God’s Gift of Unity Set to Song
As Jesus told his disciples, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). It will be a sweet aroma to lost and hungry souls seeking rest. Here’s an idea for church officers, both deacons or elders. Why not make it a practice to close some of your meetings throughout the year with singing (or reading) a setting of Psalm 133? I know I experience what this psalm describes after many difficult yet united session meetings where God’s presence is palpable. Let’s celebrate that gift by singing this song God has given us.
1Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
2 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!
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
life forevermore.~Psalm 133~
As the PCA’s 50th Anniversary year draws to a close, I find myself meditating on Psalm 133 quite a bit. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.” Each year we close our business at General Assembly by singing this short Psalm which makes for a short song. If you watch it on the GA Livestream, you’ll probably find it underwhelming. The video doesn’t capture the mood in the room. It can’t. You have to be there.
I know we in the PCA don’t always seem to “dwell together in unity.” General Assembly and presbytery floor debates can be heated, and social media rhetoric doesn’t leave us feeling all warm and fuzzy. But the impression I get from many PCA officers across a wide spectrum of views is that the closest friendships in their lives are within the PCA. Generally speaking, we share a genuine fondness for one another as we co-labor in the cause of Christ. Our union with Christ unites us as brothers, and the Lord has indeed commanded the blessing in this uniting of our lives in Him forevermore.
Why Oil Flowing down a Beard?
One part of Psalm 133 that often baffles readers is the imagery that is being used. While Reformer-style beards have made somewhat of a comeback in our churches, none of us particularly want to see a beardsman’s plume dripping with oil. It may just be me, but a greasy beard doesn’t immediately evoke thoughts of “good and pleasant.” What if, however, the focus is not on the beard or the oil itself, but on the movement and effect of the oil?
The oil originates from above and flows down. Down onto the head. Down on and through the beard. Down onto the robe and further to the edges of the robe. Down, presumably on to the anointed priest’s body. There would no doubt be a pleasing aroma to the oil that would be appreciated by those with whom the priest came into contact.
Calvin writes, “We must hold, that when mention is made of the Priest, it is to intimate that concord takes its rise in the true and pure worship of God; while by the beard and skirts of the garments, we are led to understand that the peace which springs from Christ as the head is diffused through the whole length and breadth of the Church.”[1]
To further make the point, the next image is from nature. In similar fashion, the dew that nourishes the mountain comes down from above. And what happens to moisture on a mountain? It runs down. Down to creeks that supply streams. Down to fill rivers to the surrounding areas. Refreshment, nourishment, and life itself comes from above and flows out.
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Subtle Attack against Motherhood
There is a sinister underlying message in the trend of “mommy humor.” My sweet friend, just under the surface of that humor is a lie. It whispers that motherhood should make us happy—eventually. But motherhood can never produce what we will only ever find in the Lord. Who Is Our True Enemy? Sweet sister, we are in a spiritual battle for the very souls of our children. There is an enemy that would have us fighting the wrong fight and looking to him for refreshment and refuge in the battle. Peter reminds us that the enemy “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
“But how do I find joy in the middle of the cracker crumbs and dirty diapers? When will it ever get better?” she asked. The woman asking the question had five children under the age of five, and four of them came two-by-two. Her circumstances were challenging, to say the least. Tired but eager to learn, she sat at a folding table in our small Bible study room among women of many generations and walks of life, who had all likely asked a similar question.
It Can’t Get Better; It’s Already Good
As we dug back into God’s Word, the discussion led us to conclude that it can’t really get any better. God has ordained or allowed every circumstance that we will face. And those circumstances? They are for our good and His glory. How could it get any better than that? Romans 11:36 tells us that all things are “from him and through him and to him.” And this compels Paul’s response—the one we can all echo— “To him be the glory forever. Amen.” Our frustration in the daily challenges of motherhood comes when we confuse the idea of things “getting better” with what we truly desire: joy. But how do we find joy in the Lord in a world that seems to call us in a different direction?
The Source of Our Joy
There is a trend in social media that makes it seem as though we are fighting our way through the torture of raising children, as if they are like an enemy. Culture tells us that their needs are a burden, their inexperience in life is something to make fun of, and their emotional meltdowns are viral content for entertainment. In many ways, the world would have us believe that challenging seasons of parenting are a bad thing that we have to trudge through until we get to the “better” thing. In the meantime, we can find temporary relief from these frustrations by enjoying the never-ending stream of humorous memes and video clips.
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Pursuing Education, or Just Credentials?
Education, rightly understood, shouldn’t start with the end goal of a degree in mind. It should start with the vision of who you want to become and how your educational journey will form you into a particular kind of person. It’s about truth, goodness, beauty. It’s about cultivating a heart of wisdom, not just a mind that can pass the tests or turn in the reports.
The digital age has led to an explosion of educational opportunities. You can stream online courses, attend all your classes in short bursts of time, join a seminary’s extension center, work through a program with a cohort, do an independent study, or attend all your classes on campus and become part of the school’s community. These approaches have strengths and weaknesses, and I’ve experienced all of them at one point or another in my educational journey.
In an era with so many choices, the temptation is to think of one’s education in terms of checking off boxes on the way to a degree. You need a particular set of credentials on your résumé, and so you fulfill the requirements the school gives you and eventually, you receive the degree you want. According to a recent study by Barna, most evangelicals view education in terms of career:Evangelicals are more likely than people of no faith to say main purpose of education is career prep and increased financial opportunity.
Only 10 percent of evangelicals see college in terms of development of moral character—3 percent lower than those of “no faith.” Only 9 percent believe college should encourage spiritual growth.
Not surprisingly, when people ask me about furthering their education, they’re wondering about how to get the credentials they need in a short amount of time, with as little disruption to their lives as possible. They’re looking for answers, but I give them different questions.
Heart of Wisdom
An approach to education that focuses primarily on credentials and convenience is superficial and, let’s face it, boring. It’s all about hoops to jump through to pass classes and get a degree.
The oft-asked question concerning credentials is: What degree do I need so I can do what I want to do? That’s the wrong question. The better question is, What kind of person do I want to become? It’s not about your résumé, but your heart. It’s not about knowledge alone, but wisdom.
Education, rightly understood, shouldn’t start with the end goal of a degree in mind.
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What the Bible Says About Marriage
This series will not add to the growing noise with my anecdotes, funny stories, and bare lived-out experiences. Instead, this will be a series on what the Bible says. How it defines marriage, sex, manhood, womanhood, gender roles, and many other topics that are long overdue to be addressed.
Why a Marriage Series?
The downfall of every civilization begins with a collapse in marriage. In the beginning, God designed covenant marriage as the fundamental unit of human society. He called one man and one woman to enter into a one-flesh union that would bring fruitful labor into every neighborhood, would multiply God’s blessings into every town, would extend God’s reign to the ends of the earth, and would bring the kind of stability that would establish empires and kingdoms. Without healthy and God-glorifying marriages, there will be no culture worth preserving, no society left to flourish, and no nation that could stand.
Think about it like a fully ripened apple tree. In a peculiar fit of madness, a farmer could take a baseball bat and knock every delicious honey-crisp apple right off that tree. Nothing would happen, except maybe there would be a noticeable lack of apple pies for Thanksgiving. But, suppose he saw the error in his ways and never undertook such an action again, the apples would come back the following year, and nothing catastrophic would occur to the tree.
The same could not be said if that same farmer decided to take an axe and attack one of the exposed roots that are visible above the soil.
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