We're turning for our Old Testament reading to Psalm 133. Psalm 133. And if last week's psalm was one of the longest, this is one of the shortest in this collection of songs for pilgrims to sing. Let's hear the Word of God. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard that went down to the skirts of his garments. As the Jew of Hermon, and as the Jew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, that there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. Well we can't really be thinking about the subject of unity tonight without also referring to Ephesians chapter 4 and I'm going to read verses 1 through to 7. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, there is one body and one spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Amen. Well, we're coming to the end and drawing to a conclusion in a short space of time with regard to these psalms, this collection of psalms. The pilgrims sing these when they make their journey to Zion for those regular feast days, but also they're wonderful for the believers so that they can sing them as they are journeying in this world and thinking about what is to come and the glories of heaven. And we come to Psalm 133, and the people here, they're on this journey, they're about to enter into Psalm 134, and there is that picture and that necessity and that blessing of the unity that they have together. People would travel to Jerusalem for the feasts with their neighbors, with their families and their relatives. And as they drew closer to Jerusalem, more and more people would come together, people from different regions, different tribes, but they were all there for one purpose. They had come to worship God at Jerusalem and to keep the feasts. and we see that they are together in this, and if you could put one word for Psalm 133 it'd be this, togetherness. Well, when we think about unity or togetherness, it is a blessing, it is a wonderful thing. If you have a sense of unity with a secular organization, that's a good thing, but if you have unity in the house of God, amongst the people of God, it is very precious indeed. And we have here in Psalm 133, the psalmist, we believe David here, speaking about the realities of unity. And it begins by thinking about the goodness of living together, united. If you look at verse one, he says, Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Living together, Worshipping together, serving together, pilgrimaging together in unity is both good and pleasant. And we're being called attention to this by God, by the use of this the whole. Stand in amazement, consider this, look, marvel at what is occurring in the people of God. And so the people of God are living and dwelling and journeying together in unity, and it is described as being both good and pleasant. The word translated good could be translated excellent or agreeable or beneficial. And the word translated pleasant means beautiful or sweet or lovely. Now there are some things in life which are good, but not pleasant. We have an example of this in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 11, where the apostle Paul there is speaking about discipline, how it is good, but it's not pleasant. It's hard, it's difficult, it's painful. And we can find that there are other things which are pleasant, but not good. It's pleasant to have sweet things like cake or honey or sugar, but too much of it wouldn't be good for us either. So we can think about things whereby they're either all, they're either pleasant or they are good. But here, when it comes to unity for the people of God, it is both of these things. We have these things together. It is both good and it is pleasant. And we know that it's going to be good and pleasant because every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father above with whom there's no shadow of turning. If you look at the Book of Acts in chapter two, you see that togetherness coming out with the early church. They had remarkable unity. They had a common purpose. They were living out that common salvation. There weren't squabbles and debates, certainly in those early chapters. There they were devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to breaking of bread, to prayer, and Even the things that they had, their possessions, they held in common. They had a wonderful togetherness. They had that unity. So when we think about Psalm 133, we discover that unity is good and pleasant. We find, as we've just read from Ephesians and chapter four, the apostle Paul there says, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This is something which is to be worked at, and if it is worked at, and it is realised, what blessings then will follow? But we also find another aspect in verse 1 is the way in which the psalmist is speaking to the pilgrims and saying that they are brethren, brothers and sisters together. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Now the people of Israel, as they made their journey to the temple, they were literally of the same family. They had a common father, a common ancestor in Abraham. And as Christians, we also have brothers and sisters. We are together being joined into the family of God by Christ. And one writer's put it this way, that no Christian is an only child. It's quite a profound thought. Many people today would think, well, I don't need the church. It's just me, my Bible, and my Saviour. I don't need anybody else. Well, God has purposed it for brethren to dwell together in unity. And so when we are saved, when we're brought into the family of God, we don't have a choice over it. We are part of that family, and we find that we are part of that glorious company. Well, we know what it's like in families. There can be divisions, there can be heartaches, there can be sadnesses and sorrows. We have many examples even in the Bible. In the family of Adam and Eve, there was a terrible issue and situation whereby one of their sons killed his brother. Joseph's brothers, they sold him into slavery. And even when you look at the disciples, there they were, they should have been together on everything, and yet so often they were arguing as to who was going to be the greatest. Or you even have the likes of Judas who went and betrayed Jesus. And then you have Peter who went and denied that he ever knew Jesus. And so even amongst believers there are going to be times when we do not always get on very well, and that is not a good thing. There's an old poem that goes something like this, to live above with saints we love, oh that will be such glory. but to live below with saints we know, well, that's a different story. And how true that is, how sadly true that is. Sometimes we will disagree with our brothers and sisters, sometimes we may get angry and we need to work together. And we find, if you go back to Ephesians chapter four, Paul reminding the believers there at Ephesus these things. walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, and endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." If everybody was exercising loneliness and meekness, as everybody was long-suffering and forbearing, unity would inevitably flow out. Where do we find this unity originating from? Is it something that we manufacture ourselves or does it come from somewhere else? Well, we have two pictures now given to us in verse