A song for hard-working men (Psalm 127)
This morning, we will be talking a lot about practical, everyday parts of life. We'll talk about work, and wealth, and family. We'll talk about how a man provides, and protects. We'll be talking about our role, and God's. Parts of what I teach this morning, some of you will find yourself struggling with. What I'm teaching on requires a lot of nuancing, and subtlety, and I'm probably not saying everything quite the way I should. Some of you will feel a bit of sting this morning from the psalm. Or, you'll feel the sting from what I say. I will leave it up to each of you, to decide if you hear the psalmist tell you this morning that you're doing something wrong, or if in fact you're ok. I think that's what the psalm does, so that's what I'll do. I'll leave it up to you, and to the Holy Spirit living inside of you, to decide if it's good to feel a sting from the psalm.
Our psalm this morning, Psalm 127, is part of a larger collection of psalms that's called a "song for the ascents." What exactly that means is debated, to some degree, but probably the idea is this: Part of what it means to belong to God's people in the OT, is that you'd journey to Jerusalem several times each year for Jewish festivals. You'd celebrate God's big saving acts that He's done, and you'd give him thanks at the beginning of the different harvest seasons. If Israel was ND, it'd be like, you'd offer God a sacrifice at the beginning of the wheat harvest, and then soybean, and then corn. And each of those harvests was at the same time linked to something really important to your history with God in the past. It'd be like if the wheat harvest was linked to the day Jesus died on the cross, and the soybean, to when he rose from the dead, and the corn, to when Jesus went up to heaven. Something like that.
So in the OT (after the temple was built), if you were part of God's people, you'd go to Jerusalem every year to offer God those sacrifices at his temple. Some of them, God gets the whole thing, and we'd call that a "whole burnt offering." And some of them, God gets a part, and you get a part, and priests get a part. And the sacrifice feels more like a potluck, where you share a meal with God.
Now, in OT thought, Jerusalem is always "up." You go "up" to Jerusalem. Even if you lived in Colorado, and you were visiting Jerusalem, you'd say, "I'm going up to Jerusalem."
So Psalm 127 is a song you'd learn, and memorize, for the times when you'd journey/pilgrimage up Jerusalem to worship God at the temple. These are songs [that God gives you] for you sing to prepare yourself spiritually-- to put yourself in the right frame of mind, in a good place, so that you are able to worship God in a way that pleases him. So think about this psalm as a gift from God, that you can sing in the car, on your way to church.
Now, the interesting thing about that, is that at first glance, today's psalm doesn't seem to have much to do with worshipping God, or sacrificing to Him. Today's psalm, is a psalm mostly for hard-working men-- the kind of men who work hard, and work long hours. It's a song for husbands and dads who understand that a man provides for his family, and protects his family, and who understand the cost of that.
All of this isn't to say that women can't and don't work hard. I see the wives and daughters out hauling grain at 8 pm on a Friday night. I see my wife making dough into bread at 10 at night. Women can learn a lot from this psalm. But this is a psalm, perhaps above all others, that's for men.
Let's start by reading the first part of verse 1:
(1) A song for the ascents. Of/for Solomon.
If Yahweh isn't building a house, pointlessly/emptily (Exodus 20:7; 23:1) they have toiled-- the ones building it. ["pointlessly" is focused here and next 2 lines; exact same word in v. 2, but hard to translate it nicely]
If Yahweh isn't guarding a city, pointlessly/emptily he has stayed awake-- the keeper/watchman (Psalm 121:4, Yahweh is, same word, the "keeper"/"watchman" of Israel).
In the song lyrics of this verse, we immediately find ourselves reading something that sounds a lot like the book of Proverbs. We're reading about real-world realities about how life works.
Any of you who have done construction projects know that building a house, or working on a house, is hard work. It's the type of work that's best described by using a slightly ugly English/Hebrew word-- you've "toiled." [the typical word used for "work" in Ecclesiastes]. Construction work involves moving heavy things. It can be a little dangerous. And it's the kind of thing where things often don't line up quite right. Something was supposed to come together at a right angle, and it's just not. Something is supposed to be three and a half feet, and it's 3 ft, 5 1/2 inches. A footing was supposed to anchor the house in place, so that it didn't shift, and the house shifted anyway, causing a crack that ran from floor to ceiling.
