Unity Releases Blessing
Where brothers dwell together, there the Lord commands the blessing.
Incense & Oil · Psalms 133 and 134
The road behind us
For four weeks we have walked the road of the pilgrims. The Songs of Ascent were sung by worshipers climbing up to Jerusalem for the feasts, and we have been climbing with them.
We began with the rhythm of coming into God's presence. Psalm 120 starts far from home, in a place of conflict, and the whole journey that follows is a turning of the heart toward the house of the Lord. In Psalm 122 we felt the desire to go up:
I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord." (Psalm 122:1, NLT)
Then we saw how praise breaks the yoke. Psalm 124 taught us to remember the rescue:
We escaped like a bird from a hunter's trap. The trap is broken, and we are free! (Psalm 124:7, NLT)
Remembering what God has done is what fuels the offering.
Then we learned to be still. In Psalm 131 we drew away and quieted our souls "like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother's milk." Silence is not the absence of prayer. It is the ground of it. We unburden ourselves, and then we come into the presence of God, not only for our needs, but trusting Him fully for everything.
Now we arrive. Psalms 133 and 134 are the last steps of the climb. Here the question becomes: how do we, as a people, position ourselves to receive His blessing? The answer is twofold. There are two ways we create space for blessing: we dwell together in unity, and we behold and bless the Lord.
1. We create space for blessing through unity
How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron's head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe. Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting. (Psalm 133, NLT)
The oil running down
The first picture is the consecration of a priest. The anointing oil of Exodus 30 was costly, fragrant, and holy, set apart for God alone. When Aaron was anointed, the oil was not dabbed on. It was poured, and it ran down his head, down his beard, down to the collar of his robe.
Unity is like that. It is not merely pleasant. It is precious and sacred. And notice the direction: blessing flows down. It starts at the head and runs to the edges. Unity in a family, in a marriage, in a church, is set by those who lead, and it flows to everyone beneath it.
The dew of Hermon
The second picture is dew. Mount Hermon, far to the north, rises over 9,000 feet and was known for dew so heavy it could soak the ground overnight. Zion is smaller and drier. The dew of Hermon does not literally travel to Jerusalem. The psalmist is painting a picture: Zion receiving the kind of refreshing only Hermon could produce.
That is grace. It is abundance landing where it does not naturally belong. When God's people dwell together in unity, they receive a blessing far beyond what they could produce on their own.
The commanded blessing
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. (Psalm 133:3, ESV)
The word "commanded" matters. This is not a blessing we earn or manufacture. God decrees it, and He decrees it in a specific place: where His people dwell together in unity. Unity does not create the blessing. Unity is where God chooses to release it.
Why unity matters for the world
On the night before He went to the cross, Jesus prayed for us:
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one, as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. (John 17:21, NLT)
May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. (John 17:23, NLT)
Again and again in that prayer, Jesus asks that we would be one. Our unity is His evidence to the world. What unity in the church produces is faith in the culture. What disunity and fragmentation in the church produces is atheism in the culture.
How we cultivate unity
So how do we actually grow in unity, at home, in a marriage, in a church family?
Unity is the result of time and proximity. You have to make time in your life, and you have to be willing to get close. That looks like time spent together in spiritual activities, as a family or as a community: praying together, worshiping together, opening the Scriptures together.
Think of it like a math problem. Time plus proximity adds up. But there is a factor that multiplies everything, and that factor is authentic vulnerability.
We have to show up to the gathering. That is addition. But then we actually have to be honest with one another:
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (James 5:16, NLT)
That is multiplication. Where we create an environment of true dwelling together in unity, as the psalm describes, there the Lord commands the blessing.
(Time + Proximity) × Authentic Vulnerability = Unity
This week, choose the people God has placed closest to you: your spouse, your family, your small group, your church family. Make time. Get close. Then take the step that multiplies everything: be honest. Share what you are really carrying. Confess what needs to be confessed, and pray for one another. Showing up adds. Vulnerability multiplies.
2. We create space for blessing by beholding and blessing the Lord
Oh, praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, you who serve at night in the house of the Lord. Lift your hands toward the sanctuary, and praise the Lord. May the Lord, who made heaven and earth, bless you from Jerusalem. (Psalm 134, NLT)
Psalm 134 is the final song of the ascent. The pilgrims have arrived. It reads like an antiphonal call and response: the worshipers call to the priests and Levites keeping watch through the night, "Bless the Lord!" and the priests answer, "May the Lord bless you from Zion!"
The message is simple: bless the Lord at all times, by day and by night.
From the place of unity in Psalm 133, we come into the innermost place, the holy place. And there we behold Him and bless Him. When we bless the Lord, He blesses in response.
This is a divine exchange. It is not merely a material exchange. It is a mystical, supernatural exchange of love. We give Him our worship, and He pours out His peace, His joy, and His life.
What does it look like to bless the Lord by day and by night? It looks like verbally blessing God as we go through the movements of our day. In the car. In the driveway. In the secret place of prayer. In whatever times we have set apart for Him. We say it out loud: "Bless the Lord, O my soul. You are good. You are faithful. Thank You."
David put it this way:
I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. (Psalm 34:1, ESV)
And Paul carried the same posture into the life of the church:
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT)
There are moments when the realization of the goodness of God visits our soul. A sunrise. A child's laugh. An answered prayer. A quiet sense that He is near. In those moments, we have a choice. We can let them pass by without appreciation, or we can stop, savor His goodness, and bless Him.
And watch what happens. See how His blessings flow upon a life that continually blesses God.
Savor and bless. This week, when the goodness of God visits your soul, do not let the moment pass you by. Stop. Savor it. And bless Him out loud, right where you are. Let His praise be continually on your lips.
What we carry for the city
As we finish this series, there are two things we are called to carry for our city: unity, and a cry of prayer and worship night and day.
But we cannot carry for the city what we have not first carried in our own spiritual house. Before anything else, we build a life that beholds and blesses the Lord. We make time. We draw close. We tell the truth to one another. We lift our hands.
Worship rises. Blessing flows.
Reflect
Where in your life is God inviting you to make time and get close: in your home, your marriage, or your church family?
Is there someone you need to be honest with, so that what has been added can be multiplied?
When did the goodness of God last visit your soul, and did you stop to bless Him?
Finish the climb with us. Join us Sunday at 11am as we close the Incense & Oil series together at GateCity Buckhead. Plan your visit.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.