Psalm 133

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0:00 So I'm glad that you made it here this morning. We're going to keep thinking through these Psalms of a sense. We've been looking at these Psalms of a sense for several weeks now. Next week will be our last week looking at these Psalms. And I like the way that we started this morning because at the beginning of this book, if you remember this is a group of about 15 Psalms in the whole Psalter of 150. And they're grouped together topically this little group of 15,

0:32 which is not the same for all the rest of the Psalms. This little group of 15 Psalms stands apart as something kind of unique in the whole 150, which is like the ancient hymnbook of our people. And so a lot of scholars think that this group of 15 had a very specific purpose. And it was both liturgical and communal. I mean that they used it in their formal act of worship and they used it together. And near is what people can tell. This was they called them the Psalms of a sense because they're the Psalms that the people of God sang

1:05 as together they moved up to the temple in Jerusalem. As they ascend up into the temple, they use these Psalms, these 15 Psalms. There were 15 steps on the temple that led up into the presence of God. Many theologians think that they set a different Psalm responsibly on each step as they moved up into the presence of God. But it's clear that there is a theme that takes them from where they are in their homeland, in the diaspora and moving to Jerusalem for the high holy days.

1:37 And I want to just take us back to look at that progression a little bit to remind you. If you go to Psalm 120, I got some copies of the scriptures around some paper copies and then I got distracted. So if you don't have a paper copy, there's some more on this lovely library card over here and you're welcome to it. Because it's worth looking at this flow as we see how the Psalm of a sense progressed. They start in Psalm 120 and go to Psalm 134.

2:08 And if you remember in Psalm 120, it starts out with the Psalmist saying, I cried out in my distress. And we talked about how the Psalmist, the people of God, are starting in a place of distress. And a unique and admirable quality about the Psalmist is that even amongst distress, the Psalmist is calling out to God.

2:38 This character trait that says, because I am distressed, it does not mean you have abandoned me. Neither does it mean that I have disqualified myself, that I have done something wrong and disqualified myself from access to God. No, distress means I'm in a place where now I call out to God, that the Psalmist begins his journey or her journey in a place of distress. And then they move into Psalm 121 and they say, my eyes look up to the hills, where does my help come from? And they realize that this progression that they're moving from, from distress to the

3:12 presence of God, will be fraught with danger. Very practically this means the road is not safe. But very metaphorically and relevant for you and I, moving from wherever you find yourself, whether it's in the morning or the evening, whether it's in a season of life or a season of the year, moving from wherever you find yourself in a place of distress to the presence of God, will bring you through danger, hardship, confusion.

3:48 And again, the Psalmist is admirable. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the one who made heaven and earth. And it moves into 122 and 123 and we begin to say that we learn to trust in the Lord from this time forth and even forever more into Psalm 130, where we saw last week the Psalmist

4:20 say, out of the depths I cry to you. Oh Lord, hear my voice, let your ears be attentive to my pleas for mercy. If you Lord should mark iniquities, oh Lord, who could stand? I wait, my soul waits for the Lord and in his word I hope my soul waits for the Lord. More than watchmen wait for the morning. At this point, the Psalmist has approached the temple of God, found themselves in Jerusalem and now is able to connect safely to the depths of their concern.

4:56 And they cry out to God. And we're wrapping it up here this week and next week and I want to look at Psalm 133 this morning. It's short because by now they are beginning to conclude their time of worship and they're ready to get to their feast, right? Part of the high holy days is the great feast, everybody's assembled. And the beauty of the assembly is the key to Psalm 133.

5:29 I'll read it for us here straight through first and then we'll break it down a little bit. It says a song of a sense of David and it's unique here. Not all of them are ascribed to David. You know it's commonly thought that most of the Psalms were written by David or in honor of David but they don't all carry the superscription on top of it that says this one is ascribed to David. This one does. It says it's a song of a sense ascribed to David.

5:59 And we have this unique challenge with David because David is a key figure for our people. If you read the story of Scripture it's hard to miss that David stands as a patriarch or a hero of the faith. And that's great. I mean he killed Goliath. He brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. Israel was its largest kingdom in Ed Heverben against David, right?

