Brotherly Love

Psalm 133 is only 3 verses long and begins with... "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments ; As the dew of Hermon, as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, life forever."

We strive to maintain the unity of the body of Christ and dwell together in unity and harmony with our brothers. That's not always an easy thing to do. I've always said, "when you have more than one person in a room, you ALWAYS have more than one opinion" and that sometimes creates difficulty in unity. But here we have a Psalm telling us about the Excellency of Brotherly Love.

So, how does brotherly unity relate to the anointing with oil? Anointing with oil in the Old Testament as they did with Aaron was a kind of "sanctifying the call of God in his life. So is the Psalmist saying to us that we should "soak" ourselves in brotherly unity? Not a theological dissertation but just a thought! So when James writes in 5:14... "Is there any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord" maybe along with the healing power of the anointing there is also a sense of healing power in the love we show one another. Sometimes I think that if we anointed the sick like they did in Bible days, we would drown most of them. Verse 2 talks about the oil running down the beard of Aaron and falling onto the "skirts of his garments."

So what does it mean? Three small verses filled with love and compassion for unity among the brotherhood of man. Sort of like a picture of men dwelling together in peace and harmony. It sure beats the alternative of fighting, arguing, complaining and not getting along. I experience first hand what is like to be in "disharmony" with brothers and it is really hurtful and lonely sometimes.

However, I see that we are all just one part of a big family. Bigger than our own individual families. The Psalmist here is extending this family a good bit further than just our brothers and sisters. And in that "brotherly unity" God offers His blessing -- "Life forever."

Dave