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Good morning, Village. Hey, try it one more time. Good morning, Village. Hey, there we go,

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we're awake now. All right, all right. All right, my name is Jay. I've been

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attending the Village for a short time, but nonetheless, it's home and you guys

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are family, so thank you for coming today. Today's scripture is from Psalm 133.

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How delightfully good when brothers live together in harmony. Amen. It is like fine

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oil on the head running down on the beard, running down Aaron's beard into

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his robes. There we go, you smile in the crowd. All right. It is like dew of

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hermit falling on the mountains of Zion, for the Lord has appointed the blessing

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life forevermore. That is God's word. Thank you.

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Thank you, Jay. He's not gonna let you just sit there and look at him. It's gonna

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get you going. That's right. One other thing we could add to the the fall launch

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is another B, which is we had barbecue, we had baptism, we had something else on

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there. Bingo, and you could add bounce house to it too for you kids. All right.

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We'll pack more in there, we'll figure out. All right, we are on a journey with

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the pilgrims of Israel as we have made our way through the Psalms of Ascent and

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today, man, what a sight to see coming out of Psalm 133. Have you ever taken a long

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road trip? I've had many, many long road trips. I commute, I love to go on road

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trips just for the heck of it. I've driven, my family drove from California,

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from the Bay Area to Houston when I was a teenager when we made a move out there.

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Very, very long trip. And on those trips, you typically track the time, you make

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notes of the waypoints. Have we made it to such-and-such town or such-and-such

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city? Have we passed that one roadside stop that we always made? You look for

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the signs to tell you how much further do you have to go before you get to your

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destination. Or maybe nowadays you take a look at that navigation system,

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right? And you watch it like you're watching water boil, waiting. It's only

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been one mile, oh my goodness, felt like a lifetime. If you ever drive I-5 down to

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Bakersfield, long stretches of nothingness and it can feel like an

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eternity. But something happens, it's something that I took note of at least

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in my journeys and trips, something happens around 20 to 30 minutes before

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you get to your destination. You look down and you see, oh, we're almost there.

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And you begin to think of, hey, what am I, what do I need to get out of the car?

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What am I gonna do when I first meet that person that I'm going to see? Where

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or maybe that place that I'm going to vacation at? Your thoughts begin to move

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forward in time to what it might be like when you get to that point in time, to

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the fulfillment of your journey. Our singing pilgrims that we have been

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following through the Psalms of Ascent have all traveled some way, somewhere to

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get to Jerusalem. Some have traveled only a short walk. If you were a part of the

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families of the tribe of Asher, you would have traveled over a hundred miles to

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get to Jerusalem. Imagine as your journey comes to an end and the mountain of

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Zion is before you, Jerusalem comes into sight. The families from the 12 tribes of

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Israel are pouring into the city and they're eager to find rest from their

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long journey as well as eager to celebrate the Lord with whatever

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festival they've come to Jerusalem to celebrate. Normally these tribes are

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separated by harsh conditions or treacherous roads or mountains and

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finally again, finally we are together. Together going up, going up Mount Zion to

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meet with God. Psalm 133 gives words to express that moment of jubilation, that

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moment of excitement. And there's actually something that's concealed a

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little bit behind the English translation of the first verse, especially

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in the CSB which we read from this morning. The first verse reads how

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delightfully good when brothers live together in harmony and the sense of

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what is concealed is kind of behind the meaning of those words. It's there but

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maybe it lacks a little bit of the awe and wonder that I'm looking for in this

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moment. Another way to translate the original Hebrew word there at the very

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beginning of Psalm 133 is with a single word and an exclamation point after it

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and that single word is behold. We sang that song today, behold Him. Behold. Look.

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Study with your eyes. Perceive with your mind. Feel with your heart. What a sight

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to see. Or to translate into modern English, whoa dude. Like, whoa, you've got

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to see this man. Sometimes in the Word of God we are given things to obey and when

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we obey those things we experience blessing in our life. But sometimes in

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the Word of God we are given things to simply behold. Simply look at. Simply look

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to study. Engage your mind. Engage your heart. Engage your spirit. And Psalm 133

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begins there with behold. How good. How delightfully good it is when brothers

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live together in harmony. When brothers live together in harmony. In Charles

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Spurgeon's Treasury of the Psalms commentary he says, it is a wonder seldom

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seen. Therefore, behold it. It may be seen for it is the characteristic of real

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saints for brothers to live together in harmony. Therefore, fail not to inspect it.

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It is well worthy of admiration. Pause. Gaze upon it. It will charm you into

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imitation. Therefore, note it well. For God looks on it with approval. Therefore,

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consider it with great attention. Behold when brothers live together in harmony.

