Right. Good morning.
It’s great to be with you all this morning. And if you don’t know me, my name is Wes. I’m a pastoral assistant here at Red Village Church. So I help oversee the youth and the college ministry. And if I haven’t met you, then feel free to come find me after service.
I would love to meet you and get to know you, but today we are going to be studying a psalm that is 127. So if you have a Bible, go ahead and open up to Psalm 127. And if you don’t, there are some Bibles in the pews that you can grab, little blue Bibles. Feel free to grab one of those and open up to Psalm 127. So I’m going to read the psalm, and then I’m going to just pray and ask for the Lord’s help.
And then we’ll work through this verse by verse. So here is what the word of the Lord says in Psalm 127. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go to late rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them. He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. So that’s God’s word for us. Please pray with me.
Lord, we thank you that we can gather here at Red Village Church to hear from your word. And so I pray God that through my preaching your voice would be heard for your people. And God, that you would give us ears and hearts to receive what you are saying in this psalm. And we ask that you would bless this time for your purposes and for your kingdom. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
So I’m going to start off with telling you a story from my childhood. So one of my most favorite things to do as I was a child was to play in a large sandbox with my cousin Wade at my aunt and uncle’s house during the summer in Idaho. And this sandbox was probably about 10ft wide with an endless amount of possibilities of what could be made within this sandbox. And it was me and my cousin Wade’s mission to create the most elaborate sand city that had ever been created in human History every single time I came to spend the night at his house. So, as with every good sand city, of course, you need good sandcastles and good sand tunnels.
And for me, as a young lad working in the sand city, I was a master builder of sand tunnels. That was my expertise. And I can remember mixing the perfect ratio of sand to mud and water that would create the most elaborate and dark and deep tunnels that anyone would ever think to ever create, that even the largest Hot Wheels cars could drive through these tunnels. I can remember the focus and, like the weight of duty that I felt when I was in this sand pit with my cousin. It was our duty to build this sand city, and it was of the utmost importance that we would finish it and put as much effort as we could into building this sand city each day.
And so sometimes in the midst of this work, the rain clouds would form, and I can literally vividly remember to this day where I would pray to God that God would change the weather so that it would not rain upon our sand city. Sometimes, as an expert sand builder, me and Wade would decide to fortify our sand city with a water ditch surrounding the largest castles. And sometimes we would fill up the tunnels. So apparently we had some underwater tunnels as well. But in the midst of this next level thinking, often the water from the garden hose would pour over into the areas we didn’t want the water to go, and it would inevitably collapse differently, tunnel systems and castles.
So me and Wade would urgently call out to one another when something was beginning to break or crumble, saying, there’s a breach in the dam. Or quick, over here. Mayday. We’re losing tunnel three. More backup over here and brace for impact.
And so it was very intense as we’re trying to keep the water from collapsing everything that we’re building throughout the day. You can think of the assault on Helm’s Deep, and maybe you’ll get an understanding of what was going on here, which is a Lord of the Rings reference. But it was an intense battle to build our sand city. And sometimes we would spend the entire day building it and fixing it, convincing ourselves that it was for a good cause. All the while, every single night in the summer, the sprinklers that watered the lawn would turn on at dusk and wash away all of our hard work every single night.
And then we would start over and do the exact same thing the next day. So, that being said, today we are studying a psalm of wisdom written by Solomon himself, who was the wisest man ever to walk the face of the earth. Apart from Jesus Christ, this psalm is a song of ascent, which is grouped with Psalms 120 through 134. And it is believed that these psalms were used by the Israelites for pilgrimage, procession, and to sing and celebrate the seasonal feasts while they were traveling to Jerusalem. And so it’s possible that these 15 Psalms were also sung at each of the 15 steps leading into the Temple during the Jewish festivals.
