Psalm 133: How Does Blessing Come?

[0:00] The book of Psalms and Psalm 133. A song of ascents, a psalm of David.

[0:23] Behold how good and how pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity. It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down on the collar of his robe.

[0:40] It is as if the hermon of Jew were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.

[0:53] When I was studying in college, there was a question which was often discussed. And it was the question, how does blessing come?

[1:04] How does blessing come? What is it that brings God's blessing upon his people and upon a community? How does blessing come? And you know, when we come to Psalm 133, we have the answer given to us.

[1:20] The answer to such a question. Because we're reminded in Psalm 133 that blessing comes through the unity of God's people. Blessing comes through the unity of God's people.

[1:32] Blessing is to be found and blessing is to be experienced. When God's people come together in unity. Now as you know, Psalm 133, it's part of a group of 15 psalms called the Songs of Ascents.

[1:46] And these Songs of Ascents, they're numbered from Psalm 120 all the way up to Psalm 134. And the Songs of Ascents, they're pilgrim psalms.

[1:57] They're the songs that were sung by the Jews as they traveled together, as they went towards Jerusalem to worship at the temple for all the annual festivals that were held there. But what's interesting is that the Jews, when they would begin their journey towards Jerusalem, they would begin by gathering together.

[2:16] They would gather together as families, as neighbors, and as friends. They would gather together as a community. And they would come together as one people, as the Lord's people.

[2:28] And just before they would set off towards the Lord's house, someone would shout from within the congregation. They would say, let us go up. And then the congregation would all respond by saying, we will go up.

[2:42] And then they would begin their journey towards the Lord's house as one people. And you know, that's what we were singing about in Psalm 122, another psalm of ascent.

[2:53] We were singing, I joyed when to the house of God. Go up, they said to me. Jerusalem within thy gates, our feet shall standing be. As we said, Psalm 122, it's a song which emphasizes the peace and the unity of the Lord's people as they gather together to worship the Lord.

[3:15] But the question we're asking this evening is, how does blessing come? How does blessing come? In Psalm 133, it wants to remind us that blessing comes through the unity of God's people.

[3:29] In fact, Psalm 133 is preaching to us about the unity of God's people. Because you could actually say that Psalm 133 is a sermon.

[3:40] It's a sermon on the unity among God's people. And I say that Psalm 133 is a sermon because, well, I believe it sort of follows the pattern for preaching.

[3:54] You know, there's a pattern of preaching. And people often say that the pattern of preaching a sermon is state, illustrate, apply. State, illustrate, apply.

[4:06] And you know, that's what we see here in this psalm. We see the statement in verse 1. And then we're given the illustration in verse 2. And the application then in verse 3.

[4:17] So it's state, illustrate, apply. State, illustrate, apply. So let's look first of all at the statement. The statement in verse 1. He says, Behold how good and pleasant it is when God's people or brethren dwell together in unity.

[4:35] Now the first thing we ought to notice about this sermon on the blessing of unity is the preacher of this sermon. Because we're told actually in the title that this psalm, it's not only a song of ascents, but it's also a psalm of David.

[4:52] David is the author of this psalm. King David, you could say, he's the preacher of this sermon. And he's preaching about the blessing of unity. Which means that this song of ascent, it wasn't written from the perspective of one of the pilgrims traveling towards Jerusalem.

[5:09] Like many of the songs of ascents are. This song was written from the perspective of King David. Who was watching all of the Lord's people coming towards Jerusalem.

[5:20] And you know, reading the psalm, you can almost imagine David. He's the king in Israel. He's standing in his palace. And he's looking out of the palace window.

[5:31] And he's seeing all of the Lord's people walking towards Jerusalem. They're coming to the Lord's house. And they've come from all over the nation. They've come from different homes.

[5:41] They've come from different families. They're from all the various towns and villages and cities in Israel. And they've gathered. They've gathered from north, south, east and west. And they've all come together in unity.

[5:53] As one people to worship the Lord. And you know, for David, this must have been an amazing sight to see. It must have been so exciting to see these thousands of people coming to the Lord's house.

[6:06] Coming to worship together at the temple. But you know, it would not only have been an amazing sight to see. It would also have been an amazing sound to hear.

[6:18] Because as the Lord's people, as they came together to worship the Lord. They were singing all of these songs of ascents. As they ascended towards Jerusalem.

