All right, Good morning. It’s great to see you all on this summer morning. And as Erin gleefully announced last week, you are stuck hearing from me again. So my name is Wes. I’m a pastoral assistant here at Red Village Church, and so I help lead the youth and college ministry here.
And just this past week, I was also referred to as Wild Wild west because of our theme for vbs. And this is also why I have this mustache, because otherwise my wife, Sierra would not allow me to have solo mustache. So take that in. For what it’s worth, I really do enjoy preaching. So I’m really grateful to all the elders here at Red Village Church to allow me to preach twice in a row this summer.
So, that being said, we’re going to be studying another psalm together. So we are going to be studying Psalm 133. You can go ahead and open there in your Bible. And if you don’t have a Bible, there’s little blue Bibles that are in the pews. You can grab one of those and open up to psalms.
So Psalm 130, 33, I’m going to go ahead and I’m going to read through the psalm, and then I’m going to pray and just ask the Lord to bless this time and we’ll jump into it. So here’s what the word of the Lord says. Psalm 133. Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. It’s like the.
The precious oil on the head running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, and running down on the collar of his robes. It’s like the dew of Hermon which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has commanded the blessing life forevermore. Please pray with me, God, we thank you that we can gather together around your word. And I pray you would help me to be a good communicator, God, that you would indeed speak and give us ears to hear, hearts to receive what you were saying.
So bless this time for your glory in Jesus name. Amen. All right. So today we are studying a very simple and short psalm. So it’s just three verses, but the message that it has within it is very rich and sweet.
So this psalm is just like Psalm 127 I preached last week, where it is a song of ascent. And that means that it is grouped with Psalms 120 and 134. And it was believed that these psalms were used by the Israelites who set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem every single year in order to celebrate the seasonal feasts and festivals the Lord had commanded the Israelites to keep. So they would sing these psalms and they would meditate on them as they were going to Jerusalem. It’s also possible that these 15 Psalms could have been sung on each of the 15 steps leading, leading into the Temple in Jerusalem.
And so they would be further reflecting on these as they enter the temple. But either way, these psalms were used by the traveling Israelites to prepare hearts for worship and to remind them of the important truths that are relating to God and his covenant with his people. And this particular song of ascent is written by David, who wrote the majority of the Psalms in the Bible. So I’m going to do my best to not over complicate this sermon, since I think David intended the brevity of this psalm to communicate the simplicity and the sweetness of unity. So that being said, take a look with me at verse one in your Bibles.
So it says, behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. So David begins the psalm with declaring a truth about when the Israelites dwell together in unity. And David desires to get our attention by starting off this verse was saying behold. So here he’s emphasizing that what he is about to say is, is something that is worthy to pay close attention to. And so unity is what David wants us to behold.
And specifically unity between brothers, which brothers in this context can actually refer to the Israelite community as a whole, which would include both men and women. So these brothers are God’s people whom he loves, he has redeemed, and whom he has set apart. And as David states, when God’s people dwell in unity, how good and pleasant it truly is bonded together by a shared purpose, which for the Israelites, this was their devotion to God that in turn led them to love one another. This is what binded them together and what made them a people together. And David says that when God’s people are unified in this way, loving the Lord, their God, loving one another like it’s not only good in the sight of God, but it is also pleasant or enjoyable or delightful.
It’s like a very sweet thing to be able to experience and be a part of. And so David desires that we, as the reader, we would not miss how good and pleasant unity is. So in order to further make his point, he gives us two comparisons describing just how good and pleasant this unity of God’s people really is. And it’s my hope, I think, along with David, that through studying these two comparisons, we may end our time here today with a better understanding of just how Good and delightful. Unity among God people is.
So we’ll start with the imagery of precious oil in verse two. 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. Now, during the Tennessee mission trip, I had everyone on the team study all of the songs of ascent in the fifth book of Psalms, which was including Psalm 133. So every night we would gather together on this little porch to talk about the Psalms together.
And on this particular night that we were going to study Psalm 133, I overheard one of the youth say, oh, man, I’ve got some questions on this Psalm. And as I then opened the floor for questions, as we were all sitting there, this youth then said, yeah, so I got a question. What in the world is going on here? Why is oil being dumped down this guy’s beard? Which I think is a pretty fair question to ask that maybe some of you this morning are maybe thinking the exact same thing, like, what is going on here?