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It is a sight to behold. We are going to dive into this Psalm 133 and we're

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gonna look at it under three points. The first point we're going to look at is

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the picture of unity. The picture of unity. How delightfully good when

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brothers live together in harmony. Some things are good. In fact, many things are

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good for you, right? A diet that consists of moderation and self-control, that's

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that's good for you. Eating your vegetables, we're told, is good for you.

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It's good to exercise. It is good to limit your consumption of digital media,

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your TV, your smartphone, any screens you might be looking at. It is good to not

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lie to your loved ones, to put up a false front or face, to live a lie with those

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around you. It is good to not murder, right? We're all on the same page, right?

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There are many things that are good for us, that are right for our flourishing

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as humanity, but can we say that all of those good things are delightfully good?

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The psalmist begins by saying to you and I that brothers living together in

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harmony is both good, it's right, but it's also delightfully good. Another

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translation of that same verse says that is good and pleasant when brothers dwell

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together in unity. One pastor pointed out that goodness, it being good implies

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that it ought to be. It ought to be. It is right. Whereas pleasant or delightfully

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good, delightful implies what we want it to be. And Psalm 133 says that it's not

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only good, it ought to be. It also says it's something that we should want. We

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want it to be. Good is what God requires. Delight is what we rejoice in. Good is

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our duty. Pleasant is our delight. And this is not just about being together

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when brothers dwell together in unity or harmony. Unity isn't the same as

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proximity. If I have any married people in the house, you know that unity isn't

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the same as proximity when your spouse rolls over in bed and gives you the cold

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shoulder refusing to talk or continue in the conversation, right? You know that

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just because you're near in the closest human relationship at the closest point

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that that doesn't mean you're in unity or harmony necessarily. Unity isn't the

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same as proximity. What it is getting at though in Psalm 133 is the author is

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excited about the unity that these brothers have and you have to have the

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whole loaded context of all the history of Israel, the law that was given, who

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these people are, the covenant all packed into this statement. The author is excited

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for a unity of ultimate allegiance, a unity that finds its root in their

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allegiance to following God. These are God's people. Unity of devotion among

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God's devoted worshipers. Unity of passion. These are God chasers and the

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migration of the tribe to Jerusalem isn't just some big family reunion. I

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don't think you have been a part of a big family reunion yourself. Sometimes that

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could be good, sometimes it can be a train wreck and this Jerusalem journey

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isn't just a family reunion as you and I might think of it but it is the devoted,

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the lovers of God, the God chasers, the ones who are hungry after God coming on

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a long journey to meet together and that's the unity the psalmist sees in

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mind. A unity of purpose, a unity of passion, a unifying point to come

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together around the worship of God. The author sees the sum total of the tribes

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is greater than the individual parts in their unity and purpose and devotion and

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passion and he says that's pleasant, that's delightfully good but it is also

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more than just good and pleasant, it is also precious. The next point is the

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preciousness of unity. It is like fine oil on the head running down on the

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beard, running down Aaron's beard onto his robe. The preciousness of unity. The

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psalmist next makes a comparison. The harmony, the unity of brothers is like

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fine oil on the head. The word fine or precious is speaking of its unique

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composition and its unique purpose. This oil is something that was set apart and

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unique. We see this because the psalm makes reference to who? What's the name

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in there? Aaron, right? And who was Aaron? Anyone know? Moses' brother, he was also

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the first high priest, right? The first high priest of Israel and it's almost

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like we're reimagining or revisiting that anointing of the high priest of

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Israel, Aaron, as the anointing oil comes over him. Aaron was anointed with oil

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when he was set apart for the ministry. In Exodus chapter 30 verse 22 through 33

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we are told about the anointing oil that was actually used on Aaron. What it was

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made of, it was this rich fragrant blend of spices, it was heavily perfumed oil, it

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was to be consecrated oil, meaning it was to be used only for a special purpose,

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only for a very special holy purpose. In Exodus 20 verse 31 it says, tell the

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Israelites this will be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations.

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It must not be used for ordinary anointing on a person's body and you

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must not make anything like it using its formula. It is holy and it must be holy

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to you. Anyone who blends something like it or puts it on, puts some of it on an

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unauthorized person must be cut off from their people. This oil was special, it was

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precious, it was consecrated and it was only for

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consecrating and setting apart the most holy things in service to God and that

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include the articles in the tabernacle in the temple and that also included

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the servants who would go in the high priest and his sons, Aaron. And we see in

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Psalm 133 that the kind of unity that is described in Psalm 133 is a kind that is

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like the high and holy anointing of the high priest for service before God and

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before man. That's what the psalmist likens it to. It's like that moment when

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that that priest is set apart for God's holy purpose. Now I don't know if you've

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ever been anointed with oil. Nowadays typically if you're ever anointed for

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for maybe you have a sickness or you want you're being set apart for

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something or you're being commissioned to go do something you might get anointed

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with oil and it's usually out of a little vial and a little dab on the

