Irvin Wasswa- Tylertown Campus Pastor LHBC
Psalm 133
Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.
I had the great privilege of earning my Masters’ degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in Spring of 2018. I spent the majority of my time working on the degree living in New Orleans which was such a blessed time for me. Overall, my time in New Orleans was wonderful, but there were some tough times early on during my time there. The Lord looked out for me and provided three close friends who were like brothers to me to walk alongside each other in our seminary journey. We had classes together, worked out together, and did life together; through that process we grew spiritually together as well. We began to meet every other Friday at a local diner in town known as Betsy’s Pancakes at 6:30am. It was at that point we dubbed ourselves “The Breakfast Club.” That ended up being some of the sweetest time in my life, as we broke bread together and talked about life, struggles and the greatness of our God in all of it. It was during that season that I discovered the beauty of community and our need for it as believers.
In Psalm 133, King David expresses the same kind of joy in relation to unity and community. He shares the blessing of being united in community together in verse one. The community in that day was speaking of the people of Israel who were kin by way of the Lord’s covenant. They fellowshipped together by sitting and eating together during the festival meals. They also dwelled together when they would pilgrimage from different parts of Israel down to Jerusalem during festivals such as the Tabernacles. During these seasons of life, the people of Israel, from all the different tribes, became family, united together by their love for God and His love for them.
In verses 2 and 3 David becomes specific in using illustrations to describe the blessing of community and its “secret ingredient” if you will: Unity. When oil was poured on the head of the priest, the oil ran down his head to his beard and robe. That oil represented that the priest was blessed and anointed by God to do His work. When believers in community dwell together in unity, they are blessed, and to the world are distinct. In verse three, David gives an illustration speaking of Mount Hermon. The dew from the mountain provided “life-enhancing” moisture for the crops in Israel. In the same way, believers united together provide life enhancing moisture for those who walk in community together. There is beauty in unity.
The Bible tells us that those who are in Jesus Christ are a new creation, the old has passed away and the new has come. We are united together by our relationship with God, through Christ. Though we may look different, come from different places, and have different backgrounds, we are all one in Christ (Ephesians 4). Unity is not uniformity. We may have different interests and hobbies, but we have the same mission: To love God, and love others.
The beauty of community. Listen, the Christian life was never meant to be lived alone. We need each other. Living in isolation as a Christian cannot be an option. There is true blessing in being plugged into community with other godly, like-minded people learning and growing together. Do you have that in your life? Look it’s more that just having your spouse. Do you (and your spouse) have a regular place of community where you can connect and do life together with other Christians? If not, the encouragement today is to plug into community. The good news is that Living Hope has what we call lifegroups, which are groups where you can find community and grow as a mature disciple of Jesus. We have life groups that meet all around the city. See the link for more information on how to get connected and may we all have the privilege of experiencing the beauty of community.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Dear Heavenly Father Lord, thank you for Your gift of community. Help for me to see today my need for community. I choose to lay down pride and apathy to connect with community. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK:
Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.