So either way, as Mitch Fisher pointed out last week, these psalms were used by the traveling Israelites to prepare their hearts for worship and to remind them of important truths relating to God and his covenant with his people. So it’s important to understand this, that this is a psalm of wisdom written by Solomon, because it will help us to better understand and interpret what is written. So Psalm 127 is different from other psalms, as instead of like praying a prayer of praise or a lament to God, or remembering God’s activity in the past, the psalm immediately seeks to teach us a principle based on wisdom given from God. And so Psalm 127 is much like Proverbs in nature, where without introduction, it seeks to teach this principle to the reader and should help the reader to apply it in order to be wise. So there are two primary principles that Psalm 127 is teaching us.
The first principle is that all human toil without the Lord is worthless. This is the primary teaching of the entire psalm. But the second principle that the psalm focuses on is that children are a gift and a heritage from the Lord. So this principle is still within the umbrella of the first, but it’s very specific to children. So that’s what we’re going to look at more closely as we study this psalm.
So looking in your Bibles at verse one, the psalm begins with, unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. So house in this context, it does not just mean like a physical house. This is a metaphor for anything in life that a person tries to build, whether it be education or finances or a career or a relationship or even family, as the second half of the psalm addresses. So anything in life a person tries to build without the Lord is in vain, which means it’s pointless, it’s worthless without purpose, or even another translation is, it is a frustration to do this without the Lord.
Building without the Lord is a frustration because it leads to nowhere and it amounts to nothing. Which should sound really familiar to another book of the Bible, which is written by the same author. So at the beginning of Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes, vanity of vanities, says the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? Now, the word for vanity that is found in Ecclesiastes is actually different from the vanity that Psalm 127 is talking about.
But they are both getting at the same idea. So the toil of man without the Lord is an empty and hollow pursuit to watch over a city through the night without the Lord watching. It is also a worthless use of our time. In ancient biblical times, a watchman was stationed as a night guard within a tall tower alongside the outer wall, and he would watch for the attack of an intruder if it should come. And a watchman would often stay up all night, which was a long and difficult job, as any night shift certainly is.
So this was a vitally important job, because if the watchman failed to see an attack that was coming from the enemy, then Israel would never see this attack coming, and it would take them by surprise. So Psalm 127 teaches us. A watchman watches through the night in vain if the Lord does not watch over that city. If God isn’t watching, he isn’t protecting the city. It’s a waste of time.
So again, this metaphor is not limited to just a watchman’s work at night. This is related to anything a person does in an effort to protect themselves or their family or their neighborhood or even their city. If the Lord isn’t watching and protecting, their efforts are not going to prevail. The reason why is because God is the sovereign, builder and protector over all things. All happenings in this life come by his hand.
And if the Lord wills something to happen, then it happens. If the Lord wills to protect a city, it is protected. If the Lord does not will to protect a city, then nothing can protect it. The Lord Yahweh, who made heaven and earth, he is the one who is writing the story of human history. He is the one who gives and takes away.
He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. And his purposes will prevail. Therefore, unless the Lord is the one building and watching over all of one’s efforts, and their labor is in vain, empty, worthless, a frustration. Because the Lord’s sovereign purpose will prevail in the end, not ours. We are not in control.
God is. We do not determine the weather tomorrow. God does. We do not have control over what rises and what falls. God does.
We do not decide when we live, and when we die, God does. And it’s easy to convince ourselves that we are God and we dictate what happens. But Psalm 127 simply teaches us that’s not true. Unless the Lord is building, you build in vain. Unless the Lord is watching, Then you stay awake and watch in vain.
A lot like playing in a sandbox. At the end of the day, the sprinklers are going to turn on, and everything that has been built and carefully watched over will wash away. Now, the story I told is understandable because I was a child, and children do pointless things all the time. But imagine for a minute if there I was in a sandbox outside of the village house, which is right back this way, if you didn’t know, live at the village house right behind the church here. So imagine I’m out in that parking lot with a sandbox, putting all my time and my energy and my money into building my sand city in this sandbox.