So in order to understand what. What David is trying to say, we need to understand the significance of precious oil and who it is being dumped on. So David describes this precious oil being dumped on a bearded man’s head. But not just any bearded man. This bearded man is Aaron.
And for those of you wondering, no, this is not Pastor Aaron that is talking about. So just go ahead and pull that image out of your brain. As much as I would have loved to pull Aaron up here and like, dump oil on his head, not going to be doing that, but I now see why. This is like Aaron’s favorite psalm. So starting to.
Starting to connect the dots here. No. So Aaron is actually the Aaron, the brother of Moses, who first appears in the book of Exodus. So Aaron was the first holy priest chosen by the Lord to perform all the duties of the priesthood after God had saved his people and he had brought them into the wilderness in order they may worship him. So God choosing Aaron and his sons as the first priests for God’s people, like this was no light matter.
This was vitally. And this was a vitally important role that God had commanded Aaron to perform in order for the Israelites to remain in a covenant with a holy God and only Aaron and his sons. And then later the tribe of Levi would be granted the ability to perform all the duties of the priesthood. And if anyone else tried to do so, like scripture actually commanded, that person would be put to death. This is a, like, heavy role that God had chosen for Aaron and for his sons.
That being said, the event that inaugurated Aaron as the first holy priest of God was being anointed with precious oil over his head according to God’s instructions. And the oil itself was holy and was only to be used for the purpose of anointing. And so I think I’m actually going to read to you Exodus 30, verses 22 through 33. I want you just to listen to the description that God’s word gives us about holy anointing oil. So here’s what it says.
The Lord spoke to Moses. Take for yourself the finest spices, 12 and a half pounds of liquid myrrh, half as much of fragrant cinnamon, which is six and a half pounds, six and a half and a fourth or a quarter pound of fragrant cane, 12 and a half pounds of cassia by the sanctuary shekel, and a gallon of olive oil. Prepare for these a holy anointing oil, a scented blend, the work of a perfumer, and it will be a holy anointing oil. With it, you are to anoint the tent of the meeting, the Ark of the Testimony, the tables with its utensils, the lampstand with his utensils, the altar of incense, the altar of burning offering with all of its utensils, the basin with its stand with all these things. Consecrate them, and they will be especially holy.
Whatever touches them will be consecrated. Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve me as priests and tell the Israelites, this will be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It must not be used for ordinary anointing on a person’s body. And you must not make anything like it using its formula. It is holy.
It must be holy to you. Anyone who blends something like it or puts some of it on an unauthorized person must be cut off from his people, end of the quote from Exodus. So here we learned that this was no ordinary oil. Like, this was God’s holy anointing oil. And this was a precious oil of many fine spices.
And it would have had, like, this strong smell of cinnamon to it. And we must remember that oil during the ancient biblical times was a highly valuable commodity. It was often used for consumption, for burning lamps, for medicine purposes, for hygiene, for beauty, even for royalty. So, like, deodorant wasn’t a thing back then. So for those who could afford it, you had perfumed olive oil.
So olive oil had many different purposes. But this oil was God’s anointing oil, and it had only one to consecrate all it touched for the service of God. Anointing oil served as a physical representation of, of a spiritual reality. God’s favor and presence through the Holy Spirit was poured over a person’s head, signifying God’s favor over them and his consecration of them for his purposes. A fragrant reminder of the sweet communion and holiness that one had with God.
This is what’s going on here in verse 2 of Psalm 133. Unity among God’s people is like God’s sweet scented holy anointing oil. His favor, his blessing, his literal Spirit being poured over the head of the first priest of Israel, running down his face, running down his beard, and onto the collar of his holy robes that God also instructed that Aaron should wear. Like just imagine this moment and just how sweet of a moment this must have been. So much of a holy moment where this leader that all of God’s people had looked up to is now like, anointed by God to lead as a priest, like the eternal God pouring out his blessing on Aaron.
This had to be a very significant sweet and holy moment to behold. And that is what I think David is trying to get at here in verse two. And David actually would know like, very well what this experience feels like, because he himself was anointed with God’s holy anointing oil when he was made king. So in 1st Samuel, chapter 16, verse 13, it says, Samuel took the horn of oil and he anointed David in the midst of his brothers, it says, and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him from that day forward. So we can see here that even for David like this had special significance of God’s spirit and presence being with David and using him for his service after he was anointed.
