In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines Psalm 133 and King David’s celebration there of the united gathering of God’s people, accomplished today in Christ’s church. Pastor Dave explains how this psalm teaches you both to seek and celebrate the united gathering of God’s people as the place of blessing.
1. The Blessing of United Gathering Exclaimed (v. 1)
2. The Blessing of United Gathering Compared (vv. 2-3b)
3. The Blessing of United Gathering Explained (v. 3c)
Full Transcript:
It’s so good to see all of you and to sing with you. It truly is a blessing to be in this place. We’re looking at another Psalm today. We’ll resume our Disciplines of Grace topical series next time I’m preaching. You’ll remember that we recently finished talking about the spiritual discipline of prayer. The next discipline that we’re going to be talking about is the discipline of the church. I don’t mean like church discipline, like you did something wrong, but the spiritual discipline of participating in the church. The Psalm we’re going to look at today has something to do with both prayer and church.
Let’s ask the Lord to bless this time. Lord, we have gathered as You’ve commanded because we anticipate that You will bless us. You will feed us from Your word. You will renew us. You will fill us with joy. So we ask You, God, to keep what You’ve promised. Feed us. Renew us. Change us. Convict us. Encourage us. Make us more like Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Well, one of the realities of modern American life is the need to use reviews and recommendations when you’re going to decide to try something for yourself. Should we go see this movie? Let’s check the reviews. Should we try this restaurant? Let’s check the reviews. Should I buy this product from Amazon? Let me check the reviews. Reviews, of course, are not foolproof, and there is such a thing as fake reviews, but reviews save us a lot of time, and they give us a much higher chance of actually finding something good. And even if we don’t use the reviews of the internet or some app, we do end up utilizing the recommendations of others, especially those that we know well and that we love and trust.
Now, they say that people are much more likely to leave a negative review for a bad experience than a positive review for a good experience. Why this is so is not entirely clear. It does seem like negative experiences matter to people more, and they’re more motivating to write about. One implication, to me at least, is that if you’re going to write a positive review, then it has to be something truly amazing. If you’re going to take time and energy out of your busy schedule to thoughtfully praise and recommend something, and you’re not even getting a tangible reward for it, you’re not some professional reviewer or something like that, then it must be exceptional, not just fine or pretty good, but really good. Awesome. Amazing.
Now, have you found many things like that in your life? Things that were so good, you had to take time just to tell other people about it. Well, the passage that we’re going to examine today is kind of like a review for something exceptionally good. It’s 10 out of 10, five stars, would heartily recommend, would experience again. And the person leaving this thoughtful review is not only wise and experienced, but someone who genuinely loves God and is actually speaking by the perfect and authoritative Spirit of God. Whatever this writer celebrates and recommends is really what God Himself celebrates and recommends. What is it in the Bible, even in the Psalms, that receives such a glowing review? It’s this – the gathering of the people of God for worship and ministry, even the church.
Though for many today, the united gathering of God’s people in church has become an ignored thing, an optional thing, or even a distasteful thing. It’s like they’re leaving negative and middling reviews. But God’s perspective is entirely different. Instead, he shows us in the Psalm that we’re going to look at today, not only should the united gathering of God’s people be sought as a continual habit and activity, it should also be celebrated before the Lord in prayer. And why is that? Because such a gathering is the place of God’s special blessing.
Let’s investigate these truths together this morning by looking at Psalm 133. Just open your Bibles and turn to Psalm 133. That’s page 632 if you’re using the Bible in the pew in front of you or to the side of you. My message is entitled, The Place of Blessing. The Place of Blessing. As you look at Psalm 133, you’ll notice it’s one of the smaller Psalms, but it’s very powerful. Let’s read it together now, and we’ll start with the title.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon
Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever.
