How Good It Is - Psalms of Ascent

Psalm 133 celebrates the beauty and blessing of God’s people living in unity. In this message, we discover that unity is beautiful to behold, a blessing to enjoy, and refreshing to experience. In a world marked by division, the church is called to remember that what unites us in Christ is far greater than anything that could divide us.

A message from Dr. Bryan Samms, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church Burnet.

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And amen. Good morning. Take your Bibles, if you would, and turn to Psalm 133. We're going to continue our series on the songs of ascent. Remember, there's uh 14 of those, or 15, from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134. They were a collection of hymns that were sang by the children of Israel as they approached Jerusalem for their annual festivals. Beautiful songs. Songs of worship, songs of protection, psalms of what it looks like to gather as a body and uh look with anticipation at what God is doing. They remind us as Israel would go up to Jerusalem that our Christian life is designed to continue to move forward, to go higher, to not stay where we are. And so each of these Psalms will finish next week with this series, but I love Psalm 133. We're gonna look at it today. There's only three verses in Psalm 133. It doesn't mean the message is going to be shorter. Okay, it just means that there's only three verses. So would you follow along with me as I read Psalm 133 beginning at verse number one? 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. Amen. This is God's word. I want to label the message this morning how good it is. A cargo vessel took a slightly different route and was amazed to find a man on a deserted island waving them down with branches. They stopped, and after they discovered this man, they got in touch with the Coast Guard, and before long there was a rescue mission underway. Everybody was shocked to find that this man had been on this island by himself for 20 years. They were even more shocked when they saw three buildings on the island. Naturally, somebody asked about the first building. He said, Oh, that's my house. That made sense, of course. And then, of course, the next guy said, Well, what about the second building? He pointed over to it. And he said, Well, that's my church. Made sense enough. Until the third guy asked about the third building. Then what's that building for? He said, That's where I used to go to church. In 1964, Paul Harvey wrote a piece that you may be familiar with called If I Were the Devil. If I were the devil, what would I do? He said, I quote, if I were the devil, I'd subvert the church. I'd begin with a campaign of whispers. I would whisper to every member of the church, just like I did to Eve in the garden. Do whatever you want. If I were the devil, he said, I would put countries at war with themselves, families at war with themselves, and churches at war with themselves, until they ultimately consumed one another. The church of Jesus Christ is to be a place of unity, just like a good family. Warren Wearsby said, church unity is the spirit-produced oneness of believers that we are called to preserve through love, humility, and peace. David Silvernail put it this way: church unity comes when members place the needs and wants of the entire church above their own wants and needs. It might surprise you to hear this talk of unity coming from the author of this particular psalm. If you look just above verse 1, it says a psalm of a sense, a psalm of David. Now, David wrote many of the Psalms. He did not write them all. Some would say he wrote them most. But Psalm 133 would be a unique piece to come from the pen and the lips of David. I mean, after all, if anybody knew what dysfunction in a family or dysfunction in a congregation looked like, it would have been David. I mean, David was betrayed by his own father-in-law, Saul. He was chased and hunted by his own son, Absalom. And also he was turned against by his own personal counselor, a guy named Ahithophel. Yet, David still longed for, desired, and knew that unity in worship for the body of Christ was a priority. Interestingly enough, or I can say it this way, he never allowed his church hurt to become church hate. Maybe you this morning come into church with all sorts of backgrounds and all sorts of experiences. Maybe you have let people turn you cynical or you've let past hurt eclipse your present joy. Maybe there's somebody here that has had a teacher or a leader or a coach or a preacher even. Turn your eyes away from the truth that there can be good, there can be unity, there can be joy in the house of God. In a world that accentuates division, in a world that magnifies individuality, God still says there is joy and goodness when a church is unified. Psalm 33 extols this virtue, and it shares with us three reasons why unity is so critical to the people of God. Why should we be one? Why should we concern ourselves with this? Why should we lay down our individualism in the church and come together as one body under Christ? My prayer and heart for this church as I've begun here just a few weeks ago is Psalm 133, verse 1. Behold how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. What are these three reasons? Number one, look at what it says here. Unity, first of all, is beautiful to behold. The very first word of Psalm 133 is a captivating word. It is a word that literally means, hey, look here. Spurgeon said it's a it's all it's wonder seldom seen, therefore behold it. In other words, because unity is so many, so many times so hard to come by, he says, this is something for you to really take note of. And think of the other times in the Bible that behold is used. I think of Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14, behold, a virgin will conceive and bear a son, and you will call his name Emmanuel. That's something to behold, isn't it? A young woman that's never been with a man is going to produce a child, and that child is going to be God with us? Sure, that's something to behold. I think of John the Baptist over in John, chap uh uh John chapter number one, when Jesus came down to the Jordan River to be baptized, and what did John the Baptist say? Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. That's something to behold. I think of what 1 John chapter 3, verse 1 says. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we would be called the children of God. Dare I say this morning, that's something to behold. And then I fast forward to the last chapter, one of the last words of the book in your lap this morning, where Jesus says this, Behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me. Oh yeah, it's something to behold. And in the same vein, the Bible says here, unity is something to behold. It's very easy to get your eyes fixed on divisive people or even troublemakers. It's another thing to get your eyes fixed where God is blessing. Why is unity something that is beautiful to behold? Well, first of all, it says here, because it's good. That's simple enough, but if you were to study the word good in the Old Testament, you would find that the first place it comes up is in the very first chapter of the Bible. Remember when God created the heavens and the earth in six days? At the end of each day, what did it say? Behold, it was what? Good. When he got done with all creation, he said, Behold, it was very good. In other words, this is just like it was supposed to be. It is exactly what I designed. In the same manner, unity in the body of Christ is exactly what God designed. But did you know the first time in the Bible it says that something wasn't good is in the very next chapter of Genesis. Genesis chapter 2, verse 18 says, It is not good that man should be alone. He saw Mr. and Mr. Mrs. Camel and said, That's good. He saw Mr. and Mrs. Horace and said, That's good. But there's only a Mr. Adam, there's not a Mrs. Eve. And so what did he do? He created man and woman to be together. That tells me that Christian, that God's people, the people that he made, were made to be together. The Christian experience was not designed to be lived alone, it was designed to be lived in a congregation. Not only that, it says here, it's not only good, but it's also pleasant, which simply means delightful or sweet, enjoyable. In other words, it's pleasant. It's actually enjoyable to be around someone who is prioritizing unity in the body. Quite different than someone who's constantly fighting and fussing and dividing and bickering and in conflict. When those things dominate your home and those things dominate your church, you're in trouble. You become, as it were, a Grinch. Now, we all know the Grinch and we know what the Grinch's story is, but what did the Grinch fundamentally try to do? He tried to steal Christmas from Hooville. Now you know that he failed miserably, didn't he? Because what he thought was Christmas wasn't Christmas at all, am I right? He stole their presents, he stole their trees, he stole their decorations, he stole everything that in his mind was Christmas. But then when he looked down and saw Hooville still singing those Christmas songs, he was shocked and he was changed when he saw a group of people that were united around the right things. That's the beauty of a church united around the gospel. Notice not only do we see here that unity is beautiful to behold, but secondly, it is a blessing to enjoy. Notice at the end of verse number one, it says this it is when brothers dwell in unity. Now notice those two words together there, brothers and dwell. That's family language, isn't it? Over and over again in the Bible, we are called brothers. We are called brothers and sisters. Here in the text, it says not only are we brothers, but we're also brothers that dwell. That means we live together. And this close-knit family language is supposed to be the language of the church. Folks, do you know that here at church, this is supposed to be a family? It is supposed to be a group of people that we love and pray for and care for and concern ourselves with. It's not just something that we show up for and attend every once in a while. It is to be a family that we build our lives around. And so he says, Here, we're brothers. This is why church membership is so absolutely critical. It is core to your discipleship. It is the reason that God asks us and desires for us to tether our lives to a church, not just as a casual observer, but as a member of the family. I urge you to tether yourself with God's church. Isn't this what Jesus' prayer was? In fact, in John 17, verse uh 20, it says this I do not ask for these only, but also or for you who will believe in me through their word. In other words, Jesus prayed for you before you were here. What did he pray for you? That they may all be one. In fact, Paul said it this way in Ephesians 4 and verse 3 we should be eager to maintain the spirit of unity in the bond of peace. Just like you'd be eager to play football this Friday night for the guys that are playing, or you're eager for your team to kick off and you're ready to get around that TV with your friends and get those snacks and have yourself a party, you are ready. The Bible says that people in the church should be that eager and ready for unity to be a part of the church. Now, you want to know who hates unity? The devil. You want to know who would do anything in the world to stop unity? The devil. In fact, in the screw tape letters by C.S. Lewis, he portrays a senior uh demon teaching a younger demon how to be a good demon. And in that letter, particularly letter number three and 16, he talks about the church. And he says, I tell you, one of the worst things that happens, one of the things the enemy loves, by the way, C.S. Lewis, the enemy is God in that letter. One thing the enemy loves is when a church is together. So turn people into church shoppers and connoisseurs. And then they will become critics instead of pupils. I can assure you this morning that he is the accuser of the brethren. He is the divider of the church. He hates the church. And if he can divide the church, he will. You want to know why? Because a divided church is a dead church, and a dead church will ultimately be an empty church. So let me ask you what things could possibly take the unity away from a local church? I I've written down three. Maybe you want to take note of these. Number one, Satan will try to divide the