Psalms of Ascents - Program 7
This program looks at Psalms 131 and 133. The next program looks at Psalm 132
Psalm 131
Last time we reached Psalm 130 in the Songs of Ascent sung by pilgrims journeying up to Jerusalem to worship God. We saw how hope in God’s forgiving love was a theme of the pilgrims. In the psalm we are looking at now, Psalm 131, the theme is still hope, for without hope life cannot be lived. But it is hope in the Lord which is meant, not a vague sort of “I hope things turn our all right”.
And in this Psalm it is the hope of a little child, trustingly confident in its parents:
“My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty. I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quietened my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Israel put your hope in the Lord both now and for ever more.”
Jesus said we will never enter the kingdom of God unless we become like little children (Matthew chapter 2 verse 4). And the writer of this psalm says a similar thing, too. He knows that he cannot approach God in worship with pride in his heart. Jesus told the story of two men who went up to the Temple to pray. One was very proud of his life, of how religious he was and despised a tax collector standing nearby. But the tax collector knew he was a sinner and asked God to forgive him. Jesus said the tax collector went home forgiven, the other man did not.
So many world leaders, who have done such harm to people, have been proud and arrogant men. If they had humbled themselves before God they would never have led people into aggression and violence and despair. But all of us, not just world leaders need to humble ourselves before God. We need to be like the child spoken of in this psalm. He is not a tiny baby always crying out to be fed, he is not restless like that, but has learned to trust his mother and rests in her love and care. Now the Psalm writer says he is like this weaned child; it is something he has learned. He has learned to quieten his soul, his inner self with all its various emotions and has learned to control that inner self by not being taken up with things that it can’t control, things that are not its concern. We need to learn this. So often we torment ourselves by trying to work things out our way, instead of quietly trusting God as a child trusts his mother.
It is possible to be really agitated about the suffering in the world and why God has allowed it. As a Christian we are concerned to help people who are suffering and Christians have a very long record throughout history of caring for the suffering, the oppressed, the destitute and the afflicted. But it is foolish to be upset about why they happen. This is a question “too wonderful for me”, see verse 1, the second part of the verse. Greater minds and spirits than mine have not found an answer to this. In the Bible a man called Job is described as being terribly afflicted with all sorts of disasters in his life; one day a tornado hit the house where his sons and daughters were holding a party and they were all killed; his farm was ruined and his servants all killed by enemies who raided his land and then his body became racked with pain. Some friends came and tried to give Job an answer to why he was suffering. Job refused their answers and said simply: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised”. Job knew that it was pointless trying to figure out why his suffering had come to him, but he did trust, as in the psalm we are reading now, that he was still held in God’s safe and loving arms.
This Psalm ends “O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and for evermore”, verse 3. It really is foolish not to hope in God, for he made us, he loves us and so will bring things out for good in the end if we are part of his family. Will you, now, quieten your soul and begin to rest in God, your hope, both now and evermore?
Psalm 133
“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion, for there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life for evermore.”
As the pilgrims journeyed up to Jerusalem there would have been the possibility of disagreement among them, squabbles and differences of opinion over a whole range of issues. Who wasn’t carrying their fair share of the burdens, who was the real leader, were they taking the right path and so on? So the writer of this Song of Ascents describes what unity is like in his little song. Unity and harmony, he says, among God’s people, is a beautiful thing, a pleasant experience. He likens it to the oil or ointment which was put on the High Priest’s head when he was consecrated to God. You find this anointing described in Exodus chapter 30 verses 22-29 and Leviticus 8 verse 12. The oil was put on the High Priest’s head and it ran down on to his beard. It was a sign that he had been chosen by God and was separated to God’s service in the Temple.
When Queen Elizabeth was crowned, oil was put on her head to symbolise that she had been set apart as the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. So unity is like that says this Psalm, it is a sign of God’s people being set apart for God. When Christians fall out and become disunited this symbol is destroyed; a divided Church cannot show that they are set apart for God; they are more interested in factions and splits than in the oneness of the body.
The ointment or oil which consecrated the High Priest is described in the following ways: it was fragrant, costly and unique. It had to be made up of fragrant cinnamon, cassia and a fragrant cane mixed with olive oil, “a fragrant blend of the work of a perfumer” says the text in Exodus. When believers in the Lord Jesus get on well together it is a very fragrant thing, it smells good. Each church and company of believers is made up of different personalities and characters, but they can blend well together. Disunity is not a pleasant experience and destroys a church’s testimony that they are the people of God.
But this anointing oil was also costly; when mixed together it weighed nearly forty pounds. It is always costly to work for unity. We have to die to ourselves continually if we are to achieve unity, not insisting on our own way always being followed. This is true of communities in general as well as of churches. There are divisions and hatreds in many parts of the world today because people will not give up prejudices and hatreds for the sake of peace.
To bring unity to mankind was costly for Jesus. he had to give up his life to the dreadful suffering of the Cross that man might be reconciled back to God. But the anointing oil was also unique, it was not to be copied; “Do not make any oil with the same formula” says the text in Exodus which describes the anointing of the High Priest. We cannot pretend we have unity, we cannot copy the real thing; the real anointing oil is for one use only, to demonstrate unity. Either we really do love our brothers and sisters or we only pretend to and it is a sham. God will not accept this kind of thing.
But there’s just something else about this anointing oil. Once it had been put on the High Priest it was also to be used to set apart for God the furniture in God’s Temple, the altar of incense, the basins, the altar of burnt offering, the table and the lampstand. Then anyone touching those objects would themselves become consecrated to God. Harmony among the Lord’s people has this remarkable effect, when others come into contact with such unity, they themselves are changed. Such harmony becomes, says this Psalm, like the dew of Mount Hermon. Mount Hermon is far to the north of Jerusalem, a symbol of strength and refreshment. When the Lord’s people act together in unity, it is as if the freshness of the great mountain falls upon them. They become revived and invigorated.
So, if you belong to Christ, meet regularly with your fellow Christians of all denominations, your own fellowships and others in complete harmony. If you do, says this Psalm, God will give you the great blessing of eternal life see verse 3.