And imagine that every day I’m out fixing the tunnels and building the castles. Like, imagine what you would think if you see me doing that. Like, one, you’d probably think, like, why is this bearded man playing in a sandbox, like, in a parking lot? That’s really weird. This guy’s a weirdo.
And I’m never coming to Red Village church again. Probably second, you would think, what a waste of time. Like, why is this guy just out building sand day after day, mindlessly? This makes absolutely no sense. This is a grown adult.
Why is Wes wasting all of his time building sandcastles and tunnels that will never stand? And you probably think that that person is a fool, wasting their time, wasting their life. Psalm 127 teaches us that unless the Lord is building the house, then you’re just playing in the sand, building sandcastles that will never stand, watching and toiling over a dream, a goal, an idol that will one day wash away. Verse 2 further tells us, it is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for he gives to his beloved sleep. Now, just because someone is able to work hard at something from sunrise to sunset, it doesn’t mean that it’s actually a productive use of time.
Like only work that labors with the Lord according to what he is building is not done in vain. Sometimes we can convince ourselves that hard work alone is a beneficial use of our time here on Earth. If we have a really hard day of work, then that is a life that we can hang our hat on. But here we learn that’s not true. If our work is not for the Lord and according to his building, then it’s in vain for even hard earned money, hard worked fields, back breaking work that builds a house, it will all vanish in time and be forgotten unless the Lord is blessing the work for his purposes and for his glory.
The kind of living that rises early to work hard for long hours to only benefit oneself is an anxious toil. Even if you’re getting like the basic necessities that you need to live, you can be overwhelmed with anxiety. Because anxiety, it stems from a lack of control. And and if you’re working for yourself with your own goals and plans in mind, then there is no rest in a sovereign God that He’s going to be holding tomorrow like instead you hold tomorrow. And so this person works in vain, stressing about all the details of their work, asking themselves, did I do enough today?
Like will this last what I’ve done? What if it doesn’t go right tomorrow or the next week or next year? What if it fails? Should I have done more? Should I have done less?
All these questions can fill our minds and can give us anxiety because we put weight upon ourselves to hold what is going on. And ironically, when a person trusts themselves to build and get the job done, this is what brings the most stress and anxiety. Because a person has to face the reality that they can’t control everything no matter how hard they try. But the person who trusts in the Lord to build all that he provides according to his perfect and good will, this person will have peace, knowing God will see it through. The one who lives by faith in God as the master, builder and watcher is given sleep.
Because their heart does not fret about tomorrow, but instead they trust fully in the Lord. The Lord gives sleep to his beloved. It is those who build and watch by faith that God loves and grants sleep without anxiety. And that’s not to say that even those who have faith in God don’t experience anxiety. But it is to say that we have a peace and comfort in the God who controls tomorrow.
For this person does not need to be in control. They trust in the Lord of the universe who is in control of everything and provides for every good thing for his people to build unto his glory. To build without the Lord is to live a life of anxious toil that labors for an empty return. But to build by faith in the Lord is to live a life of peace and rest and a sovereign God who builds all things for our good and for his glory. This life is full of purpose, full of significance for the kingdom of God, that is, that God is building today and it cannot be shaken in.
Psalm 127 continues to exemplify this. But it then makes a transition in verses three through five to the blessing of children. So if you look in your Bibles at three through five, it says, behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them, for he shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
So the first thing that we should take note of in these verses is that children come from the Lord. People like to think that, like, we’re the creators of children and that we do the work and we make a child and give them life. But here in God’s Word we see that’s not the case here. God’s word clearly tells us that children come from the Lord. When a woman conceives a baby, it is a reward or a gift from the Lord, like he is the one who gives life to a child.
And it’s by his sovereign hand that a child comes into this life. Psalm 139 says this in verses 13 through 16. For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works.
