Psalms 133:1-3: a reflection

1See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! 2It is like the precious oil on the head, that ran down on the beard, even Aaron’s beard, that came down on the edge of his robes, 3like the dew of Hermon, that comes down on the hills of Zion; for there the LORD gives the blessing, even life forever more.

Psalm 133 celebrates something simple and precious: how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. It compares such unity to two things of beauty: the precious oil poured on the head of the high priest, running down onto his beard and robes, and the dew of Hermon falling on the hills of Zion. And it ends with a promise: for there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Where God's people live in unity, there God commands his blessing.

Notice how the psalm values unity. It calls it good and pleasant, likens it to the anointing oil of consecration and to refreshing dew, and connects it to God's blessing. Unity among God's people is not a small or incidental thing; it is beautiful in God's sight, refreshing like dew, and the setting where God pours out his blessing. Where his people dwell together in genuine unity, life and blessing flow.

That gives us reason to prize and pursue unity among God's people. Division, discord, and strife are common enough, and easy to fall into; but the psalm reminds us how good, how pleasant, how blessed unity is, and how much God delights in it. Do your part to cultivate it: to build up rather than divide, to seek peace and understanding, to prize the unity of God's people as something precious and worth protecting. Where brothers and sisters dwell together in unity, God commands his blessing. Be a peacemaker, a builder of unity, and share in the blessing God pours out where his people are one.

Lord, your word celebrates how good and pleasant it is when your people dwell together in unity, likening it to precious oil and refreshing dew, and it promises that there you command your blessing. Teach me to prize and pursue that unity. Keep me from the division, discord, and strife that are so easy to fall into, and make me a builder of peace among your people. Help me do my part to cultivate unity, to build up rather than tear down, to seek understanding, to protect the precious oneness of your people. Where your people are one, you command your blessing; make me a peacemaker, and let me share in the blessing you pour out on unity.