6:35 But then when you read the story more carefully, David's life is there are lots of aspects of David's life that are not admirable. Like real rough. We're talking like some brutal beheadings of people. We're talking about embarrassing the people he defeats.

7:05 I mean David is brutal, right? And though he is very restrained in the way that he ascends the throne, he's careful about how he takes the throne. He doesn't grab it from Saul but waits for the right time for it to be given to him, right? That power becomes a real problem for David. One of the key stories that people know about the fall of David is this incident with Bathsheba

7:41 where David completely abuses his power as king to take people and then dispose of people. It is set up as a type of Christ. But like all people, he is a poor type.

8:12 He is a failure in more ways than he is a model. Why do I tell you that? Because there's a key point where David is called a man after God's own heart. Through the prophets, God speaks to us, his people, and says David is a man after my own heart. And as like theologians have wrestled with what could it be about David that God likes

8:45 so much? David in the story of David is a sincere motivation to gather together Israel, right? Around the ark of the covenant, around the worship and adoration of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to set that as a pillar, as the basis for their kingdom, and as a pillar to be looked

9:17 at for the world. Near as we can tell, the reason that David is a man after God's own heart is because he wants God's people to be together in proximity to God. And when you read the story of Scripture in entirety, this is the like pulsating heartbeat of the story of God. There's a lot of things that happen, but it continues to be, I am excited about being

9:48 God and having a group of people who will let me be God. I'll be God and you'll be the people. I'll be God and you'll be the people. Abraham, you'll have a whole people and they'll all be mine. As a matter of fact, there'll be so much mind, it won't matter. You can circumcise them when they're eight days old. You can mark them with my covenant promises when they're your children, when they're too young to decide for themselves, I'll decide to commit to them. Because I am so interested in having a group of people that I am covenantly committed to.

10:26 When Jesus comes, he talks more about establishing the reign of God, where the kingdom of God exists in the world than he does about saving individuals. When he prays in his High Priestly Prayer in John 17, he says, Lord, I wish that they would all be one and not just the ones you have given me, but the ones who are coming after them, that they would all be one together. When the founders of the church, those first missionaries who established churches all throughout Asia, Minor and Rome, when they begin to say, do you want to know where you

10:59 find the presence of God? Do you want to know where your temple is? He said, you all are like living stones that have been built together as the temple of God. And when you come together, there in your midst is God throughout the whole story of Scripture. From the time that he told Adam and Eve, go forth, be fruitful and multiply. To the time when Jesus said, I'm going to prepare a place for you. And if I do, I'll come back and get you and take you because there is room enough for all of you.

11:30 So the whole heartbeat of the story, God has been interested in gathering his own together. This is why it's important. This is ascribed to David because here in Psalm 133, we get this like concentrated heartbeat of God, celebrated by his people after a long journey to get there.

12:01 Let's look at it together. Psalm 133. I'll read it and then we'll break it down a little bit. Behold how good and pleasant it is when the brothers dwell in unity. Behold how good and pleasant it is when all the people dwell in unity. It's like precious oil on the head running down on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes. It's like the dew of Herman which falls on the mountains of Zion.

12:35 For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. This psalm can be distracting because who thinks about oil running down some dude's beard. And like dew on a mountain that we haven't known about. This psalm can be distracting but I want to give you a little key here in figuring this psalm out that you can use in other psalms. Look at the first couplet in verse 1.

13:08 Behold how good and pleasant it is when people, brothers, sisters dwell in unity. And then there are two metaphors stacked on top of each other that are describing how good and pleasant it is when people dwell in unity. That's the two distracting verses. And then look at the last couplet like 3B. So if you take out the two metaphors that are expanding on the first couplet, the first

13:42 couplet says how good and pleasant it is when the people, brothers and sisters, dwell together in unity. Then you take out the metaphors that go deeper on that. You look at then it comes down to 4 or because. How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell in unity because there the Lord has commanded the blessing. And then he tells you what the blessing is. Life forevermore.

