How Good and Pleasant: The Gift of Unity

Sep 06, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Oil Flowing Down, Grace Covering All

The psalmist compares unity to sacred oil poured on Aaron’s head, dripping down to bless every thread of his priestly robes. This image reveals how Christ’s anointing flows to all joined to Him, drenching the church in shared grace. Unity isn’t uniformity but the overflow of belonging to one Head. Just as oil touched every part of Aaron’s garments, God’s blessing reaches the longtime member, the newcomer, the weary, and the strong. When the church dwells together, the fragrance of Christ’s grace clings to the whole body. Look for the ways God’s unifying grace has already soaked into your relationships. [57:59]

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you sensed the “oil” of Christ’s grace covering differences or wounds in your church? How might you honor someone whose story or background differs from yours?

Day 2: Dew in the Drought, Renewal Unseen

Mount Hermon’s dew, carried miles to arid Zion, becomes a picture of God’s refreshment for dry hearts. Unity isn’t manufactured by shared preferences but descends like moisture on parched ground. The church often feels the strain of division, yet God commands His blessing where His people gather. Just as dew sustains life silently, unity renews through small acts: a meal shared, a burden carried, a prayer whispered. Notice where relationships feel brittle and ask for the dew of God’s presence to soften them. [01:01:02]

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” (Psalm 133:1, 3, ESV)

Reflection: When have you experienced an unexpected “dew” of renewal through someone in your church? What dry place in your community needs God’s gentle moisture today?

Day 3: The Family You Didn’t Choose

The church is a mosaic of people you’d never gather on your own: different ages, cultures, and stories, bound by Christ. Like pilgrims journeying to Zion, believers are plucked from isolation and placed in a covenant family. Unity thrives when shared identity in Jesus outweighs personal preferences. This family isn’t perfect, but it’s where strangers learn to call each other brothers. Who in your pew feels like a “stranger” still? Reach out—they’re your sibling. [46:27]

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your church family stretches you to love beyond your comfort? How can you take one step closer to them this week?

Day 4: Protecting the Gift You Didn’t Earn

Unity is a fragile gift, not a trophy earned. The psalmist urges us to “behold” it—to guard what God has given. Gossip, grudges, and pride fracture the oil’s flow, but repentance and humility keep grace spreading. Protecting unity means choosing curiosity over suspicion, forgiveness over record-keeping. It means making room for the one on the fringe. What wall have you built that blocks the dew? Tear it down. [01:18:05]

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.” (Ephesians 4:1–2, ESV)

Reflection: Is there a relationship in your church that feels “fragile”? What practical step could you take to safeguard unity there?

Day 5: Forever-Life Sprouting Here

Eternal life isn’t just a future hope—it’s the shared life of God’s family flourishing now. When the church dwells in unity, it becomes a signpost of the coming kingdom. Old wounds heal, lonely find home, and enemies embrace. This life isn’t manufactured but commanded by God, flowing from Christ’s cross. Every meal shared, every prayer joined, every tear wiped is a seed of forever-life. Where do you see resurrection sprouting in your church? Water it. [01:08:27]

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9, ESV)

Reflection: What moment of “forever-life” have you witnessed recently in your church? How can you nurture that glimpse of God’s kingdom?

Sermon Summary

Psalm 133 brings the long call to life together to a moment of stopping and looking: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.” The psalmist does not give another command here. The psalmist points to something beautiful and says, do not hurry past it. God has made human beings for relationship, and Genesis itself says that it is not good for man to be alone. Unity among God’s people is therefore both good, because it fits God’s design, and pleasant, because it brings real joy.

The songs of ascent picture scattered pilgrims coming to Zion from different towns, tribes, histories, and circumstances. God’s covenant, not common experience, gives those pilgrims their shared identity. Christ does the same for his people now. Christ gathers people from different generations, cultures, personalities, and backgrounds, then gives them to one another as brothers and sisters. Unity does not make everybody identical, but it makes the shared identity in Christ the main thing.

Psalm 133 uses the oil on Aaron’s head to show that blessing flows down. Aaron’s anointing set him apart as Israel’s high priest, and the fragrant oil ran from his head to his beard and garments. Christ, the Anointed One and great High Priest, stands as the head of his body. Christ’s anointing and blessing flow to all who are joined to him by faith. God’s grace reaches the longtime member and the newcomer, the strong and the weary, the settled and the barely holding on.