And David must have also, like, understood how holy of a moment this would have been for Aaron, which is why I think he’s drawing on it for unity. And he also mentions David does mentions the joy of anointing oil in Psalm 23, where he says, you anoint my head with oil and surely my cup overflows. So all these things give all the more reason for David to write this comparison in Psalm 133. For me personally, when I was in college in 2017, I decided to go on a summer mission trip to Southeast Asia. And during the spring before that summer, I visited my home church in Idaho, where the pastor of the church named Pastor Rich, he actually called me up front at the end of the service on Sunday to pray for me with the other elders, just to pray that God would go before this Summer mission trip.
And so before he began to pray, he actually dabbed some oil on my forehead that was similar to the oil that is described here in Exodus, that had the sweet smell of cinnamon. And he told me, I remember him telling me this to me, that, Wes, this is a reminder that God will be with you on your trip and that he’s going to have his hand on you as you continue to go forth in proclaiming the gospel. And after he told me that, he laid his hands on me with the other elders and just all the church just prayed over me in this moment, a very powerful prayer asking that the Lord would go before me and help fill me with His Spirit as well as that God would make the gospel known in Southeast Asia. And like I can still think on this moment and remember just how sweet that was with all of God’s people praying over me and the smell of this cinnamon oil that was similar to this oil that is talked about here in Exodus. It’s something that I won’t soon forget.
And so that being said, like, how much sweeter was this moment when Aaron was anointed with God’s holy anointing oil for the very first time? It had to been a sweet holiness of God being poured out onto Aaron that David picks up here and then compares unity of God’s people to. So how blessed it is when brothers dwell in unity. It’s like God’s sweet blessing, his favor, his presence through the Holy Spirit being poured over his anointed people. Unity is holy and it’s sweet for the purpose of serving the Lord.
A sweet aroma of peace, joy and love as God’s people devote themselves to one another and to the Lord. So moving from verse two to verse three, the second comparison that David makes is to the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. Now I understand that this comparison may be hard for some of you to understand since you don’t have any mountains in Wisconsin, which. I’m just kidding, it’s just a joke. Last time I said something about mountains, I think I offended some people.
So it’s just a joke. But Hermon in verse three is actually a reference to Mount Hermon, which is a snow capped mountain range along the northernmost border of Israel. And so Mount Hermon actually today still remains covered in snow for most of the year and it is the highest mountain range in all of Israel. The literal translation of Hermon is actually sacred. So these would be like the sacred mountains of Israel.
And they were probably called like the sacred mountains because they were so high in elevation above the land. And it’s also possible actually on these sacred mountains, that this could have been the place where Jesus transfiguration actually occurred. So understanding that Psalm 133 says that dew falls from these sacred mountains, from Mount Hermon onto the mountain range of Zion below. Now, Zion is a poetic name for Jerusalem, which is, which refers to God’s dwelling place. It is his holy city in which all nations will one day ascend in order to worship the Lord and to learn his ways in the day of the Lord.
Many of the prophets proclaim God’s people coming up to worship the Lord at Mount Zion. So that is the imagery that’s being drawn here from David. The dew that David is discussing often in the Bible is, is connected with God’s blessing, since like dew brings life and nourishment to all the plants that it falls on. Even Proverbs 19:12 says that a king’s wrath is like the growling of a lion, but his favor is like dew on grass. So dew is also compared with favor specifically from a king or from God.
And so the sacred dew of the high peaks of Mount Hermon is pictured falling upon the lower mountains of Jerusalem, the place where the Lord has commanded the blessing of life forevermore because of his people and because of his holy word. And it is the city in which he dwells. This is the place in which life will be commanded forevermore. So just as the holy blessing of oil pours down upon God’s anointed, in the same way holy dew that gives life to all that it falls upon comes down upon the city of Zion where God’s people dwell. And God’s people do not have to do anything in order for this dew to come.
Like rather, in the early morning, the cool from the sacred mountains above brings this fresh dew to all of God’s people. This holy God given dew gives life and nourishment to the dry land below. And God’s people dwelling together with the Lord is like heavenly water that comes from above. It nourishes the soul and it brings life and blessing forevermore to God’s people. So surely this is a fitting comparison for the unity among God’s holy people that David is talking about.
