“O my dove,
In the clefts of the rock,
In the covert of the precipice,
Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your form is lovely.”
— Song of Songs 2:14

The Lord is telling His dove that she needs two things: the clefts of the rock and the covert of the precipice. (more…)

“O my dove,
In the clefts of the rock,
In the covert of the precipice,
Let me see your face,
Let me hear your voice;
For your voice is sweet,
And your form is lovely.”
— Song of Songs 2:14

In verse 14 the Lord refers to the Shulammite as His “dove.” The Lord once said her eyes were like the eyes of a dove. Now she herself becomes a dove. (more…)

“My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away.
For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom
have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away!’”
— Song of Songs 2:10-13

Praise the Lord for these five points in verses 11 through 13. First, the winter is past, and the rain is over and gone. Second, flowers appear on the earth. Third, the time of singing has come. Fourth, the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. And fifth, the fig tree has ripened its figs, and the vines are in blossom. (more…)

“My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away.
For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom
have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away!’”
— Song of Songs 2:10-13

There are two words of encouragement here. First, the Lord tells us that the fig tree has ripened its figs. Second, He says that the vines are in blossom (2:13). You are like the fig tree that has ripened its figs. (more…)

“My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away.
For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom
have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away!’”
— Song of Songs 2:10-13

The voice of the turtledove (2:12) represents love. This love does not only exist between you and the Lord, but also between the Lord and the brothers and sisters. (more…)

“My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away.
For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom
have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away!’”
— Song of Songs 2:10-13

Although this is a sober time, it is also a time of beauty. The appearing of flowers indicates that the abundant life has become manifested among the saints. (more…)

“My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away.
For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom
have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away!’”
— Song of Songs 2:10-13

Brothers and sisters, when you first got saved, you could weep as you thought about the Lord. After being revived in your spiritual life, you might have wept again as your love for Him was renewed. However, you don’t need to seek to return to those situations. That rain is over and gone. (more…)

“My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away.
For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom
have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away!’”
— Song of Songs 2:10-13

You may have thought that your early experiences in seeking the Lord were something of the springtime. The Lord, however, tells you that your abiding in them should be considered a time of winter. (more…)

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell  together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the hem of his garments.
It is like the dew of Hermon
That descended upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing,
even life forevermore.
— Psalm 133:1-3

Verse 3 of this psalm is so sweet and so precious. When the church life enters into maturity the Lord commands His blessing. In His testimony there is life forever more. Just a glimpse of this will make our heart leap for joy! (more…)

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell  together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the hem of his garments.
It is like the dew of Hermon
That descended upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing,
even life forevermore.
— Psalm 133:1-3

Our oneness is like the “dew of Hermon.” Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains, and Mount Hermon is the highest of them all. Mount Hermon in the Bible signifies the ascended Christ. (more…)

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell  together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his garments.
— Psalm 133:1-2

Eventually the anointing oil ran down from Aaron’s beard to the “hem of his garments.” A person’s garments signifies his outward expression, his testimony. For the ointment to reach the “hem of his garments” means that eventually there is a wonderful testimony produced from our oneness in the church life.

The divine anointing reaches the very hem of our garments. The church life becomes a glorious display. On the one hand it is a display of our maturity, but on the other it is Christ Himself who is expressed. When people look at our oneness they see the marvelous testimony of Christ.

Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 110.

Tomorrow: “Oneness and Christ’s Resurrection”

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell  together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his garments.
— Psalm 133:1-2

Suppose all of the saints were desirous to serve, whether by preaching the gospel and having home gatherings, or by cleaning the meeting hall and mowing the lawn. Then we would surely have “Aaron’s beard” among us. This would allow us to experience the flow of the divine anointing.

There would be no murmuring, complaining, withdrawing, or backsliding. All of the saints would exercise with the headship of Christ, the person of Christ, the maturity of Christ, and the priestly serving life of Christ. Then we would all declare, “Oh, how good and how pleasant it is!” We would enter into the rich enjoyment of oneness as described in this psalm.

Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 110.

Tomorrow: “Oneness and the Testimony”

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell  together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his garments.
— Psalm 133:1-2

What is described in these verses should become very practical for us. We often feel it is too much for us to serve in the church life, even just once a week. We especially look down upon the practical serving, such as cleaning the hall, setting up chairs, or mowing the lawn. If this is the case, then how can we have “Aaron’s beard” among us? It often seems instead that we have “Jacob’s beard,” because we always murmur and complain. We complain that some saints do too much, while others do too little. But this is contrary to Psalm 133.

We should desire to see a harmonious church life in maturity, with the divine ointment flowing down upon us, so that we can declare, “Behold! How good and how pleasant it is!” For this to happen we need to have Christ as our Head and as our person. We need to grow until Christ Himself is our maturity. This maturity will cause us to serve as a priest in the church life. When there are many saints among us who exercise in maturity, then the church life will become a priestly serving life.

