BIBLE STUDY
Study on Psalm 133
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (NASB)
This song of King David opened with a word of "Behold. . .". A word that urges us to pay attentions to the song that followed. A word that wanted to tell us that something very important, such as a secret would be revealed, something that can’t be ignored.
Right after the psalmist got the attentions of his readers, he followed by words of ". . . how good and how pleasant . . ."; circumstances that describe what would happened then. When we carefully study those words though, we would found two different conditions that’d been described.
When we talk about something good, we usually talk about quality, something that can works as it should do, something that can give us some benefits. But, when we talk about how pleasant it is, we usually talk about what we see, something beautiful that give us such a feeling, something that can touch our heart about it.
So when the psalmist told us about something that he said as how good and how pleasant it was, surely he wanted to tell us about something really good, both as practically and so as emotionally; both as functional and so as something good seeing.
Thus, for these goodness sake, so he began the song with a word to catch his readers' attentions with a word of “Behold. . .”.
And now, in this Bible study, we want to learn about the circumstance that the psalmist described to us. The previous description that the psalmist concluded was for brethren that could dwell together in unity. And the psalmist continued the line with analogies that the people could find in their daily life.
The first one is about ointment. And it’s surely executed with oil. The psalmist described it as something precious, as he wanted to tell us that it was not just ordinary oil, daily used oil, but it was a precious one such as ointment oil.
Again in this Bible study we want to learn more about the ointment oil through the cross reference verses of this passage.
If we carefully dig in the book of laws, we could find the book of Exodus 30 : 22 ~ 25, "Moreover, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred and fifty, and of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty, and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. You shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil". It was so obvious that the ointment oil is not just oil of a plant or extract of fruit or some seeds, such as olive oil or palm oil, but rather a mixture of some, even finest spices that set by the God himself; mixture of many different spices, each according to a portion that the God had set.
Thus, it’s very interesting that the psalmist portrayed the unity of the brethren as the ointment oil as the people had known that it was a mixture of many different kind of spices as they come from different backgrounds of the tribes of Israel. Just as the spices no longer known and called by each name, but rather all together had been mixed as perfume mixtures, called as Ointment-oil, so the tribes of Israel should no longer stand for each one of themselves, but rather as one nation, one united kingdom of Israel.
The other aspect of the ointment oil was that the people of Israel had known that the ointment oil was applied to Aaron as their high priest as described on Leviticus 8:12. "Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him." By this ointment oil, Aaron was consecrated and thus, made him worthy in the sight of the Lord God. It was also by the ointment that God was pleased toward Aaron as the people's high priest, and in the other hand, by receiving this ointment, then Aaron had pleased God.
In other word, the psalmist wanted to say that the unity of the brethren is something that please God, and make the congregation worthy in the sight of God. And in the following verses, we could learn that to people that please Him, God surely pour out His blessings.
The second analogy that the psalmist described was about dew; dew from (Mount) Hermon that descended upon the mountains of Zion. As we all know, dew is natural symptom that often symbolize refreshment, something that taking a role in growth, something that giving life to nature. Thus, it was the psalmist meant about when he portrayed the unity of the brethren as the dew, that in the unity of the brethren, they could experience life and refreshment. And what more interesting about the description about the dew was that the psalmist told about from Mount Hermon that descended upon the mountains of Zion.
One of our Bible StudySo all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the LORD at Hebron; then they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah". Testified in these verses that in the first seven years and six months of King David (the author of this psalm), he reigned only over Judah, which excluded the Mount Hermon at the North".
How about mountains of Zion? Where it was? Let’s study it from our cross-reference verses such as 2 Samuel 5:7, that told us that Zion, often refer to the city of David, and in 2 Samuel 6:12, described as the city where the ark of covenant placed in. Thus, we could get some conclusion about the description about the dew. King David could recall that how good and how pleasant it was, when he could reign over the two territory of his people in the unity of his kingdom after his first period as mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:3~5. That in this unity, the people could experience life, refreshment and growth, just as the dew could bring from Hermon, Israel’s territory, descended to Zion, Judah’s territory. The two territory of his brethren in the unity of his kingdom.
Now, back to the ointment of Aaron. The psalmist described it that it was poured upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments.
So, if I ask a question about the ointment: “Is it for sure or just may be such a coincident, that the ointment that was poured upon the head would ran down upon the beard, and to the skirts of Aaron’s garments?
I am sure that most of us will boldly answer: “Yes! It is for sure that the ointment would run down upon the beard and to the skirts of Aaron’s garments”. Thus, this was the psalmist meant, that it was for sure, no doubt, that wherever there is a unity of the brethren, there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for ever more. And we all together could sing after the psalmist, that how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
The other certainty out of this song was that the psalmist literally said that the Lord commanded, not the order from the king or by Aaron, the high priest, but it was the Lord Himself that had commanded, and as the people could acknowledge that whatever the Lord had commanded, surely it would happen there. Thus, the psalmist gave another stressed to the certainty of the blessing from the Lord to the unity of the brethren.
The song closed with description about the gift that the Lord would pour out upon the unity of the brethren. The gift that was known as the utmost gift that anyone could expect and even the gift of life, that everyone could long for. For all of these reasons that the psalmist had described that he asked the readers a very attention to his teaching in this song, as stated on the first phrase of the song that it was really, really good and pleasant for the people to lived in unity.
