ifellowship (or, getting along with others) june 4

Psalm 133
A Pilgrim song of David

How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along!
It’s like costly anointing oil flowing down head and beard,
Flowing down Aaron’s beard, flowing down the collar of his priestly robes.
It’s like the dew on Mount Hermon flowing down the slopes of Zion.
Yes, that’s where GOD commands the blessing ordains eternal life.

(The Message)

**Anointing oil was used in the Old Testament to show God had chosen someone. The oil was poured on a man’s head. It was expensive and always taken seriously. In this psalm, our unity with our brothers and sisters is compared to the anointing oil used to show Aaron was God’s chosen priest. Aaron was the first priest of God’s people.
Another image in this Psalm is that of dew. Apparently, dew was common on Mt. Hermon. The writer of the Psalm says our unity is like the amount of dew on Mt. Hermon, but flowing down Zion- a mountain where the people believed God dwelt. Zion was God’s chosen place.
God’s blessing of eternal life flows down, like anointing oil on God’s chosen people or dew on God’s chosen place. God thinks our getting along is worthy of such a blessing.


One day in a crowded department store, a little girl was crying. Her little brother kept touching her and picking at her as their mom waded through racks of clothes. Finally, the little girl decided she had had enough and screamed! Her mother scolded the girl’s bad behavior. Through her tears, the little girl responded, “But I never wanted a brother, anyway!”
If you have a brother or sister in your immediate family, you probably know what it’s like to not get along. There are days you want to slam the door in each other’s face or yell because you want to be left alone. You probably also can remember a time when you and your siblings did get along. How did it make your parents feel?

Not everybody has a sibling in their immediate family. But, as Christians, we have brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world. God is pleased not only when we get along with our natural family members, but also when we get along with our youth group family, church family, and family of believers across the earth. We spend time together a lot. It’s called fellowship.
Think of a time you did not get along with your siblings or a close friend. How did you feel? How did your family feel?

Think of a time when everybody in your family did get along. What were you doing? How did it make you feel? How did it make the rest of your family feel?

How does your youth group get along? How do you think it makes God feel?

A Prayer...
God, you know what it’s like to have relationships with others. You sent Jesus so you could have a relationship with us! We have many relationships with other people. We have families made of parents and brothers and sisters. We have families of close friends. Even our youth group is a family. Forgive us for the times we have not gotten along. Help us recognize when we hurt each other’s feelings or are at odds. Give us the ability to change our ways and sacrifice our own desires for those of others. Help us look out for each other and get along. And celebrate with us when we do get along. May our fellowship be a glimpse of a perfect relationship with you. We pray to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.