Both of these comparisons together, like they sum up just how sweet and how holy and how refreshing unity is with God’s people. It is something that is only, essentially something that only comes from God. And it is something that we should behold, that we should desire because of how good and pleasing it is. It is a gift, good and pleasant to all who experience it, bringing God’s people into deeper communion with the Lord as His people share the blessing with one another in love and gratitude. So through these two holy images, we as the readers should be able to taste and to feel and to see, like just how good and delightful it is when God’s people dwell in unity.
And with that, Psalm 133 ends, leaving us to contemplate the blessing of life forevermore found in the place where God dwells with the unity of his people. So to end our time, I’m going to give us three applications from this psalm concerning the unity among God’s people. So number one, and perhaps this application speaks the loudest from our psalm number one, don’t take unity with God’s people for granted. As we see in Psalm 133, unity is a blessing from the Lord. Like, it’s not something that we can just make happen on our own.
God blesses his people with fellowship and with love for one another by the work of His Holy Spirit. So therefore, when God’s people are in unity, they should recognize that it is a gift from him. And they should then in return, like, praise God for it. This December, Red Village Church will actually celebrate its 15th year of being an established church in Madison. And So in the 15 years that RVC has existed, there has never been a time when the church, like, almost split because of division or strife among believers.
And that’s because, like, God has just blessed RVC with unity through the many ups and downs. It’s nothing special about the people that are here or the things that we’re doing. It’s just like the grace of God to continue to keep us in unity. And so God has blessed RVC with unity through many ups and downs, including like, meeting at multiple different locations as the church was getting planted, finding and purchasing a church building, going through a pandemic, going through four different presidential elections. Like, all these things often can bring pressure to begin to really begin to divide against one another.
And in the midst of all these things, God has been gracious. So over the years, God has blessed RVC with unity and has continued to add to the number of believers, including children, youth, and college students. Like, praise God for that. That’s something that he has given and it is sweet and good to be a part of. The blessing of unity serves as an evidence of grace on our church, and we should never take that for granted.
This August actually will be five years since Sierra and I moved to Madison and so started attending Red Village Church. And over the past five years, there’s been one thing that has stood out to me the most about Red Village Church, and that is that it has always felt like a family. When Sierra and I first came to Madison from New Mexico, we really didn’t know hardly anybody in the area. And our plan was actually to come here, stay for, like, two or three years as Sierra studied at UW Madison and got her master’s degree. And then after that, we plan to just move back home somewhere, somewhere back west where we could be closer to our family.
But as each year has gone by, God has grown our love for those who are here at Red Village Church more and more. In the same way, those who are part of this church have loved us more and more over the years. And so with that, our roots have grown in Madison and in Red Village Church. The more that we have found that God has given us family here in Wisconsin through his people in a place where before we did not have any. So God used.
God has used, like, Red Village Church, to teach me a lot about the blessings of unity and the sweetness of God’s people as loving one another as a family. And I, along with everyone else here, we should never take that for granted. Something good and sweet that God blesses his people with. And if you want to experience, like, the blessing of God’s unity among his people, then, like, don’t view the church as anything less than a family in Christ. Like, if church to you is just a place that you come on Sunday to hear a message, to sing some songs, and then, like, get out the door and leave.
Like, know that you’re missing out on all that, like Psalm 133 is trying to communicate to us. So take time to get to know the family of God. Have meals with one another, share stories with one another, encourage one another, laugh with one another, cry with one another, pray for one another, and worship the Lord with one another, be intentional about getting to know those who are in this room, seeing them as they rightly are, God’s family. Ephesians 4 gives us an incredible exhortation for how believers should pursue unity. So I’m going to read what it says.
It says, I, therefore, a prisoner of for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. With all humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. For there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one Hope that belongs to your call. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all through faith in Christ, God’s people have been brought into this special unity with one another and with God through His Spirit that binds us all together. So don’t take unity with God’s people.
Granted, it is a gift and a blessing for all who will receive it as such. And wherever you go, if you end up having to leave that community, as sometimes life brings us to different places, then make sure you continue to pursue God’s family wherever the Lord may take you. Find ways to serve the body of Christ. So this is actually my second application I have for you is find ways to serve the body of Christ. Serving in the church like really can foster unity among God’s people as they work together in order to build God’s kingdom.
