Psalm 133:2

“Behold” calls us to stop and look at something worth seeing. The little Hebrew word mah, “how”, comes twice, and it lifts both of the words that follow into an exclamation: “how good and how pleasant”. The first, ṭôwb, is the broad Hebrew word for good. It covers what is excellent, beneficial, morally right and pleasing, so unity among God’s people is right in itself and good in what it brings, and it fits the way God made people to live. The second, nâʻîym, means pleasant, delightful, sweet. Harmony among brothers is a joy to live in as well as a duty to keep.

“To dwell”, yâshab, is the ordinary word for sitting down, settling and living in a place. The picture is of people who share their life over time, settled side by side. The word for “together in unity”, yachad, means together, unitedly, or alike, and it marks people who share in the same thing. It is a plain word. The warmth of the verse comes from what David says about this togetherness: that it is good, that it is pleasant, and that it is like the oil and the dew of the verses that follow.

Psalm 133 is one of the fifteen Songs of Degrees, also called the Songs of Ascents, which run from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134. By long tradition pilgrims sang them on the road “up” to Jerusalem for the annual feasts, and they share the themes of the journey, longing for Zion, the fellowship of God’s people and his blessing. Psalm 133 is the second to last. Psalm 132 just before it speaks of God’s dwelling place in Zion and his covenant with David, and Psalm 134 after it closes the collection with a call to bless the LORD in his house.

For the feasts, Israelites from all twelve tribes came together from different regions and walks of life. Loyalty to tribe and family ran strong in Israel and often divided people, so the sight of pilgrims laying aside their regional differences to worship the LORD as one nation was a living picture of this psalm. The title names David as its writer, which ties the song to the time when Israel was united under the king God had appointed, with its worship centred in Jerusalem.

David compares unity to “the precious ointment upon the head”. The ointment, shemen, is oil, especially olive oil and often perfumed, and here it is the holy anointing oil of Israel’s worship. God himself gave its recipe (Exodus 30:22–25), and it was set apart for consecrating the tabernacle, its furnishings and the priests. The word for “precious” is ṭôwb, the same “good” as in verse 1. The oil is good in the same way unity is good: valued, fit for a holy purpose, and approved by God.

Anointing with this oil meant consecration. It marked a person as appointed by God, set apart for sacred service, and given authority and blessing for it. By comparing unity to this oil, the psalm counts harmony among God’s people as something holy, highly prized by him, and a channel of his blessing.

The second picture is dew, ṭal, the moisture that settles over plants at night. In the dry climate of Israel dew mattered greatly, above all in the long summer months when rain was scarce, because it kept the vegetation alive. Mount Hermon, far to the north, is often capped with snow and is known for its heavy dew, and its melting snows feed the Jordan River. Zion is Jerusalem, a city built on mountains and drier than the northern country. Dew falls quietly, covers everything it reaches, and keeps life going where it lands. Pilgrims climbing to Jerusalem in a dry land would have felt the force of this image.

Both of the psalm’s pictures come down from above. The oil runs down from Aaron’s head, and the dew descends on the mountains. In each, the blessing is generous and spreads over the whole.

“For there” points to the place just named, Zion, where God dwells and where his people gather to worship him as one. The verb “commanded”, tsâvâh, means to appoint, to give a charge, to command, to set in order. This blessing is the LORD’s decree. It comes by his authority and his will, so it is certain and it is his. It is the same God who promised Abraham, “I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). He actively wills good for his people, and in this psalm he gives that blessing where they dwell together.

The psalm reaches its fullest meaning in Jesus Christ. Aaron was anointed with oil, and Jesus, the Messiah, whose title means “Anointed One”, is the great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14). God gave him the Spirit without measure (John 3:34), and he read of himself in Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18–19). Christ is the Head of the church, which is his body (Ephesians 1:22–23). The Spirit poured out on him came down on his disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2:1–4), as the oil ran down from Aaron’s head to his garments. That anointing unites believers into one body and makes them “a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9), set apart for God’s purposes. In the same way, the dew pictures the refreshing Spirit whom Jesus promised as “rivers of living water” (John 7:38–39).

Christ also makes the unity this psalm celebrates. “For he is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14), and he broke down the wall between Jew and Gentile “for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Ephesians 2:14–16). Through his death he reconciled people to God and to one another. On the night before he died he prayed for this very thing (John 17:20–23): “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21). He gave his disciples a new commandment to love one another, and said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34–35). The unity of believers is the Spirit’s work and a witness to the world.

The life the LORD commanded is the life Christ gives. He is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and he says, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Paul calls him “Christ, who is our life” (Colossians 3:4).

The unity of this psalm is a gift we receive in Christ, and it is also something we are told to keep. Keeping it asks for humility that puts others first, grace to forgive, and a readiness to seek reconciliation. Paul puts it simply: “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Philippians 2:1–4). Where believers dwell together this way, in families, churches and neighbourhoods, they show the world what the gospel does, and they enjoy something God himself calls good and pleasant.

The psalm also gives us confidence. The blessing on a united people is something the LORD commanded, and his command stands. When we share our lives with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are standing where the oil runs down and the dew falls, in the place where God has promised life for evermore.