The Grace of Gathering

Reference

Ps 133

Sermon Discussion Questions:
1. Read Psalm 133 together. The three points of the sermon were (1) Garden Unity, (2) Liquid Grace, and (3) Life Everlasting.
2. Of all the many images and symbols referenced in this psalm, what stood out to you the most?
3. What is the difference between man-made unity and God-created unity?
4. "He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter," (Bonhoeffer, Life Together). What does Bonheoffer mean by this? Do you agree? Why?
5. Read 1 John 2:18-20 together. What is the sign that God's anointing has happened here?

[Page 519]

A SONG OF ASCENTS. OF DAVID. 1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.

Ps 133
What are Psalms of ascents?
- Psalms 120-134 are a mini-collection of psalms within the psalter called “The psalms of ascent.” One of them is written by Solomon, four are written by David, the rest are anonymous. The psalms were sung while Jews would make pilgrimages to the city of Jerusalem periodically throughout the year for holy feasts and festivals, to gather with all of Israel to worship Yahweh. So, these songs were a Spirit-inspired road-trip album that God’s people could sing as they journeyed, preparing their hearts for worship.
- Psalm 133 is the second to last psalm, and clearly fits with psalm 134 as a pair. The context in both of them is clearly gathered worship.

Garden Unity (vs. 1)

A SONG OF ASCENTS. OF DAVID. 1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

At Face Value: The pleasantness of brothers getting along

One of the major motifs in the Bible is strife between brothers
- This is a psalm of David—remember the quarrels that took place between him and his brothers when he (the youngest) was chosen to be king?
- The book of Genesis
  - Cain and Abel; Isaac and Ishmael; Jacob and Esau; Joseph and his eleven brothers.
  - Brothers compete, fight, annoy each other.
  - Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity
- The Garden of Eden in view
  - Words that sound like Eden words
    - Dwell (shevet) sounds like the word for rest (shavat) when God rests after creation (Gen 2:1-3)
    - In unity (gam) sounds like the word for garden (gan)
  - Pleasant is a synonym for Eden, which literally means “pleasure.”
  - Good (tov; this is also what is translated as “precious” in vs. 2) used repeatedly throughout Genesis 1 to describe God’s evaluation of His own creation “very good.”
    - In fact, the one thing that is “not good” in Eden? Man being alone—there being no one else to dwell in unity with (Gen 2:18)
      - This is, of course, talking about Adam’s need for Eve—not a brother—but it is a clue that human beings are made for other human beings.
      - We are made in the image of the triune God, therefore we are inherently communal. A human isolated and alone eventually begins to warp.
  - When brothers dwell together in unity it is like Eden. What happens immediately outside of Eden? Brothers kill each other.
  - Unity isn’t just the absence of tension or hostility. It is positive delight in each other.
    - The only human-to-human relationship we have in Eden is Adam and Eve, but there we see Adam delights in his bride both in what they share in common (bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh), and in how they differ (she she shall be called woman).
    - This unity between humans happens because they also are in union with God. There is a unity between God and man, heaven and earth, so there can be unity between mankind.

Now remember the context of this psalm—a psalm of ascents.

This isn’t just speaking about familial relationships. This is a song to prepare Israel for all of them gathering together in the temple (see Ps 134:1) to worship Yahweh together.
- Christians can read this understanding “brothers” here to refer to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Whoever does the will of the Father is Jesus’ brother or sister (Mark 3:35).
The unity, therefore, isn’t just unity in general. The psalm is telling us that there is something uniquely good and pleasant—Eden like—when God’s people gather together to worship.
This is when we gather together to refresh our unity with God and so our unity with mankind.

Liquid Grace (vs. 2-3a)

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!

Ps 133:1-3a

Some strange similes.