Study on Psalm 133
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. (NASB)
This song of King David opened with a word of "Behold. . .". A word that urges us to pay attentions to the song that followed. A word that wanted to tell us that something very important, such as a secret would be revealed, something that can’t be ignored.
Right after the psalmist got the attentions of his readers, he followed by words of ". . . how good and how pleasant . . ."; circumstances that describe what would happened then. When we carefully study those words though, we would found two different conditions that’d been described.
When we talk about something good, we usually talk about quality, something that can works as it should do, something that can give us some benefits. But, when we talk about how pleasant it is, we usually talk about what we see, something beautiful that give us such a feeling, something that can touch our heart about it.
So when the psalmist told us about something that he said as how good and how pleasant it was, surely he wanted to tell us about something really good, both as practically and so as emotionally; both as functional and so as something good seeing.
Thus, for these goodness sake, so he began the song with a word to catch his readers' attentions with a word of “Behold. . .”.
And now, in this Bible study, we want to learn about the circumstance that the psalmist described to us. The previous description that the psalmist concluded was for brethren that could dwell together in unity. And the psalmist continued the line with analogies that the people could find in their daily life.
The first one is about ointment. And it’s surely executed with oil. The psalmist described it as something precious, as he wanted to tell us that it was not just ordinary oil, daily used oil, but it was a precious one such as ointment oil.
Again in this Bible study we want to learn more about the ointment oil through the cross reference verses of this passage.
If we carefully dig in the book of laws, we could find the book of Exodus 30 : 22 ~ 25, "Moreover, the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Take also for yourself the finest of spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred and fifty, and of fragrant cane two hundred and fifty, and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin. You shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture, the work of a perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil". It was so obvious that the ointment oil is not just oil of a plant or extract of fruit or some seeds, such as olive oil or palm oil, but rather a mixture of some, even finest spices that set by the God himself; mixture of many different spices, each according to a portion that the God had set.
Thus, it’s very interesting that the psalmist portrayed the unity of the brethren as the ointment oil as the people had known that it was a mixture of many different kind of spices as they come from different backgrounds of the tribes of Israel. Just as the spices no longer known and called by each name, but rather all together had been mixed as perfume mixtures, called as Ointment-oil, so the tribes of Israel should no longer stand for each one of themselves, but rather as one nation, one united kingdom of Israel.
The other aspect of the ointment oil was that the people of Israel had known that the ointment oil was applied to Aaron as their high priest as described on Leviticus 8:12. "Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him." By this ointment oil, Aaron was consecrated and thus, made him worthy in the sight of the Lord God. It was also by the ointment that God was pleased toward Aaron as the people's high priest, and in the other hand, by receiving this ointment, then Aaron had pleased God.
In other word, the psalmist wanted to say that the unity of the brethren is something that please God, and make the congregation worthy in the sight of God. And in the following verses, we could learn that to people that please Him, God surely pour out His blessings.
The second analogy that the psalmist described was about dew; dew from (Mount) Hermon that descended upon the mountains of Zion. As we all know, dew is natural symptom that often symbolize refreshment, something that taking a role in growth, something that giving life to nature. Thus, it was the psalmist meant about when he portrayed the unity of the brethren as the dew, that in the unity of the brethren, they could experience life and refreshment. And what more interesting about the description about the dew was that the psalmist told about from Mount Hermon that descended upon the mountains of Zion.
One of our Bible StudySo all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them before the LORD at Hebron; then they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah". Testified in these verses that in the first seven years and six months of King David (the author of this psalm), he reigned only over Judah, which excluded the Mount Hermon at the North".
How about mountains of Zion? Where it was? Let’s study it from our cross-reference verses such as 2 Samuel 5:7, that told us that Zion, often refer to the city of David, and in 2 Samuel 6:12, described as the city where the ark of covenant placed in. Thus, we could get some conclusion about the description about the dew. King David could recall that how good and how pleasant it was, when he could reign over the two territory of his people in the unity of his kingdom after his first period as mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:3~5. That in this unity, the people could experience life, refreshment and growth, just as the dew could bring from Hermon, Israel’s territory, descended to Zion, Judah’s territory. The two territory of his brethren in the unity of his kingdom.
Now, back to the ointment of Aaron. The psalmist described it that it was poured upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments.
So, if I ask a question about the ointment: “Is it for sure or just may be such a coincident, that the ointment that was poured upon the head would ran down upon the beard, and to the skirts of Aaron’s garments?
I am sure that most of us will boldly answer: “Yes! It is for sure that the ointment would run down upon the beard and to the skirts of Aaron’s garments”. Thus, this was the psalmist meant, that it was for sure, no doubt, that wherever there is a unity of the brethren, there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for ever more. And we all together could sing after the psalmist, that how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
The other certainty out of this song was that the psalmist literally said that the Lord commanded, not the order from the king or by Aaron, the high priest, but it was the Lord Himself that had commanded, and as the people could acknowledge that whatever the Lord had commanded, surely it would happen there. Thus, the psalmist gave another stressed to the certainty of the blessing from the Lord to the unity of the brethren.
The song closed with description about the gift that the Lord would pour out upon the unity of the brethren. The gift that was known as the utmost gift that anyone could expect and even the gift of life, that everyone could long for. For all of these reasons that the psalmist had described that he asked the readers a very attention to his teaching in this song, as stated on the first phrase of the song that it was really, really good and pleasant for the people to lived in unity.
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