Adapted from The Journey of Life, pages 109-110.

Tomorrow: “Oneness and the Priesthood (3)”

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell  together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his garments.
— Psalm 133:1-2

The ointment that was poured upon Aaron’s head ran down to his beard. In the Bible the beard signifies maturity, because a young man cannot grow a beard until he becomes mature. For the ointment to run down upon the beard signifies that we who are in oneness not only possess Christ’s headship and person, but also His maturity. (more…)

“Surely I will not enter the tabernacle of my house,
Nor lie on my bed;
I will not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
Until I find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
— Psalm 132:3-5

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his garments.
It is like the dew of Hermon
— Psalm 133:1-2

We need to remember that oneness is not merely an emotional experience. We tend to enjoy this psalm in an emotional way, but then we live our own life apart from the Lord’s headship. This can never work to bring in the Lord’s blessing. (more…)

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell  together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his garments.
— Psalm 133:1-2

The enjoyment and experience of the divine anointing comes from our oneness. According to this psalm, the anointing oil runs down upon the head. This means that we need the headship of Christ. The anointing oil comes down upon the head, and then runs down from the head to the body. (more…)

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell  together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his garments.
— Psalm 133:1-2

This fine oil that was poured upon Aaron’s head was the anointing oil, as described in Exodus 30:22-33. According to this psalm, what should characterize our unity? Our unity should be accompanied by the enjoyment of the divine anointing. For us to be under the divine anointing means that we are filled and saturated with the living presence of Christ.

Even though we may not have this consistently, we often have a foretaste of this in our meetings or in our fellowship with the saints. Sometimes we have the deep realization of the Lord’s presence because the divine anointing has come in and saturated us. Then we become more than joyful. We think, “Oh, how rich! Oh, how marvelous!” We may even enter into a kind of ecstasy, to the point where we forget who we are. Such a deep sensation shows that we are under the divine anointing.

Adapted from The Journey of Life, page 108.

Tomorrow: “Oneness and the Divine Anointing (2)”

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell  together in unity!
— Psalm 133:1

We have all tasted this oneness from time to time, but it seems we are never able to maintain it. Our experience of oneness is often inconsistent. However, we should not be discouraged and think that oneness is only theoretical. Oneness comes from our maturity in life. It is not theoretical, but it is something we must grow into. (more…)

“Surely I will not enter the tabernacle of my house,
Nor lie on my bed;
I will not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
Until I find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
— Psalm 132:3-5

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell  together in unity!
— Psalm 133:1

How is it possible for us to experience the oneness described in Psalm 133:1? We can only be one by exercising our maturity as portrayed in Psalm 132, in which Christ becomes everything and we disappear. (more…)

A Song of Ascents, of David.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his garments.
It is like the dew of Hermon
That descended upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing,
even life forevermore.
— Psalm 133:1-3

This is a psalm we all know very well because we often sing it as a hymn. However, we may not truly know this psalm as it was meant to be known.

Psalm 133 was meant to be a display of maturity, not a display of emotion. (more…)

Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you.
— Philippians 3:15

Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.
— Philippians 3:17

Paul’s desire for the believers was that they would all walk according to such a mind as he had. If not, then their oneness would be shallow and unsubstantiated. (more…)

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
— Philippians 3:12-14

Paul told the Philippians that he did one thing: he pursued. He sought to lay hold of that for which he also had been laid of by Christ Jesus. In a good sense, this pursuing of Paul was his persecuting of Christ ever since being captured by Christ. The Lord had gained him, and now he was intent upon gaining Christ. (more…)

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
— Philippians 3:10

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
— Colossians 1:24

When we consider any saint in our care, we should realize that the Lord has a goal in view for that brother or sister. Whether we serve many churches or just a few saints, there is a suffering that accompanies the process of their growth. How about their usefulness? How about their growth unto maturity and function as the Lord desires? The Lord requires some to fellowship with Him through sufferings for the growth of the believers. (more…)

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.
— Philippians 3:10

Paul told the Philippians that his desire was to know Christ, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Not many know what it is to experience the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, for it involves being led into a place of death, where we experience the finality of death and then, out of that hopeless place, the uplifting of the heavenly Christ in resurrection. (more…)

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.
— Philippians 3:8-9

To count all things loss is one thing, and to actually suffer the loss of all is another. I would like to have asked Paul, “Have you really suffered the loss of all things? Don’t you still wear clothing? Do you not have a place to sleep and food to eat?” (more…)

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.
— Philippians 2:5

Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you.
— Philippians 3:15

Even in light of all of this, Paul still desired that the church would go on further. His desire was that the saints would become as full-grown as he was, having the same mind that was also in Christ Jesus (2:5). Having the apostle’s mind eventually becomes the substantiating of our oneness. (more…)