Unity sounds…soggy?
- How do we make sense of this?
Both images—water and oil—represent abundant life in some sense.
- Olive oil is a staple in the Mediterranean diet; it literally sustained life just by serving as a calorie source. Also, it is made from the fruit of a tree.
- Water is an interesting image in the Bible. Sometimes it is an image of terror and chaos and death (flood waters). Sometimes it is a sign of blessing and life. The question is: can you have a safe amount of it.
  - Morning dew—which seems to magically appear every morning and is about as safe as a form of precipitations as it goes—was a vital means of providing life and fruitfulness to the dry land.
- Both images emphasize abundance. This isn’t a modest amount of oil—it flows down till the beard, the clothes are saturated. This isn’t regular morning dew—it is the dew of Hermon. Hermon is the tallest mountain in all of Israel, and it receives a lot of precipitation—it is generally covered in snow year round. The snow melt and water run-off actually serves as one of the two headwaters for the Jordan River. But it is over 125 miles to the north of Jerusalem.
- Big Idea: What is it like when brothers dwell together in unity? It is like abundant life.
Both images are liquid.
- The grace of brotherly unity flows down from above.
  - It is like oil flowing down…flowing down…it is like dew…flowing down
  - This is a psalm of ascent.
    - Jerusalem is up on a hill
    - I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? - Ps 121:1 (123:1)
    - …the tribes [of Israel] go up [to Jerusalem] - Ps 122:4
    - Israel cries out from the low place, “Out of the depths I cry to you” - Ps 130:1
      - O Lord, my heart is not lifted up - Ps 131:1
      - But Israel “lifts up [their] hands to the holy place” — to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem - Ps 134:2
  - The Spirit, who is compared to oil and water in the New Testament, is poured down from heaven on God’s people, and the Spirit binds them together as a new entity: the Church.
  - Big Idea: God’s people are in a low place, and the blessings of the goodness and Eden-like harmony among the people is something that God grants, that God blesses.
    - Man-made unity: You have a vision for what you want church to be—and it will probably sound really good. “We are going to be a church that is on mission…we are going to be a church that engages culture…we are going to be a church that does outreach to college students, etc.”
    - The Tower of Babel
      - Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” - Gen 11:4
      - Babel in Akkadian: “The gate of the gods, or heaven”—literally, mankind trying to storm back into Eden, but on their own terms and for their own glory.
    - The community of the church is not something we create, it is a grace that God gives.
      - Life Together
      - “He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.”
      - “We do not complain of what God does not give us; we rather thank God for what He does give us daily. And is not what has been given us enough: brothers, who will go on living with us through sin and need under the blessing of His grace?”
- Both images represent God’s Presence
  - Zion
    - It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!
      - “Mount Zion” is another name for the hill Jerusalem sits upon, specifically the hill where the temple rests. It is where God dwells (Joel 3:17).
      - 13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired it for his dwelling place: 14 “This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
      - Ps 132:13-14
    - This is a strange thing to say. How can the dew of Mount Hermon fall on Jerusalem, 125 miles to the south?
      - It could be a reference to the divided kingdom of Israel (north and south) being re-united. Or it could just be David wanting to invoke the abundance of precipitation that Hermon provides.
  - Oil
    - It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
    - This is referring to the special oil used to anoint Aaron and his sons to mark them off as priests (Ex 29:7; 30:22-33).
      - Oil in the Bible, Let’s Go!
      - Jacob’s Ladder [Page 22]
        
        In Genesis 28, Jacob (Israel) is not dwelling in unity with his brother. He has deceived his father and stolen his brother’s blessing, and is now fleeing for his life. He comes to “a certain place” grabs a rock to use as a pillow, and falls asleep. “And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven [Babel]. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it” (Gen 28:12-13a)
        
        God reiterates the promise He made to Abraham and Isaac
        
        Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” - Gen 28:16-17
        
        The inverse of the tower of Babel
        
        So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. - Gen 28:18
        
        This is the first time oil is used in the Bible, and it is used to mark off a place as a kind of portal to heaven, a way back into Eden.
      - Tabernacle
        
        The next instance is in the directions for the Tabernacle, the portable Eden. (Ex 30:26-29)
      - Aaron and his sons
        
        Ex 29:7
      - Kings (and one prophet)
        
        Prophet: Elisha - 1 Kings 19:16
        
        Kings: Most significantly, David - 1 Sam 16:13
        
        All of these are anointed because, in different ways, they serve as divine representatives, ways in which God’s presence is mediated to His people, whether that be in ritual worship (priests), the governing of the land (kings), or the speaking of God’s word (prophet).
      - But the psalm wants you to think of Aaron specifically and David specifically.
        
