3 Days of Prayer and Fasting (2023/01)

A SONG OF ASCENTS. OF SOLOMON.

1 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.

2 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.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the children of one’s youth.

5 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.

“Man proposes, but God disposes.” This famous saying from German minister Thomas à Kempis’s The Imitation of Christ (I.19) is a distillation of Proverbs 19:21, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” There is a widespread delusion among humankind that we are masters of our own fate, but the truth is that we control an infinitesimally small fraction of the myriad factors that affect us. In fact, we are not in control at all. In the first strophe, verses 1-2, it repeats the phrase “in vain” three times, “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 late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” The word “vanity” here means worthlessness or futility (cf. Isa. 1:13). It’s futile, it’s a waste to engage in these activities apart from the LORD’s superintendence.

In our society, we often find faithlessness that masquerades as wisdom. Many people are anxious and fearful, because they believe that they are masters of their own fate. But verse 2 exhorts 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.” What keeps you up at night? What preoccupies you with anxiety? Those who are self-sufficient eat “the bread of anxious toil” and “build [their household] … in vain,” but those who are God-dependent receive their household as “a heritage from the LORD.”

Recommended Song: “Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me” by City Alight (Find it on our church’s Spotify playlist, “Trinity Hymnal,” at http://bit.do/trinityhymnal)

“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” The word “house” can refer not only to God’s temple, but also to one’s physical house or to one’s household or family (cf. Gen. 16:2; 30:3; Exod. 1:21; Ps. 113:9). And the rest of the psalm does seem to apply the phrase “to build the house” in a metaphorical sense of building one’s family as well: “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.”

Recommended Song: “All Glory Be To Christ” by Kings Kaleidoscope (Find it on our church’s Spotify playlist, “Trinity Hymnal,” at http://bit.do/trinityhymnal)

“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” The Hebrew word for “house” is often used in Scripture to refer to the “temple,” aka. the house of God (Ezek. 41:7ff.; Mic. 3:12; Hag. 1:8; cf. Gen. 28:22; 1 Sam. 1:7; Exod. 23:19; 34:26; Josh. 6:24; 1 Kings 6:5; Isa. 2:2; Dan. 1:2). For a number of reasons, I think the original context in which this psalm was composed had the house and household of God in view. First, if you look at the subtitle of the psalm, it tells us that it belongs to a collection called “Songs of Ascent,” Psalms 120-134 (cf. Ezra 7:9). The consistent theme of all the psalms in this collection is an expression of longing for Jerusalem and Mount Zion upon which rested the temple of God. These psalms depict a metaphorical ascent toward the dwelling place of God. Second, the rest of the subtitle says, “Of Solomon.” This means either that Solomon composed the psalm, or that the psalm deals with the circumstances that are related to Solomon. So verse 1 can be referring to the time when Solomon was building up Jerusalem and constructing the temple of the LORD (1 Kings 6; 2 Chron. 3). Third, verse 2 says, “[the LORD] gives to his beloved sleep.” The phrase “his beloved” (יָדִיד) is likely a reference to Solomon, because we know from 2 Samuel 12:24-25 that “the LORD’s beloved” was a nickname for Solomon. It says, “the LORD loved [Solomon] and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.” “Jedidiah” means “the LORD’s beloved,” it’s the same word that is used here in verse 2. So if Solomon wrote Psalm 127, it is likely that he was writing from this original background of construction of the temple. Solomon knew that unless the LORD builds His house, unless the LORD watches over His city, even the diligent construction efforts by the greatest architects and engineers and builders, even the vigilant defense of the bravest military, would be for nought.

Likewise, we, the church, is “the temple of the living God” (2 Cor. 6:16), and “God’s Spirit dwells in [us]” (1 Cor. 3:16). Unless the LORD builds the church, those who build it labor in vain. But if the Lord Jesus “build[s] [His] church,” then “the gates of hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).

Recommended Song: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” by Chris Rice (Find it on our church’s Spotify playlist, “Trinity Hymnal,” at http://bit.do/trinityhymnal)