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forehead right? And then you're good right? You're anointed. Well I remember

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one time I had an opportunity where I was being prayed for and I think the

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prayer was something along the lines of hey the Holy Spirit would use you and

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pour his anointing on to you so that you might be useful in the ministry in the

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future. I don't recall the exact nature of the prayer I just remember people

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around me and whatever the nature of it it was about abundance and it was about

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overflow and so whoever was praying got the idea that that meant they should

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pour the whole thing on my head. Now if you've ever had any oil on your head

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maybe you've put it in your hair or something it it gets in there it's hard

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to get out it begins to run down it's in my eyes it's on my mouth it's going down

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my you know the back of my hair it's on my collar it's in running down my back I

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mean it's everywhere and you can't get away from it and not only that but this

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was special oil because they were trying to be you know like that original oil

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they had mixed it up in a certain fragrant way and so now you now I just

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you know I'm walking around like a walking talking you know greasy garden I

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smell like beautiful flowers walking around the church afterward you know and

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then afterward obviously you're gonna be greeting people and welcoming people and

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and saying hi to your friends and stuff and you can imagine being smelly and

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greasy I think that that that's part of though of the imagery here why else

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would the psalmist talk about not only being poured on the head but it running

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down and a running down further and to the robes part of the imagery that the

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psalmist is trying to convey is something about this overflowing

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abundance of oil over Aaron the beard the robe it's not just precious in

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composition and purpose but it's also in its abundance life-giving spirit-filling

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outcome it's sanctifying it's setting apart for something great a great work

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of God to do ministry for God to minister to the Lord and to minister to

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people the anointing oil is like life being poured out and it's running down

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it's running down it's maybe you haven't maybe you haven't experienced the oil on

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the head but have you ever had really good barbecue ribs I know they're

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similar right I have great barbecue ribs I remember when we first came here

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getting taken out to the great barbecue place up the street that I remember all

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the time momos I think it is called right up the way right and getting some

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barbecue up there and something about ribs I just recently had them at Ray

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Lee's and then you dig in and they're amazing and then pretty soon five

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minutes later you're like there there's there's sauce on my arm like how did it

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get there and then it's on your pants and then it's it's on the back of your

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head and somehow it's on the steering wheel now and you're like the sauce is

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abundant and overflowing and it's very very messy messy good right it's good

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there was I remember back in the day Carl's jr. had commercials about I think

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they were trying to compete and they realized that they they couldn't get

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their workers to make anything without making it look sloppy and sauce

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everywhere and so they just leaned into that and marketed as like man if it

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doesn't get all over the place it doesn't belong in your face right messy

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good in all the right ways none of the bad ways none of the barbecue sauce ways

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the kind of unity that is being described in Psalm 133 is a kind of

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unity that is overflowing that is it's kind of messy good it's delightfully

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good and holy and precious it's not ordinary or common it's fragrant and

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sacred it's precious that leads us to the final points the provision of unity

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we move to verse 3 which begins it's like the dew of Herman falling on the

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mountains of Zion for there the Lord has appointed the blessing life forever more

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and another thing might be missed here too in in our English translation

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because there is a repeated phrase over and over again and it actually begins in

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verse 2 where it talks about the oil and it says running down in CSB but what

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more literally means like coming down or going down coming down coming down on

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the beard coming down on Aaron's beard and then that phrase gets repeated again

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in verse 3 it is like the dew of Herman coming down on the mountains of

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Zion coming down if something is coming down where has it come from somewhere up

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right Mount Hermon or Herman is in the northern most parts of Israel at that

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time now it's a part of Lebanon and right on the border of Syria it was the

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highest mountain in Israel at the time of Psalms was about 9,000 feet in

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stature and it was well known in the area for its lush green and moisture it

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was like dew that fell on Mount Herman it had something like over 60 inches of

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rainfall each year a lush place and from its streams and its tributaries Mount

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Herman feeds the headwaters that become the Jordan River and the Jordan River

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makes its way down to the Sea of Galilee and then it spills out of the Sea of

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Galilee and makes its way past Jerusalem and down to the Dead Sea Psalm 133 says

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that unity of the people of God is like the life-giving moisture of Mount Herman

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but it's falling on the dry dusty mountains of Zion it's like the moisture

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the life-giving water of Mount Herman falling on Mount Zion the same mountain

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Mount Zion is a place where Aaron's offspring the high priests would minister

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before the Lord and they would act as mediators between God and his people

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unity is like life-giving dew falling there right what is what does the

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scripture say it says it is like the dew of Herman falling on the mountains of

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Zion for there the Lord has appointed the blessing there Mount Zion on Mount

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Zion the Lord has appointed the blessing and it's like dew falling there because

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there on Mount Zion is the place where the restorative and atoning work takes