        Aaron: He is the first priest anointed with oil, the first human anointed with oil, the first picture of heaven on earth in the form of a person.
        
        “the collar of his robes”
        
        What’s on Aaron’s robes? The breastplate bearing the twelve stones that represent the twelve tribes of Israel (Ex 28:15-30). Aaron represents all of Israel as He goes before God’s presence, and so here the oil flows down to signify God’s presence, not only with this one figure, but with all He represents, with all of His people.
        
        When brothers dwell together in unity it is like God’s presence is permeating the whole of the community.
        
        The psalm is written by David: perhaps the most important person in the Old Testament who is anointed with oil.
        
        The psalm immediately before this one (132) refers to David as simply “the anointed one” (Ps 132:10).
        
        For the sake of your servant David, do not turn away the face of your anointed one. 11 The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. 12 If your sons keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit on your throne.”
        
        Ps 132:10-12
        
        This psalm (132), unlike Psalm 133, isn’t written by David. It is looking forward to a future anointed one, a descendant of David.
        
        Isaiah, reflects on this same hope by seeing the coming of a son of David as the anointed one (Isa 11:1-3).
        
        David is the first person who, when anointed with oil, has the Holy Spirit fill him (1 Sam 16:13).
        
        The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor,
        
        Isa 61:1-2a
        
        20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” - Luke 4:20-21
        
        Jesus is son of David, the anointed one, in Hebrew: the Messiah. In Greek, the Christ. **He is the connection between Heaven and Earth. He is the ladder stretching between heaven and earth (John 1:51) He is the new Tabernacle (John 1:14) and new Temple (John 2:21). The new way that we can go back to Eden.
        
        He is the new Aaron, who is clothed in the robes of His people and brings them before the presence of the Father. Only, He is a better Aaron. His sacrifice for sins is once for all. And unlike Aaron, who must confess his own sin as he goes in to the holy place with the shed blood of animal—Jesus goes in to the holy place with no sin of his own, but bearing His Church’s sins, with His own shed blood.
        
        He is the new David, who is anointed by the Spirit; only, He is better than David. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom. And unlike David, who, at His moment of greatest temptation, used His throne selfishly and then made his own people bleed to cover his own sins—Jesus, at His moment of greatest temptation resisted and submitted to the Father’s will, even to the the point of death, and bleeds to cover the sins of His people. He did not enter Zion, like David, and conquer it through violence; He entered Jerusalem and suffered violence, and then rose again and is now enthroned in the heavenly Zion, the new Jerusalem.
- The images of this psalm—of the whole Bible, really—point us towards their final fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ, Jesus the anointed one.
- But isn’t this psalm about brotherly unity?
Life Everlasting

It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
- There, that is on Mount Zion, the Lord has commanded the blessing, which is, life forevermore.
  - But “there” also is referring to the good and pleasant unity of brothers who dwell together!
    - Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, - Ps 125:1
      - You are a city on a hill - Matt 5:14
    - The very phrase “brothers in unity” and “life forevermore” sound the same in Hebrew: acheem gam yachad…chayeem yad ha’olam
    - Meaning: the blessings in Mount Zion that come from the abundant life that God pours down through the new David, through the anointing of the Spirit in the new Aaron…is marked by brotherly love.
    - What will heaven be like? We will dwell in brotherly unity, harmony, in worship of God.
    - So now, as those in Christ, as those indwelt by the Spirit, we live with one foot in heaven. We enjoy the blessings together.
    - “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.” - 1 John 2:18-20
      - We are Christians—little anointed ones.
    - If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. - 1 John 4:20
- As Christians, what do we know?
  - “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven” - Heb 12:22-23
  - 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. - Heb 10:19-25