My soul knows it very well. For my frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet, there was none of them. So this teaches us that God is the one who gives life to every single person, to every child, to every baby. And Psalm 127 goes on to describe how these children are a blessing and a gift from God.
So children, as the psalm says, are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. Now, understanding Psalm 127 is a wisdom psalm. It’s a psalm that’s focusing on wisdom. We know that children being compared to arrows is trying to teach us a truth about children. And this metaphor teaches us that children are useful for God’s purposes.
They are useful for God’s purposes. So since the beginning, God’s plan has involved using children to bring fruitful multiplication to the earth. And God’s word tells us that it is good and pleasing to the Lord to have children. So in recent years, there has not. There has been like more and more people coming to the conclusion saying that children are not a blessing, but instead children are a burden because children require time, they require energy, they require money, they’re a hindrance to our own personal goals and our own personal plans.
And children take more than they give. This is what culture says. This is not what God’s word says, therefore, this is what people think. Therefore, people should avoid having children instead of focusing on themselves so they can maximize their own happiness in this life without children. Now, this kind of thinking is very backwards according to God’s word.
And as we see here in Psalm 127, that is not what the psalm is teaching us. Children, as the psalm says, are a gift from God. And it says, blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them, which is pointing to more children that one may have. Like just as a bow with many arrows is much more effective at holding back an enemy, so the family with many children is blessed and more effective for God’s kingdom, that is if the children are raised by parents with faith in the Lord. The principle that is explicitly taught in verses 1 through 2 of this Psalm are in implicitly applied to verses 3 through 5, which is unless the Lord raises up children, then their parents raise them in vain.
In Spurgeon’s commentary on the Psalms, he says this concerning arrows in the quiver. When sons and daughters are arrows, it is well to have a quiver full of them. But if they are only sticks, useless, the fewer of them, the better. It is not children in general that provides blessing and usefulness for God’s purposes, but rather it is children raised by the Lord through parents who live by faith that are blessed and useful for the kingdom. So many parents agree with Solomon.
When they have raised children up in the Lord and they have all graduated and moved out of the home, they do not wish that they would have had fewer children, but rather they wish that their quiver would have had more to raise and to love and to enjoy for the glory of God. I personally have not met any parents of faith who have wished for less children. They always wish for more. And that’s because children are a blessing from the Lord. So if you’re a parent and you are debating if you should have more children, this may be Your sign.
Psalm127 More arrows in your quiver. But in all seriousness, there are many hard things that come with raising children, and there’s many sacrifices that have to be made in doing so. Therefore, nobody should just like rush into having children without having counted the cost. But that being said, as Psalm 127 points us to like far beyond the trials and pains of raising children, they are a blessing and a joy, and children serve to advance the kingdom of God. And this psalm is not communicating that everyone is supposed to have children, nor is it communicating that children are like the highest blessing that one can receive.
God’s good and sovereign hand wills that many remain single, like Paul the Apostle, to live fruitful lives. Raising spiritual children through discipleship and through serving God’s church, that is a notable and blessed life to live. So Solomon is simply stating here in this psalm that for those whom God wills to have children, they are a gift and a blessing from his hand, and are fruitful for God’s purposes if they are raised by faith in the Lord. So the man that does so, he will not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. The gate in this passage is a reference to the city gate, which is where all social and commercial and legal transactions would normally take place within a city.
And it’s a place where the public could either accuse or affirm matters of importance with multiple witnesses, as seen in the Book of Ruth with Boaz. So Solomon is saying that when enemies come from within the gates and they accuse a father of a family of wrong, then the integrity of his children will prove otherwise. For children raised in faith will shine forth God’s righteousness and extend one’s integrity and work for the Lord, not diminish it. Children will serve to be a heritage, meaning like preserving and extending the legacy of a family name, not for their glory, but for God’s glory. Which brings a fitting end to Psalm 127.
