- Read Psalm 127 from the ESV.
- Read my Psalm 127 poem from A New Song.
In Psalm 126 we saw how Israel’s restored fortunes elicited a joyful and hopeful response about their present and future. Leaving their exile and returning to the Promised Land easily produced such joy and hope. And not to downplay their troubles, but I think anytime someone enters the bright morning after the dark night of the soul, everything seems possible; everything seems like an option. This is why the psalmist writes Psalm 127.
I heard a story about a man who had lived under the strict communism of the former Soviet Union and had come to the United States. His host took him to a grocery store where the Soviet man just stood frozen in front of the food shelves. After a moment of silence, he said that in the Soviet Union you never had to make a choice; you bought whatever was on the shelf whether you wanted it or not because it was the only food for sale. But here he had no idea what to purchase because of the numerous options in front of him. Not used to the choices and in this new situation, he wanted to buy everything.
I think the Israelites felt similarly after the exile now that the Lord was blessing them with the Promised Land. But it was more than a “pinch me” moment, the Lord was trying to teach them something important that their ancestors didn’t understand: man must work with God if their new freedom was going to be a blessing. Notice how verse 1 presents two sides to this coin of freedom. The first side is the Lord’s work, “Unless the Lord builds the house” and “Unless the Lord watches over the city.” Then the second side of the coin is man’s work, “those who build it…” and “the watchmen.” Unless the Lord is involved in the construction and keeping of his house (presumably The Temple) and his city (presumably Jerusalem), then any work done by man is in vain.
The Israelites could have come back and decided to build whatever they wanted and lived their lives however they wanted, but God tells them they need to do it the Lord’s way otherwise their work will be in vain. This would be wise for us to note as well. We certainly have the freedom to make any plans we want, but unless our plans are made in concert with the prompting of God’s Spirit, we are foolish people, working in vain.
There is a second aspect to the Israelites new world of freedom, and that is the question of God’s timing. If you know even just a little bit about the Bible you know that the Jews in Jesus’ time were waiting for the Messiah-King to come and build Israel into a new dynasty to govern the nations. But God’s timing and God’s methods only work in God’s ways, and if you are anticipating something different, as the Jews were, you would most likely endure a lifetime of many anxious nights.
Anxiety can be debilitating. We can worry about anything: about a job, about why your kids are out past curfew, about how to pay the bills, about how to win the lottery, about whether the Browns will win the Super Bowl, about…well, strike those last two! But you get the idea…worry and anxiety do many awful things, but God says that worry and anxiety are vanities. Worry and anxiety are ways of showing you have no faith in God. But if we rest in him, God always gives his children a good night’s rest as he is involved in every aspect of “building the house.” He provides the plans, gives us strength, protects us, and enables us to conquer any trials before us, all we need to do is do our work and trust in him.
I think it is when we begin to look for wisdom and direction from someone or something here on earth other than God that our anxiety and worry begin to increase. But if we look for wisdom to come from the God who created us and is sovereign over the earth then we need not worry, for our future is in his hands.
This leads to the final point of Psalm 127 which, for someone like me without any children, has always been a bit of a struggle to understand. But I think the key in these verses are the two words “heritage” and “reward,” not “children.” The term “heritage” often points to something we inherit. But in this instance, the psalmist uses the term “heritage” as something coming in the future. The reward — our heritage — is coming for those who build their house with the Lord, it not found in the past. For the Israelites, their heritage was the future growth of their nation. For us, our heritage from the Lord is the stable house built under the Lord’s guidance. This can be our actual children, as stated in Psalm 127, but it can also be our spiritual children, much like Timothy was Paul’s true son in the faith (I Tim. 1:2). Whatever children they are, we must learn the lesson of Psalm 127 that with the Lord our house will stand: without him, it will fall — a lesson we would be wise to learn from Israel’s history.