So here we have another Psalm. This is a model prayer and worship song originally given by God’s Spirit to the people of Israel and later to us, the church. Note from the title that this is a special Psalm. It’s called a song of ascents. What’s that? Well, the song of ascents was most likely a song meant to be sung by Israelite pilgrims as they went up to Jerusalem for one of the religious feasts. There’s more than one song of ascents in the Bible. Actually, Psalms 120 to 134 are an ordered set of songs of ascents. And the ascents part of that phrase comes from the fact that you would always need to ascend or go up to Jerusalem. The city sits in the Judean hill country at about 2,500 feet above sea level, and it’s literally built on mountains and surrounded by valleys. So you’re always going to have to go up no matter where you’re coming from. Pilgrims went up to Jerusalem for three main religious feasts and some others, but three required from the Torah – Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. And because most of the people celebrating these feasts did not live in Jerusalem, that meant that the population of the city would increase greatly during any of the feast weeks. Tens of thousands of men, often with their families, came to spend time in Jerusalem and to worship around God’s dwelling place in obedience to his word.
Now, there is a progression in the songs of ascents. The beginning songs start away from Jerusalem and express a desire to go there, and the ending songs are actually in Jerusalem. In Psalm 133 is one of the two ending songs. By the time we reach Psalm 133, the pilgrims have arrived in Jerusalem, and they are celebrating together in worship to God, even by singing this song.
And notice the other part of the title. It says, of David. We saw this phrase in the psalm we looked at last week. This just means that this psalm belongs to David. He wrote it. And you know David, he’s the king chosen by God for Israel and the sweet psalmist who wrote many of the psalms. Now, what was the original occasion for David to write this psalm? We can’t say for sure, though surely from the content of this psalm and from its later inclusion in this special set of psalms, David had in mind some time of joyous, united worship assembly of God’s people in Jerusalem. He may have written it for the religious feasts or one in particular.
But whatever the exact occasion, we can easily imagine the circumstances that would lead David to write this song. I can see David looking out from his high fortress palace in Jerusalem or maybe just walking around the city. It’s a time for one of the religious feasts, and he sees all the men, all the families, all the tents of Israel just covering the streets or littering the countryside. And he’s listening to conversation and laughter and singing. He smells the burning sacrifices coming from God’s altar, and he also smells the cooking meat that comes from the meals made after those sacrifices. He watches the people of Israel, despite their many differences, where they come from, all assembling as one to serve one another, to rejoice together, and to worship God. David experiences all this, and he says to himself, I want to write a new song. And thus we have Psalm 133, later appropriately incorporated into Israel’s official songs of ascents.
Now understand that Psalm 133 is not just an expression of David’s joy about participating in a united worship assembly. It’s also instruction to us as to where we also may find our joy and blessing. So here’s the main idea of this psalm. In Psalm 133, David teaches you both to seek and celebrate the united gathering of God’s people as the place of blessing. In this psalm, David teaches you both to seek and to celebrate the united gathering of God’s people as the place, even the special place, of blessing.
The psalm is only nine lines long, apart from the title. It has three discernible sections, so we’ll take a look at each part now, starting with the one in verse one. Number one, I’ll give you just three headings as we move through. The blessing of united gathering exclaimed. The blessing of united gathering exclaimed. Look at verse one,
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!
Line one starts with that attention-grabbing word, behold. It means look, listen, see vividly for yourself what I’m about to declare. What does David declare? How good and how pleasant it is. Now you see the words how starting off these phrases. These are not questions, but exclamations. These are excited declarations. And notice the word good. Now good is a very broad word, both in English and in the original Hebrew. It can mean a whole bunch of different things. What sense of good does David mean here? Well, it’s paired with another word that gives us a strong clue. The second word, pleasant, shows us the kind of goodness we’re talking about. Whenever good and pleasant are used together in the Old Testament, it shows us that good becomes a synonym of pleasant. So we’re talking about the kind of good that is pleasing, enjoyable, delightful, that kind of good.
So David is saying at the beginning of verse one, look how pleasing it is, look how delightful it is. What is so pleasing and delightful? He says, for brothers to dwell together in unity. Now brothers is a word that can refer to literal male siblings, to extended family, or even generally to all those who make up your same people group. And truly, it is good and pleasant when your close family or your extended family is able to live with you in the same place and everybody gets along. But David has something else in mind. Considering the occasion, David must be referring to a broader kinship, the brotherhood of Israel. How great it is, David’s saying, to have all the brethren of Israel gathering and dwelling together.
