Summer Playlist, July 9
Summer Playlist Vol 2: Psalm 133
July 9, 2023
1 How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the LORD ordained his blessing,
life forevermore. (Psalm 133 NRSV)
We are gathered by the Spirit, and just so, our unity is found in and by God’s Spirit alone.
1 How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred live together in unity!
“The fact that we are brothers and sisters only through Jesus Christ is of immeasurable significance. Therefore, the other who comes face to face with me earnestly and devoutly seeking community is not the brother or sister with whom I am to relate in the community. My brother or sister is instead that other person who has been redeemed by Christ, absolved from sin, and called to faith and eternal life… Our community consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us. That not only is true at the beginning, as if in the course of time something else were to be added to our community, but also remains so for all the future and into all eternity. I have community with others and will continue to have it only through Jesus Christ. The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more everything else between us will recede, and the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the only thing that is alive between us. We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ we really do have one another. We have one another completely and for all eternity” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together, trans. Daniel W. Bloesch, DBW [Minneapolis: Fortress, 2015]).
2. We are filled with the Spirit, and just so, we find our purpose in and by God’s Spirit alone.
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
“Precious oil” in Biblical Perspective:
A chief luxury item of the Levant (Ezek 16:13, 20; Prov 21:17)
A frequent gift (or export) among the elite (Hos 12:2; Ezek 27:12)
A symbol of plenty and value (Deut 32:13; 33:24; 1 Kgs 17:12, 14, 16; 2 Kgs 2:4, 6, 7)
A sign of joy and well-being (Isa 61:3; Ps 92:11; 104:15) and a healing agent (Isa 1:6)
Anointing with oil as symbol of abundance, provision, and pleasure (Ps 23:5; Qoh 9:8)
Anointing as the setting apart as holy (Exod 29:7; 40:9; Lev 8:10, 12)s
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
“Dew” in Biblical Perspective:
A plentiful natural resource in Jerusalem and Israel (Deut 33:28; Zech 8:12)
A gift “from heaven” (Gen 27:28; Deut 33:13; Hag 1:10) without human help (Mic 5:6)
A symbol of strength and vitality (Job 29:19)
We are blessed by the Spirit, and just so, we have a future in and by God’s Spirit alone.
For there the LORD ordained his blessing,
life forevermore.
15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11:15-17)
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:19-22)