A House Built by the Lord, Psalm 127
Psalm 127
Psalm 127 was written by Solomon. Who was Solomon? Think back, King David was not allowed to build God's house of worship because of his violent past. Because of this, God gave the honor of building the Temple to David's son, Solomon. Psalm 127 was probably written to remind him that, no matter the effort he put into building the house of worship, it would fail unless God was behind it.
Even after the Temple was built, Israel continued to sing this Psalm as they climbed the hill every year to Jerusalem to worship. This Psalm was a reminder to them, and to us today, that if we do things without God, they will fail.
Questions to think about
What things in your life are you trying to do without God?
How can you actively surrender the things you are involved in to God?
You can put all of your best efforts into something, but if God does not purpose for it to succeed, it will fail; it will defy all odds in its failure, and all your work will be in vain; but if God’s blessing is on a thing, that thing is invincible.
TRUST THE LORD IN ALL THINGS
not for the sake of success, but because God LOVES us!
Success is not a bad motivator; it can be an amazing motivator. It helps you push through the tough stuff and get the job done.
But a far greater motivator is the love of God. To truly know the love of God, to feel His comfort, His pleasure, His grace. That will lead us to pursue all those things in a far greater way.
Read verses 1-2
What do WE do?
We Build
We Watch
We Toil
What does God do?
He Builds
He Watches
He Gives Sleep to His BELOVED
We should build, we should watch, we should toil. We should not be idle.
Trusting God doesn't mean doing nothing.
When Christ calls us to follow him, he does not call us to the bench. He calls us to pick up our cross. He has prepared for us good works to DO. He gives us TALENTS, not so we can bury them in the sand till He returns, but so that we can invest them and grow them. All the while, trusting HIM to bring the growth. So, we should be DOING, TOILING, and TRUSTING.
Questions to think about.
What is the difference between trusting God and using God?
What talents has God given you that you can use (or are using) to pour into His kingdom?
What's one way you can begin to trust God this week?
How should we toil?
Anxiously? No, we should toil restfully because (v2) God gives sleep to His beloved. Restfully does not equal laziness! No, restfully means trusting, not worrying, leaving the outcome always to God.
Questions to think about.
How many of you can very easily make yourself anxious about the things you pursue?
How many of you are prone to become anxious as you raise your kids - anxious that they are not learning things fast enough - anxious that they are not prepared for life?
If we are anxious about those things, it’s because we are not trusting God and his LOVE. God is the one who builds, He is the one who watches, and He is the one who LOVES you, AND He wants you to rest in him. He literally provides the sleep, so you can and should rest! He has literally given you a DAY OF REST!
Another thing this Psalm reminds us of is that anything that is not being held together by Christ is truly an IDOL.
The Bread of anxious toil is not good. It’s not a neutral option in our lives as Christians beloved by God. If we are eating the bread of anxious toil, then we are not feasting on Christ and his body offered to us in the Lord’s Supper. We are not resting IN CHRIST and His LOVE.
Dive into scripture
Colossians 1:15-18
What is Paul saying about Christ?
What is he saying about the image of God?
And since Christ is God, it’s not surprising to read that he is also the CREATOR. He is the one who created everything, even the invisible things we cannot see. But, not only was everything made BY him, but it was also made FOR HIM. Again, he is God! Whatever glory creation has
all the beauty and wonder
all of the thankfulness we have for creation
all of our wonderment
The only proper direction for our praise is to go up to Jesus; it should only be directed at Christ. He deserves it all.
Christ MAKES EVERYTHING and also SUSTAINS everything. Jesus didn’t just make creation and then leave it on its own to make of itself whatever it wants. That’s deism. That’s an uninterested God - a creator who makes everything but doesn’t care about anything.
Christ holds all things together. He holds the church together, families together, cities together. He holds YOU together. Jesus SO HOLDS YOU TOGETHER, Christian, that even after you die, he will raise you from the dead and keep holding you together.
Putting it together
If there is literally anything in my life that I am trying to build or hold together on my own, in my own strength-that is an idol.
If I am trying to build my business, my family, my career, through my own work.
If I am trying to paint a picture, cook dinner, organize my home, discipline my children, overcome my sin, walk my dog.
Whatever I’m trying to do, if it is not first and foremost FOR Christ and done in such a way that I TRUST HIM for the outcome, it is SIN. It’s an idol. Anything not held together by Christ is an idol.
Read Verses 3-5
Solomon is taking the principle of verses 1 and 2 (Trusting the Lord) and applying that to our children.
Solomon is essentially saying something we say all the time. Priorities matter! It must be: God first, Family Second, everything else third. Or to put it another way, all the other things ought to serve the first two: God and the family He has given me - the fruitful reward of children - the heritage He has given me.
How is Solomon speaking of children here? Not as cute, chubby babies. He is presenting them to us as arrows. Deadly sharp arrows that scare away our enemies at the gate.
Why is Solomon being so serious here? Because of another truth, we say all the time. Children are the future. That was very true in Solomon’s time, and it is still true today. If you did not raise children who shared your values, who were strong and confident in the Lord, who were ready, then one day the city would fall. Because one day those children would be in charge, when the strength of the fathers had waned, but if the children were not strong enough, then the enemies would win.
There is an enemy at our gate.
Some of us have spent so much time trying to protect our children FROM the world, and we have forgotten that the best defense is a good offense. You don’t have to protect your children from the world if you train them up to wage war AGAINST the world - against the powers of darkness.
Hear this:
There is nothing wrong with sheltering our children from the filth of the world, but have we spent as much time training them for battle? Have we trained them to go to war with their own sin - to put to death the deeds of the flesh?
Scripture Connection
Romans 8
Have we trained them to take every thought captive to obey Christ?
Scripture Connection
2 Corinthians 10
Have we trained them to be ready to make a defense of their faith, to correct their opponents with gentleness and lead them to knowledge of the truth?
Have we trained them to flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, alongside those who call on the Lord from a pure heart?
Scripture Connection
2 Timothy 2
Have we trained them to be strangers and aliens in this world?
Have we trained them to fulfill the mandate in Genesis - to fill the earth and SUBDUE IT - to change the world around them for Christ, and not be changed BY the world around them?
Scripture Connection
James 1:7
What if we raised kids to wage war, because we know that we are raising them in a world that wants to go to war with their Creator?
What if we raised children to be the kind of arrows the world wishes it had protection from?
What if we trained our children to have a kind of Godly uprightness, to live in obedience to God and His word above everything else, to pursue honor and holiness and discipline? To put on the ARMOR OF GOD!
BUT MOST OF ALL
What if we trained our children to depend on God for everything?
To do that, we have to care about children and prioritize them.
How does this apply to me?
We cannot give away what we do not have. Are you disciplined in your prayer life, your study of scripture, and in turning away from your sin?
Are you around children? How can you pour into them the truth of God's word?
Remember those talents God has blessed you with? Has He made you to be his instrument of sharpening for others’ children? Perhaps you are meant to be a teacher of children, a youth worker. Perhaps God wants you to adopt.
Whatever the role God has given you in life, we can all take up the call to care for children, to make them effective arrows pointed at the world for Christ.
You might be asking yourself, wait I can pour into children, but what about me and my daily practice of faith?
Do not think that this Psalm has nothing to do with you or that the blessings of God mentioned here are not for you. Are you a child of God? Then, you are an arrow in God’s quiver. You also ought to be someone the world - God’s enemies - ought to be scared of. Be a sharp arrow! Be an accurate arrow! Be an arrow with purpose & direction. Hit the target!
We must depend upon him, TRUST HIM, to build the house, to watch the city, to give us sleep, and to ready our children for war.