This is a one-off post which owes itself to sleeplessness. It’s a little past 12:30 a.m. and I’m sitting at our table, trying to do something which might get me back to sleep again. This probably isn’t it. Burning the midnight oil may deplete you, but writing a post isn’t the best use of that oil.
Here is something that is:
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. (Psalm 133)
Don’t tell me you haven’t ever scratched your head when you’ve come upon this psalm. It doesn’t seem to translate to our Western minds and settings; not well, anyway. But never fear - Christopher Ash is here!
Christopher Ash is the author of a newly published , four volume commentary on the Psalms. It has already received many reviews which extol his work as someone who has both great academic skill and great pastoral insight. I’m just getting acquainted with this work, but have already discovered its treasures. So what does Christopher Ash have to say about this petroleum-laden psalm?
The first thing the psalm provokes us to think and feel is the very great desirability of harmony in all human relationships….Reflecting on all that David suffered of discord, David Dickson shrewdly comments, “Those are the most fit to put a price and right estimation upon peace and concord [are those] who have seen and felt the evil of discord and contention, as David’s experience proveth.”
We are to be deep lovers of peace. When we have to engage in controversies, we will always do so reluctantly and with heavy hearts. We will have no delight in fighting…Christ guides our feet in the way of peace (Luke 1:79)
The image of anointing oil points us supremely to Jesus Christ, the anointed one of God, our great high priest. As we see, in our mind’s eye, the fragrant oil poured out over Aaron’s head, we see also the fulfillment of this anointing as all the blessings of God are poured onto Jesus Christ and, in and through him, onto us his people…
These blessings are not sectarian blessings given to a few but creation blessings that overflow to the entire created order of the new age. To be a lover of peace in this age, in the concrete and often difficult relations in the local church, is to remember that in the age to come, this is our destiny.
There is a much better use for oil than burning it at midnight. Pouring it out symbolizes God’s goodness, which is revealed in his gifts to people like us, who so often are not at peace, but racked by conflict and discord. For us to escape the calibrated loop of personal insult made followed by personal insult returned, it takes a work of God to put out the fires, and restore what has been damaged or lost.
In the end, this psalm point us to the work God has done in Christ:
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled the world to himself, and gave us the ministry of reconcilation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
And that’s a thought comforting enough to sleep soundly. At least it should.
Thank you “sleepless”.
That scripture has drawn me with curiosity for years. I love the pairing of it with the reality of Jesus as the anointed One to whom we come in need of that oil, for what ever reason. To get our fill until it runs over. And there is always more ….