Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

Each of these spices; myrrh-the gum of the cistus tree, cinnamon-the bark of its tree and cassia-the fruit of the thistle-like plant from India, 3 were very fragrant identifying the High Priest with a scent of per- fume wherever he went. Jesus, the High Priest of the eternal New Covenant was particularly associated with ‘myrrh’, the strongest spice. The Wise Men brought it to him as an act of worship at his birth: “…they fell down before him and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Mt. 2:11) Nicodemus anointed his body in death anticipating the coming resurrection: “Nicodemus,…also came bringing about seventy-pounds of embalming ointment made from myrrh and aloes.” (Jn. 19:39) Jesus received the sweet anointing of love from the Holy Spirit to save and heal mankind. As this psalm says, the anointing flows from the head through the beard; it flows down to the border of the gar- ment of the high priest, to the least member of the body of Christ: “Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.” (1 Cor. 12:27) ‘He cannot be held as in a reservoir, but must and does flow as do oil and dew.’ 4 As we worship the Lord in Spirit and truth, the anointing of the Holy Spirit’s love is poured upon the entire body of Christ. Spurgeon says of this anointing of love; ‘This is no small part of its excellence: oil would not anoint if it did not flow down, nei- ther would brotherly love diffuse its blessing if it did not descend.’ This wonderful anointing of Jesus the High Priest of heaven has not lost its power to transform, it still remains upon his church and we carry the scent of his presence with us: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.” (2 Cor. 2:14) The church that is living at the end of the ages is like the border of his garment, still anointed with the trans- forming love of the Holy Spirit; “People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak (boarder of his garment), and all who touched him were healed.” (Mt. 14:35, 36) In addition to the anointing of the Holy Spirit descending in worship, the second means of grace in bringing unity to the body of Christ is the distilling of the dew of his Word upon the open hearts and minds of his people. “Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.” Unity comes as the worshippers embrace the pure, distilled dew of his Word. (Deut. 32:2) In this Psalm picture David uses Mount Hermon that affected the climate and generated heavy dew throughout the land. Mount Hermon is a very important, symbolic mountain in the Bible. Its very name, ‘a consecrated place, a sanctuary’ is a prelude to the depth of its significance. It is the highest moun- tain in the Holy Land; ‘its melting snows…provide the principle source for the Jordan River. Its three sum- mits are nearly equal in height and are the same distance from each other.’ Even its physical geography suggests the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is thought by some scholars that the Trans- figuration took place on Hermon.’ 5 In Matthew 16 it says Jesus took his disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi, the city of ‘Dan’ in the northernmost part of Israel at the base of Mount Hermon. “Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. (Most likely Mount Hermon, the only high mountain in the region.) As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance changed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became dazzling white.” After Peter made a misguided comment “…a bright cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him. Listen to him.” (Mt. 17:1, 2, 5) The cloud in the Old Testament formed the dew through- out the land of Israel but the ‘cloud’ from the New Testament Mount Hermon would distill the words of Jesus to the whole world. ‘Holy concord is as dew, mysteriously blessed, full of life and growth for all plants of grace.’ 6 III REFRESHING HARMONY (3) Blessing Pronounced “Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion.” (3)

“And the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life forever more.” (3)

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