United Harmony

Psalm 133:1 CSB

How delightfully good when brothers live together in harmony!

INTRO—

[[Psalm 133.1 “a” = untranslated “Behold…”]]

[[So…check this out!]]

The Call & Cause to PTL in Psalm 117, creates the opportunity—shows the need—for Psalm 133. [[The reminder/encouragement]]

**The OPPORTUNITY/NEED expressly laid out in the rest of verse one.

Unity / Harmony is … [Psalm 133.1 b]

= GOOD, Delightfully so!

Good & Pleasant [maybe a bit like Good & Plenty candy!!]

GOOD = Right…essentially; fundamentally [necessary]

DELIGHTFULLY (Pleasant) = emotionally heartening; refreshing [-ly pleasant]

“HARMONY” (aka ‘Unity’)

Hebrew phrase = “Live together moreover [dwell also together; especially; emphasis… ‘together together’]

All mixed in together — unity? harmony? … YES! [See Also, 1 Corinthians 12-14]

Mutual concern for each other; Involved in each others’ lives

“A Song of Ascents” — singing on the way to ‘church;’ or a Feast/Festival [namely, the Feast of Tabernacle/Booths]

**Now two comparisons to emphasize this singularly significant truth!

Good Like Fine Oil [Psalm 133.2]

Fine Oil = Anointing Oil

Even often done for house guests. [Fragrant, aromatic oils…ancient essential oils??]

Expressly in focus = anointing of priests, namely the high priest.

The anointing oil for the high priest was a specific, special mixture of oil and spices (fragrances). [An especially abundant usage, too — head, beard, robe]

This circumstance = joy, participation, satisfaction [The special aroma would certainly call to mind a significant, deeply spiritual focus—especially amid a feast, festival time.]

**A call to remember the deeply spiritual significance of living together in harmony.

Good Like Dew [Psalm 133.3 a]

[[Well…like a refreshing Mt. Dew coke!]]

Mt. Hermon — highest mountain in Israel; proverbial for dew, snow melt, rain—refreshing water for Israel…especially crops.

Dew falling on Hermon also on Zion (the holy mountain; picture = from North to South…extensive coverage).

Whether it’s the dew, the rain, or the snow-melt…it’s one less time I have to water the plants (namely this week).

…OR…like the amazing break going from dry (desert-like) to the snowy, wet mountains (when hiking at Philmont Scout Ranch years ago).

**A call to remember the temporally immediate significance of living together in harmony.

CONCL—

Here’s something Jesus prayed, which I believe falls right in with Psalm 133:

John 17:20–23 ““I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.”

[[There is something to be said for gathering with our brothers and sisters on a weekly basis…AND, to place value in those special times of a larger collective gathering—conferences, concerts, crusades.]]

Psalm 133:3 (b) “…For there the Lord has appointed the blessing— life forevermore.”

INVITATION:

Salvation

Life Together (!)

Live Visibly (best way = gathering with our brothers and sisters)

Psalm 133:3 CSB

It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has appointed the blessing— life forevermore.