But dwell together how? You see the phrase at the very end of the line, in unity. These are not just brothers dwelling in the same physical space, but truly dwelling together. There’s a special unity to these families of Israel as they meet and reside together.
Now remember that in David’s day, Israelite unity was kind of a novel concept. Israel had not too long ago come out of the judges period when pretty much every tribe and even every person in Israel was doing whatever he thought was right in his own eyes. And then when the tribes came together under King Saul, there emerged a conflict between David and his supporters and Saul and his supporters, and it lasted for much of Saul’s reign. And then when Saul died, a civil war erupted in Israel. David was king of one tribe in Judah, and Saul’s son Ish-bosheth led the other tribes in a war, a bloody war, with David. It was only when Ish-bosheth died that Israel finally came together in peace under one God and one king.
And now in Psalm 133, King David sees the beautiful fruit of peace and unity that God Himself has accomplished. And again, I can just imagine David speaking, here we are, so many people who are in many ways so different, young and old, men, women, and children, members of all the tribes of Israel, as well as foreign proselytes and God-fearers, people from big cities and tiny villages, various occupations, various social stations, people with various levels of theological understanding and religious background, but we’re here gathered together on the same spot, God’s chosen dwelling place, all doing the same actions, obeying the Lord, serving each other, worshiping God, and all for the same reasons, because we love and revere our holy God and we want to see Him glorified.
Now most people in the world find it difficult to dwell together in unity because of the many differences. You can just think about how our own country is so divided. But in this psalm, Israel has come to Jerusalem as one, and they all now dwell together, and King David rejoices to see his brethren in such a united gathering, and he shows us that we should too. After all, think about it, as the church, we have an even more diverse background than the people of Israel did, yet we’ve been made one in a way that’s more profound than even Israel experienced.
We’ve been made one in Christ, and this is what we read about earlier in the service, right, in that passage from Ephesians 4. By faith and repentance in Jesus Christ, we have become one in a new body, in Jesus’ body, spiritually. We are indwelt by one Spirit. We are called according to one same hope. We are serving one Lord. We are holding to one faith or set of truth. We are baptized into the one death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We worship one God. We’re being cared for by one Father who rules over everything. And this unity that we have, it was also forged in blood, not the blood of human war, but of divine sacrifice, of Jesus on the cross for us. This unity was given to us as both a gift and a stewardship. We are called to utilize it, protect it, and celebrate it.
The people of Israel gave tangible expression to their unity by gathering for the service and worship of the religious feasts. But we have an even better opportunity. We get to gather weekly, even multiple times a week, to go to the same place, God’s chosen dwelling place. Not this building, but this assembly, the church. We get to do the same actions. We get to obey the Lord, serve one another, celebrate God, and we get to do it for the same reason, because we love and revere our holy God and we want to see Him glorified. I mean, this kind of already gave it away. This is literally the meaning of the word church. The word for church in the New Testament, ecclesia, doesn’t mean a building, though that’s a meaning in the English language. Ecclesia means an assembly of people, a gathering. And that’s where God has chosen to dwell, in the gathering of His people.
Now, if united gathering with God’s people has been your practice, then you should also be able to say what David does here. Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. But if it hasn’t been your practice, your regular practice, well, listen to David, listen to God, and get on board. Because the gathered assembly, even today, the church, is the place of blessing. We see, number one, the blessing of united gathering exclaimed. But as is often the case when you find something good, you don’t just want to let others know that it’s good, you also want to give them some idea of how it’s good. And David literally says that, right? How good, how pleasant. Well, just how good is it, David, what you’re declaring? David’s going to elaborate for us in the next two verses.
In verses two to three, we see two images of blessing coming down from above. And this is the second part of David’s teaching, moving us to seek and celebrate the united gathering of God’s people as the place of blessing. Number two, the blessing of the united gathering compared. The blessing of the united gathering compared. The first image to help us understand how blessed the united gathering is is in verse two. So let’s read that.
It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes.
