Psalm 133 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study

Psalm 133 Short Summary:

David celebrates brotherly unity. He used two illustrations to describe the blessing of unity, writing that it was like oil running down the head of the High Priest and like the dew of Mount Hermon, a mountain in northern Israel.

Psalm 133 Summary

AUTHOR:

• Psalm 133 was written by David.

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES:

• No Known New Testament References.

THEMES:

• Unity is a beautiful thing that is one of the greatest blessings of the human experience.

DEFINITIONS:

• Aaron (133:2) – The brother of Moses and the first High Priest of Israel.

• Hermon (133:3) – A mountain in Israel’s northern lands. The snow from the mountain melts and flows into the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River.

OUTLINE:

• THE BEAUTY OF UNITY (133:1-3):

  • Psalm 133 is a short meditation on how beautiful it is when people are unified.

  • David wrote, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”

  • By “brothers” he was probably referring to all the people of Israel and Judah, his countrymen.

  • He wrote that unity was like oil poured out on the High Priest’s head (Aaron’s head) that ran down the beard and on to his collar.

  • Aaron was the first High Priest of Israel. He was dead by David’s time, but his name was synonymous with the priesthood and sacred things.

  • Aaron was anointed to be High Priest with a special oil made of the finest spices (Ex. 30:22-30). This oil marked him for his holy purpose, and it was made to smell very pleasant.

  • Like the oil prepared for Aaron, true unity is a sacred thing and a beautifully refreshing aroma to all those who get to take part in it.

  • In verse 3, David gives another illustration of the beauty of unity. He wrote, “it is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!”

  • The exact intention of this comparison is debated. Some believe David was alluding to the lushness of the mountain’s greenery, which is fed by heavy dew and snow on the mountain. Others suggest Hermon’s dew was a gift to Zion (Jerusalem) because the water runoff from Hermon fed the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River, which were a blessing to the entire land of Israel.

APPLICATION:

• It should be our ambition to protect unity amongst Christians and churches.

• It’s easy to gossip about people and bite people’s heads off every time they don’t agree with us, but destroying unity won’t benefit anyone in the long run.

• It is often the baser tendencies of human nature that lead to disunity.

• We as Christians are already in a hostile world, we don’t need to make the Church a hostile place.

• If the Church lacks unity, genuine friendships, and meaningful comradery there won’t be anywhere for God’s people to get support, and the Church as a whole will suffer for it.

• “O for more of this rare virtue… not that mind which is all for debate and difference, but that which dwells together in unity.” – Charles Spurgeon