As the saying goes, its not about quantity its about quality. This short, sweet gem of a Psalm compels you to read it over and over, drawing you to the beautiful picture David paints of unity amongst the saints. I heard the words of this Psalm often, growing up in the church, as I think verse one was put to some Hebrewesque music, back in the day. But it takes a focused reading to realise the depth of what David is saying.
David tells us to ‘BEHOLD how good..’ – I looked up ‘behold’ in the dictionary, and it means to ‘look at and see a remarkable person or thing’. It leads us to think then, that when Christians live in unity, it is truly a wondrous thing, something worth looking at closely and imitating.
Is it that Christian unity is a rare thing? I certainly think that our human nature will get in the way of unity, distracting us with petty differences, disillusionment and the oh so flawed nature of the church… But, unity is possible. There is something supernatural about the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit that is able to bring us all together, with our individual strengths and foibles, and turn us into something beautiful, something worth beholding. And so importantly, something that attracts the world to the message of Jesus. This beauty is so noteworthy, that David felt moved to write a whole Psalm about it.
David tells us that unity resembles anointing oil. The sweet perfume that blessed the High Priest of the temple and also set him apart for God’s holy service. It also flows like the oil did over Aaron’s beard and robes. The unity of the saints is something lovely that spreads, affecting all those who come into contact with it. And David says it resembles life-giving morning dew!
Our unity as believers here on earth is only a glimpse of the sweetness of our reunion with with God in heaven. He loves our togetherness, and it commands his blessing!
– Sarah Kent