I don’t know if you find this description maybe strange or funny, but it’s actually beautiful. This first image frames the united gathering of God’s people as a kind of honored and holy commissioning. And we can really see a poetic element to this psalm in that the way David explains this image is by delayed identification. That’s just a technical term for it. Delayed identification is when the speaker, he draws the listener in to what he’s describing by not fully revealing what it is until the end. It gives you piece by piece, and he magnifies your appreciation of the image by only gradually revealing it. And if you say, I don’t know what you’re talking about, let me just show you.
David begins in line one of verse two by likening the united gathering to receiving precious oil on the head. Now, if you’ve read the Bible very much at all, you probably noticed that there is a lot of anointing going on in the Bible. This guy’s getting anointed, that guy’s getting anointed. This is because anointing with oil was quite common in the ancient Middle Eastern culture. See, olive trees were and still are common to the region, and one of olive oil’s many uses in ancient times was as a cosmetic. We might use various lotions and scrubs today. Well, men and women in Israel, they often used olive oil as part of preparing themselves to look nice for the day. They put it in their hair, they put it on their faces. They might use it to get ready for an upcoming banquet. And if you were rich, you didn’t use mere olive oil to anoint yourself. No, you used the good oil, that is, precious oil, perfume. Oil mixed with supremely pleasing fragrances like frankincense and myrrh. This oil would not only freshen your complexion, but it would also perfume your head, your hair, and your clothing as it ran down from your head. And remember, smelling pleasant was not a given in that day. Most people did not have many changes of clothing, doing laundry was arduous, and daily bathing was rare.
Moreover, perfume or fragrant oil was difficult to produce and expensive to buy. So then, to be anointed with precious oil was a real blessing and a privilege usually only reserved for the rich. But a very gracious host, he might use perfumed oil as an act of hospitality. He might take some of his own precious oil and anoint the guests who come into his house, not only allowing them to enjoy the fragrance, but also making them smell better to the others. To be anointed in such a way was a mark of high honor and even affection from the host. So here at the beginning of verse 2, David compares the united gathering of God’s people to this honoring and very pleasant anointing with precious oil. And that already is a very vivid analogy of the blessing of coming together as God’s people.
But there’s more, because David expands the image in the next line with the phrase, coming down upon the beard. Aha! We see that this is not just a picture of any old person being anointed with oil, but rather of a man being anointed with so much perfumed oil that it runs down his head, down the sides of his face, and even into his beard. And we’re not talking about most modern American beards here. I see some of you have beards. None of you have a beard like an Israelite had a beard. Hebrew beards were very long and flowing. So this man has precious oil running down into that kind of beard. Such an act would have been quite costly and an extremely generous gift that would leave this man’s head and beard smelling quite wonderful. So we see the image of blessing and honor has reached another level.
But David’s still not done because he adds another detail in line 3 that expands the picture. He says, even Aaron’s beard. So we’re not just talking about any man receiving abundant precious oil on his head and down into his beard. We’re talking about Aaron and Aaron’s special anointing. Now you might say, who’s Aaron? And where did he come from all of a sudden? Well, almost any Israelite would have recognized the name Aaron, and they also would have recognized the event of Aaron’s special anointing because it is mentioned, it is described in the Torah, the five books of Moses. Aaron, you may remember, was the brother of Moses, and he was the chosen high priest, even the first high priest, to serve in God’s tabernacle, a place of God’s dwelling. God appointed Aaron and Aaron’s family line, and only them, to be Israel’s mediatorial priests, to serve in God’s tabernacle, to offer the sacrifices, and then later to do the same in the temple.
But to serve as high priest, Aaron had to undergo ritual preparations, including being anointed with oil. And not just any oil, but a fragrant and holy anointing oil specifically designed by God himself. And we hear the description of this oil in Exodus 30:22-25. I won’t read it for the sake of time, but it was a special mixture of myrrh, fragrant cinnamon, fragrant cane, cassia, which is another kind of cinnamon, and olive oil. This perfumed oil was to be used by Moses to anoint all the holy implements of the tabernacle, as well as Aaron and his sons as priests.