church doctrinally. Meaning he will try to get multiple voices under one roof saying multiple different things other than the truth. By the way, this is why Philippians chapter 4 says this there's one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father, who is Lord of all, who is in you all and above you all and through you all. It is so strong in Scripture that Paul said in Galatians chapter 1, verse 8 if there is another preacher or even an angel from heaven that preaches another gospel, which is not the gospel that I preached unto you, let him be accursed. Friends, a church is a place where we believe the same truth. We believe the word of God. And any time Satan wants to pop his head up in a church, he'll pop up with a false doctrine. Number two, another way Satan can divide the church is through relational division. Let me encourage you with this. In Matthew chapter 5, verse 23, the Bible says this, Jesus speaking. So if you offer your gift at the altar, there, remember that, and you and there, you remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your gift there before the altar and go. Be reconciled to your brother first, and then come and bring your gift. One of the things that scares me about Sunday attendance at the church is this can be, if we are not careful, one of the biggest masquerade parties of the week. We come and we sing how great He is. But inside of our lives, we are divided against others. We have problems with people, we have unresolved conflicts. You know what God's saying to you literally? It would be better for you not to even come to church than to act like everything's okay and bring your gift to church without resolving a conflict between your brother and sister in Christ. Now, dear friend, I gotta tell you, it might be between you and your wife, it might be between you and your kids, it may be between somebody that's sitting across the church from you because you would dare not even share an aisle together. But, friend, if there is a conflict and an unresolved problem between you and a brother or sister in Christ, I would urge you and compel you to make sure you take care of that because that's Christianity in boots, friend. There can be doctrinal division, there can be relational division, and oh, how sad it can be when there is missional division. Philippians chapter 2, verse 3 and 5 through 5 says it like this do nothing through selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let me run that one back one more time. Do nothing through selfish ambition or pride, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only on his own interest, but also on the interest of others. Have this mind in yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. In the church, there's so many different conflicting ideas at times, and so many different ways in which people think something should be done, that unfortunately, if we're not careful, it becomes our way or the highway. There's only one person in human history that should say, about all things, it should be my way, and that's Jesus Christ. And you know what Jesus Christ did? He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He put your needs above his own position. And he's he he literally was willing to robe himself in humanity and come to this earth and be born as a baby and live in a sin-cursed earth and die on an old rugged cross and be buried and rise again the third day, and now he's exalted as God the Father. Aren't you glad this morning that Jesus put you as the priority in his life? Sure. And when you start putting you as the priority in your life in the church, it becomes a problem. Jesus Christ should get the glory. Jesus Christ should be preeminent. C.S. Lewis goes on to say, you want to really mess up a church? He says do this. Make, now this is a little dated language, but I'll translate it again for you. Make candles and cloths and whatnot the grounds for your activities. Say, what does that mean? Make buildings and lights and music and chairs and classes. Make that your priority. Somebody said this recently in a sermon I heard. They said, if you take buildings away, if you take money away, and you take power away from a church, there'd rarely be any fighting. Why? Because we have taken sometimes what is irrelevant and made it real relevant. And we have taken what is real relevant and made it here relevant. May God help us, church. My prayer is Psalm 133. That we would be together, that we would dwell in unity. And when we do, what will happen? What will happen is not only is unity beautiful to behold, and not only is it a blessing to enjoy, but look at verses two and three, it is a refreshing experience. Notice notice the beginning of verse number two. It is like. See that? And then look at verse three, same thing, it is like. And here, the psalmist is going to give us two different illustrations of what unity is like. In other words, when you are together unified, it's gonna look like this. Notice verse two it is like the precious oil on the head running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron. Now, class, who was Aaron? He was in the Old Testament, the what? It's one word. What was he? He was the priest, that's right. He served alongside Moses. He was the priest. He was the one that led the offerings and the sacrifices in Israel. You can read about this particular oil in Exodus chapter 30, verse 22 and following. This was precious oil. It comprised the five different oils. It wasn't just olive oil. It was olive oil, it was myrrh, it was cinnamon, it was calamus, it was cassie. It was a beautiful blend of herbs and spices made into this oil. And they did two things with it. They anointed the priest with it, and then they anointed the tabernacle with it. In other words, I'm going to anoint a church, a gathering, a body. I'm gonna start and anoint its leadership all the way down to every function in the body. I'm gonna put my stamp of approval on that place. It tells us, folks, that unity is not something that we can manufacture, but it's something God creates himself. And do you understand this morning that Jesus Christ purchased the church? The Father planned the church, the Spirit made provisions for the church. The Bible says in Ephesians 5 