[6:29] They were singing. It would have been amazing to see them coming together as one people. But it would have been wonderful to hear all their voices. Singing in this unified song of praise to the Lord.

[6:42] And you know, it's as if David, he's seeing them coming. He's hearing them coming. And he's watching the Lord's people coming together in unity.

[6:53] And he says, behold, how good. And how pleasant it is. When brethren dwell together in unity. David is in awe.

[7:04] He's in awe at this large congregation. Gathering together to worship the Lord. Behold. And he says, behold. Behold. And in the Psalms, the word behold.

[7:16] It's an important word. Because the Psalmist is actually telling us to stop and consider what's being said. David is urging us to stop and consider this glorious image of worshippers gathering together in unity to praise the Lord.

[7:32] And David, he's saying to us, stop and consider this. Look at what the Lord has done. He's called his people together as one body and as one people.

[7:45] He's called them together to worship and glorify his great name. And David is saying, this is the doing of the Lord. This is wonderful in our eyes. Behold how good and how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity.

[8:03] David says, how good and how pleasant. How good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.

[8:14] It's so good, he says. It's so good to see the Lord's people gathering together to worship. It's so good to see people from different homes and different families coming together to worship the Lord.

[8:25] It's so good to see people, us. Maybe from different denominations. And yet we're gathering together to worship the one Lord.

[8:36] And David says, it's precious. It's so precious to gather together. And to sit together. And to dwell together in unity. And that's what David is saying here.

[8:47] Behold how good and how pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity. And this word pleasant in verse 1.

[8:58] It carries with it the idea of sweet singing. And it emphasizes to us that as the Lord's people, as they gather together. There's this sweet heavenly sound.

[9:09] There's this sweet heavenly sound that's rising up from their hearts in worship to God. And you know my friend, that's where blessing is. That's when it's good. That's when it's pleasant.

[9:20] When the Lord's people come together to worship. Because you know we've gathered together this evening to ascribe worth to God's name.

[9:31] That's what worship is. It's about ascribing praise and honour and glory. Because he is worthy. My friend, worship is about ascribing worth-ship to God because of who he is.

[9:46] And because of what he has done for us in Christ. And our worship, whether we feel it's poor or professional. Our worship is to be a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

[9:59] Behold how good and how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity. And notice how David describes the Lord's people.

[10:11] He describes them as brothers. He describes them as those who are from the same family. They're not just acquaintances. They're not just friends or neighbours or cousins with one another.

[10:23] David says they're brothers and sisters. They're from the same family. There's a close bond between them all. And you know that's what we are as the Lord's people.

[10:35] We're brothers and sisters in Christ. We have all received the spirit of adoption. We've all been brought into the family of God. Tonight God is our heavenly father.

[10:46] Jesus is our elder brother. The spirit dwells within our heart. And we're all united to Jesus Christ by faith. We're in union with Christ. We're bonded by his blood.

[10:58] And we're united as one people. And you know that's what Paul was reminding the Ephesians. In the passage we read earlier in Ephesians 4. Paul was saying to the Ephesians.

[11:10] He said walk in a manner worthy. Of the calling to which you have been called. And Paul says to them. Do it with all humility and gentleness.

[11:21] And do it with patience. Bearing with one another in love. Because you're a family. And always be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

[11:31] Why he says. Why? Because there's one body. There's one spirit. There's one hope. There's one Lord. There's one faith. There's one baptism. There's one God and Father of all.

[11:42] Who is over all. And through all. And in all. So my friend. Regardless of who we are. Or where we worship. The fact of the matter is.

[11:54] We are all one. In Christ Jesus. There's a unity between us. And a union among us. Because we are the Lord's people. And it's because of this unity.

[12:07] That David. He goes on to illustrate it. In verse 2. So he said. David is following the pattern of preaching a sermon. So he states it in verse 1. Then he illustrates it.

[12:19] In verse 2. Look at verse 2. He says. It is like precious oil poured on the head. Running down on the beard. Running down on Aaron's beard.

[12:33] Down on the collar. Of his robe. In verse 2. David illustrates the goodness. And the pleasantness. Of gathering together. In worship.

[12:45] And he does so by comparing. The precious ointment. That was poured upon the head of Aaron. He compares it. To this precious ointment. That was used.