And the purpose of anointing with this oil and the creation of this oil, it certainly would have been precious, and the preciousness of the oil illustrated the preciousness of the tabernacle and high priestly ministry, and even the great glory of God. But also, the special preciousness of the oil marked out Aaron and all the implements of the dwelling place of God as holy, purified from uncleanness and set apart to God for special service. This is part of why no layman in Israel could receive this oil, or even make it. If he did, he was to be killed. And Moses anointed Aaron in accordance with God’s command.
But what do you think the experience was like for Aaron? I mean, talk about honor. Talk about privilege. Talk about an awesome event. Aaron has this fragrant, special, unique, holy oil put on his head and going down his face, even into his beard. He’s not being anointed as a mere favored guest in someone’s household, but God Himself was marking out Aaron as a favored, mediatorial high priest for God’s people. And this only happened to Aaron once. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for him of great blessing and sobering honor as this abundant oil ran down his body. No one other than the priest would have this kind of experience, and each priest would only experience it once.
So, our image of comparison here has gone to a new level, but then there’s one more element. In the last line of verse 2, it says, coming down upon the edge of his robes. So, you’re getting the picture? There’s so much holy, fragrant oil running down Aaron’s head and beard that it drips down into his clothes as well. And what clothing does Aaron the high priest wear? Well, the holy robe and the ephod designed by God. What’s significant about having the holy oil on these priestly garments? Well, not only are they marked out for holy service as well, but it means that the fragrance of the oil will linger. For a long time after when Aaron puts on the high priestly garb and he engages in his holy work, he will again smell the anointing oil in his clothes and remember the anointing he was given by God as part of commissioning him to do his work.
Now, it’s all a very impressive scene. But remember, this is just an analogy. This is a comparison. David says here in our psalm, the blessing of the united gathering of God’s people is like the holy blessing that Aaron uniquely experienced in being commissioned as Israel’s high priest. Now, is that a surprising comparison or what? And yet, that’s exactly what we read in God’s word.
What exactly is David implying? I’d say this, that Israel, when they come together into the place of God’s presence to serve and worship, they not only have bestowed on them pleasantness and honor from God, but even a holy commissioning for ministry. I mean, after all, did God not tell Israel through Moses in Exodus 19:6,
and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Though in one sense, only Aaron’s family could actually go into the tabernacle to serve as priests. But in another sense, the whole nation was set apart by God to serve Him in holiness and to live as witnesses before the surrounding nations. Israel’s gathering together in Jerusalem then was like a priestly anointing from God, a fresh anointing not only to bless and honor them, but to recommission them and send them back into holy work.
And if such was true for Israel, what about us in the church? For 1 Peter 2:9 applies the verse I just read, Exodus 19:6, to Christians. Peter says we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation. 2 Corinthians 2:14-16 even likens Christian witness in the world to the spreading of the fragrance of Christ. But it’s interesting, Paul even asks in that passage, who is adequate for these things? Who is adequate for such a majestic and holy ministry? Answer – only those who have been chosen, blessed, empowered, and commissioned by God. Where will God accomplish such a empowering and holy commissioning? Well, the same category of place that’s described in Psalm 133. It’s in the united gathering of His people in His chosen place of presence, which back then, Jerusalem, today, the church, even our gathered assembly.
Again, if regular church worship and ministry has been your habit, then you’ve experienced some measure of what David talks about by analogy. By devotion to our gathering, it’s like you’re being repeatedly and abundantly anointed by God with His own special oil to bless you, honor you, and also to set you apart for the work that He’s given you. And isn’t that a wonderful reality? A wonderful experience? You felt it. But if you haven’t been devoted to the gathering assembly, well, then you’re clearly missing out on this anointing. You don’t get to experience it, which also means you cannot serve God well. You’re not getting his regular anointing. How are you going to serve Him well? How are you going to serve Him well without being committed to the church? And if you’re not interested in serving God well, then what are you interested in? Isn’t that basically being a Christian? So again, if this hasn’t been your experience, if this hasn’t been your habit, listen to David. Listen to his description of what the blessing of united gathering is like so that you too might experience this blessing regularly. It is, David tells us, on the one hand, like the awesome anointing of Aaron into holy commissioned service.
But on the other hand, and he gives us a second image, the united gathering of God’s people is like supernatural refreshment. It’s like supernatural refreshment. Take a look at what David begins to describe for us in the beginning of verse 3.
