Psalm 133: Unity, Where God Sends the Blessing

Introduction

"Jesus wants to raise you up." With these words, Sammy Zoccola, pastor at Église Évangélique Paris Métropole, opens his message at the Bastille campus. Then he announces that he is going to preach on a song: a song of ascents written more than 3,000 years ago by King David, the man after God's own heart.

The songs of ascents (also called pilgrim songs) form a collection of fifteen psalms, from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134. According to most commentators, pilgrims sang them as they walked together up to the temple in Jerusalem for the three great Jewish feasts: Passover (Pesach), Pentecost (Shavuot) and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). The pastor points out that at the time of his sermon, it is precisely the Feast of Tabernacles, which celebrates God's presence during the forty years in the wilderness.

You probably know many of these songs already: "I will lift up my eyes to the hills" (Psalm 121), "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let's go to Yahweh's house'" (Psalm 122), "Those who sow in tears will reap in joy" (Psalm 126), "Unless Yahweh builds the house, they labor in vain who build it" (Psalm 127). The message focuses on Psalm 133, read aloud together with the congregation. Its theme: the power of unity, the place where God sends the blessing.

What God blesses in particular, the pastor says, is not a building or a specific place. It is a disposition of the heart, an attitude, a way of living, a posture. And that disposition is unity.

Outline of the Message

1. "Together" Is Not Enough: Be United (Verse 1)

• The pastor reads the first verse in Hebrew: Shir hama'alot leDavid, hineh mah tov uma na'im, shevet achim gam yachad. The word yachad is rendered "together" in many translations, but it says much more: to join, to unite, to gather, to agree, to take counsel together, even to band together.
• Other translations bring this out: the Bible du Rabbinat speaks of brothers living "in close union," Chouraqui of dwelling "as brothers, united," the French Darby of dwelling "united together," and the King James of together in unity.
• "You can be together without being united." You can be physically together, talk to each other, and still not be united spiritually.
• What is good and pleasant is when brothers and sisters live united, and united in Him, in Jesus. This changes how you read the verse and how you understand the heart of God.

2. Jesus' Prayer: United as the Father and the Son Are (John 17)

• Psalm 133 builds a bridge to the high priestly prayer of Jesus, priest and sacrifice: "Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are" (John 17:11).
• "Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who believe in me through their word" (John 17:20). Jesus was praying for you before you ever became a child of God. And if that is not yet your story, Jesus wants to meet you.
• "That they may all be one... that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17:21-23). Unity is a testimony to the world. The same unity that binds Jesus and the Father is to be the unity that binds us to one another.
• The Larousse dictionary defines unity as the quality of what is one, of what forms a whole whose various parts make up an indivisible entity, and of what is shared by several. In unity, there is someone who gathers us together.
• This is the definition of the Church in Romans 12: many members, one body in Christ, members of one another. Christ is the head and we are his body. "We are not a club of people with good values who get together."
• Unity does not rule out having different opinions, sometimes even opposing ones. Nor does it mean avoiding conflict with your head down. It means speaking the truth with love and kindness, and sometimes forgiving each other rather than staying in bitterness, anger or unforgiveness.
• We do not manufacture unity by our own strength. Jesus did that work on the cross. Our part is to keep it and preserve it: "being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3). Every "one another" in the New Testament points in this direction.

3. The Oil on Aaron's Head: A Blessing That Flows Down (Verse 2)

• David uses two images, oil and dew, to show the reality, the sweetness and the effects of the blessing that comes with unity.
• The verb "to flow down" appears three times. The blessing always comes from above, from God, and it flows down.
• It flows down first on Aaron's head. Christ is the head of the Church. "We are blessed because Jesus is blessed": the blessing flows onto Christ, then onto the garments, that is, onto the body of Christ. The psalm is the shadow of what was going to be fulfilled in Jesus.
• The oil was used to consecrate Aaron, the high priest. It soaked every hair of his beard and ran down onto his garments: a total consecration. In the same way, "there is no part of the body of Christ that is not blessed."
• "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me" (Luke 4:18). This anointing rests on you because it flows down onto you.
• The high priest presented the people's sins before God. Jesus became our high priest by taking our sins upon himself on the cross. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).
• If I deliberately keep myself away from the body, I deprive myself of this blessing. If I do not even agree about who Jesus is and what he has done, I cannot benefit from this oil.

4. The Dew of Hermon: A Blessing That Spreads

• Mount Hermon, in the north of Israel, rises to nearly 2,800 meters (about 9,200 feet). Even in summer it stays green thanks to frequent rain and very heavy dew, even though summer in Israel is intense.
• Pilgrims going up to the temple felt the unity of their walk in the same direction as something refreshing and renewing, and they likened it to that dew.
• There are nearly 300 kilometers (about 185 miles) between Hermon and Zion: the dew cannot reach Zion. But David is a poet. He is saying that when God sends the blessing somewhere, it does not stay in a closed space: it spreads all around.
• "If we unite and walk together in unity, the whole neighborhood will be blessed": the Bastille neighborhood, the 11th arrondissement, the city of Paris. If parents are united in their marriage, their children will be blessed.
• It is not about finding common ground ("you like tennis, I like tennis, so let's unite"), but about unity in Jesus: seeking his face together, praying together, recognizing his sacrifice and walking as children of God. Then a blessing flows into the couple, into the home, and reaches the children, who are sometimes "those who are not yet."
• The pastor quotes Billy Graham. In Charlotte, North Carolina, pastors had set aside their differences, and laypeople and pastors together had organized a citywide evangelistic campaign. "I saw people who, only days before, had been inclined to argue, and who were now united around the cross of Jesus. I thought: if this can happen, Christianity must mean something." He went to the meetings and was converted there.
• Billy Graham adds, in a sermon: "When we unite and the Gospel is preached with the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit, revival comes and souls begin to believe in the Lord Jesus." Our unity in Christ becomes a way of witnessing to our coworkers, our families and our neighbors.