So what are the applications that God’s word has for us here in this psalm? I’m going to give you four that I have found from this passage. So number one, the first application is, don’t waste your time in the sandbox. Labor by faith in the Lord for his kingdom. I’ll say that again.
Don’t waste your time in the sandbox. Labor by faith in the Lord for his kingdom. Unless the Lord builds, unless the Lord watches, it is in vain that you rise up early and go to bed late. There are many things that we can fill our time with and put our hands to work on here on earth, but not all things are useful for the kingdom, or to have, or have God’s blessing on it. In fact, many things do not build for the Lord’s glory.
And these things are called idols and if you are a Christian who has decided to follow Jesus and has put their faith in him, then get rid of rid of the sandbox of idols. If your time, your energy and your money are being invested into things that do not honor the Lord or bear no fruit for building God’s kingdom, then it is a sandbox idol and you are investing your time, your energy and your money in vain. First Corinthians 10:23 says, Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. As Christians, we are called to do all things for the glory of God. And this means that we’re either building God’s kingdom with the Lord or we’re not.
Like, there’s no in between middle ground for this. And God is always building. The question is, is if we will labor with him or if we will play with idols in the sand that will be washed away and more specifically, that we’ll be burned away. According to First Corinthians 3, it talks about our works being burned away before the judgment seat of God, those that are not built on the foundation of Christ. So as Christians, we must evaluate, am I building with the Lord or am I not?
For Christian families, husbands and fathers, this is part of your God given role to lead your family to Christ and to help your family evaluate. Like, are you laboring for God’s kingdom? Is that the end goal? At the end of the day, are you helping your family to pursue and build the Lord’s coming kingdom? So some practical questions that I think each believer should ask themselves is like, is my job building unto the Lord are my hobbies?
Building unto the Lord is my marriage. Building unto the Lord is my family building unto the Lord. And an easy way to figure this out is to just ask yourself like, why am I doing this? What is the reason why? If it ends with you, then it’s likely that you’re just playing with idols in the sand.
If it ends with the Lord, then you must continue to submit this labor to the Lord and pray God, may this be for your glory. May it build up your people. May it proclaim the gospel and all that I do in this thing. And may it shine the light of Christ for your coming kingdom. We have to constantly be putting our attention and thoughts on our efforts and our work to be unto the Lord and asking that God would be the one building it and going before us.
A believer does this by faith, according to God’s word. And the Lord will use his people’s labor for his kingdom. He will build, he will watch, and you will not labor in vain your efforts will be to the praise and glory of Jesus for all of eternity, which is more weighty than we really can comprehend here in this time. So ask yourself, am I laboring for the Lord or am I building sandcastles in vain? And if you’re building sandcastles of idols, get rid of them.
Like repent and ask the the Lord how you can best use your time, your energy, and your money to build unto the Lord. Submit your labor to him, and whether it rises or whether it falls, he will use it for his kingdom and for his purposes. For God is the master builder and watcher of all things. Hopefully that is what we’re doing as a church with Eastern each ministry that we do, including VBS next week, we are submitting each event and gathering to him that he may use it for his kingdom so that our efforts will not be in vain. My second application is this Rest in the sovereignty of God and do not be anxious.
Rest in the sovereignty of God, and do not be anxious. Anxious toil is not a symptom of laboring unto a sovereign God. It’s a symptom of laboring for self he gives to his beloved sleep. God’s people are able to rest because they have faith in a sovereign God and who is in control of all things, and he will work all things for our good and for his glory. We we do not have to worry or put the weight of every task and responsibility upon our own shoulders.
That’s not how God has called his people to live. God is the builder, and we see this very clear in Psalm 127. Not us. We can work hard for him and do our best, but at the end of the day we can rest knowing that the Lord will work out the unknowns that we don’t know. So do not be anxious about your life.
For which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to your life? Your Heavenly Father knows what you need. Therefore seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself, and each day has enough trouble of its own. You need only to rest, for that is what God gives to his people of faith who labor unto Him.
