It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. – Psalm 133:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 11, 2016): Psalm 133 & 134

I have recently become interested in (or obsessed by) Planet Nine. Planet Nine is a hypothesized ninth planet to our Solar System (actually I am among the minority that still believes that Pluto should retain its identity as the ninth planet making this new Planet “Planet Ten,” but that is not likely to be an argument that I am going to win.) We have never seen Planet Nine, and because of that fact it remains unnamed. But astrologers have inferred the existence of the planet because of the movement of other trans-Neptunian objects, or objects (dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, etc.) that exist on the other side of Neptune. Once Planet Nine has been seen, it will be named. It is likely that at that time a probe will also be launched to find the planet. But for now, Planet Nine is imagined to be a super-Earth, a planet that is larger than the Earth but substantially smaller than the ice giants of our Solar System; Uranus and Neptune. But again, we have never seen Planet Nine. We only believe that it exists by watching the movement of other objects in its neighborhood. It feels to us like something must be out there because we can see the effects of the unseen planet.

That is exactly what David is trying to describe. Mount Hermon is a high snow covered mountain a hundred miles north of Jerusalem. Largely because of its height and location, Mount Hermon produces a very heavy dew. And it is this dew on which most of the life in the area depends. The dew itself, because of its life-giving benefits, has come to symbolize immortality and the growth of life. It is the life dew on which we symbolically all depend.

Mount Zion, on the other hand, is a hill in Jerusalem. Currently, we identify Mount Zion as a western hill just outside the Jerusalem city limits. But this is not the mountain to which David is making reference. His Mount Zion was the eastern hill that existed within the city, the upper part would become Temple Mount and the lower portion, and likely the area that David is referring to was the Jebusite City that David conquered and made “The City of David.” The dew on Mount Zion is lighter and gives much less benefit to life. Yet as David looks around him, as he sees the life of the city and unity of the believers in Yahweh within the city, he says that the dew of Mount Zion must be like the dew of Mount Hermon. Even though he could not see the heavy Mount Hermon dew, he sees the effects and the life and that immortality that that dew has brought to his city.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 138 & 139