Building A Home Series

Building a Dream Home

Psalm 127

"Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. 2It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep. 3Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. 5How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They shall not be ashamed, When they speak with their enemies in the gate."

Building a home is a very complicated matter, and neither your sheer wit nor wisdom will help you build a happy, fruitful and prosperous Christian home.

How many LIKE building something only to find out that you did it wrong?

This Psalm was written by King Solomon. He was inspired by God when he wrote these words, yet, if you look at the end of his life you will find that...

1. His building, both literal and figurative, became reckless (1 Kings 9:10ff).

2. His Kingdom became a ruin (1 Kings 11:11ff), and

3. His marriages became a disastrous denial of God (1 Kings 11:1).

This is because Solomon ignored his own words. He stopped depending on God; He stopped seeking God’s face alone in all he did. He let other gods and other concerns come between him and the Lord.

You need a divine plan and a builder to build your home. That plan is God’s Word, and the builder is Jesus Christ.

One of the most important features of this Psalm is that it addresses three of the most important of human concerns: accomplishment, security, and family. This Psalm forces you to examine these areas and recognize the One who is in control of all three.

In whatever you do, before you begin it, you must first think about what you want to accomplish and then begin carefully and thoughtfully. The same is true, of course, for the Christian.

You must build your lives (in all areas) with God, because of God, and for God.

The first part of verse 1 says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." (This speaks of building, of Accomplishment.)

Man is a builder. He builds houses, boats, computers, airplanes, televisions, damns, hospitals, industries, roads, satellites, cars, rockets, and much more.

It is in his nature to build, after all, Man is made in the image of God, and God built the universe. So, we build.

There are two ways for you to build: You can build being dependent upon God, or you can build being independent of God.

The first involves humility, the second involves pride.

When man builds apart from God, he is building with a prideful heart, and the Lord will tear it down. God says, "They may build, but I will tear down..." (Mal. 1:4, NASB).

Ultimately, building without God will bring you to frustration, sadness, hopelessness, and discouragement.

There is a great example of building without God, of vain effort. Look at the tower of Babel.

Genesis 11:4-5, 8 says, "And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’ 5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built...8So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city."

The people of the Tower of Babel were full of pride. They did not build in humility and dependence upon God. They sought their own will, not the will of God. They built in vain.

The Tower of Babel is a warning to you to be sure to build according to God’s will and word. But, how do you build so that it is God who has built it?

You both build. You work with God to accomplish goals such as raising children.

How do you build so you do not build in vain?

1. You acknowledge that God is the true builder of all things and that you can only do what you can by His grace.

2. You acknowledge your utter dependence upon Him.

3. You must pray and bathe all that you do in seeking God’s will and blessing.

4. You remain humble before Him and seek Him.

There really are only two kinds of foundations: a godly one and an ungodly one. On which do you build?

But for the Lord to build the house, it means...