Something quite remarkable happened last Sunday.
Our covenant members voted unanimously to call our next teaching pastor!
In all my years of pastoral ministry, I’ve never once experienced a unanimous congregational affirmation on such an extraordinarily significant decision as this.
It makes me just want to sing!
And well it should. We have ample biblical evidence for such a response in Psalm 133:
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 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! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
The inscription which precedes the three-verse text tells us that it is indeed a song, but a particular kind of song within the Psalter: A Song of Ascents.
It falls within a series of songs by the same title which starts back with the 120th and concludes with the 134th. These were tunes sung by all Israelite pilgrims as they would make their way three times a year up to Jerusalem to worship at the temple during Yahweh’s appointed feasts.
There’s no missing the theme of this one: brothers dwelling in unity.
The word for dwell has the idea of permanence, consistency, an ongoing reality behind it. The inscription informs us as well that King David wrote it. But it doesn’t tell us anything about the circumstances.
A lot of scholars like to think he penned it during the events of 2 Samuel 5 when all Israel gathered for his coronation as king over united Israel. That memorable event followed the horrible disunity, enmity, and even warfare with the house of King Saul. Could be. Who knows for sure?
But one thing’s certain.
When members of every tribe and part of Israel would make the trek to Zion and unite in corporate worship in the temple for Passover and the like, it would offer a little glimpse of heaven by the way they all came together for a common purpose with great joy. So sing this song they would every time, along with the rest of the Songs of Ascents.
Here’s the main idea I think we can distill from this, on the one hand, relatively simple, but on the other hand, particularly puzzling (because of its unfamiliar word pictures) song:
God's people getting along well over time is very much worth praising the Lord for in worshipful singing.
A lot of themes make sense for worship songwriting. This one, our unity, should rank near the top of the list. Reasons why that is true follow in the rest of the passage.
More to come about them in future posts.
Meanwhile enjoy a Getty tune based on Psalm 133—a no-brainer application to this truth of God’s word!