[12:56] To ordain Aaron. To the office. Of high priest. It's quite an interesting. Illustration to use. To describe the blessing. Of unity. Among the Lord's people.

[13:06] As oil being poured. Upon the high priest. Now in the book of Exodus. After the children of Israel. Had fled. From slavery in Egypt.

[13:17] The Lord gave them directions. On how. He is to be worshipped. The Lord wasn't to be worshipped. In any way that the people chose. The Lord was to be worshipped. According to his word.

[13:28] And the Lord commanded Moses. He commanded him. To set apart. The tribe of Levi. You remember that. The tribe was set apart. To be priests. And the priests. They were all ordained.

[13:39] To this. Holy office of the ministry. Where they were to offer sacrifices. On behalf of the people. And they were to lead the people. In worship. But Aaron. Aaron was ordained.

[13:50] To the office of high priest. And Aaron's responsibility. As the high priest. Was to be the mediator. This mediator. Between God. And his people. And Aaron.

[14:02] He was set apart. And he was ordained. To this office. By anointing. Him. With precious oil. And it was precious oil. As David describes here.

[14:14] It was precious oil. Because it was made up. Made up of the best spices. And it gave off. The sweetest fragrance. We're told in Exodus 30. That the holy anointing oil.

[14:26] That was used. On Aaron's head. It was made from. 500 shekels of liquid mar. 250 shekels of sweet smelling cinnamon. 250 shekels of sweet smelling cane.

[14:39] 500 shekels of cassia. And a hin. Of olive oil. And with all these ingredients. The holy anointing oil. Had this. Sweet fragrance.

[14:50] But for David. David writing this psalm. The sweetness. And the blessing. Of unity. Was when the holy anointing oil. Was being poured.

[15:01] Over the head. Of Aaron. And what you have to notice. About what. The illustration. That David gives. He's illustrating. The flow of the oil.

[15:12] The flow of this precious oil. Because he says that. As the holy anointing oil. As it was poured. Over Aaron's head. He says it flowed downwards.

[15:23] It flowed down his face. Down onto his beard. Down onto his garments. Down his robes. Right down. To the edge. Of his feet. And David describes.

[15:34] This downward flow. Of precious anointing oil. And he's saying to us. That's what the blessing. Of unity is like. It's like this. Sweet fragrance. Of holy anointing oil.

[15:45] That flows down. From the head of the high priest. All the way down. To his feet. And you know my friend. That's the imagery. We've been given again. In the New Testament.

[15:57] Because Jesus. Jesus is our king. Jesus is the head of his church. We are the body. But more than that. Jesus is our great high priest.

[16:08] And every spiritual blessing. In heavenly places. They all flow down to us. Through him. Every spiritual blessing. That is in heavenly places.

[16:19] In Christ. They all flow down to us. Through our great high priest. Jesus Christ. And this is the wonder. And glory of our salvation. That through our union.

[16:30] With Christ. Through our union. With our great high priest. All the blessings. Of heaven. Are ours tonight. Our redemption. Our adoption.

[16:42] Our justification. Our sanctification. And ultimately. Our glorification. Our glorification. They all flow. Down to us. From our king. And head. Jesus Christ.

[16:54] And my friend. All these blessings. They flow down to us. Because like Aaron. Our great high priest. Jesus. He was anointed.

[17:05] He was Christed. That's what the word anointed means. It means to be Christed. And our Jesus. He was Christed.

[17:16] He was Christed. When he took up the offices. Of prophet. Priest. And king. Our Jesus. He exercised. His offices. As prophet. Priest. And king.

[17:27] Both in his humiliation. And in his exaltation. Our Jesus. Describes the New Testament. He went down. Down. Down. Down. From the crown.

[17:37] To the cradle. To the cross. He was obedient unto death. Says Paul. Even the death. Of the cross. But more than that. He not only went down. Down. Down.

[17:48] He also went up. Up. Up. He was highly exalted. God. Bestowed on him. The name that is above. Every other name. That at the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow.

[17:59] And every tongue confess. That he is Lord. To the glory of God. The Father. And you know. Through our union. With this. Humiliated. And exalted.

[18:10] Great high priest. We are Christed. We are anointed. And we are anointed. With all the blessings. Of heaven.

[18:21] All the blessings. Of heaven. They flow. Down. Down. Down. Down. To us. They flow down. To us. As we gather together. As one people.

