October 28 - Psalm 133

October 28 - Psalm 133

When thousands of Israelites descended on Jerusalem for a festival, there was bound to be tension. This Psalm reminded them they were bound as a family and the Lord’s delight was found in their unity.

It would seem that the last place we might find infighting and bickering should be the church, but in my years, I have seen more ugliness, name-calling, bitter and angry words, horrendous accusations and vicious behavior within the congregations of churches than anywhere else (other than political verbiage during election season).  There were times I wondered if God could be found anywhere in the midst of all that verbal garbage.

When I was young, I remember coming home after a particularly wonderful event.  Our whole family would be at church, smiling and getting along famously; but the moment we walked in the front door, we turned into venomous snakes, pouncing on each other and biting away any niceties that had just occurred.  I would wonder what had happened.  In public we had to be nice to each other, but in private we were hurtful and awful.

I asked my mother about it once.  It made no sense to me.  She explained that we felt safe inside the four walls of our home to let everything out, the good and the ugly.  We were a family and it was safe to be angry at each other because we knew that we would always come back together.  We had to love each other, there was no other option.  She did, though, expect that we respect each other, even if we were angry or hurt.

That’s one of the things I believe has been lost in the culture today … even  within the church.  We forget that we must love each other and respect each other.  The ugliness that crosses over from the rest of our world may be there to protect ourselves, but at what cost to others?

Unity found in love and respect flows like precious oil, like dew on the mountain and it is in this we find the Lord’s blessings on His people.