Unity is a vital element in any community, organization, or nation, and it is something that King David did not know in the wake of his anointing by the prophet, Samuel.[1] The nation was divided between Saul and David. And while there were many twists and turns that led to this event, there was a point when the nation was finally united under David’s reign: “Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron” (2 Sam. 5:1). Perhaps it is this unification of Israel under David’s rule that gave rise to his words here in Psalm 133, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity” (v. 1a). As he reflected on unity, he did so through the lens of the anointing and ordination of Aaron, Israel’s first high priest. God commanded Moses to assemble the people before the tent of meeting to anoint Aaron (Lev. 8:1–3). The nation was united for this hallowed event, and so David looked to it to characterize the unity he observed in his own day. But here in David’s Psalm these events were more than just a celebration of history—they were pregnant with shadows of the revelation of Christ.

Psalm 133 comes on the heels of Psalm 132, which is a reminder of God’s covenantal promise to David that one of his sons would sit upon Israel’s throne (Ps. 132:11; 2 Sam. 7:12–17; Ps. 89). Psalm 133 also precedes Psalm 134 and the call to praise God in his holy place, the temple (Ps. 134:2). All three Psalms focus our attention upon God’s temple-presence and his king, though in this case we can also include the high priest as a focal point of Psalm 133. These Psalms all foretell and foreshadow God’s blessings in Christ. We find promissory roots that have origins in eternity with the Father’s covenantal appointment of the Son: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever’” (Heb. 7:21; Ps. 110:4). These roots grow in the rich soil of eternity and the covenant of redemption, and its branches jut forth into the air of history in the covenant of grace as they flower in the promises fulfilled in Jesus Christ. As we look at Psalm 133 and consider David’s words, we want at the same time to cast a gaze back to before the foundations of the world, while we also look forward to the advent of Christ so we can see the full picture of where the church’s unity lies. There are many siren calls for unity through church programs, abstract doctrines, tribal identities, but David’s message is clear—from eternity to eternity, we only find unity in Christ through the Spirit. Unity in Christ is the theme of Psalm 133, and we can meditate upon this truth both by reflecting upon the idea of unity through Christ as well as through how the triune God brings about this unity through the outpouring of Christ’s Spirit.

Unity in Christ

David begins his Psalm with words of rejoicing: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Ps. 133:1). His language recalls phrases used to describe Israel’s peaceful dwelling in the Promised Land (Deut. 25:5). God established a pattern of harmonious dwelling in the land where all were brothers (Deut. 15:3, 12). There are many things that bind people together such that they feel a sense of brotherhood. William Shakespeare (1564–1616) famously captures the bonds of brotherhood in his play King Henry V. Dramatically outnumbered by French soldiers at the Battle of Agincourt, Shakespeare places inspiring words of brotherhood on the lips of King Henry:

From this day to the end of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.[2]

Shakespeare powerfully captures the bonds of brotherhood formed in battle. More recently, filmmaker Sebastian Junger has documented how soldiers returning from war find it difficult to adjust to life because they have lost their sense of purpose apart from their band of brothers—connections of camaraderie grown in the soil of blood, sweat, and tears.[3] And yet, as strong as the brotherhood of combat can be, David envisages a unity of even greater strength—a unity forged in the fires of Christ’s outpoured Spirit. David draws the eyes of our faith by recalling God’s gift of dwelling in the land as brothers, and he does so through the powerful imagery of Aaron’s anointing as high priest.

As we noted above, God called the whole congregation to assemble before the tent of meeting to witness Aaron’s anointing and ordination. David recalls this event in the verse that follows: “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!” (Ps. 133:2). David could have focused upon the Israelites gathered around Aaron, and yet he draws our mind’s eye to the oil that was poured upon Aaron’s head and how it cascaded down his beard and onto the collar of his robes (Exod. 29:7). Here we need to meditate upon the nature of Aaron’s robes. We should remember that Aaron did not stand alone in God’s presence in his capacity as High Priest but was the people’s representative. This truth was captured in the very nature of his garments. Aaron had two shoulder pieces and two onyx stones with the names of the sons of Israel engraved upon them (Exod. 28:6–11): “And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance” (Exod. 28:12). Aaron symbolically carried Israel upon his shoulders. But Aaron also had a breast piece fashioned in a perfect square that he wore upon his chest that carried four rows of precious stones—one stone for each of the twelve tribes (Exod. 28:15–22). Aaron was a living symbol of Israel’s unity—a unity bound together in one man who entered God’s presence for blessing. This is the unity that David has in mind and to which he points the church throughout the ages.