And like VBS over this past week is a really great example of this. Like we just finished out a week, like many people in our church coming together to serve the Lord in order to make the gospel known to all of the children that God brought to our vbs. People who maybe don’t interact a lot outside of Sunday, actually got to spend a lot of time together helping one another and corralling all the little kids and making crafts and serving food. All these sweet things that are enjoyable to do with one another, which is really, really awesome. And I’m sure multiple people here this morning would say that it has blessed them to unify with others in the church in order to make VBS happen.
Like it really is life giving when we serve God’s church and serve alongside God’s people. So whenever you work with others towards a common goal, it’s natural to form this bond with those you are working with because you’re spending more time together and you’re able to help each other towards a common goal, which is actually, I think God’s will for us and for his church is to really serve with the common goal of making Christ known and proclaiming his gospel. And it also helps us to consider the interests of others more significant than ourselves, which then helps foster within us humility and love for one another. So the church is meant to be a place where God’s people come together with a common goal of bringing glory to God through the spreading of his gospel. And as you serve the body of Christ, you will find yourself more and more unified with God’s people and the mission that all of God’s people have been given in Christ.
The church is one body made of many different parts. And each part is equally valuable to building God’s kingdom. And the Lord gifts each of his people in different ways. And so as we come together with all these different parts, we are actually stronger together than we are on our own. So all that being said, find ways to serve the body of Christ and God will use it to help unify you to others.
And you will experience God’s blessings blessing because of it. My third and last application from this psalm is Remember Christ died for this unity. In John chapter 17, Jesus prays one of the longest and most heartfelt prayers found in all of Scripture. Jesus prays this for his church. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
Jesus prayer and desire for his people is to live in unity as one, just as the Father and the Son are are one in unity so that the world may believe that Jesus came from heaven to earth to save sinners. Like unity is God’s will for his church. And in order to make this possible, Jesus was willing to give up his life. Jesus, being sinless, did not deserve death. Yet because of God’s gracious plan to save sinners, Jesus died on our behalf where we deserve death.
Jesus died on the cross once and for all. And then three days later, Jesus rose again from the dead, proving he truly is the one who has long awaited that would save his people from their sins. And through Jesus finished work on the cross. The Holy Spirit has been sent and given to all who place their faith in Jesus as the Lord of our lives, so that they may be made one with God and one with one another. The unity described in Psalm 133 is only possible because Christ died and rose again.
And now God’s people can experience an even greater unity than was even possible at David’s time. And that’s because God has given His Holy Spirit to His people to bind them together and to help them to love one another in good works. And so if you are here and you have not placed your faith in Christ, know that you can be made one with God and with his people like today by repenting and turning away from your sin and believing in Jesus as truly the one and only resurrected King of all the earth. By believing in him, you can be given this unity and this new life that God gives. Christ died that you could have a spiritual family in Christ that is good and blessed and sweet and full of delight.
If you’ve placed your faith in Christ, but you’re struggling with unity because of anger or bitterness towards another person in the church, or then see that Jesus gave everything for your brother and sister in Christ, don’t hold on to bitterness or anger. Instead, choose to love as Christ loves you. Love is patient and kind, does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude, does not insist on its own way. It’s not irritable or resentful, and it keeps no record of wrongs.
Instead, love and unity rejoices with the truth and it bears one another up. It believes and hopes and endures all things. Love perseveres. It never ends. So forgive as Christ has forgiven you and pursue unity with the body of Christ, knowing that it is a gift that God gives to his people and Christ died so that it may be so.
Don’t miss out on the blessing that comes from being in unity with the family of God. And know that when you fall short of doing this, of living in unity, because we all fall short of doing this, know that you can look to Christ and know that because of his work on the cross, his sacrifice forgives you of your sin and he will help us to continue to pursue and live in the unity that he desires for us. So for all of God’s people who dwell in unity, behold how good and pleasant it truly is. It’s like precious oil on the head of Aaron, running down his beard onto his collar, like the dew of Hermon falling on God’s city in Mount Zion, where blessing and life will remain forevermore. Please pray with me.
God, I thank you for Psalm 133. God thank you for just this sweet reminder in your word of just how good and blessed unity is. And God thank you that you give this as a gift to your people through faith in Christ. I ask God that you would help our church to continue to walk in your ways. And God, that you would bless Red Village Church with unity for many, many more years.
Help us, God, to be quick to love one another and continue to really drink in the sweetness that is found in coming together. Help us not to take this for granted and pray. God, may you bless the rest of our time here. This morning. May our worship be glorifying to you and make much of Christ.
It’s in Jesus name we pray. Amen.