(A Song of degrees. Of David.) Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Like the precious oil upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, upon Aaron's beard, that ran down to the hem of his garments;
This psalm uses a picture to explain why unity among God's people is so good: the anointing oil poured on Aaron, Israel's first high priest, on the day he was set apart. Everything turns on which way the oil flows: down from the head to the very hem.
(The ESV says "running down on the collar of his robes." Older translations quoted below say "that went down to the skirts of his garments.")
This was not ordinary perfume. God fixed its recipe, limited its use, and banned all copies. One writer explains why.
Exodus 30 describes this precious ointment, the holy anointing oil... And we learn that it was to be for God's sanctuary alone. No one was to copy it, and no Israelite was to keep it at home. God reserved it for Himself and His own pleasure. He surrounded Himself with its fragrance in His own dwelling. The reason was this: as a picture, it declared how precious Christ was to God, while He lived His life of holy devotion to Him on earth.
One rule in that same passage decided who could be anointed with it. A reference work points out where the line falls:
After speaking of Aaron and his sons, this remarkable instruction follows: "It shall not be poured on human flesh" — that is, not on man as man, but only on Aaron and his sons as priests. It is typical of the Holy Spirit, with whom only the Lord Jesus and believers are anointed.
The oil did not travel upward from the hem. It began at the head. One commentator presses a further detail: it was a priestly head, not a royal one:
This ointment that began at his head spread itself to the very edges of his robes, to the very fringe. Now unity is like that. It all begins from the Head. It all begins, mark you, from the priestly Head — not the royal head. This was not the ointment poured on David... By grace God makes us a spiritual priesthood and brings us into touch with the great exalted Priest in heaven. The Spirit and the grace of our Priestly Head flow down on us, spread among us, and so produce unity. All begins with Christ at the right hand of God, though it comes down to the furthest edges of His garments here on earth.
If the oil comes down from Christ, then the lowest edge of the robe has a name. One writer names it, and draws a hard consequence:
We can bear no fruit and give no testimony except by the anointing oil — that is, the Holy Spirit, which "ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments." The hem of our High Priest's garment is ourselves. And we can make no claim to the name Christian if we do not testify to Christ and bear fruit for God in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Another writer keeps the same picture but turns it toward how Christ is adorned by those He anoints:
The saints should surely be to Christ as the flowing robes of His adorning, each having received the Holy Spirit — an anointing from the Holy One — first poured out upon His person, and then received by Him a second time, coming down from Him, the Head in glory, upon the members of His body down to the very least.
The comparison is not decoration. It sets a value on unity. The measure is how that oil smelled to God at Aaron's consecration.
This symbolic language surely points to the anointing oil poured on Aaron's head on the day he was consecrated (Exodus 29:7). It flowed down to the lowest edges of his priestly robe and filled the scene with its fragrance... But notice the point here: the smell and fragrance of this ointment at Aaron's consecration were precious, and just so precious and fragrant before God are His people when they dwell together in unity.
Commentators also read the psalm forward, to Israel's future. The old split between Israel and Judah will one day end:
Since the days of Solomon, Israel and Judah have been separated. David brought them together outwardly. Under David's Son they shall be one in heart, and united for ever... Smoothness and refreshment run through it all. From the highest to the lowest, through the whole nation, from the centre or head to the furthest part, everyone feels the blessing. And the centre is Zion.
Since God values unity this highly, it calls for effort from each of us:
It is clear, then, that no one can exaggerate the blessing of unity among brothers and sisters. And as we consider the way God looks upon it, we shall all be ready to admit one thing: each of us should try, with whole-hearted and constant diligence, to avoid everything that would spoil unity where it exists, and to restore it where folly or self-will has broken it.
- Source — The oil belonged to God. No one could copy it or keep it at home, because it stood for how precious Christ's life was to His Father.
- Poured — It fell on a priestly head, not a royal one. Unity begins with Christ at God's right hand, not with our own effort at the bottom.
- Down — It ran to the beard, then to the very fringe. The Spirit comes down from the Head to the furthest edge of the robe.
- Reach — The fringe has a name: us. Those the oil touches are the ones who bear testimony and fruit by the Spirit.