It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion.
So once again, like the first image, we have delayed identification here, though it’s not quite as long. David presents us with one picture of blessing, and then he adds to the picture in such a way as to magnify it. In the first line of verse 3, David compares the blessing of the united gathering of God’s people to the dew of Hermon. And I might say, who’s Hermon? Well, Hermon’s not a man. It’s a mountain. At about 9,200 feet above sea level, Mount Hermon is the tallest mountain in Palestine, situated in what would have been the northeast of ancient Israel. Today, the mountain technically sits outside Israel’s borders. It’s in between Syria and Lebanon. We actually saw it from a distance in our Israel study trip. Quite an impressive mountain. And we also saw what David described. In ancient times, Mount Hermon was well known for precipitation and dew. And it still is. The precipitation from Hermon makes the lower slopes of the mountain, the surrounding area, extremely lush and fertile. And you can contrast this with much of the rest of Israel, which is far more arid. Some parts of it are barren. And it was certainly very dependent on seasonal rains for greenery, life, and crops. So when David brings to mind the dew of Hermon, he’s bringing to mind cool and beneficial water refreshment that such a high mountain could provide. So that’s already an analogy of united gathering.
But again, David’s not done. Because he adds in the second line, coming down upon the mountains of Zion. Ah, so David’s not simply talking about Mount Hermon and its refreshing slopes. Rather, the pictures of the dew or the light rain of Hermon actually coming down on the mountains of Jerusalem, the hills on which the city itself is built. Now, such a transport of Hermon’s dew to Zion’s mountains isn’t physically possible. Not scientifically possible. Hermon and Jerusalem are too far away from one another for this to take place literally. So it must be that David imagines Hermon’s dew or light rain as if it might come down on Jerusalem, as if God could supernaturally bring it about. Because what an image of refreshment that would be.
Jerusalem is part of the more arid section of Israel. And considering the context of religious feasts, all three religious feasts take place in the dry months of Israel’s calendar. There’s almost no rain taking place during Passover, Pentecost, or Tabernacles. So that means that probably when David wrote this, and certainly when this song would have been sung, it’s pretty dry. Hasn’t been rained for a while, and it’s probably hot. But imagine, David says, essentially, if the dew of Hermon, you remember Hermon, so lush, what if the dew of Hermon suddenly came down on all this parched Jerusalem? Imagine how cooling and comforting that shower would be. Imagine the sudden revitalization of the land and of the people. David says, this is what the united gathering is like. And thus he’s implying, this is the blessing you experience when you gather with God’s people. It’s like supernatural refreshment coming down upon you like a gentle rain from above. And that’s very vivid, isn’t it?
And again, You brethren who are devoted to the church, have you experienced this? Gathering with God’s people in unity to worship, to pray, to serve, to sing, to encourage? Is it not like supernatural refreshment? It’s like rain over parched ground. Your wilting soul is made to stand up. Your weary heart is buoyed with a fresh sight of Christ. Your sin is confronted. You’re led back to the Lord. Your doubts are dispelled. Your soul is refreshed. So David is teaching us the answer to the question, if you want supernatural revitalization for your soul, where are you going to find it? What place? It’s in the gathered worship and ministry of God’s people. Again, back then that was Jerusalem, but today it’s the church. It’s the church.
I think a lot of us can testify that we’ve experienced this. And if you haven’t, because you’re not committed to church, you’re not gathering with God’s people, it’s very hit or miss for you, then what are you waiting for? You can drink deeply from the refreshing fountain of Christ via the channel of his church. Won’t you utilize that opportunity? David is recommending that you do. And God, through David. Come and drink, David tells us, and be refreshed by the water that comes down from God above via His gathered people.
So we’ve seen the blessing of united gathering exclaimed and compared. But perhaps now the question is, why? Why should the assembly of God’s people be the place of blessing? Let’s look at David’s last point to understand further. And this goes back to the main message, why we should seek and celebrate the united gathering of God’s people as the place of blessing. Number three, the blessing of united gathering explained. The blessing of united gathering explained. And the explanation is short and to the point. Look at the last part of verse three,
For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever.