that he loved the church. You know what he did? He died and shed his blood to bring together a group of people who are unified. Notice verse 3. Not only is it like oil, but it's like, here it is, mountain dew. Y'all didn't think that was in the Bible, did you? Oh yeah. Notice the dew of Hermon that comes to the mountains. So there's your justification to go get a mountain dew after church. But in all seriousness, what is Mount Hermon? Well, Mount Hermon stands at 9,200 feet in the Goline Heights of Israel. It's on the very northern edge of Israel. If you're on the east side of the Sea of Galilee and you go up into the side of the Gentiles, right beside the country of Jordan, and you look straight north, you're gonna see the towering Mount Hermon. It's beautiful. It's snow capped nearly 12 months a year. It's the only ski slope in all of Israel. It's beautiful. And the Bible says here that the dew from the melted snow that comes down into Israel goes all the way according to verse 3. To the mountains of Zion. You know where that is? That's Jerusalem. That is a hundred miles away from Mount Hermon. So if you were to follow that, the Mount Hermon melts its ice and it comes to the headwaters of the Jordan River up near Dan. The headwaters of the Jordan River rush down to the Sea of Galilee. On the south side of the Sea of Galilee, the southern part of the Jordan River emerges again and it flows all the way down the Jordan Valley into the Dead Sea. Quite literally, from north to south, top to bottom, from all over Israel, whether it's the plains of Megiddo or all the way down to the fertile valley of the Dead Sea. The Bible is saying here that the dew that comes from Mount Hermon literally waters the entire country. Folks, what God is saying to us is this I've got a blessing for you. It comes from unity. And you will only experience God's blessing if you have it. In fact, look at the end of verse 3. It says it very plainly. For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Now I know some Bible scholars would say the there in verse number three is a reference to Zion, a reference to Jerusalem. And I'm not denying that for sure. God's blessing is in Jerusalem. But I don't believe that's what it's talking about. I believe the there is speaking of the whole psalm. There is the unity in the body. And folks, if you want to be blessed, God's telling you, get there. And if you're not there, you might be everywhere else, but if you're not there, you're not where you need to be. You know, Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 10, I came to give you life and give it more abundantly. He has an abundant life for you right now, and he has an eternal life for you to come. Now, folks, I know when we read verse 3, some of us start thinking, the blessing is all that I have. Folks, hear me now. The blessing is not what you have, the blessing is who you have. You see, there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a beggar named Lazarus, which laid at his gate full of sores, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Can I translate that to you in the hill country version? There was a certain wealthy man that had a ranch. And poor people would be just glad to go outside where he sets his trash cans on Friday just to get a crumb. That rich man had everything in the world this world would say is a blessing. But then the Bible says this the rich man died. So will you, sir. So will you, ma'am. The rich man also died and was buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments. And he said to Father Abraham, Father Abraham, dip the tip of your finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. You see, the rich man had all the blessings that anybody in this area would say are blessings, but I want you to know he did not have the one blessing he needed more than all blessings, and that was Jesus Christ in his life. But that beggar also died, and he was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. You see, there were two men, two lives, two deaths, two destinies, one difference. Jesus Christ. And I think you all know, and maybe you're experiencing this right now in your life, sir. You have everything that you've ever dreamed of in your life, and you're asking the question, why am I still empty? Why is my life still so messed up? Why do I not have what I feel like I actually need? And I'm here to tell you, what you really need is Jesus Christ. Right before I left Florida to come here to Texas, we saw a sweet widow in our church go to heaven. She was probably the poorest person I ever knew, but she was the richest person I ever knew at the same time. When she died, there was no funeral because there was no family that cared about her. A few people in the church that knew her from years gone by got together to celebrate her life. She had nothing. She lived in the poorest nursing home in Jacksonville. It was awful. Nobody ever saw her, nobody ever visited her. But when her friends picked her up for church and wheeled her into that auditorium, you would have thought she was the happiest person in all the world. And you know what she kept telling me over and over and over again every Sunday I saw her. Preacher, I've just never gotten over the fact that God saved me about 50 years ago and he saved me, and I'm not going to hell. And she lived in joy and celebrated that she got to come to church. And she may not have much, and she may not have had a physical family, but she had a family at church, friend. And I'm telling you right now, the blessing of God is not in your checking account, it is not in your retirement account, and it is not in the amount of trucks and the amount of property that you own. It is in Jesus Christ. Because all those things will fade, all those things will fall, all those things will crumble, but Christ never will. He is the foundation that is laid that no one else can lay, and that is Jesus Christ. You want to be blessed here and you want to be blessed forever? Come to Jesus Christ. Because there, there is where the blessing is. Friend, listen. Let's not just come to church. Let's let this be our family. And let's do everything that we can do to be unified around the gospel and serve and love one another. Let's pray together.