14:14 Holy cow. The psalmist, the pilgrims, the Israelites, the people of God are excited because they're coming to the culmination of their worship and they realize they have come from places where they are aliens and strangers. They have come through roads where they look to the hills and wonder where their help comes from. They have cried out from the depths of woe to God and they begin to look around and they

14:47 say we made it. And what have we come for? The blessing of God. This is why the metaphor that is distant for us but relevant to them makes sense. This thing about Aaron, he's describing the anointing of Aaron as a priest and I want you to think about something for just a moment.

15:20 When they anointed Aaron as a priest something unique happened in the world that hadn't happened since the garden. God organized a way where you could go and know that you would find him. Think about it. At the very beginning out of an Eve are in the garden like the perfect creation and when they can hear God walking in the garden and they can go for a walk with him in the evening and he can affirm them.

15:53 He can encourage their good work. He can love and challenge them. When the whole relationship broke down and they were escorted out of the garden for their own protection there was a long period of silence and then every once in a while God would come and speak through a prophet but it was hard to figure out which prophet spoke the true word of God and usually it would come with the most convicting. And then as they leave Egypt and walk away from getting the Ten Commandments right in

16:28 Deuteronomy and Leviticus as they are gathering together as Israel. God says I'm going to have an organized way for you to hear from me. Pick one. Start with Aaron and his sons. Pour oil on his head and let him walk in front of the archa covenant and when he comes out he will have been in my presence and he can speak to you the affirmation of God.

17:04 The forgiveness and the new beginning that only the Creator can give. The Israelites have walked from strangers and aliens and depths of woe and deep despair through a hills of danger and they come and say we have come to the place where we know Aaron has been anointed and he will speak the good word of God to us. It comes down as true as the highest mountain in Israel gets water out of the sky in the

17:41 morning though we live in a desert. We walk up and there is water just laying on the ground because of the goodness of God as sure as that we will hear from God when we are assembled together and God will give us the thing that we need, the assurance of life forevermore.

18:13 This is true for you today. The character of God does not change. His heart is animated by your assembly this morning. You have come from depths of woe and despair. You are walking through mountains of danger and yet in your distress you have made your

18:48 way here this morning. You get to hear from God. Don't miss it. God has secured a place for you forevermore. This is not a generic blessing but specific.

19:22 And for you God has prepared a place for you forevermore. Beyond the confusion of money, the aimlessness of careers, the heartache of relationships, the uncertainties of the future, the remorse of failing, the regret of unspoken and misdeeds.

19:56 Beyond all of it God has secured a place for you forevermore, life that will endure. This is his commitment to you. You are his people. This is why we come together. Why you made your way here this morning.

20:27 You will need it next week. But God has been delivering that message for hundreds of years to his people just like us and he will be here for you next week with the same. I pray that we could receive it enough to live out of that life this week. Hey Lord, thank you for your goodness to us.

20:59 Thank you. We love you because you have loved us. Love us today in a way we can receive. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I thought of one other point I wanted to make for you out of this psalm. Sorry for the little tag at the end. There's a theme in these metaphors. It goes, it's like the precious oil running down on the beard. On the beard of Aaron running down his collar. It's like the dew of Herman which falls in the mountain.

21:33 Those three translations are the same Hebrew word and there's intended to be a movement that the blessings of God come down, that they are not earned but given and that they are given to the people of God. I wanted to remind you that your relationship as the recipient of the blessings of God is based on his prerogative, not yours. You are qualified as the people of God because he loves you regardless of your actions or

22:05 deeds. This is signified in the waters of baptism where God comes and marks you with the sign of the cross upon your forehead and upon your heart. So I put our baptismal bowl back there in case you want to remember your baptism this morning and remember that you have been claimed by God so his promises are for you. The historic way where you remember that is you might, this gets a little liturgical but I nerd out on it so it's fun.

22:35 You take three fingers like this because there's three persons in the Trinity, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and you put them in the water then you make the sign of the cross upon your forehead and you dip it in the water again and upon your heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified and remember that you've been baptized and claimed by God. So today during worship if that is heartening for you take the opportunity to do that.