[18:32] With one desire. And one hope. They flow down. To us. Because we dwell together. As brothers. And sisters. In unity.

[18:42] And you know. That is what happens. When we come together. In unity. That is how the blessing. Comes. We are anointed. With the blessing. Of Christ. As we gather. United.

[18:54] In the name of Jesus Christ. That is how blessing. Comes. As we said.

[19:04] Psalm 133. It is. A sermon. On the blessing. Of unity. And David. He is following. The pattern. Of state. Illustrate. Apply. State. Illustrate. Apply. And in verse 3.

[19:15] We are given. The application. So state. Illustrate. Apply. Verse 3. It is. As if. The Jew of Hermon. Were falling.

[19:26] On Mount Zion. For there. The Lord. Bestows his blessing. Even life. Forevermore. David. Applies. His sermon. On the blessing.

[19:37] Of unity. By liking. Likening it. To the Jew. That fell. Upon Mount. Hermon. Mount. Hermon. Was. Or is. Still. The highest mountain.

[19:47] In Israel. It is much taller. Than Mount Zion. Where Jerusalem. Was situated. That is where all the Jews. Were heading. They were heading. Towards Mount Zion. But Mount Hermon.

[19:58] Was so tall. That it said. That the Jew. Which fell upon. Mount Hermon. Fell like. Heavy rain. The Jew. Didn't fall. Like this. Invisible mist.

[20:09] Like it does here. The Jew. On Hermon. Hermon's Jew. It falls. Like heavy rain. And what David. Is saying. Is that. The blessing.

[20:19] That flows. Down to us. Through our great. High priest. Jesus Christ. That blessing. That anointing. His. Longing. That it will fall. Upon us.

[20:29] Like the heavy rain. Of Mount Hermon. And that when we gather. Together in unity. And worship. There will be this blessing. Because we're gathering.

[20:40] In the name. Of Christ. My friend. When we come together. As one people. In unity. We're anointed. With the blessing. Of Christ. Christ. But what is the blessing.

[20:53] Of Christ. Well we are given all these. Spiritual blessings. In heavenly places. But what is. The blessing. If you could. Sum it up.

[21:04] In only a sentence. That's what David does. What is the promised anointing. What is the promised blessing. Life. That shall never end. That's the promised blessing.

[21:15] The blessing of Jesus Christ. Is the promise. Of eternal life. And David says. It's there. That the Lord commands. The blessing. It's there. Among the Lord's people.

[21:27] Among the congregation. Of the Lord's people. Among the worshippers. Of the Lord's people. It's there. That the blessing. Of Jesus Christ. Flows down to us. It's there.

[21:37] The promise. Of eternal life. Is given. Which means. My friend. It's here. It's here. That we will receive.

[21:47] The blessing. Of the Lord. And the promise. Of eternal life. Not in. Not in a building. Not in. With a particular. Denomination. Either. But in a gathering.

[21:59] Of the Lord's people. When the Lord's people. Come together. In unity. And in worship. To praise the Lord. It's here. In the body. It's here.

[22:11] In the worship. Of God. Under the word. Of God. Hearing the will. Of God. This is how. Blessing comes. And this is where. Blessing is. This is where.

[22:21] We'll have that. Refreshing dew. Poured upon our souls. This is where. We'll be strengthened. And encouraged. And challenged. By God's word. This is where. Saints. Will be comforted.

[22:32] And consoled. By the great. Comforter. Jesus Christ. This is where. Sinners. When they come. And gather with us. This is where.

[22:42] Sinners. Church. Will be reminded. About their need. To do business. With God. And close in. With Christ. And commit their life. To him. My friend. This is where. They'll hear about.

[22:53] The promise. The promise of life. That shall never end. And is that not. Our longing. As the faith mission. Come among us. As they work with us.

[23:04] And alongside us. That those who come. To the tent mission. And those who come. To the church services. And those whom. We invite. Those whom we encourage. Those whom we challenge.

[23:16] Those whom we. Whom we plead with. To come and gather. Together. With the Lord's people. Is it not. Our prayerful longing. That in our gathering.

[23:28] That blessing. Will come. And that the Jew of heaven. Will fall upon us. Just like. Herman's Jew. And you know.

[23:38] It's then. That we will receive. That wonderful promise. The blessing of life. That shall never end. Do you know. I look forward. To gathering. With you.

