Our journey up to Jerusalem and into the presence of the Living God concludes with Psalms 133 and 134. I want to share some important insights from these psalms, which are appropriately set at the end of the grouping known as The Psalms of Ascent.

Their placement is not a coincidence. Psalm 133 deals with an issue of vital concern to God. And I do mean vital. As we previously noted, the nearer we come to his holy presence, the more his priorities become our preoccupations. What exactly are these priorities? I believe they are the building up of his church and the unity of the saints.

Unity is very precious to God.

In Psalm 132, we see David’s passion to build a holy house for God’s dwelling. But for that to happen, there must be unity within the community. The biblical ideal of community is inseparable from the ideal of covenant. At Mt. Sinai, Israel was transformed from a rag-tag assembly of former slaves into a set-apart congregation—a community whose purpose was to bear witness to the holiness of God. That only happens in the context of covenant.

It may surprise you to know that if we carefully examine the 613 commandments associated with the covenant, we discover the vast majority of them focus on our relationship with one another as brothers and sisters in the community of faith. For example, in the Ten Commandments (the paradigm of all divine laws), only 4 of the 10 have a vertical orientation, addressing our relationship with God. The balance have a horizontal orientation, addressing our relationship one to another and emphasizing the importance of harmony and unity among the people of God.

Only in the bond of brotherhood can we fully experience the anointing and power that comes from the presence of God.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! (Ps 133:1)

The word pleasant here can also be translated as delightful or beautiful. This particular Hebrew word can be used in a musical context to refer to the harmony of music when everything is in order. On a violin, when all five strings are properly set and adjusted, it is pleasant. When every instrument in an orchestra is tuned, submitted to the conductor, and played in harmony, they can make music that is beautiful, delightful, and pleasant.

In Matthew 18:19, Jesus uses the word agree in the same way. I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven (Matt 18:19). The Greek word for agree is sumphoneo, from which we get the word symphony. It literally means “sounding together.”

There is power in agreement. Psalm 133 illustrates the blessedness of unity with two metaphors: the oil of anointing and the dew of Mt. Hermon.

It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! (vs. 2)

In Exodus 30:22-33, God gives Moses a precise formula for the oil of anointing featuring five sacred ingredients. It is concocted with olive oil as the base and is used exclusively for anointing the priests and items used by priests in the temple, such as the altar. Moses pours the oil out of the horn of a ram onto Aaron’s head. Israel’s kings were anointed the same way.

The oil is to be poured profusely upon the head, and it runs down upon the beard, even upon the garments. We are told that Aaron’s sons (Ex 29:7) were sprinkled with oil only, but Aaron, the high priest, was anointed with oil.

What did this oil symbolize? It conferred upon the person anointed the very Spirit of Yahweh. It provided God’s strength, support, and wisdom to the person anointed. In the case of the priest, the word used in that context is the word for holiness. The High Priest is made sanctified, which is to say he is set apart for exclusive service by the anointing of the LORD.

Messiah is the English transliteration of the Hebrew word mashiach. It means anointed of God with strength, wisdom, and power.

The abundance of this anointing flows from the head to the beard. And the beard, to me, is a symbol of obedience because, in Lev 21:5, the priests were told not to cut their beards. Not only does it flow to the beard, but it also flows down upon the collar of his robes (ESV). That is an unfortunate mistranslation. The Hebrew wording here actually suggests the oil flows all the way down to the hem of his priestly robe, and, of course, his robe is another symbol of holiness.

I think the point of this imagery is that the anointing of God literally covers you, as his royal priesthood, from head to toe. It covers the entire body and all points in between. All of God’s people are anointed and are blessed when there is unity.

It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! (vs. 3a)

The second metaphor references Mt. Hermon in the north. It is the highest elevation in Israel, and most of the year, it is snow-capped. Dew would descend from above onto the land below. The psalmist says it is as if this dew were transported from the north to the south, from the lush Galilee down to the arid regions of Judea where it nourishes Mt. Zion.

The imagery here parallels the anointing oil poured over the high priest. It is literally from one end of the country to the other, from the head to the toe; it is from Galilee in the north to Judea in the south, from the beard to the robe. The point is that God’s anointing results in the delight and blessing of unity. All Israel—all the people of God in agreement—are nourished and supported by his presence.

For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. (vs. 3b)

What does “there” refer to? It is ambiguous and perhaps deliberately so. I think it has two meanings. First, it has a spatial connotation. “There” refers to Jerusalem, to Mt. Zion. God’s holy habitation is where the priest pronounces blessings upon Israel. Second, “there” has a spiritual sense, that of unity. Where there is unity and love among the brethren, the blessings of God issue forth.

This imagery brings to mind a scene after Jesus’s death and resurrection. On the eve of the Jewish festival of Pentecost, his disciples were gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem as he had instructed. They were all in one place, with one accord. One wise commentator noted that probably the greatest miracle on that holy day was the fact that 120 disciples were gathered together, united in one mind.

Unity is not something that happens naturally; it only comes about supernaturally. And from that unity, God’s anointing flows to nourish the earth.