Outline

«　WEEK 7　DAY 3　»

　　Psa. 133:1-3 …How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity! It is like the fine oil upon the head that ran down upon the beard, upon Aaron's beard, that ran down upon the hem of his garments; like the dew of Hermon that came down upon the mountains of Zion. For there Jehovah commanded the blessing: life forever.

　　Grace is the realm in which we stand [Rom. 5:2]. We must stay where the grace is…You must stand in grace. Whenever you sense that you are out of the realm of grace, return to it immediately. If you are about to quarrel with your wife and sense that you are out of the realm of grace, stop what you are doing, return to the realm of grace, and stand there. (Life-study of Romans, p. 101)

　　We need not do anything sinful to be cut off from grace. We only need to stay in a place too long, and we will sense that we have moved from the realm of grace into another sphere. What should we do in such a case? We should pray, “Lord, forgive me. Bring me back to the realm of grace.” We return to the realm of grace by the same way through which we entered it originally. We entered the realm of grace through justification by faith. We simply confessed our sins to God, received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, and applied His blood, and we were justified. God’s justification brought us into this grace in which we stand. Whenever we act wrongly and sense that we are out of grace, we must repeat the same prayer: “O God, forgive me. Cleanse me with the precious blood.” If you do this, you will be brought back to grace instantly.

　　In the realm of grace we boast in God (Rom. 5:11). The Greek word translated “boast” has at least three meanings: “boast,” “exult,” meaning to rejoice, and “glory.” Thus, we boast in God, exult in God, and glory in God. As we stand in the realm of grace and walk the way of peace, we constantly boast, exult, and glory in our God. This means that we enjoy God. God is our portion for our enjoyment. We have such a God in which to boast, exult, and glory. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 101-102)

　　Psalm 133 is the praise of a saint, in his going up to Zion, concerning Jehovah’s commanded blessing on brothers who dwell in oneness. Before we can have Psalm 133, we must reach Psalm 132. This means that without God’s resting and dwelling in His dwelling place, we have no place where we can come together. We have no Zion, no center for our gathering. When Zion is built up and when God is resting there and dwelling in Jerusalem, we have a place where we can gather and where we can dwell together in oneness. If this is our situation in the meetings of the church, we will enjoy God’s commanded blessing.

　　I believe that how good [in Psalm 133:1] refers to the oil in verse 2 and that how pleasant refers to the dew in verse 3.

　　For the oil to run down from the head to the hem of the garments [v. 2] signifies that both the Head and the Body, both Christ and the church, are under the anointing of God’s fine oil.

　　Verse 3a goes on to say that it is also like “the dew of Hermon / That came down upon the mountains of Zion.” The north wind caused the dew to descend from Hermon to the mountains of Zion. This dew signifies the fresh and refreshing grace of God. Such a dew, such a grace, waters us.

　　I believe that by life forever [v. 3b] the psalmist had in mind a long life. In our interpretation, however, we understand the word life here to mean not long life but eternal life. As we dwell together in the church life, we enjoy God’s eternal life commanded by Him as a blessing to us. This is the living of the church.

　　In Psalm 132 we have the church life, and in Psalm 133 we have the church living. The church living is the highest living—a living in which brothers dwell together in oneness. Such a living causes God to come in to bless us with the anointing Spirit, the watering grace, and the eternal life. (Life-study of the Psalms, pp. 483-485)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Romans, msg. 9