The dew of Hermon gives a second picture of that same grace. Dew falls on dry ground and brings refreshment where life would otherwise become parched. God gives unity; programs, preferences, politics, and common dislikes cannot manufacture it. God gathers his people around his presence, speaks through his Word, feeds them at one table, and teaches them to live as one family.

Psalm 133 ends where the Lord commands blessing, life forevermore. Eternal life is not merely an individual soul living without end. Eternal life is fellowship with God among the family God has gathered and redeemed. Christ carried hostility, pride, and sin to the cross, creating one people from those once far apart. Unity therefore becomes a foretaste of the coming kingdom and a witness to a divided world. God’s gift calls for protection: refusing gossip, taking the first step toward distance, making room for the lonely, and remembering that Christ died for the brother or sister nearby.

Key Takeaways

1. Unity is good and pleasant. Psalm 133 holds together two things that often come apart: what is good and what is pleasant. Shared life in Christ is not merely a hard duty to endure, nor a shallow feeling to chase. God designed his people to find real joy in belonging to one another. [50:25]
2. Christ makes strangers into family. Christ gathers people who would not naturally choose one another and gives them a deeper bond than background, preference, or personality. The shared identity of the church rests in redemption, forgiveness, common hope, and one Father. Unity becomes visible when that identity becomes the main thing. [52:57]
3. Grace flows down from Christ. Aaron’s oil points beyond itself to Christ, the Anointed One and head of the body. No member earns a greater share of this blessing through age, influence, heritage, or years of membership. Christ’s grace descends upon the whole people, reaching both the dry and the strong. [76:53]
4. Unity refreshes dry and weary lives. Hermon’s dew pictures the life-giving refreshment that God gives to his gathered people. The lonely find welcome, the weary receive strength, and those who feel like strangers discover a place to belong. God’s blessing creates what no human arrangement can produce. [64:31]
5. God’s gift must be protected. Unity begins as grace, but grace calls God’s people to refuse the habits that make shared life dry. Gossip, suspicion, old grudges, and refusal to forgive damage the church’s witness. Love takes the first step, makes room at the edge, and treats every believer as one for whom Christ died.

## [77:40]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[40:42] - Psalm 133: How Good and Pleasant
[41:50] - A Life Together Worth Beholding
[44:26] - Pilgrims Gathered in Zion
[48:06] - God Gathers One Family
[52:57] - Dwelling Together Is More Than Attendance
[56:44] - God’s Blessing Descends
[58:57] - Christ, the Anointed Head
[60:42] - The Refreshing Dew of Hermon
[65:44] - Life Forevermore in God’s Presence
[70:47] - Unity as a Witness to the World
[74:13] - Christ Creates One New Family
[77:40] - Protect the Gift of Unity

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

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.”
[00:40:42] [00:41:04]

Genesis 2:18
“Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’”
[00:49:03]

Ephesians 2:19
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,”
[00:51:40]

John 17:21
“that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
[01:11:08]

Observation questions

What two words does Psalm 133 use to describe brothers and sisters dwelling in unity, and how are those words different from each other? [00:50:13]
What pictures does Psalm 133 use for unity, and what repeated direction do the oil and dew share? [01:01:39]
According to Ephesians 2:19, what names are given to people who were once “strangers and aliens”?
What does “dwelling together” mean beyond sitting in the same room, singing the same songs, or attending the same church? [00:52:57]

Interpretation questions

Psalm 133 connects unity with God’s design for human relationship. Why is unity in the church more than simply being friendly or avoiding conflict? [00:50:25]
The oil on Aaron’s head flowed down to everything joined to him. How does this picture help explain why Christ’s grace belongs equally to longtime members, newcomers, the strong, and the weary? [01:16:53]
God’s people come from different histories, cultures, personalities, and generations. What makes them one family if unity does not require them to become identical? [00:51:26]
Jesus prayed that his people would be one so that the world might believe. Why might a forgiving and welcoming church make the gospel more visible to people outside the church? [01:11:25]

