For a long time I’ve liked the music and imagery of verse two of Psalm 133 in the ESV translation:
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!
I was so in love with that precious oil image that I didn’t even read the rest of the psalm!
I now know that the other big image in this psalm is the “dew of Hermon.” Of Mount Hermon, Peter Leithart has written:
“Significantly, it is snow-capped, and the dew that descends on its heights is in marked contrast to the aridity of the surrounding areas. Additionally, Hermon is a major source of the Jordan River. When the ice caps thaw, water from Hermon flows down to water the whole land.”
The life-giving nature of unity is highlighted by this image of the profusion of water supplied by this snow-capped mountain.
In the first verse, the psalmist plainly states that unity is “good” and “pleasant,” and after this he shows what he means: good like the undeserved grace of God, poured down like precious oil we cannot afford or create; pleasant like knowing you have enough, knowing there is ample provision for not just for survival, but for thriving. C.S. Lewis’s description of friendship sustains a similar notion of surplus: “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”
Unity is like this; it gives value to our survival, it is a gift which bleeds into all dimensions of life, it helps us to live into our unique gifts and rest knowing others are gifted in things we are not. The gift of lived unity on this earth gives us glimpses of the mystery of the Trinity, our God who is three-in-one.
In the article mentioned above, Leithart also wrote that: “The waters of Hermon refresh the land just as the Spirit, of which the oil is symbolic, refreshes those who are in union with the anointed one.”
Leithart’s article is short, and I recommend reading the rest of it. The connections he draws from the geographical placement of Caesarea Philippi at the foot of Hermon, and the thoughts he shares on possible links of these images to Christ are especially beautiful and hopeful.
You can read the rest of Leithart’s article here.