[23:50] In the tent. Knowing that it's the gospel. That comforts the saint. And it's the gospel. That calls the sinner. And both will be presented.

[24:02] The gospel comfort. And the gospel call. And that's our longing. As we gather together. We long for the Lord's blessing. Upon us.

[24:14] My friend. How does blessing come? Well. Psalm 133. Is reminding us. This evening. That blessing comes. Through the unity. Of God's people. Blessing comes.

[24:25] Through the unity. Of God's people. And you know. You read this psalm. And you think. Well. What a sermon. What a sermon. David's sermon. On the blessing.

[24:36] Of unity. State. Illustrate. And apply. In verse one. He makes the statement. That it's good. And pleasant. For us. To dwell together.

[24:46] In unity. In verse two. David illustrates. The blessing. Of the great high priest. Being poured. Upon his people. People. And then in verse three. David's applying.

[24:56] His sermon. To us. By reminding us. We are one people. Living together. In one parish. And we have one. Purpose. Our chief end.

[25:08] To glorify God. And to enjoy him. Forever. And you know. When we do. When we do that. He promises. To pour down. The blessings. Of heaven.

[25:18] Upon us. Just like. Herman's Jew. Just like. Herman's Jew. And with that blessing. Comes. Life. That shall never.

[25:29] End. My friend. May we seek. That blessing. In the days to come. As we all gather. Together. In unity. May the Lord bless. These few thoughts.

[25:40] To us. Let us pray. Oh Lord. Our gracious God. We give thanks. To thee. For this wonderful privilege. Of gathering together.

[25:51] As brothers. And sisters. In unity. We thank thee Lord. For that wonderful reminder. That we are the children of God. That we are those. Who have received. The spirit of adoption.

[26:03] In which we are able. To cry. Abba Father. And Lord. We cry unto thee. As one. One people. With one voice. With one desire. And one longing.

[26:14] That those in our homes. Those in our families. Those Lord. Who are. In our community. Or that they would come. To know Jesus. That they would come. To know the promise.

[26:25] Of life. Life that shall never end. We thank thee. And we praise thee Lord. That thou art one. Who saves to the uttermost. That thine arm. Is not shortened. That it cannot save.

[26:36] Neither is thine ear heavy. That it cannot hear. And Lord. Our prayer tonight. Is hear us. Oh Lord. Hear us. That thou wouldest. Answer us. In accordance with thy will.

[26:47] And for the glory of thy name. And for the furtherance. Of thy kingdom. Lord bless. And pity us. Shine on us. With thy face. That the earth. Thy way. And nations all.

[26:59] All that they would know. Thy saving grace. We thank thee Lord. For this wonderful opportunity. Not only to gather together. In prayer. But also to gather Lord. As a community.

[27:10] As a body. Of thy people. And to have this opportunity. Of mission. To reach out. To those who are. All dead in their sin. That we would compel them.

[27:20] To come in. That the master's house. May be filled. Lord bless us together. Then we pray. Hear us Lord. We ask. And we pray. That everything that is said. And done this evening.

[27:31] That would be to thy glory. To the furtherance. Of thy kingdom. And to lift up. The name of Jesus. That Christ. Would have the preeminence. In all things. That God. Would receive the glory. And that we would receive the blessing.

[27:44] Oh not because we deserve it. But Lord. Solely because the word of God. Who is gracious. Hear us then we ask. Go before us. For Jesus sake. Amen. We're going to bring our service.

[27:58] To a conclusion. This evening. By singing to God's praise. In that psalm. Psalm 133. Psalm 133. Psalm 133.

[28:11] We'll sing the whole psalm. Behold how good a thing it is. And how becoming well. Together such as brethren are. In unity. To dwell.

[28:21] The whole psalm. To God's praise. In unity. In unity. To dwell. In unity. Behold how good a thing it is.

[28:34] And how becoming well. Together such as brethren are.

[28:47] In unity. To dwell. In unity. To dwell.

[29:00] Thy Ahem. Thy precious monument. On the Hands. The touches. Theります. The beat.

[29:11] flow. Give it on spirit unto the skirts. Dead of his garments go.

[29:26] Dead of his garments go. As her monster, the Jew that doth on Zion hills descend for there the blessing God commands life that shall never end.

[30:00] Life that shall never end. We'll just conclude with a benediction. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore.

[30:18] Amen.