Psalm 133:1
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
The psalmist is calling us to action. He desperately wants our attention, and calls us to look at the brethren dwelling together in unity. The unity he was speaking of was a united desire to seek after and worship Jehovah. This Psalm was one of the many songs the travelers to Jerusalem would sing as they made their way up the mountain to celebrate the feasts of the Lord. People from all over Israel congregated together with the unified purpose of devoting themselves more wholeheartedly to the Lord. The Psalmist declares, it is a good and pleasant thing, something worthy of our attention. This uniting of the brethren is good and pleasant for many reasons; not the least of which is the result it brings. David declares, it is like the anointing oil that was poured out upon the priests.
Shortly after being delivered from Egypt, God established the worship practices for the congregation of Israel. In order to ensure their spiritual development, He set up the descendants of Aaron as the priesthood. They would be responsible for much of the labor involved in making the corporate worship possible. The priests were clothed in special garments (a picture of being clothed in righteousness), then the sacrificial blood of the lamb was placed upon them for cleansing, and finally the anointing oil was poured on them. The blood serves as a type of Christ being crucified for the cleansing of our sin, and the oil a type of the Spirit of God, poured upon us, and equipping us for service. David describes the oil being poured on Aaron’s head and dripping down upon his beard and garments. It is a picture of the flowing of the Spirit upon those who have gathered together.
There is something special, something holy and divine, when we gather for corporate worship. Paul spoke of the body ministering to itself in love. As each of us are filled with the Spirit of God, and gather to seek the face of God, an atmosphere develops where the Spirit is flowing. How many times have you been met by God in the midst of worship? It is because the anointing oil is running off the beard of the worship leader. How many times have you been ministered to after service while speaking with another, and they begin to share things with you that encourage, edify and challenge you? It is because the oil is dripping from their beard. How many times have you been sitting in the service and felt as though the pastor was speaking directly to you? It almost seems as though the room has emptied and you are alone, hearing directly from God’s Word. It is because the oil is dripping from his beard. It is possible for the oil to drip from yours as well. When you gather next with the saints, don’t come simply to receive, come ready to give. As you walk into the fellowship, be praying that God will bring you face to face with someone to whom you will be able to minister. Few things are more exciting than knowing the Spirit of God has worked through you in the life of another.
Pastor Jim
Questions for Psalm 133
1. What does God say about dwelling in unity?
2. How does he describe it in verse 2?
Old Testament:
Psalm 134- Bless The Lord
2 Chronicles 7- Our Nation
As this short psalm begins to unfold, David celebrates the condition of his heart. He is rejoicing that his heart is not haughty nor his eyes lofty. In other words he does not have an exalted view of himself. There is no indication within the psalm as to when it was composed. If it was written early on, David was a talented young man who was gifted as a musician and a shepherd. His musical talents had landed him a position as the private worship leader for the king. If it was written a little later, David had proved himself a valiant warrior and was in command of Israel’s forces and was the object of the attention of the young maidens in the land. If it was written in a later season, David had become king of the nation and brought Israel to the height of their success. Yet in all of his success he was careful not to become haughty or to have an exalted view of himself. It seems that David always saw himself as that young shepherd boy who sat among the sheep and fixed his eyes upon the Lord.
The psalmist describes himself in a most vivid and horrifying manner. He states that his condition is as though the beasts of burden have veered off course and turned the plow back on the farmer. I do not know much about farming but I can imagine that to be an extremely painful experience. The cause of this dilemma was not wrong doing on the part of the author but rather he was being mistreated because of his association. We might say he was guilty by association. Those who were coming down hard upon him were doing so because they were angry at God or at the demands that His law placed upon them. This is a very common occurrence. Jesus told His followers they should expect to be mistreated simply because they have elected to follow Christ and bear His name.
The Psalmist is describing a scenario common to all of us. There are times, when the hand life deals us is difficult to cope with; sleep is affected, and our minds are tormented. There are many terms that describe this condition, but perhaps the most common is worry. One dictionary defines worry as, “to torment oneself with or suffer from disturbing thoughts; to fret.” I think that is a pretty apt description of worrying; to torment yourself. When we lay in bed unable to sleep, or rise up to pace the floor, filling our minds with what-ifs and worse case scenarios, we are really tormenting ourselves. It is as if we are waterboarding ourselves, and wondering why we are suffering so greatly. The question is not whether we will face things that fill us with dread, concern and anxiety, the question is how we will react. What is the proper response for the child of God when he is faced with things bigger than himself?
4,000 years ago Abraham was instructed to take his son to Mount Zion and offer him to the Lord. 2,800 years ago David purchased the threshing floor of Ornan on top of Mount Zion so his son Solomon could erect a permanent house for the Ark and a place for Israel to worship. 2,000 years on that same mountain the son of God was sacrificed for the sins of all mankind as a means of providing salvation for anyone who would humble themselves and call upon the name of the Lord. And today countless people from all over the world make pilgrimages to mount Zion to reflect upon these events and so many more. Millions of visitors, thousands of storms, hundreds of wars and mount Zion has yet to be moved.
The Psalmist compares the way he looks to the Lord, to the way a servant looks to a master. If we are going to understand the comparison, we need to consider how a servant would look to a master. It seems to me, one word would describe it best. A servant looks to his master obediently. The role of the servant is to do the will of the master, and in order to do that, he must look to the master for instruction and respond with obedience. The servant does not have the right to argue with the master, nor the time to complain about how unfair his task, in light of what the other servants are doing. The servant obeys.
The devil is crafty and a master of deception. Paul referred to him as an angel of light, because of his ability to disguise himself in order to fool the Christian.
It is not always the longest, or even the most creative works, that become the most well known. I am not a poet, and cannot speak to the artistic side of things, but I doubt whether any poem is as well known as “Roses are red and violets are blue…” Sometimes, the simplicity of things is exactly what is most needed. In a songbook filled with some of the most elaborate and beautiful expressions of praise, we find a simple song, consisting of only two short verses. It is the brevity of this song that magnifies its content. We find the Psalmist emphasizing two things that make God worthy of the praise of all the nations. He states, God is kind, and His word is true.
This psalm opens with a declaration of love for the Lord because He hears us when we cry. As the psalm unfolds we learn that the writer was facing a very difficult season where the pains of death were surrounding him. These may have been physical pains from illness or injury or emotional pains caused by the loss of a loved one. Whatever the case his trial turned to triumph when he called upon the Lord.
