Last Sunday, we focused on Psalm 105 which feels like it goes on forever because it summarizes Israel’s early history with story after story. That psalm needs to feel long because it is reminding us of how God has been faithful in the past.
But just like sermons, not every psalm needs to feel long or go on and on, like for example, today’s psalm, Psalm 133. Psalm 133 only has three verses compared to last Sunday’s psalm that had 45 verses.
Of the 150 psalms, Psalm 133 is one of only three psalms that has three verses. Trivia question time: Which psalm has the shortest number of verses? Psalm 117 which only has two verses.
So why is Psalm 133 so short? I think it has something to do with it being one of the psalms of ascent. Three weeks ago, we were introduced to a psalm of ascent, Psalm 128. Psalms of ascent were known as psalms you would sing as you were making the long journey from wherever you live up the long slope toward the city of Jerusalem where the Jewish Temple was located to attend one of the 3 big religious festivals. Those pilgrims would literally ascend for many miles during their long journey before finally arriving into the city.
People would have traveled together during those long journeys and the singing of these psalms of ascent was a way for people to not just fill the time, but to remind them where they were headed, Zion, the beautiful city of God. One of our hymns in the hymnal, in fact the very last hymn is a modern day hymn of ascent called, “We’re marching to Zion.” That’s an example of a hymn where the lyrics help you to feel like you are on a journey.
Psalm 133 is one of fourteen of these psalms of ascent that we find in the Book of Psalms. And by the way, all fourteen of these psalms of ascent are grouped together from psalm 120 to psalm 134.
The reason the people would sing this psalm during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem is because of two reasons. First of all, it refers to Jerusalem which was the location of the Temple where all of Israel was called to worship during three annual festivals.
And secondly, this psalm focuses on the goodness and blessings of people living together in unity. This would have been an important focus for those singing pilgrims because the people of Israel were divided into several different tribes scattered throughout the Middle East region.
Even though they shared the same religious faith, the Jewish faith, they also represented many different cultures and customs, so there would have been a lot of differences between them. This psalm of ascent as it would have been sung over and over again served as a great reminder of what they had in common in spite of their differences which was their faith and trust in the Lord. So this Psalm in particular was a way to remind the people that together, they were God’s people.
In the back of our hymnal, you will find a big section called, The Psalter. These are several psalms that appear in our weekly scripture readings that are accompanied by a short refrain that is sung in between the responsive readings. Some of those refrains are taken from familiar hymns while others were composed by church musicians.
The lyrics of those sung refrains reflect the theme of each psalm. For our Psalm today, Psalm 133, the words of the refrain are, “Unite us, Lord, unite us us by your everlasting love.” When the Israelites sung this psalm on their long journey to Jerusalem, they were celebrating their unity as God’s people.
Whenever I ask church musicians what they appreciate most about church music, they will often say to me that it is what brings people together. I think that’s what I love the most about church music as well. Whenever I hear an anthem, it’s such a beautiful thing to hear several people singing as one.
That’s why choirs meet every week to rehearse an upcoming anthem. They are perfecting the art of blending their voices and instruments together as an offering to God. And those who listen to the anthem are drawn into that sense of unity and togetherness.
So let’s look at the three verses of this Psalm to see how the Psalmist helps us to celebrate our unity as God’s people. The first verse might sound familiar because it is so beautifully stated. There are several colleges that use this as their school motto by the way. Just listen to this beautiful phrasing:
“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity.”
And the last two verses of the Psalm offer us an image to help us celebrate that unity which need a little unpacking. The psalmist prays, “It is like the precious oil on the head running down the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes.”
I must admit that at first glance, this image does nothing for me. In fact, the thought of oil dripping down someone’s beard makes me not want to be anywhere near that person, quite frankly.
But this image is referring specifically to the time when Aaron was anointed by his brother Moses to be a High Priest during the time when Israel was being formed as God’s people. Perhaps this psalmist is thinking about the unity of these brothers, Moses and Aaron as they in turn, helped to unify the people. And just as the anointing oil was poured on Aaron’s head and flowed down over his robe, so too, God’s blessings flow down over us forming us into a community of God’s people.
And in the last verse, the Psalmist compares the oil that flows down upon us to the morning dew of Hermon, which was located many miles north of Jerusalem. The overflowing dew of Hermon is even able to reach Zion, the city of Jerusalem, the Psalmist tells us.
Hermon was known for its plentiful rain, hence the dew image, and Jerusalem was known to be more arid and located in a dry area of Israel. And so, the image is that the dew of God’s blessings reach as far south as Zion, the city of Jerusalem. The oil and the dew are powerful ways of describing how God’s blessings extend far and wide covering God’s people and making us one.
