The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 3 — Section 244

like t~e _holy oil and the dew-it is a blessing for all and every one ; for all our service and ministry, for all the people, the lowly as well as those of high station, and for all the land. North and south in Palestine had been torn by discord, strife., and war; but when this psalm was written they were all "as one man," gathered and bound together in the unity of their national life and of their one faith (Ezra iii. 1; Neh. viii. 1). H3:ppy the nation, ?appy the Church, happy the home, where this blessed spirit of 11mty comes and abides I 2. Take them separately. And: (1) The holy oil. It wne co~T?auded of God (cf. Exod. xxx.). It was very precious and fragrant. Its com- pos1t1on and character were due to God. It consecrated all service, and no service could be rendered without it. But all this true of this grace of unity. (2) 'fhe dew. It gave fertility and beauty and health to all the land, which would have been bare and sterile without it. .Again, this is true of this grace. .._ 'fhat nation, Church, home, where unity reigns shall be good and pleasant to look upon and to be associated and identified with. It shall render glory to God, and be for the blessing of men. II. WHAT ARE ITS CONDITIONS. 1. ."1.ssociation. We must come together· there can be no unity in solitariness. We are many members, but one body. It co~demns all separatism for separatism's sake. 2. Variety. There is no unity in the mere repetiti~n of th~ s~me thing~, ~s in a heap of sand, a flock of sheep. But unity requires harmomzed varieties. Music 1s not a monotone, but a harmony. .Acts of Uniformity cannot _s~cure it. In a ~r~e Christian society there must be variety of thought, feeling, and opmron, of age, pos1t1on, character. 3. Liberty. There is no unity where there is no freedom. No real ngreement exists where none is allowed to disagree. .A lump of ice binds together a whole mass of most discordant things, but there is no unity in such a mass. They are fettered together by the frost force; let that be loosed, and each goes its own way at once. 4. Life. There is no strife in a graveyard; dead things do not quarreL .A. dead Church is peaceful enough. 5. intelligence. The unity that is produced by priestcra.ft and superstition, where education and intelligence a.re lacking, where if light came it would at once be dissolved,-tha.t is not true unity. But without these conditions (vers. 1-3) unity is not. llL Wru.T ITS BEAL SOURCE. The Holy Spirit of God. Like as one life animates our bodies and makes them one, one common feeling the passion-swayed multitude; so when the Spirit of God comes into a community, then, as at Pentecost, there is one body, "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. iv.). IV. WHAT THE FRUIT IT BEA.RB. "There the Lord commanded the blessing," etc. (ver. 3). It is ever so.-S. C. Ver. 1.-Possible u,nities. The topic of the psalm is the joy felt in the reuniting of the nation in its restoration from the scattering and depression of the Captivity. Strictly there is no Hebrew equivalent for the words rendered "in unity." The Hebrew simply means, "How pleasant a thing it is for (those who are) brethren to dwell together also I" The idea has been thus expressed, "How good it is for those who are united by the ties of k.inmanship to be united yet closer by the possession of one common place of abode I" .A race in possession of a common country merges individual in national intewsts. The two illustrations represent the pervading influence of this sympathetic spirit. 'J'he anointing oil which reached to .Aaron's feet. The dews of Hermon, which were wafted over all the land, l. THERE 18 THE POSSIBLE UNITY OF SIMILARITY. The oneness of a common life; common pleasures; a common love. The similarities may concern very simple things, and yet be deeper than all diversities, and may gain triumph over everything that may tend to separate. Similarities in language, art, scientific interests, political principles, skill in games, suffice to unite men. How much more should religious feeling, and share in Christian work I Illustrate by the uniting bond of Freemasonry. II. THERE 18 THE POSSIBLE UNITY OF DIVERSITIES. There is no necessary form in which nny life is bound to express itself. However life genuinely expresses itself, the expression will be found in harmony with every other expression. 'l'he pictures in the .Academy are set oftentimes, in painful colour-contrasts one with another. The flowers of a gar.den are ~!ways harmonious. True unity consists in each being his best along his own line. III. TnERE IS 'l'HE POSSIBLE UNITY OF MEEKNEBR. Meekness meanE. voluntary PB, oxxxm. 1-3.] THE .BOOK. OF PSALMS. 2i3