two and the first part of verse three. You have the picture of oil being poured upon Aaron's head, and then you have the dew of Hermon flowing down toward Zion as well. Taking verse two firstly, the oil poured on Aaron's head, We have to be careful that we don't misunderstand or misapply the teaching that we have here, because oil that we are thinking about here was a valued commodity, it was a precious thing, and it wasn't the thing that we use today for cooking with or perhaps for using in oil refineries. but it was rather something that was moisturizing and refreshing. So although today we will have these groups that say they are the part of the just stop oil, we don't want any of that just stop oil nonsense in the church, we need more of this oil to reflect more of the unity that we can have together. So it's like the precious oil poured upon the heads, it runs down the beards, and then it runs down to the skirts or to the bottom part of the garment of Aaron, or the high priest. There were several occasions when people would be anointed, prophets would be anointed, priests would be anointed, and kings were anointed. But when you think about the anointing of the priest that you have here in verse two, that is a picture whereby the priest is representing the whole of the company, the whole of the nation, and particularly being Aaron as the high priest, we find that as oil is poured out, it flows all over him, it affects the whole of his being, and it covers every part of him. And remember how Aaron, part of the high priestly garments, was to have an ephod, and there would be precious stones set in that ephod with the names of all the tribes of Israel. So as the oil is poured out, It covers the whole lot and they are together in that. If you look at the recipe for the oil, you'd have to find some olive oil, some myrrh, some cinnamon, some cassia and some cane. If you look about in Exodus 30, you have that being described. but it's the idea of it being special and Aaron is being set apart for this work and for this ministry and he would be the great intercessor. And as the children of Israel were stood there watching what was happening, they could see that together, as the people, they were one. Because it wasn't just on the tribe of Judah that the oil was poured. It wasn't just on the tribe of Manasseh that the oil was poured. It wasn't just on the tribe of Benjamin that the oil was poured. It was poured upon the priest that represented the whole, and it covers the high priest in his entirety. Well, this is quite wonderful. But oil in the Bible is also a symbol of the Holy Spirit. And as we think about Christ, as he pours out the Holy Spirit upon the church, we find that it has an effect upon the whole. Again, coming back to Ephesians 4, may have been helpful for me to tell you to put your finger in this, but I forgot, but nevertheless, we find in verse seven, unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure as a gift of Christ. So as a people of God, we are blessed together, we are saved by that same salvation, baptised in that same baptism, and we have that same gifting from the Holy Spirit, although it may be in different measures. So that's a wonderful picture of unity, that togetherness, supplied by our great God, infused with his Spirit. But then in verse three, in the first part, you have this, as a Jew of Hermon, and as a Jew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. Mount Hermon is located in the northern part of Israel. It extends along the border with Lebanon and Syria, so it's been quite in the news of recent times. It was a very high mountain range, about 9,000 feet or so above sea level, and it was known for its cool nights, and it was known for its heavy dew. In the winter, it is often covered with snow, and the area surrounding Hermon always stays lush and green all summer long. By contrast, Zion is in the south. It's much smaller, it's part of a mountain range, it's one of the smaller mountains, and it only has an altitude of about 2,400 feet above sea level. But where they are different as well is that Hermon had lots of dew and it was very flourishing. We find that Zion is very barren at times and can be very dry, particularly in the summer months. So you have these two very different mountains, Hermon to the north and Zion to the south. And we find that Hermon's cool and refreshing dew is going to flow down into Zion and nourish that and satisfy that as well. And when we think about ourselves, when we think about the church, without God's blessing we're dry, we're arid. We're like that Mount of Zion without that nourishment that we need, but God sends his blessing when his people are together, when they're united, like the Jew on Mount Hermon. So Mount Zion is going to have the benefits and the blessings as if it were up there with Hermon. And again, another symbol for the Holy Spirit is that of being poured out in water. So we find that Jew is refreshing and Christian fellowship is refreshing. Often people will pray in prayer regarding the prayer meeting that it's like an oasis in an arid or difficult week that they have had. And so when we come to the Lord's house, when we're with God's people, we should be leaving energized, we should be leaving encouraged, and we should be leaving refreshed and even renewed. Well, where does this unity come from? It begins with God. The oil was something that was appointed by God to be done. God chose who was to be anointed, and so the blessing comes down. We find likewise with Jew, it is something that comes from God. The psalm concludes, that there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. God gives his blessing where his people are living together in unity. Do we want God's blessing? Well, if we do, and that seems a daft question to ask, of course we do, then it will be had and felt and experienced when the people of God are united. And how can we be united? Well, we have to have common things amongst us. Again, in Ephesians 4, we have one body, one spirit, one hope, one calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. That is the basis of it. We are to work at our unity by being lowly, meek, long-suffering, forbearing, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And the devil will come and he will seek to attack the unity. And we find that if we aren't careful, we can find that that unity can quickly fracture and disintegrate. So God has guaranteed to put his blessing where his people are living together in unity. Living together in unity in conclusion is a picture of what is to come. The psalm concludes, even life forevermore. So the Lord is bestowing his blessing, the Lord is pleased to bless his people where they're united. And it's a picture of that unending and that perfect unity that will be poured out for all eternity. God is the one who brings life and health, and as we are here as pilgrims on this earth, we need to be united together to know the blessing of God, because in heaven, we will be united and we will have that wonderful fellowship without sin or without any kind of taint whatsoever. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It's like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments, as a Jew of Hermon, as a Jew that descended upon the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. Amen.