Construction work is hard. And it's something where even an experienced builder can easily make mistakes. All it takes is to be a little tired, or distracted, or working with a lower grade of material than you should, and disaster strikes.
What does that have to do with God? What does God have to do with construction?
The idea with these lyrics is that God isn't sitting there waiting for you at the temple. Ideally, He's been with you all along, the whole time you work. In fact, He's working with you. And if He's not, there's no point in doing anything. All your labor in building a house will end up being pointless, and worthless.
Now, why would that be?
I think we can answer this two ways, from a positive perspective, and from a negative perspective.
(1) Positively, I think the idea of the psalm is that, ideally, God gives you his strength and skill when you work.
Let's turn to Exodus 31, and reread a passage worked through a while ago (NRSV Updated no reason):
31 The LORD spoke to Moses, 2 “See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with a divine spirit,[a] with ability, intelligence, and knowledge, and every kind of skill, 4 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 5 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, to work in every kind of craft. 6 Moreover, I have appointed with him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, and I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you:
What we see in this passage, is God filling his people with his Holy Spirit, and the end result of that, are incredibly skilled contractors. Right? God empowered his people with the Spirit, and they grew in skill and ability.
A couple weeks ago, I installed a new starter in my car, with the help of a five minute video on Youtube. Those of you who know me well, know that this was a stretch, but I didn't want to pay $200 to have the car towed 2 miles, plus the mechanic's labor. So I watched the video, and I asked God before I started, to fill me with his Holy Spirit, to give me skill and ability, to give me an anointing to replace the starter. And I have to say, I worked with incredible skill. 50 minutes later, the car started right up. I very nearly badly messed up-- 2 things disconnected that weren't supposed to-- but I "somehow" saw them as I was putting things back together, and everything just "somehow" worked out perfectly.
When God builds a house with you, that's the idea of how it looks. You might hold your breath every time you turn the key, but when God is there working with you, empowering you, giving you skill, your work works out.
(2) There's also a flip side, a negative side, that we can explore. If we read this psalm against the backdrop of the special covenant relationship that God set up with Israel through Moses, we will find that there are curses-- punishments-- that God will bring on people if they are unfaithful (Leslie Allen, WBC Psalms 101-50, was really helpful here; he notes Isaiah 65:22-23; Amos 5:11; Deuteronomy 28:33; Ezekiel 28:26; Amos 3:6; Job 31:8; Hosea 4:10; Micah 6:14; Leviticus 26:16, 19-20; Deuteronomy 28:38).
If God isn't working with you, God promises you that no amount of hard labor is going to give you the result you want. If you are serving other gods, you might be the talented carpenter in town, but you'll find that your eyes play tricks on you, and everything goes wrong. You'll find that your finished product cost far more than it should have, in time and material. Or, perhaps, you'll build your house, and someone else will end up with it. Maybe you'll have a squatter move in. Maybe a king will desire it, and take it (1 Kings 21). Or maybe you'll be invaded, and it'll end up in the hands of a Philistine.
I'm not saying that the futility curses in the Mosaic covenant are our curses. But we should expect that it works roughly the same. If you're living faithfully toward God, God works with you. If you're living unfaithfully, God won't work with you, and you'll find that it's "pointlessly, or in vain, that a builder builds a house."
Now, all of that is one way to understand these song lyrics. It's one level of what's going on here. But in Hebrew thought, in the OT, there's another way to understand the idea of "building a house" (and here, J. Clinton McCann on the Psalms, in New Interpreter's Commentary, was super helpful).
Let's turn to 2 Samuel 7, one of the most important chapters in the OT (NRSV updated). As I read, listen for the idea of a "house":
7 Now when the king [David] was settled in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind, for the LORD is with you.”
4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders[a] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ 8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel, 9 and I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and be disturbed no more, and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel, and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. 15 But I will not take[b] my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me;[c] your throne shall be established forever.” 17 In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
What is the house that God promises David?