The shadowy revelation of Christ’s priesthood flowers in his incarnation, and the apostle Peter explains its significance in his Pentecost sermon. Peter authoritatively tells the church that David was a prophet who foresaw Christ’s resurrection (Acts 2:30–31). The significance of David’s prophetic office is that the whole complex of the Psalms is a revelatory symphony to Christ. The whole book of Psalms, even the Old Testament, points us to Christ, but in this case David’s focus is upon his priestly office. Aaron was not the terminus of God’s revelation, but as Hebrews reminds us, Aaron pointed to Christ, our great High Priest: “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession” (Heb. 4:14). Jesus is our High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, a priesthood with eternal roots in the covenant of redemption. David points us to Christ, who is the source of our unity. Theologians in the church’s history have recognized this point.

In 1873 Charles Hodge (1797–1878), a theologian with narrow convictions but broad associations, delivered an address to the Sixth General Conference of the Evangelical Alliance, a meeting of Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Baptists. The title of his address was, “The Unity of the Church Based on Personal Union with Christ.” Among the many edifying things he said, he reminded the conference: “The Church of Christ is one. There is one fold and one Shepherd; one King and one kingdom; one Father and one family. In this sense the Church includes all the redeemed—those now in heaven, those now on earth, and those who are hereafter to be born.”[4] Would you believe that there were some who took offense at what he said? The simple truth is that Christ is a “stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:23–25).

The only way we can foster and promote unity in the church, therefore, is to rest in the high priestly work of Christ. Jesus points us to this very truth in his high priestly prayer. As he prayed to his Father, he said: “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you loved me” (John 17:22–23). Think of the unity between Father and Son. There is an ontological unity—the Father and the Son share one essence. There is an ethical unity, as the Son in his incarnation as the God-man perfectly obeyed his heavenly Father’s will. One of the marks of beauty is symmetry—when things are symmetrical, they convey beauty and harmony. Think of the perfect symmetry between the Father’s will and the Son’s obedience. Christ was, as Paul reminds us, “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). This is the unity that exists between the Father and Son, but it is also the end to which Christ has saved us in him. To try and build unity in the church on anything less than Christ is to build with wood, hay, straw, and stubble (1 Cor. 3:11–15). This is David’s point—unity comes through our great high priest, Christ. But there is more to David’s Psalm that points us to how Christ unites us in him.

Unity through Christ’s Spirit

David writes in verse 3: “It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” David draws our attention to the heavenly origins of the dew when he writes that it falls on the mountains. The English translation, however, veils David’s artistry and emphasis, so we need to modify it to bring this out: “It is like the precious oil on the head, descending on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, descending on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, descending on the mountains of Zion” (vv. 2–3, trans. alt., emphasis added). The threefold repetition of descending reminds us that both the source of the oil and the dew come from above—above the head of Aaron and above Mt. Hermon. What prophetic message does the anointing oil upon Aaron’s head teach us? Why does David draw our attention to the dew that descends from the heavens?

The Old Testament closely aligns the anointing with oil and the Holy Spirit rushing upon a person, such as when Samuel anointed David as king (1 Sam. 16:13; cf. Isa. 61:1–3). As such, Old Testament anointings point forward to the anointing of Christ. Christ, of course, means anointed, and in this case Aaron’s anointing ultimately points us to the Father’s anointing of his Son with the Holy Spirit, a truth foretold in the prophet Isaiah: “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isa. 11:2; cf. 42:1; 61:1). This prophecy was fulfilled in Christ’s baptism when the Father rent the heavens asunder, poured out the Holy Spirit upon Jesus, and bellowed from the heavens: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). The Son, our great high priest, was anointed with the Holy Spirit and conducted his ministry in the power of the Spirit. Our own Westminster Confession speaks of this:

The Lord Jesus, in his human nature thus united to the divine, was sanctified, and anointed with the Holy Spirit, above measure, having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge . . . [that] he might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a mediator, and surety. (WCF 8.3)

