This is a short but good psalm describing the blessings of unity. It’s ultimately two verses sandwiching two metaphors.
The overall message is that it is good for people to live in unity, and God will bless that unity even into eternity.
The first metaphor is that of Aaron and the Aaronic priests being consecrated with oil, a symbol of the relationship that God has created with His people.
The second metaphor is that of the dew on Mount Hermon, the source of the waters that give life to the whole realm of Israel – the same dew falls on God’s holy mountain in Jerusalem, where the temple is representing the true life given from God, ultimately by Christ.
Christ Himself also calls for unity, praying for it for his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, in John 17: “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”
Paul writes to the Ephesians about unity as well, giving instructions on how to promote unity – humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love.
What is this unity? It’s not the unity of affinity, around hobbies or interests. It’s not even the unity of theology, where some items are interesting but unimportant, some things are important but not essential. There are unifying doctrines that we do all need to agree on, and those are points of unity – the trinity, the sacrifice of Christ and the truth of the Gospel.
When we disagree with each other, we should take the commands Paul gives in Ephesians around gentleness and love. We can also look to what he writes in Romans 14 specifically about opinions. Do not quarrel, and recognize that those who are doing things differently than you would prefer are doing so because they see that as the best way to please God. We aren’t to stand in judgement on them, but rather to trust God to correct.
If we don’t do this, we can easily slide into the mistrust of our brothers’ and sisters’ motives and even relationship with God. Instead, we need to interact with each other in love – as Paul writes in Romans 12, we are to love each other and “outdo over another in showing honor.”
Our policy in matters of opinion in the church must be rooted in love. We need help with this because we are often incapable of seeing our own perspectives in the proper light. There’s a simple test – does it build up the church, or does it tear it down?
-Sermon Notes, Bart Hodgson, Seed Church, Lynnwood WA, August 9, 2021