“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

Psalm 133:1

The church is not an organization but a living organism. Paul eluded to this when he compared the body of Christ to the human body in 1Co 12. The human body containing 206 bones, functions, by God’s design, as a single unit. The church by comparison is comprised of many members, and can, by God’s Spirit, function as one body, or as a single unit.

1Co 1:10, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” The phrase “perfectly joined together” means to fit, to put in order, or to mend that which is broken or torn. The phrase is translated “mending” in Mt 4:21, And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

A divided church is like a human body with a bone out of joint, or like tattered, torn, or broken fishing nets. The church at Corinth, because it was divided over its teachers, it was figuratively, operating with a “bone out of joint.” A divided church is a dysfunctional church.

When David penned verse 1, he undoubtedly had the uniformity of the twelve tribes of Israel in mind. David united them under his leadership. He forged them into a United Kingdom. It was David who gave cohesion to the nation and centralized everything in Jerusalem. It was David who planned for its temple to be a national symbol of spiritual unity for the 12 tribes of Israel. Later, however, David’s hope for national unity was shattered by Rehoboam’s stubborn and self-willed refusal of godly counsel from the older and wiser generation. Rehoboam’s decision to follow the advice of his peers led to a divided nation. To make matters worse, Jeroboam led the northern kingdom into idolatry. It was Jeroboam who instituted calf-worship in the name of Jehovah in two different locations to keep the northern kingdom from going to Jerusalem to worship. His intentions were to segregate the people permanently. It was Jeroboam who changed the feast days and ordained commoners as priests. It was Jeroboam who saw that he must undo what David had done by creating calf-worship in Dan and Bethel as a deterrent to the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Solomon had laid a foundation of disaster. When he died his son Rehoboam including Jeroboam led a divided kingdom into its worst history. Neither the northern or the southern kingdom became stronger but on the contrary, the divided kingdom became disreputably idolatrous and a disgraceful reproach.

Psalm 133:1 says that unity is good and it is pleasant, which the author vividly illustrates in verses 2-3.

• In verse 2, the author says that unity is like the precious ointment or the anointing oil that ran down or descended from the head of Aaron.
• In verse 3, the author says that unity is like the morning dew that descended from Mt Hermon.

UNITY IS LIKE THE DESCENDING ANOINTING OIL FROM AARON’S BEARD.

Verses 2, “It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments.”

The first mention of the word precious is translated good in Ge 1:4, “And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” This Hebrew word is translated good 361 times out of its 517 mentions in the O.T. In verse 2, “ran down” and “went down” come from the same Hebrew word translated “descended” in verse 3. The anointing oil ran down or descended to the skirts or to lower edge of his long garment. The high priest, on the day of his consecration, was anointed or set apart for the work in the Tabernacle. He bore on his breastplate the names of the twelve tribes, so that the holy anointing oil, when it was poured upon him, flowed down on all the tribes, diffusing an odor of fragrance.

The ointment or the holy anointing oil was composed of many “precious” ingredients according to Ex 30:23-25, “Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.” Everything was anointed according to Ex 30:26-31, “And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.”

The holy anointing oil was symbolic of consecration or the setting a part of the tabernacle, the priesthood, including the high priest for the work of the Lord. There can be little doubt that the psalmist is rejoicing over the return, restoration, and the reunion of the Jewish nation. Finally, after 70 years of captivity the nation, under godly leadership, will centralize in Jerusalem. They had a mind to work; and a mind to worship. The unity of the nation at this time in history was as pleasant as the aromatic anointing oil that infused Aaron’s garments and pervaded the air. Bear in mind that the oil that ran down through Aaron’s beard and down over the names of the twelve tribes on his garment represented not only a consecrated priesthood, but a consecrated nation unto God.

UNITY IS LIKE THE DESCENDING DEW FROM MT HERMON.

Verse 3a, “As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion.”

David said, the unity of the nation or the unity of the brethren is as good and pleasant as the descending anointing oil from Aaron’s beard and as good and pleasant as the descending dew from Mt Hermon. The descending dew upon the mountains of Zion produced life. The oil represented consecration; the dew represented life. 

C.H. Mackintosh states, “The expression “the dew of Hermon” has long proved “a geographical puzzle” to some. Hermon is the loftiest peak in all the land of Palestine, and from its snowy cap, when all the surrounding country is parched, the refreshing dew descends upon the mountains of Zion; which the writer used to illustrate the pleasantness of brethren dwelling together in unity.”

Pulpit Commentary: “The psalmist sees the moisture which fertilizes the Holy Land, and makes it the fertile land that it is, all given forth from Hermon, the one great mountain at its head. Mt Hermon was to Canaan what Aaron was ceremonially to Israel, from which the fertilizing stores of heaven descended over the land. For not only does the one great river of Palestine, the Jordan, issue from the roots of Hermon, but the giant mountain is constantly gathering and sending off clouds, which float down even to Southern Zion.”

The Writer concludes in verse 3b, “…for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.”

• The Lord used the consecrated priesthood to ensure the blessings of the Lord upon His nation.  
• The Lord used Mt Hermon to irrigate the valley to sustain life in the Holy Land.  
• What Aaron’s consecrated role was to the nation, what Mt Hermon was to Canaan, unity among the brethren is to the work of God.