But recall the direction of the oil that descended from Aaron’s head upon his robes as it fell upon the shoulder pieces bearing the names of Israel’s tribes and the breast piece with twelve precious stones. The oil flowed over the stones bearing Israel’s twelve tribes, which pointed forward to the time when the Father would pour out the Spirit upon Jesus, the head of the body, and then Jesus would pivot, and pour out the Spirit upon his body, the church. As the oil flowed upon Aaron’s body, so the Spirit flows upon the church. Peter testifies to this when he told the gathered crowd at Pentecost: “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:33). And so now, the Spirit descends from the throne of Christ upon the whole church. The Heidelberg Catechism beautifully captures the truth of the bond between the anointing of Christ and his body when it asks why Jesus is called Christ, which means “anointed.” The Catechism responds: “Because he is ordained of God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit” (Q. 31). The Catechism then pivots from Jesus the head to the body, the church, when it asks: “But why are you called a Christian?” The Catechism responds: “Because by faith I am a member of Christ and so I participate in his anointing” (Q. 32, trans. alt).[5] We participate (or share) in Christ’s anointing. Christ is the “life-giving Spirit” who baptizes the church (1 Cor. 15:45, trans. alt.). The Holy Spirit is how the triune God joins us to himself through our union with Christ. And by union with Christ through the Spirit we participate in God and enjoy communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But as we are all individually united to Christ through the Spirit, we not only have fellowship with the triune God but also with one another.

The Holy Spirit is the bond of our unity. The Spirit sanctifies and purifies us—he conforms us to the image of Christ, which draws us into a greater and more intimate communion with our triune God. As the Psalmist asks, “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does no lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully” (Ps. 24:3–4). As the Spirit applies the work of Christ to us through faith, he makes us fit for God’s holy presence and thus brings unity to the body, the church: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:4–6). Christ by the Spirit is our bond of love. Note what Paul says about the outpoured Spirit: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:5). Theologians such as St. Augustine (354–430) have rightly explained that if the Holy Spirit has a proper name, it is Love.[6] Surely this is fitting because Paul equates the outpouring of the Spirit with the outpouring of love upon us all. This means that the only way we can foster unity in the church is by abiding in Christ’s Spirit—drawing upon the love of the triune God so that we can love one another. Only in God’s love can we truly love.

We must not forget, however, the path of this blessing of the Spirit. The path to Christ’s royal session whence he poured out the Spirit of unity and love did not go around but through the cross. Paul presents this powerful truth in a pint-sized but potent proclamation: “the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:10). Only because Christ was obedient unto the point of death, even death on a cross, do we have life in the Spirit. The unity of the Spirit, then, is cruciform in nature. The voice of unity utters with Christ, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42, KJV). The mind of unity says through “participation in the Spirit,” “Give me the mind of Christ that I might ‘count others more significant’ than myself” (Phil. 2:1, 3). The heart of unity says, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Such is the nature of the unity between head and body, Christ and church, Spirit and limbs.

Conclusion

As we contemplate Aaron’s anointing, pray that your eyes of faith would be ineluctably drawn to Christ our head. Pray that his outpoured Spirit would saturate your heart and mind as the oil saturated Aaron’s robes. Pray that the Spirit would conform you to Christ’s holy image and thus give you his mind that we would desire, love, and seek unity in the body of Christ, a beautiful unity captured in the symmetry between our will with God’s will and our lives with Christ’s. Only by the Father’s covenantally appointed Son, Jesus our great high priest, and the Son’s outpouring of the Spirit do we have any hope for unity. In the words of poet and hymn writer Isaac Watts (1674–1748):

Thus when on Aaron’s head
They poured the rich perfume,
The oil through all his raiment spread,
And pleasure filled the room.
Thus on the heav’nly hills
The saints are blessed above,
Where joy, like morning dew, distils,
And all the air is love.[7]

The love of unity only comes through Christ, our great high priest, and through the outpouring of his Spirit.

Endnotes

[1] This article was originally a sermon preached by the 2024 moderator at the opening of the 91st (2025) General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

[2] William Shakespeare, King Henry V, ed. J. H. Walter (Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1954), act IV, scene III, 58–67.

[3] Sebastian Junger, Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging (Twelve, 2016).

[4] Charles Hodge, “The Unity of the Church Based on Personal Union with Christ,” in Essays, Orations, and Other Documents of the Sixth General Conference of the Evangelical Alliance, eds. Philip Schaff and Irenaeus Prime (Harper & Brothers, 1874), 139–44, here 139.

[5] The Heidelberg Catechism in German, Latin, and English (Charles Scribner, 1863), Qs. 31–32 (pages 165–67): “et unctionis ipsius particeps.”

[6] Augustine, The Trinity, Fathers of the Church, trans. Stephen McKenna (Catholic University of America Press, 1963), 451–70.

[7] Isaac Watts, “Psalm 133,” in Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (London: Thomas Ward and Co., 1718), 276-77.

John V. Fesko is a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and serves as Harriett Barbour Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi. Ordained Servant Online, January, 2026