Psalm 127 Unless the Lord Builds the House
Introduction: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” That is a mouthful and deserves our careful consideration. There is more to these words than you might imagine, and certainly more than I imagined.
The key to the Psalm is dependence on God, without which all of one’s effort will be in vain (used 3x) in the text. The psalm reminds us to have an acute awareness of God’s overseeing presence in our world and in our lives. Human strength and the apparent success in human ventures cannot be proven in short time frames, but can only be evaluated over a lifetime.
Isaiah 40:6-7 “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; sure the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” The context of this passage is God’s reminder that it is only his word “implanted” and applied in our lives that will enable us to overcome the withering of our grass-like existence.
- Three Concerns for Building, 1-2
- The efforts of building a “house.” The application could apply to any project, from the church, to a business, to one’s own household. Obviously, “house” is not speaking of a place to live, but of a large family that grows over generations. We all hope and pray that the generations following us will continue to be faithful to the Lord. There will almost always be exceptions when certain of our descendants turn from God, but this psalm speaks of our actions at the present. Are we going to build the house, or is God building our house?
- Guarding what one has built. Again, that could be a city, a nation, one’s own home, or one’s life. A watchman is watching for an impending attack. Evil lurks at any given moment. Human ability to watch and warn is limited. But God can see all, and without him our watching is in vain. It is not that a watchman in the city us unnecessary, any more than a builder is not needed to build a house. But our human limitations leave us vulnerable without God as the primary “watcher.” Our house needs to be guarded from the evil one. His attacks come from every angle: TV’s, computers, phones, alcohol, and worldly influences. Are we ensuring that the Lord watches the house?
- How one treats his labor in building. God desires to give sleep/rest to his beloved. Labor is good and commanded by the Lord, but it is intended to be balanced with other responsibilities. The Preacher in Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 prioritizes God and family ahead of one’s work. We must work, but we must not “eat the bread of anxious toil” trusting in self instead of the Lord.
- Consider the word “vain.” We know the word because of its use in Ecclesiastes. Just as in Ecclesiastes, “vain” indicates that which is short term, not long term. It is the opposite of success and eternal life and joy. When we understand the word, we can see how Solomon warns us by negative statements. Building, watching, and laboring without the Lord’s direction will end in failure. The opposite is then also true. Building, watching, and laboring with our eyes on the Lord, will not be vain, but instead, guarantees success.
- Therefore, there is security in building, watching, and laboring when the Lord is the goal and primary focus. Any effort or work we humans pursue, also comes with doubt and fear of failure. But when the Lord builds the house, we can be confident in the best outcome. Even in the midst of trials and missteps, we are always steadfastly following the goal, knowing that the Lord produces the outcome.
- The Primary Focus of Building
- Now we see what the Lord is building. The focus is on children that are a heritage or inheritance from the Lord.
- Complimenting verses 1-2, our children are not “ours,” they are “a heritage from the Lord,” and therefore as parents we are stewards (caretakers of another’s goods) of our children, a blessing God has entrusted to you. God’s primary goal for our children is not fun or happiness. If the Lord is building our house, and we are to be found faithful as stewards of God’s children, teaching them that they are image-bearers of God sent throughout the world to reflect God’s image. They are “children arrows” so that when he “speaks with the enemies in the gate,” parent nor child will be put to shame.
- Verses 3-5 are a contrast to the vanity of verses 1-2. The last three verses exhibit a house built by the Lord, a house over which the Lord will watch, and a household in which labor is kept in balance so that anxiousness is taken away because of one’s trust in the Lord. The result: “God gives to his beloved sleep.” The implication is not just a good night’s sleep, but a comfort and security knowing that the Lord is our ultimate provider. It is the opposite of the agonizing labor of one who is filled with fear and anxiety concerning his future.
- Verses 4-5 mirrors the three times in Genesis that the Lord commanded, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” What is especially noteworthy is that the Lord said it twice following the Flood in Genesis 9:1, 7. It is difficult to read those words and not take to heart a direct command from God. Consider a few reasons why children were important to God:
- Most importantly, bearing children is kingdom work. We say, “Oh but look at how evil the world has become!” Yes, but it has always been that way, and God gave us the responsibility of filling the world with his image-bearers and children-arrows that will be able to “speak with his enemies in the gate.” Remember, the Lord is building the house, the Lord is watching over our lives and family, the Lord is taking away our “anxious toil.” Trust the Lord.
- Consider this: what are the expectations of the survival of a church that does not have children? If there are no children, you might as well preach their funeral. Soon the light that at one time shone brightly in those areas is now dimming, and soon will be extinguished.
- However, in this psalm the Lord is primarily exalting the benefit of children to the individual couple. Children are an “inheritance and reward from the Lord.” And what is especially wonderful today, because of Sacred Selections, those who are unable to have children can adopt without going into debt and those who cannot adopt can financially support adoption: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27).
- One more benefit: children grow us spiritually. Children require us to mature. Notice that the text refers to “children of one’s youth.” Yes, we had children when were young and dumb, but if we trusted in God, “the Lord built the house and the Lord watched over our efforts.” Marriage and children change us to be more perfectly in the image of God, and is one of the primary ways the Lord prepares us for his eternal kingdom.
- Seeing the Greater House the Lord Is Building
- Psalm 127 is about a household. It is about building a house with the direction and help of the Lord. Without the Lord, the house and household are failures and do not reach the purpose of the Lord.
- In the text, the focus is not on a father or a mother, they are understood to be present and are builders along side the Lord, but they are not the focus. The Lord is the focus. He is the one who builds and watches; he is the one who gives rest to those who trust him and gives children arrows as an inheritance.
- Now I want you to tie this into the way the Lord pictures children in his kingdom. We are too narrow in our understanding if we are simply looking at the children of a physical family.
- Isaiah 53:10 This text briefly sets up what we will seen in chapter 54. In spite of the Lord offering himself in death, in his resurrection he will “prolong his days” and “see his offspring.” Just as “the Lord builds the house” in the psalm, so here we see the true house the Lord is building.
- Isaiah 54:1-3, 13 This text gives us a description of how the Lord will see his offspring.
- Sarah, long dead, though desolate and unable to have children, will now see her children. In fact, she will have so many children that her offspring will be far more than children that come from the physical offspring of Abraham’s concubine wife who was not barren. You might say, “But Sarah only had one child!” Oh no she didn’t! In fact, Sarah is still having children! Even Isaac would not have been born if were not for the Lord building the house.
- The children of Sarah are so many that God’s true Israel must “enlarge their tent” so that the offspring of Sarah is spread abroad through the whole earth and possesses the nations.
- Verse 13 confirms this even further. “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.”
- Let’s add one more text: Isaiah 56:3-5. God calls to the eunuchs, those who cannot have physical children, and tells them not to think of themselves as those who cannot produce offspring, for God will give them “in my house a monument and name better than [physical] sons and daughters.”
- So today is Mother’s Day. That’s nice, but it isn’t the Mother’s Day the Lord celebrates. Teresa’s co-worker told her yesterday that she doesn’t go to church on Mother’s Day; it’s too depressing. Well, that’s not the way it is in God’s kingdom, and that is not the way it is in this church. Everyone here are mothers and fathers of offspring equally great as the beautiful children we have present with us. No one is a dry tree in the kingdom of God.
Conclusion: “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the Lord.”
Berry Kercheville
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