The last line of the psalm begins with the word “for.” This is introducing a reason for why what David just exclaimed and compared above is true. Now the word “there” in this line is a bit intriguing because the referent is not entirely clear. Well, what is the there? Does there refer to the mountains of Zion that were just mentioned? Or does it go back to the psalm’s main subject introduced in verse one, the place where brothers dwell in unity? Well, in some ways I feel like that question is moot because the answer to both is really the same. Zion, the place where the people are gathering in unity, are the same place. So that’s the there. The pleasant place where brothers can dwell in true unity is the place of God’s special presence, which back then was Mount Zion, Jerusalem. David says, there’s something about that place that makes everything I’ve said so far possible.
As he goes on to explain, notice next the title, the LORD in all caps. This is a name, a term that we talked about last time. This is just the traditional way that our English Bibles indicate the name Yahweh. It translates to something like He is. This is a unique name for God that Israel would often use because the name emphasized both on the one hand God’s exalted holiness and on the other hand His intimate, faithful covenant relationship with His people. The Old Testament loves to use the name Yahweh. You see this title all over it. And David uses that name again here because he wants to emphasize something about the surety of the truth in this last line. Faithful, covenant-keeping God Yahweh is the one doing this. So why is it that when God’s people faithfully gather in unity in the place of His presence they find blessing? David says, Yahweh commanded the blessing there. Yahweh commanded it.
See, God’s blessing doesn’t originate all by itself. Nor do the people of God manufacture it by their own efforts. According to David, it comes via God’s people assembling in a united way in the proper place because God commanded that that’s where the blessing should exist. That’s where the blessing should be found. Or to say it in a shorter way, defined blessing in gathering is simply God’s design. It’s the way He was pleased to do it. That’s what He ordained. And if God commanded it, if He commanded a blessing in the gathering of His people in His chosen place, then will His command fail? Will He order a blessing to arrive and it fail to show up? Never! God’s commands never fail. His word never, as He says in Isaiah 55, returns void. It goes out and accomplishes what God sent it to do. God sovereignly declares that it will happen. If He commands a blessing in a particular place when His people gather there, His people will receive it.
But notice that this is an annual blessing. David says, the blessing and even defines it for us. Life forever. Uh, whoa. In terms of blessing you could receive, what’s better than life forever? Ongoing life? Overflowing life? Abundant life? Eternal life? God says through David, I’ve commanded this blessing forever life in your gathered assembly in my presence. You will receive and experience life that will never end. That is very generous. Why would God do that? Part of the reason surely is that Yahweh is a generous God to His people. But there’s something else. There’s something noticeable about Yahweh as you consider Him throughout the Bible. A certain truth about Him. And you know what that truth is? That God, Yahweh, is life in Himself. All true life is found in God and emanates from Him. He really is the God of life. Whether it’s physical life, all physical life comes from Him. Whether it’s spiritual life, whether it’s metaphorical life, just the abundance that you experience in life, or whether it’s eternal life, it all comes from Him, even from His own essence and being. Psalm 36:8-9 says this about those who love and trust in Yahweh. It says,
They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
So you see, it makes sense for God to command forever life when people gather in unity before Him because that’s where God is. When you dwell with the God of life, it’s like you can’t help but gain life, experience life. It overflows from Him to you. This was true back then in the Old Testament times. Jerusalem was uniquely blessed with life because the God of life was there. It’s still true today, and it’s going to be true in the future when the Lord brings His kingdom to earth. Why is everybody going to want to go up to Jerusalem? Because the God of life is there.
But we can experience the same now. Because this is true, because of everything David said up to this point, why would you ever choose not to gather with God’s people and experience the blessing of forever life? Why would you neglect God’s sure blessing for something else? Something you’re going to manufacture on your own through your work, through the way you spend your leisure time, or the way you take efforts to keep yourself totally healthy and safe. I can’t come to church because I got to do these things. I’m going to make blessing for myself. Is it not God who is the one who makes your work prosper and makes your leisure satisfying and is able to keep your person safe? Why would you go against God’s clear wisdom, His recommendation, and try to make things happen for yourself? Do you know better than God? Can you not entrust yourself to the God of life to give you life?
