A long long time ago, in a distant and far away land of my childhood, our church kids club had a whole week/holiday retreat . Besides the many games and activities that were offered to the kids, during the free time we had, while solme older kids played soccer, the younger one played hide and-seek.
I read somewhere today that playing hide-and-seek is a traditional part of all of our childhoods and with the benefits it gives growing children, it’s a tradition that should be carried on into the future.
However, when evening came, some of the older kids wanted to play the game a little differently. You see, I used to snore very loudly, and so, they decided to hide me far away from everybody else, playing a version of the game that I call “hide-and-then sleep”. So when I was sleping, they dragged my entire mattress and sleeping bag out to the dining shed, thus making it possible for them to sleep far away from my snoring.
Tia Leni, de children’s club director soon noticed I was missing, and she looked all over the place for me. In place of my bed, they left a drawing (Pedro Lemos). In the pôster, I slept in the cafeteria, sucking on my thumb in the company of the frogs, who seemed to be very annoyed by my snoring. She looked for me even inside the big oven, she thought I was being mischivious, while, the whole time the joke was on me. Sometimes, I too feel the desire to do this with some little brothers in the church. Then I remember how I felt about that night.
I felt really horrible. I felt left out, unwanted. Felt like the other kids didn’t like me enough to endure through a sleepless night of heavy breathing. Today, I noticed that in grown up churches, some of the kids also don’t look like they want to endure through bothersome times when younger christians are just doing what they do, weather awake or asleep.
In Psalms 133, David, the young king proposes a diferent atitude for the christian church. He says “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brothers to dwell in unity!” This psalm brings us a brief lesson on unity and brotherly love, which, if we didn’t see the miseries of quarrels between people, we have to say it and sing it until all people are persuaded to live together in peace.
Some say that King David wrote this psalm because of the union between the tribes when they all met to make him king. It is a psalm of general use to all societies, smaller and larger, civil and sacred. I found that this passage, speaks to the church today as a commandment that teaches:
1) The doctrine of the happiness of brotherly love (v. 1). Games are fun, but we should all be on the look out for our younger brothers and sisters in the church. We can‘t drag them away from us nor mock their weaknesses.
2) The illustration of that doctrine, in two illustrations: It is like the fine oil upon the head That ran down upon the beard, Upon Aaron's beard, That ran down upon the hem of his garments; (v. 2). What does oil mean? Anointing. Blessing. Consecration. Aaron’s role as high priest, the mediator between God and man. This is the image of the oil being so thick it is pouring off Aaron’s beard and his clothes. It’s a picture of the place where God’s blessing has overflowed and people are in harmony with each other because of it.
3) Like the dew of Hermon that came down upon the mountains of Zion. (v. 3) What is the meaning of this dew? In the mountain region of Israel, rain is scarce, only fallyng during a short time of the year, so dew is just as important the rain. In this period, the dew forms during the night making it possible for the fruit and crop to grow. Without it, the they will shrivel and not mature.
I didn’t find out until morning came, but my older brother (who is named after King David) was looking out for me. He picked me up, and took me to a safe place to sleep, right beside him. He didn’t care that I snored. I am his little brother, and he had my back no matter how much of an erk I could be. His atitude was and is to me, the real meaning of Psalm 133.
This has been very meaningful to me. This verse speaks about the dew of Mt. Hermon falling on the mountains of Jerusalem. I find it wonderful that this image of dew produces a great harrvest used to describe the effect of unity. In our culture, we seem to value individuality and confort over learning to submit ourselves and work along side of others to acheive a greater goal. Like what my brother did. Protecting me in my slumber, not minding it’s volume. It imprinted in me a character of care and unity that irrigated a life of good experiences and great harvest for the church of Christ. That experience changed and redeemed my feelings about that retreat.
So the next time you, and your church decide to play any kind of games, remember the final word of this Psalm, “For there the Lord lhas commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” Your hide-and-seek should be more inclined in the seek than in the hide. So close your eyes, count to ten and, ready or not, here we come!
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