Revival and Renewal

In the days of the psalms, faithful Israelites would wind the hilly paths up to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate the feast days. This meant a lot of walking, and while they walked, they would sing. Many psalms begin with the little inscription, “a Song of Ascents,” a song to sing on the way up to Jerusalem. Imagine troops of people, step after step, singing these beautiful Scripture songs as they walked toward Zion. 

Psalm 133 is one such walking song. In this little psalm, we are brought into the marching line. Israelites from far and wide flow in from back roads and far-off places, and as they march toward the Holy City, they begin to rub shoulders. 

As they all come together the psalmist sees one thing: unity. In v.1 he writes, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.” It is “good,” (a word used to describe God’s good design) and “pleasant” (a sweet word describing pleasure or delight) when pilgrims lock arms as one on the journey to Zion. 

The author of Hebrews tells us that we are on the pilgrim way, heading for the true and heavenly Zion (Hebrews 11:13-16). And while we’re walking, others join us. They too are on the journey. We come from far and wide, and we are pressed together by our common destination (the heavenly Jerusalem), our common road (the way of salvation) and our common compass (the Word and Spirit). We call this group of pilgrims the church, and our psalmist shows us how good and pleasant it is when we live in unity as we walk together. 

First, he writes that this unity 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!” (v.2). God told Moses to anoint Aaron and his sons after him with a holy, fragrant, sacred oil (mixed with myrrh, cinnamon, cane, cassia), thus signifying that they were set apart forever as priests (Exod. 30:23-24, 30). The fragrance would stick with them for the rest of their lives.

When we are united, it is such an image of holy service, of consecration, of setting apart. There is a reason that Paul told the Ephesians that they could only live worthy of their calling if they were “bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2-3). When we walk in unity, we are putting on our priestly garments, setting ourselves apart to obedience, recognizing that we are a “royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1^stPeter 2:9). It is holy, sacred even (as Miranda, one of our staffers, saw in this passage) to lock arms as we journey together. The fragrance sets us apart as God’s people. 

Second, our psalmist tells us that brothers dwelling in unity is “like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded his blessing, life forevermore” (v.3). In the dry season, when water was scarce and drought always a danger, dew was a vital source of nourishment (1^st Kings 17:1; Pro. 3:20). Tall Mount Hermon is pictured as swooping the clouds in his arms and laying them softly down on the sacred hill of Zion, nourishing God’s beloved city. 

When we are united, it is such an image of nourishment, abundance, and life. When we lift up our voices to God with singleness of heart and mind, it is like we are that soft rain that brings forth a brilliant green. When we rejoice with those who rejoice, a spring gushes forth in the desert of loneliness. When we weep with those who weep, a river cuts through the valley of the shadow of death. God’s people are nourished, watered, fed, energized, and fruitful.

When I look on a Sunday morning across the sanctuary, this is what I see. I see pilgrims locking arms and smell the fragrant oil mixed with spices. I hear the songs of the heavenly Zion and feel the dew dripping on the desert of the week. When we sing together, pray together, serve, laugh, weep, rejoice, eat, sit under the Word, confess our sins, and share Jesus together, I can’t help but hear these words: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”