22-24

26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.… Galatians 3: 26-28

…10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—… John 1: 10-12

It is like the precious oil on the head, running down the beard - The priest was anointed to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people, his was a call to holiness, to reverence and proclaim the words of God. Oil is a sign of rich blessing, of care, refreshment, and a sweet smelling savor. There is no true unity that discounts God's holiness, or that tramples under foot the Son of God, profanes the blood of the covenant or insults the Spirit of Grace. 

iv. “What a sacred thing must brotherly love be when it can be likened to an oil which must never be poured on any man but on the Lord’s high-priest alone!” (Spurgeon)

iii. “In short, true unity, like all good gifts, is from above; bestowed rather than contrived, a blessing far more than an achievement.” (Kidner)

For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore - How sweet it is, how thick it is, we awaken to it, the glistening grass, a shining spider's web. I did not fill buckets in the night, nor did I bring the water here, I rested asleep, and woke to manna. I walked the fields with brothers and sisters who gave glory and honor to the Firstborn among us. We could not make this, united in the truth we once hated, now broken from former ties. An odd group of heads, toes, fingers, minds, united not by might or unity's sake, but in forsaking all the lies. 

i. “O for more of this rare virtue! Not the love which comes and goes, but that which dwells; not that spirit which separates and secludes, but that which dwells together; not that mind which is all for debate and difference, but that which dwells together in unity.” (Spurgeon)

ii. “O, come the day when division shall cease, and enmity be done away; when the tribes of the spiritual Israel shall be united in a bond of eternal charity, under the true David, in the Jerusalem which is above; and saints and angels shall sing this lovely Psalm together!” (Horne)