Psalm 133 – Blessed Unity of the People of God:
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forevermore.”
If ever there were a psalm that depicts the get-along-ability of God’s people, it would be this one; written by David, and most likely for that good purpose of the brethren dwelling together in unity. When God’s people don’t get along, things get messy real fast. I can think of some horrific stories that I have heard concerning unresolved conflicts with some of the saints in a local church and the splits or bad business deals that happen as a result; all at the hands of quarreling Christians. In this psalm however, the focus is on the positive and how good and pleasant it is when believers all dwell together in unity. I can only think that this is a depiction of the future kingdom of heaven where we will all be in a perfected state, without sin, without any flesh tendencies, and without any quarreling or bickering over who killed who. This, I believe, is a snapshot of heaven; something we must try and emulate here in this life as best we can. Heaven is within you.
The ‘precious oil being poured upon the head and beard of Aaron, down to the edge of his garments’ infers a lot of oil, which represents the Holy Spirit. This kind of pouring of oil speaks of God’s anointing, His choosing, His hand of grace upon the person that it is being bestowed upon. We see evidence of this in the scriptures, both in the OT and NT. Aaron was the High Priest of Israel and according to the Law, only he, his sons, and their posterity could be future High Priests. While in the NT we see Jesus as our High Priest, in the OT, this is what they had to work with; humans, flesh, failable men who were just as much in need of God’s grace as much as God’s ministers do today in the NT era. We need to be praying for and supporting our pastors.
The phrase, ‘it’s like the dew of Hermon,’ referring to Mt. Hermon, ‘descending upon the mountains of Zion,’ the mountains that surround Jerusalem. These two ranges are about 400 miles apart, which infers that this kind of unity won’t happen no more than dew from Hermon can descend upon Zion, but alas, it can and it does, by God’s grace. Zion is the place where God commands His blessing and His blessing is life forever more, eternal life with Him in heaven, and with all those who have called upon Him and have believed on the only name by which men can be saved, Jesus.
When I think of the local church, I can appreciate how this kind of unity is so important in these last days. Some believers are so uptight over the obvious crisis that looms all around, and yet they can have God’s peace if they hide themselves in Him, by faith. We know the Master is coming for us and He is taking us to a place where this ‘good and pleasant unity’ not only exists, but is a permanent part of God’s heavenly economy. In heaven, there will be no fighting, bickering, or conflict of any kind. We will all just get along and live together in a peace (and joy) that can only be provided by the Prince of Peace Himself, Jesus. This is our portion, this is what awaits us and David, through the power of the Holy Spirit, was able to pen these words in a way that would provide the millions of future readers of this psalm some hope that this unity actually exists; and it’s only a few days away.
Maranatha!
Encouragemen is a blog written by Pastor Rob Lee, recently relocated to Northern Missouri. He lives with his wife of 33-years, near their three adult children, their spouses, and children (their grandchildren). Pastor Rob is an Ordained Assemblies of God minister, a former Lead Pastor (25 years), police chaplain, and community advocate. He continues to serve, consult, and disciple men of God, including those who are in the ministry.
Encourage Men 