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place in the temple in the tabernacle the Lord has commanded his blessing

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where where he saves where he covers where he anoints and he's commanded what

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blessing everlasting life or another translation says life forever more or

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the literal Hebrew says life unto the eternity how is it like this how is it

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what is the connection between this dew of Herman and Mount Zion and the

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commanded blessing that God says is there it is like that because the kind

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of unity that the psalmist has in mind the kind of unity that we have been

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exploring and extol the psalmist has been extolling and glorying and remember

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it began with behold behold this beautiful sight when brothers live

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together in harmony that kind of unity is the fruit of that blessed everlasting

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life in other words the unity is not something that leads to everlasting

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life it is something that is born out of everlasting life or the fruit of eternal

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life in us the blessing that God has commanded where heaven and earth meets

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through the mediator through the mediator at one time pictured as Aaron

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only to be fulfilled in maximum view in Christ on Mount Zion the life-giving dew

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would fall on Zion and from that life a kind of unity that the world has never

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seen before I don't know if you read the song 133 and you go that's not how the

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world works we might get along for a little while but underneath we're really

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divisive and we're trying to tear things apart what about a that kind of unit the

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scripture says that kind of unity that is delightful and good would come to

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Zion where God's commanded blessing of life eternal would come and from there

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that kind of unity would go out into the world that the world had never seen

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before so that we could behold it so the world could behold that kind of unity

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Aaron in his offspring served the Lord on Mount Zion making sacrifice and

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atoning for the sins of the people but we also know that Aaron's priestly

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ministry eventually came to an end we know that for all the goodness of the

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high priest ministry that no matter how many offerings were made more was always

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required we see that no matter how many unity movements rise up in this world

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unified around some common goal they are not sufficient and they crumble under

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the weight of sinful man who always seeks to undermine and elevate himself

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this unity is described in Psalm 133 is not possible by our own efforts but it

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is a gift from God coming down remember coming down on the head down on the

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beard coming down in Christ who came down to bring this gift listen to these

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words from the scripture for this is the kind of high praise we need holy

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innocent undefiled separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens he

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doesn't need to offer sacrifices every day as the high priests do first for

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their own sin and then for those of the people he did this once for all time

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when he offered himself for the law appoints as high priests men who are weak

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but the promise of the oath which came after the law appoints a son who has

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been perfected forever not only was this unity achieved in Christ but he also

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accomplished another feat another feat that much of the New Testament glories

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in and finds great joy and satisfaction and glory in God and that feat is this

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he tore the dividing line between Jew and Gentile he effectively kicked down

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the doors of hostility between them and in doing so Christ did something for

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unity that no one could ever do on earth and that is he expanded or exploded the

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meaning of what brothers in unity could look like brothers in unity could

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include people from every nation tribe and tongue and so delightfully good is

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the unity we find in Christ that he is said to be making out of the two the Jew

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and the Gentile those at odds one new humanity out of the two he's making one

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new humanity ultimately unity and peace in his body and that one new humanity

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we've talked about this before we said it before many times from here that one

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new humanity is the church that one new humanity that God is creating out of the

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two one in Christ is the church it is all of those who have their hope

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exclusively found in Christ Jesus they are the ultimate expression of the

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reality of this truth reality of this unity and this peace you may not have

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been here at the very beginning when we read the scripture Ephesians 2 as our

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call to worship but I want you to listen to it now in light of Psalm 133 and in

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light of the provision of unity we have in Christ Jesus Ephesians chapter 2

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verse 11 to 21 so then remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh

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called the uncircumcised by those called the circumcised which is done in the

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flesh by human hands at that time you were without Christ excluded from the

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citizenship of Israel and foreigners to the covenants of promise without hope

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and without God in the world but now in Christ Jesus you who were far away have

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been brought near by the blood of Christ for he is our peace who made both groups

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one and tore down the dividing line of hostility in his flesh he made of no

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effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations so that he

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might create in himself one new man one new humanity from the two resulting in

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peace he did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body

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through the cross by which he put the hostility to death he came and proclaimed

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the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were

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near for through him we have access in one spirit to the father so then you are

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no longer foreigners or strangers but you are fellow citizens with the Saints

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members of God's household built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets

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with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone in him the whole building

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being put together grows into a holy temple in the Lord and him you are also

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being built together for God's dwelling in the spirit where was the temple

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located Mount Zion Jerusalem what is God building now he's building one humanity

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out of the two in him that it might be grow up to be the new temple the church

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in Christ Jesus and a place where the spirit of God dwells which anointing

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oil always represented the spirit or the presence of God how delightfully good

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when brothers and sisters live together as one new humanity in Christ that is

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the fulfillment of Psalm 133 how good how delightfully good when brothers and

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sisters live together as one new humanity in Christ God's people in God's

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place under God's rule a kingdom of priests to our God