“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

Brothers and sisters, this is the beginning of an arduous journey. Your Christian life eventually requires you to have a union with the death of the Lord. (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

If we compare our experience of Christ here to what is described in chapter one of the Song of Songs, we will see that the experience of chapter one is very shallow in comparison. Here the Lord calls us into union with Him, a union that is far beyond the seeker’s past union with the Lord through merely being in love with Him. (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

The Lord’s desire to see us in the clefts of the rock shows us that all the experiences of the Lord should be ours also. (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

The rock is the Lord himself. The clefts of the rock are the place where we can be joined with the Lord. (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

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…)