- Fragrance — The oil filled the scene at Aaron's consecration. That same fragrance rises to God when His people dwell together in unity, so spoiling it is never a small thing.
As the dew of Hermon that descendeth on the mountains of Zion; for there hath Jehovah commanded the blessing, life for evermore.
Psalm 133 ends by turning from the anointing oil on Aaron's head to a picture from nature: dew falling from the north onto Zion. Then it names why unity is so good. God has commanded blessing in that place. Two questions follow. Why should a mountain far to the north water the hills of Zion? And what does "life forevermore" mean over a nation on earth?
The link between the two mountains has puzzled readers. Commentators treat it as a picture, not a map problem:
The expression "the dew of Hermon" has, it seems, long been "a geographical puzzle" to some. But to anyone who has the mind of Christ it is no puzzle, but a most striking and beautiful figure. Hermon is the very highest peak in all the land of Palestine. While the whole country around it lies parched, the refreshing dew comes down from its snowy cap on the mountains of Zion. This is one of the figures the Holy Spirit uses to show the beauty and pleasantness of brothers dwelling together in unity.
Some translations add words that turn one dew into two. Read as a single fall, the line runs from the greater height to the lesser:
The four words that follow are in italics and should be dropped. It should read, "The dew of Hermon that descended upon the mountains of Zion." … And the dew of Hermon comes down on the far smaller mountains of Zion. Christ is Himself the apex of all God's glory, and on the humble hills, representing His people, the dew descends.
The image is not only about height but about what dew does when it lands.
Scripture uses dew again and again as a picture of blessing and refreshment coming down from heaven. So Moses says, "my speech distill as the dew"; and in Hosea we read, "I will be like the dew to Israel." (Hosea 14.) Dwelling together in unity has a sweet fragrance, produced by the mighty and unhindered action of the Holy Spirit come down from our exalted and glorified Head. Beyond that, God's favour comes down on His people like the dew. Resting on them, it brings reviving and refreshment to them all.
Commentators differ on what Hermon itself pictures. One draws meaning from its name and ties it to the cause of division:
Hermon is a majestic snow-covered mountain, a reminder of the Great White Throne, its name meaning "banned," so speaking of the ban of God upon evil. The Spirit of God is totally opposed to evil of any kind, which is the only actual cause of disunity. The dew is another symbol of the Spirit of God, bringing gentle refreshment. Since "life forevermore" is true, the precious unity brought about by the Spirit of God in Israel will be permanent too.
The blessing has a place attached to it. Commentators explain why that place is Zion:
Two things here need notice. First, there is a place of blessing, and in this case it is Zion. The reason lies in the psalm just before, which says, "the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: 'This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.'" We learn once again that God's blessing is found where He dwells, in His own house… In a future day Zion will be the Lord's dwelling place, and for that reason it will be the place of blessing. But now it is the Church which is the house of God. (1 Timothy 3:15.) In both cases alike it is the presence of God in His dwelling that secures the blessing.
The closing phrase is rare in the Old Testament. Commentators tie it to the coming kingdom on earth, not to heaven:
Life in Christ (He is eternal life — 1 John 1, John 1) may be on earth, as in Matthew 25, or in heaven… The Old Testament speaks of it only twice, in Psalm 133 and Daniel 12. Both refer to the millennium, that is, on earth.
Both the oil and the dew come down from above. So people receive unity before they live it out.
If brothers are to dwell together in unity, they must keep receiving the ointment from the Head, the refreshing showers from the true Hermon. They must live in the very presence of Christ. There all their points and angles are smoothed off, all their selfishness judged and subdued, all their own peculiar notions set aside… It will not then be loving those who think with us and feel with us about some pet theory or other. It will be loving and embracing "all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity."
- Source. Hermon is the highest peak. Its dew falls while everything around lies parched. Blessing starts higher than the people who get it.
- Descent. The dew falls from the summit onto the lower hills of Zion. Christ is the height of God's glory, and His people are the humble ground it waters.
- Refreshment. Throughout Scripture, dew pictures God's favour coming down from heaven to revive those it rests on.
- Place. God commands the blessing where He dwells — Zion then, the Church as God's house now. His presence there secures it.
- Permanence. What He commands there is life forevermore. The Old Testament names it only twice. The unity it crowns lasts as long as the life does.