5. "There": God Commands the Blessing (Verse 3)

• The verb translated "sends" or "commands" is tsava in Hebrew. It means more than that: to order, to command, to prescribe. Where there is unity, God commands the blessing.
• And more than a blessing: "life forevermore." Only one person can give it. This psalm is prophetic of what was going to be fulfilled in Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
• This recalls Psalm 33:9: "For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm." Even in the storms a couple or a family goes through, if we choose to stay united in Christ, God will command something.
• Matthew 18:19-20, in a context of forgiveness: "Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them."
• Acts 2: on the day of Pentecost, the disciples are all together in one place, praying. The Holy Spirit comes, the 120 speak the languages of the pilgrims who came for the feast of Shavuot, Peter preaches, and 3,000 souls are added to the Church that day.
• "Divide and conquer" is not a Bible verse. Jesus says the opposite: a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand ("If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom can't stand," Mark 3:24). Why does the enemy try to divide us? "Simply because that is where God sends the blessing." Sin already works on its own toward division: it destroys fellowship, life, and sometimes our witness.
• Questions to ask yourself: am I working to preserve unity where I have been placed? With my spouse? Is there someone in my family I need to forgive? Forgiving does not necessarily mean reconciling with the person who attacked you or hurt you with their words, but forgiveness sets you free. "Forgiveness is not a one-time act, it is a path." And in my ministry team, am I working to be seen, or for the blessing of the body of Christ?
• "Do you want to be blessed? Give your life to the Lord Jesus." There is no other way, no other truth, no other life. Knowing Jesus and walking with him is eternal life.

6. Unity Is Not Uniformity: The Guitar and the Tuner

• In this congregation, everyone is different: the pastor comes from the south, Joël from the north, there are Congolese, Senegalese, different professions and different generations. One person unites us: Jesus.
• Unity does not mean we all have to be the same. And thank goodness, because that would not be good for the body of Christ. Unity brings together different personalities, backgrounds and trades who are all one in Jesus.
• 2 Chronicles 5:13-14: when the trumpeters and singers were as one, in unison, praising Yahweh and saying "For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever," the house was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for Yahweh's glory filled God's house. This is what God wants to do in unity.
• Harmony is a blending of sounds. A guitar has six different strings (E, A, D, G, B, E). As soon as one string is out of tune, you hear the dissonance. To bring harmony back, you need the tuner. "Who is the tuner? It is Jesus." When we all tune ourselves to Jesus, harmony can come, with different strings, different characters and different generations.
• To illustrate this, the pastor has the congregation sing in three overlapping groups: "In your name, Lord, we are here, all gathered before you," "Honor to the Father, honor to the Son, honor to the Spirit of the almighty God," and "Hallelujah."
• He concludes with a prayer for unity: that we would seek to preserve what God has already created, for the sake of the Gospel, so that the world that does not yet know Jesus would recognize by our love for one another that we are his disciples (John 13:35).

Key Takeaways

• God does not bless a place or a building first, but a disposition of the heart: unity in Jesus.
• The yachad of Psalm 133 goes further than "together": you can be together without being united.
• We do not manufacture unity; Jesus created it on the cross. Our part is to preserve it, by speaking with love and by forgiving.
• The blessing flows down first on the head, Christ, then runs over his whole body. Whoever stays away from the body deprives himself of this oil.
• Like the dew of Hermon, the blessing spreads: to the couple, the children, the neighborhood, the city. This is why the enemy tries to divide.

Personal Application

1. Are you "together" with your brothers and sisters, or truly united with them in Jesus?
2. Where God has placed you (marriage, family, ministry), are you preserving unity or dividing?
3. Is there someone in your family or circle whom you need to forgive, even without immediate reconciliation?
4. On your ministry team, are you working to be seen or for the blessing of the body of Christ?
5. Which string in your life is out of tune right now, and what does "being tuned again to Jesus" mean for you this week?

Verses Cited

• Psalm 133
• Psalm 121:1-2
• Psalm 122:1
• Psalm 126:5
• Psalm 127:1
• John 17:11, 20-23
• Romans 12:4-5
• Ephesians 4:1-3
• Luke 4:18
• Ephesians 1:3
• John 14:6
• Psalm 33:9
• Matthew 18:19-20
• Acts 2:1-4, 41
• Mark 3:24
• 2 Chronicles 5:13-14
• John 13:35

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Hebrew word yachad mean in Psalm 133?

The Hebrew word yachad, translated "together" in many Bibles, also means to join, to unite, to gather, to agree. Other translations say "in close union" or "united together." For Sammy Zoccola, you can be together physically without being united spiritually: what God blesses is unity in Jesus.

Why does the oil on Aaron's beard speak of Jesus?

In Psalm 133, the oil flows down first on the head of Aaron, the high priest, then runs over his garments. The pastor sees in this a picture of the Church: Christ is the head, our high priest, the blessing rests first on him and then flows down onto his body. We are blessed because Jesus is blessed (Ephesians 1:3).

What does "there Yahweh sends the blessing" mean?

The Hebrew verb translated "sends" or "commands" is tsava, which means to order, to command, to prescribe. Where there is unity, God commands the blessing, and even more, "life forevermore," which only Jesus can give. This is why, the preacher says, the enemy works so hard to divide.