I know there’s one more poetic element of this song that stands out to me as significant. It’s a kind of rhyme. There are two words, one in verse one and one in verse three, that sound very alike. I believe David arranged this correspondence so that a basic truth would stick in our heads. It’s really the main idea of this song. The two words are achim in verse one and chayim in verse three. I know you got to love those Hebrew ch sounds. Achim means brothers and chayim means life. So what’s the connection? If you want to experience God’s forever life, now, chayim, well, you’ll find it in the united gathering with your achim, your brothers.
So in light of this, my brothers and sisters, don’t settle for simply live streaming church. That’s okay for those who are sick or traveling or who otherwise can’t get to church, but live stream is not the place of blessing. It’s just looking at that place of blessing from afar. The real place of blessing is the actual united gathering of God’s people. And don’t settle for merely sneaking into and out of church, always sitting in the back so that nobody sees you, or coming in late and slipping out early so that you don’t have to talk to anyone. Don’t you want to experience the blessing of God’s forever life? That only happens when you truly dwell with God’s people in unity, in real togetherness.
And to those who might say, hey, I tried gathering with the church before, but I got burned, not blessed. Well, to that, let me say at least two things. First, the church is always a work in progress. Until Christ comes, you will at times, yes, experience sin, hurt, and misunderstanding in the church from people who should know better. It’s going to happen. But you know what? God’s word is still true. He says you’ll find blessing in the church despite all of that, even forever life. And that blessing will only increase as we all do, as God calls us to do in Ephesians 4. Each member of Christ’s body ministering to one another, supplying according to the unique gifts that they have so that the whole body grows in unity, in maturity, and in Christlikeness. So remember that the church is always a work in progress.
And also remember, you might not be experiencing the blessing of church because you’re just not doing it right. After all, I’ve been trying to stress in this message that the blessing comes in united gathering. If you don’t come to church with that same spirit of unity, the spirit of Christ, and you instead come with unrepented sin, idols, unforgiveness, bitterness, an attitude of only wanting to be served and not to serve, well, don’t expect to experience God’s forever life at church. Your experience is discipline, if you actually know Him. But if you come in true unity, if you come humbly, even with, as we saw from Psalm 24, with clean hands and a pure heart, ready to serve, well, you know what you’ll find? God’s blessing, even life forever.
One more thought. Consider not just whether you can make what this psalm describes your habit, but also your prayer. Because, after all, this is a model prayer. This is a worship song from God to be spoken back to Him. So can you sing it? Can you pray it sincerely, genuinely? God is instructing you that you should. God, how good and pleasant it is to dwell with the people of your church in unity. It is like Your precious and holy anointing oil that commissions us for holy service. It is like refreshing and supernatural rain on the mountains of our dry land. For here, oh faithful eternal God, You have commanded Your blessing, even life forever. We should celebrate that before God. We should pray for that to be more of a reality in this church and in our lives. Let others say about the church what they will. God gives the united gathering of his people full commendation. And you know what? We should too. Seek and celebrate the united gathering of God’s people so that you too may find the place of blessing.
Let’s pray. Lord, thank You for Your word. Thank You for Your church. Thank You for this gathering of people. Thank You for all the ones here, Lord, who are even here today to hear this message, to minister, to be ministered to, to sing, to praise, to encourage, even just let each other know by their presence – I love the Lord and I love His church. And I pray there be more of a reality, more of a reality in each of our lives. But forgive us for where this has not been our attitude, where we’ve used our hurts or misunderstandings to not only stay away from church physically, but also to just take up space in church. Be there, but not actually be there together. Lord, you’ve shown us a way to real blessing. I pray that we would take it. We don’t have the power or ability on our own, but You have and You do give us Your anointing. You even give us Your Spirit so that we can, we can be the church as You’ve called us to be. We can grow. We can become more like You. We can accomplish Your will on the earth. So Lord, be glorified in your church. Again, thank You for it. Let us be a truly united people who are about worshiping You, serving one another, and witnessing to the world. In Jesus’ name, amen.