Deeper Commentary
Psa 133:1
A Song of Ascents. By David-
See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!-
The songs of degrees or ascents were sung by the people as they
ascended in unity to keep the feasts in Zion. This unity will now be
likened to the anointing oil upon Aaron (:2), and the dew (:3). Dew and
oil were symbols of the blessing of the Spirit (2 Sam. 1:21). This alone
is the basis for true unity. The coming together of brothers
in unity was at the feasts, and this is one of the songs of ascents which
were sung as the pilgrims ascended to Jerusalem to keep the feasts.
Possibly the specific living together in view is that of the feast of
tabernacles. The same unity at feasts looks forward to that to be
experienced at the communion meal in our age. "When brothers live
together" is a phrase taken from Dt. 25:5, speaking of a family living
together on the same inheritance of land. We will comment on :3 that what
was initially in view was the intended unity at the Jewish feasts between
the northern and southern kingdoms. They were to recall that despite their
differences, they were family. And Zion, the temple mount, should have
been open to all Israel, whether of Israel or Judah. This was not really
accepted by both sides. The ten tribes made their own worship centers, and
Judah considered the ten tribes apostate.
"See" suggests an invitation to look at something remarkable.
Family life has amazing potential for love and unity, but it is a simple
fact that brothers very often fall out with each other, or remain at a
distance from each other. There are so many Biblical examples- Isaac and
Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Jew and Arab, Joseph and his brothers, the
divisions of the early church, the disunity between Paul and his
converts... To see brothers living together in unity is indeed a sight
worth drawing attention to.
Psa 133:2
It is like the precious oil on the head, that ran down on the
beard, even Aaron’s beard; that came down on the edge of his robes-
We note the internal agreement of the Biblical text; the oil was
"poured" upon Aaron, so much so that it ran down his beard; but only
sprinkled on the priests (Ex. 29:7; Lev. 8:12; 21:10). Aaron the High
Priest is here likened to the whole community of Israel. They were all
anointed, they were united "in him" by the oil of the spirit, looking
ahead to the idea of the body of believers being "in Christ", the anointed
one, the High Priest. The flowing down of the oil over Aaron's
beard is explained as being like Hermon's dew flowing down the mountains
of Zion. "The oil of joy" (Ps. 45:7) speaks of the huge joy amongst
God's people when they receive eternal life (:3). Joy cannot really exist
unless experienced in the context of others. Our joy will be shared with
others who are immortalized, and their joy will be our joy. Aaron is
mentioned specifically because there was no custom of anointing the High
Priest with oil after the restoration. Oil represents the Spirit, and the
Spirit is the basis of unity now and forever. Those who have the fruits of
the Spirit and are responding to the Spirit's work will find "the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace".
Psa 133:3
like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion-
"Hills" may be an intensive plural for the one great hill of Zion,
the temple mount. The Bible records things at times as they were
perceived, even if they were scientifically wrong; the language of demons
in the New Testament is an example. And here we have the myth that the dew
of Hermon came down as rain in the Jerusalem area. But the idea is that as
Hermon and Zion were part of the same water cycle, so the keeping of the
feasts was to be a sign of unity between the north and the south. This
received a small fulfilment in Hezekiah's time, whose feasts were attended
by the faithful in the northern Kingdom, mingling in unity with the
faithful in Judah. "Comes down" is the word used in :2 of the coming down
of the oil on Aaron's beard. Both the northern and southern
kingdoms were all "brothers" (:1).
For
there Yahweh gives the blessing, even life forever-
This may have been the potential at the time of the restoration or even
possibly in Hezekiah's time. But the preconditions weren't met, and the
whole scenario has been rescheduled and reapplied to the gift of eternal
life from the Lord Jesus when He sits in judgment upon David's throne in
Zion. This idea of receiving the blessing of eternal life in Zion is sure
evidence that the Old Testament teaches conditional rather than inherent
immortality. "Life forever" is to be given in the future, at a specific
location; and not at death, nor as part of any "immortal soul". The
blessing of life was part of the old covenant (Dt. 30:19). But here, "life
forever" is the promised blessing, implying that a new covenant [different
from the Mosaic covenant] was to be entered which gave life eternal.
The unity spoken of in :1,2 will be achieved "for", "because", eternal life will be granted to man in Zion. "Dew" is a symbol of blessing, hence the parallel here between dew and blessing. It is the blessed hope of eternity which binds men together. We will be eternally united by the grace of what will have happened at a spot here on planet earth known as Zion, the spot where we were changed, immortalized, and began [at least in a physical sense] our eternity. And the Hope of that should bind us together now. If I shall live eternally with you, then we had better be united now.
But all this was precluded by the exiles not living up to this
prophetic dream. Ezra and Nehemiah cemented a division between the exiles
of Judah who returned from Babylon, and the other Jews and also the
Israelite remnants of the ten tribe kingdom. The wonderful picture of
unity didn't happen. The eternal life spoken of here would be wonderful
because of the unity between those who receive it. "We shall be changed".
Mentally and physically, just as lion will still be lion, but shall eat
straw like the ox, having been mentally and physically changed. To live
for ever alone would be awful. Not even the worse narcissist would really
want that. But to live for ever with others... makes us wonder who they
are, and how they will be. Here the Gospel meets man at his acutest need;
we want eternity, but we don't want it alone, nor with people who will
irritate us eternally. The Gospel of the Kingdom meets and answers all
those issues. To live in unity as brothers (:1) is indeed a wonderful
thing- and it shall be eternally experienced. For now, we see even
ourselves "through a glass darkly", and therefore inevitably we
misunderstand others. Only then shall we know ourselves even as we are now
known by God. We think of the two stage healing of the blind man: "He took
hold of the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village; and
when he had spat on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked him if
he saw anything. And he looked up, and said: I see men. But I see them as
trees, walking. Then Jesus put his hands on his eyes again and made him
look up. And his sight was restored, and he saw everyone clearly" (Mk.
8:23-25). As a blind man, he would have had very limited experience of
people. He initially saw them merely as part of the landscape, as
important to him as trees. But the aim of the miracle was to convict him
of this, and lead him to understand people as more than trees, more than
just part of the natural creation with as much meaning as trees. That man
represented us all; part of coming to the light, of receiving spiritual
sight, is to perceive the value and meaning of persons; to see the world
of persons rather than a world of things. And in the Kingdom finally, we
shall see people as we should, to understand the world as a world of
persons rather than vague objects we encounter or collide with as we
stumble through life.
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