Thought from today’s Bible reading from Psalm 133.
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever” (Psalm 133:1-3).
Unity among God’s people is something we should all desire. In this short psalm, David makes two comparisons to illustrate why unity is good and pleasant.
- He first compares unity to “the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard.” There are two significant things about the oil which was used to anoint Aaron. First, the instructions which God had given were to carefully followed in making it (Exodus 30:22-25). Second, the oil was to be used to consecrate Aaron and set him apart (Exodus 30:30). The unity we are to desire is one that comes as a result of us carefully following God’s word, thus making us separate and distinct from the world around us.
- Then the psalmist compares unity to “the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion.” Dew is used several times in the Old Testament to symbolize God’s blessings (Genesis 27:28; Hosea 14:5; Micah 5:7). We can enjoy the blessings of unity because God has brought us together in Him.
We should not pervert unity by extending fellowship beyond what God allows, nor should we destroy unity by restricting fellowship from those who are accepted by Him. Unity is far too important and precious for us to corrupt it in any way. Let us recognize the great blessing that unity is and strive to maintain it according to God’s word.
Tomorrow’s reading: Psalm 106-107
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