My third application is this. Recognize children are a gift and a blessing from God to be useful for the kingdom. So therefore raise and disciple them by faith. As we already looked at together, children are a blessing according to this psalm. They’re not a burden.
So parents in the room do not lose Sight of this. Your children are a gift, a reward directly from the Lord. And summer is a time when you’re probably spending more time with your children, which can be really great, but it can also make one’s patience sometimes wear very thin. So I just want to encourage you from Psalm 127. Remember, your children are a gift from God.
Soak in this summer that you have with them and use the extra time to invest in your children, point them to God’s Word. Do a summer Bible study or a book study with your children. You could do a summer study on all the Songs of Ascent Psalms, which is Psalms 120 through 134. Or you could work through Psalm 119 that highlights the value and worth of God’s Word in all of our lives. Whatever you do, teach and instruct your children how to walk and grow in the Lord this summer.
And if you do so all of your life with the Lord’s blessing, and if he wills, the Lord will raise them to be like arrows in a quiver, useful and sharp for God’s kingdom, and he will continue to use them for his purposes all of their lives, Lord willing. So blessed is the one who fills their quiver with children whose hearts are devoted to the Lord. Parents, do not take your children for granted. If you don’t have kids, then luckily for you, we actually have an incredible outreach that is called vbs, where you can love and serve kids all week starting tomorrow. And so if you would like to help out, I think it’s probably not too late to still talk to Janet and Sarah and see if there’s anything that you could possibly do to help love on the children that God brings to vbs.
That would be an excellent way to care for the children that God has stewarded us. So during vbs, may we all remember how much God treasures the children and may we be good stewards of pointing them to Jesus in all of our labor. This next week. My fourth and final application for you is this. Build your house on the rock that is Christ.
If you want to labor for the Lord in His work and for his kingdom, then you must first start on the foundation that is Christ. God’s building for all things in this world since the beginning of creation is the foundation of Christ and His work on the cross. Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus came and as fully God and fully man, he submitted Himself to the Father’s will, which was to crush His Son for the forgiveness of sin for all mankind. Jesus willingly sacrificed his life by being nailed to A cross where he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our inequities.
He died upon the cross and was laid in a tomb. But because Jesus knew no sin nor death. Sorry, knew no sin, death could not hold him. And Jesus rose again from the dead. And today he is alive.
And if you’re here this morning and you feel that God is convicting you, that your labor and life is in vain, like building sandcastles in a sandbox, then, friend, I’m glad that you are here. Jesus died for sinners like you. He paid the penalty that you cannot pay. And he made a way for you to build your life on the rock that will not wash away. To labor for God’s kingdom that will last.
A home prepared for his people of faith where we will reap the fruit of our work for God’s kingdom for eternity. Today is the day of salvation. And if you hear God calling you into his kingdom today, then repent by turning away from your sin and believe in the risen Christ that is Jesus. He calls all who will listen and you can respond today if you will believe and begin to build your life on the rock. Our ambition to build and work hard is not made for ourselves for tiny sandcastles and in the sandbox that won’t last.
No, our ambition to build is made for the Lord who created heaven and earth. For the master builder who is building something far greater than we could ever possibly imagine. And he will give us joy in working for his kingdom both now and forevermore. Unless the Lord builds the house. Those who build it labor in vain.
Please pray with me.
God, I thank you for your word in this psalm. I thank you that you’re sovereign God over all that you’re building in this life, including today. God, I pray as a church, help us to not waste time building in vain. But God in all things. We would seek to build unto your kingdom, God, we would seek your word.
And we would seek to apply what your spirit is leading us to do as a whole and as families and individuals, each as our own God, that you would help us to build unto your kingdom glory and to build upon the rock that is Christ. Thank you for your word. And I pray God use it for your purposes and your glory. And bless the rest of the time we have here today. In Jesus name we all pray.
Amen.