Application questions

Think about the people God has placed around you in the church. Who might you be tempted to see merely as someone with different preferences, background, age, or personality rather than as a brother or sister in Christ? What could help you treat your shared identity in Christ as the main thing? [00:52:40]
Is there anyone in the church from whom you have become distant—through busyness, hurt, misunderstanding, or avoidance? What might a humble first step toward them look like this week? [01:18:11]
Gossip and suspicion can make the shared life of a church feel dry. In what settings are you most tempted to listen to, pass along, or assume the worst about another person? What would it look like to protect unity in that setting? [01:12:00]
Who in your church community may be standing at the edge: lonely, new, grieving, uncertain, or barely holding on? What is one specific way you or your group could make room for that person? [01:18:21]
God’s grace is like dew on dry ground. Where do you personally feel dry, weary, or in need of encouragement right now? How could you let others in the body of Christ help carry that burden? [01:05:02]
Christ carried hostility, pride, and sin to the cross in order to create one family. Is there a grudge, resentment, or refusal to forgive that you need to bring honestly before Christ? What would moving toward forgiveness require? [01:15:34]
Eternal life includes fellowship with God and the redeemed family he is gathering. How does that future hope change the way you want to participate in the church’s shared life now? [01:08:27]

Sermon Clips

44s

#EternalLifeNow

“It was at the cross where Jesus carried our hostility and our pride and our sin, the things that divide us from each other. It was at the cross where he reconciled us to God, and he began to create one family from people who had once stood far apart. He began to create a people out of those who were not a people. And through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he gives us the life that Psalm one thirty three celebrates. A life that begins with God now and continues forever. Eternal life now, eternal life forever.”

71s

#ProtectUnity

“And so since unity is God's gift and we are called to live inside of the gift, this is my urging to you on this tenth and last, well, kinda last message on the unity and the tasks of the church. Because this unity is God's gift, the application for us today as Christians is protect it. Protect it. Be a church that refuses the gossip that pulls people apart. Be a church that takes the first step towards someone from you for whom with whom you've become distant. Be a church that makes room for the person that is standing on the fringe, on the edge. Let's be a church that learns to recognize that the people sitting around you are brothers and sisters for whom Christ also died.”

56s

#AnointedInChrist

“Jesus Christ, the word Christ itself means anointed one. So we understand Jesus to be our high priest. And just like the oil that anointed the head of Aaron, everyone joined to Jesus Christ who is the head of the body shares in his anointing. After they ask why is Jesus called the Christ? Yeah. Why am I called a Christian? Because I'm anointed in Christ to share Christ's name, to confess his name. I'm anointed. You're anointed in Christ to offer your lives in gratitude. We are anointed in Christ to resist sin and to live underneath the reign of Christ.”

32s

#GodCommandsBlessing

“God's not just up in heaven wishing that his people would come together. God's not just up in heaven kind of like wishing and crossing his fingers and hoping that it might be a possibility that that the church becomes more unified. No. The Lord commands a blessing. And when the Lord commands a blessing, friends, there is no human power that can keep him from giving it. I think that's good news.”

76s

#UnityAsWitness

“He uses the shared life of the church to carry his grace into places that have become dry. So you understand, like, our unity has a purpose beyond our own selves. Our unity gives us a purpose beyond making a church a more enjoyable place for us. Jesus prayed before he went to the cross that his people would become one so that the world might believe that the father had sent him. You you see what I'm saying? Unity purposes that lead us into evangelism. When a divided world sees a people that love each other across generations, across cultures, across histories, and across, differences, it receives a glimpse, a foretaste of the reconciling life of Christ. It is a foretaste of the kingdom of God that is to come.”

51s

#UnityBeginsWithGrace

“God gathers his people around his presence. God pours his spirit out on the church. God speaks through his word. God feeds us at one table. God teaches us how to be one family in these things. And our unity is something, yes, that it it we must cultivate it. We can't be passive about it. We must protect it. I'll talk about that later. But before we ever before we ever do anything to protect it or to cultivate it, it begins as grace. It begins as the grace of God flowing down, descending on our shared life.”

37s

#OneFamilyInChrist

“And every Lord's Day, that new family, that new community, that new, gathering of brothers and sisters dwelling in unity gathers. And we gather with all of our different stuff, but we stand beneath the same word, and we confess the same faith, and we depend upon the same mercy, and we call upon the same father. How good and pleasant is it when the brothers dwell together in unity?”

80s

#GospelInCommunity

“the Psalm shows us that God has chosen to give that gift and chosen to display that gift among a people that are gathered in his presence. We experience that throughout our Christian life. We experience that here together because this is where the gospel is proclaimed. This is where the promises of baptism are remembered. This is where we come together and are fed at the Lord's table. This is where sinners hear every single Sunday that they are forgiven. This is where the grieving are comforted. This is where the weak soul is strengthened. This is where people who once stood far apart from God learned to call one another family and learned to call God their heavenly father. He uses the shared life of the church to carry his grace into places that have become dry.”

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