When explained this way, I’m not as grossed out at the thought of oil dripping from a man’s beard, although I think I like the dew image of God’s blessings much better. But that might just be me.
Whichever image you go with, the important thing about this psalm is that we are called to celebrate God’s overflowing blessings that extend beyond what we think is possible to include all people. We are all within reach of God’s goodness and blessings, even if we feel that we are too far south for God to find us. You can never be beyond God’s reach, even when a congregation is unable to worship together in person.
God’s blessings and sense of unity continue to be present with us during this challenging time. During the first few weeks in not being able to worship in person together, many of you reminded me that God was still with us as a church.
I love these pictures from this past spring that some of you shared. Here’s one where the Boger family worshiped together in their living room.
Here’s one where the Lee family celebrated Holy Communion at their kitchen table during one of our online worship services.
Here’s one where one of the Eckelberry children used their dog as a pillow as they watched our online children’s moments.
Kay Taylor took gift bags and encouragement cards to the residents of assisted living facilities.
For Palm Sunday, Wendy Merb-Brown led a Palm Sunday processional parade in her neighborhood which included several other of our church members. The families who participated kept to the six feet social distancing guideline. They couldn’t find any palm branches at the store so they improvised by using forsythia branches.
Our Stephen Ministers made phone calls to the people listed in our church directory just to see how they were doing and to offer prayers over the phone.
People are volunteering to give additional offerings to the church to help us stay financially strong since we are unable to gather in person for worship..
Our staff is finding creative ways to work remotely and tackle some projects that normally don’t get done when the church is so busy with weekly events. Our Growing Tree preschool teachers offered online teaching moments with the Growing Tree families when they weren’t able to be together here at the church.
Mindy, our custodian has been waxing our church floors, and doing some much needed painting.
Our maintenance director, Dan Inman is getting a lot of projects done in and around the building.
Our Leadership Board has been holding online Zoom meetings to help us stay in communication of any needs in the church.
Our Trustees team has been really busy by adding new thermostat controls in the rooms of our church, adding new security doors for our Growing Tree preschool hallway, repairing our church steeple, and adding a camera to record worship services in our sanctuary.
Vicki and Jed Butcher continued to receive and send out prayer requests from the congregation. And by the way, every time I receive an email prayer notice from them, it makes my heart glad to know that we are still connected as a congregation through the power of prayer.
And the good news is that these creative ways of staying connected and unified as a church continue to be a blessing.
I could go on with more examples of how we are staying connected and unified as a church but these are some of the stories that come to my mind when I reflect on Psalm 133, our psalm for today.
The dew of Mount Herman didn’t stop when it reached several miles south to the city of Jerusalem. It has been making its way into each of our homes during this time of physical separation. God’s blessings have been running down Aaron’s beard and they keep flowing, covering each one of us. I believe we are becoming an even more unified church because of this very challenging time.
These blessings go beyond our shinier floors and fancy new thermostat controls. We are receiving so much more. We are discovering how very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity, even during a global pandemic.
And for however long it takes, we will continue to sing this psalm, this song of ascent that reminds us that we are still God’s people.
A Psummer of Psalms: Psalm 133
Sermon Discussion Questions
Genesis 45:1-15Psalm 133
August 16, 2020
Psalm 133 is known as a “psalm of ascent” because it is one of fourteen psalms that were used by Jewish pilgrims who attended three large holy festivals in the city of Jerusalem (Zion) each year.
Do you ever find yourself singing a hymn while out traveling? How does this “singing/humming while traveling” strengthen your faith?
Psalm 133 has two focuses which include 1) a focus on Jerusalem (Zion) where the Temple was located. 2) the goodness and beauty when God’s people are unified.This would have been important since Jewish families from the surrounding Middle East region representing different cultures would need to be reminded of their unity.
What helps you to feel united with people in our church even though we also represent different backgrounds and opinions?
With our church building closed for these several months due to the coronavirus, we have had to find creative ways to feel unified as a church family. Our online presence through our church’s social media, church emails, online worship services, and telephone calls are helping us to stay connected.
What helps you to feel connected to others during this time of physical separation?
Psalm 133 uses two images to emphasize how God helps us to stay connected. The first image is of oil dripping from Aaron’s beard down upon his robe. The other image is of the dew of Herman in the north able to flow all the way south to the city of Jerusalem. Both images convey that God is more than able to unite us even though we may be separated in other ways.
What are some practical ways that you can help others feel connected and an important part of our church family?
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