Ps 133

Not quite the shortest psalm and one that requires a bit of thought to make sense of, so read it again a bit slower to hear what David the psalmist is saying. This is one of the songs of Ascents in the book of Psalms, a song of ascending to worship in the house of God.
Micah 4:2 – and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Israel was called to be a blessing to the nations, a community of true brotherhood and this should be the goal of the church – (John 17 v 20 -23). Aaron's anointing with oil was a sign of holiness for his role as high priest, a once in a lifetime occurrence. Oil is often a picture in the Bible of the anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives, a continual process and not just a one off anointing. Gal 5:22 – 23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. This is the source of true unity and brotherhood (all not just male) in our lives as we work with the Spirit in obedience to increase the fruit in our lives. Exodus 19 v 6 quotes you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, words echoed in 1 Peter 2 v 9.

The opposite of unity is strife, shown in Genesis 13 v 6 – 7 where the land couldn't support both families of Abram and Lot. Nobody enjoys strife except the self-righteousness which God hates. The simile used in this Psalm of dew is interesting and caused me much thought. Mount Hermon to the north of Israel is 4 times higher than the mountains of Zion, I am no weather expert but I could not see how dew from Hermon falls on Zion. It is a simile, v 3 it is like the dew, which is a great picture of a life being refreshed. Mount Zion and Jerusalem do not receive much rain but this is a picture of when God's people unite then they become a refreshing river flowing to heal the nations – Psalm 36:8 They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. There is enough in abundance from God.

If I may take the dew simile a bit further in relation to unity – dew falls on the ground surface and moistens it. Put a cover over something on the ground and it will stay dry. Had a sense when writing this that the wrong we do in secret doesn't just affect us but it can also affect the unity of the body coming together. Have you ever come to worship on a Sunday morning and things just don't seem right (not speaking about technology) the unity seems disjointed, the flow seems restricted. Think on that in conjunction with the fruits of the Spirit – I am speaking to myself here also – and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal.

Come prepared for worship, v 3 ‘For there the Lord has commanded the blessing life forevermore'
David Taylor