It's not a physical house. Starting around verse 12, we see that the house that God promises David includes a few things. It includes a family-- offspring. It includes a kingdom, with a throne. It includes a special Father-son relationship with that family (cf. Psalm 2, which was originally probably sung for each Davidic king, including much later, Jesus). It includes God's discipline, but never his total rejection.
Ultimately, the house that God promises David turns into the Messiah Jesus, and the kingdom of God, and the church. We could profitably chase that rabbit trail for quite a while, but I all I want you to see for this morning is that in the OT, a house isn't simply a physical building. A house includes the idea of family, and descendants, and the making of a little empire. To talk about a "house," is basically to talk about the entirety of what we produce.
So let's reread the first part of verse 1, with all of that in mind:
If Yahweh isn't building a house, pointlessly/emptily (Exodus 20:7; 23:1) they have toiled-- the ones building it.
You can develop a five or ten year plan to develop your "house"-- to get a physical house, to replace dorm furniture with nice furniture, to start having kids, to grow your business, to build a little empire to pass down to your kids-- but if Yahweh isn't building that house with you, your toil is pointless.
Now let's add the second little proverb, end of verse 1:
If Yahweh isn't guarding a city, pointlessly/emptily he has stayed awake-- the watchman.
The main idea of this lyric line/proverb revolves around the idea of protection. Once you've accumulated stuff, it needs to be protected. On a more individual level, you need locks on your doors, and maybe a gun under your mattress. You need antivirus software, to protect against hackers. On a broader, societal level, what do you need? You need a wall on the Mexican border. You need border guards who are empowered to keep people out. You need a vetting process, so that only people who are honest, and hardworking, and bring valuable skills, get into the country, and are given jobs that can't be filled locally. You need a police force that works 24/7, and an army.
Those things are the kinds of things you need to protect yourselves, and to protect the things you own. And the psalmist/God says, if God isn't right there with you, protecting with you, all of your attempts are pointless. Your efforts won't be enough, if God isn't partnering with you in protecting you.
Now, I don't think the psalmist is saying that we should sleep with unlocked doors, or defund the police. The psalmist is saying, providing for your family, and protecting your family, is only possible if God is partnering with you. And if He's not, everything will end up being pointless. You'll be unsuccessful.
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And here again, we could point to the threats of the Mosaic covenant that come when God's people are unfaithful-- cities will be destroyed, children and wives will be taken, the nation as a whole will be conquered. A gun under the mattress, and a watchman on the city wall, are no defense against an enemy that God brings.
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With this, we come to Psalm 127, verse 2. Now, the delightful thing about this verse, for those of us who like challenges, and puzzles, is that it's obviously closely connected to verse 1. But we have to tease out that connection:
(2) Pointless/empty [it is] for you--
the ones rising early to stand;
the ones delaying rest;
the ones eating the bread of their hard/painful work (Proverbs 5:10; 14:23; used of pregnancy labor in
Genesis 3:16).
Certainly (Proverbs 11:19; Joshua 2:4; *John Goldingay) He gives to his beloved, sleep.
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English Bibles often translate the word "certainly" with something else: "For, for so." 9 times out of ten, it means something more like "thus" or "for this reason" (HALOT #2), but scholars who take this reading then struggle to explain what it means, and they find themselves wanting to emend the text, or read other words in unusual ways. More likely, it means something more like "certainly, yes" here (HALOT #1, meaning 3). See HALOT, which points to Joshua 2:4; Amos 5:14, possibly Proverbs 11:19:
HALOT: 3. (confirming) certainly, yes (NHeb.; MHeb. ????) Jos 2:4, really Am 5:14 (alt. as II; cf. 1QpHab 2:5; Elliger Habakkuk 168f.): —Pr 11:19 ? rd. ????????????; ? II, distinguishing I from II is often difficult. †
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As a man, you feel tremendous pressure to provide for, and protect, your family. You want to give your family not only what they need, but what they want. Jesus said that even wicked dads give good gifts to their kids, right? And it's also certainly possible that you want some of the toys that adult men want-- the truck, the boat, the snowmobile.
Now, some of things that you or your family want seem just out of reach. You can almost touch it, but not quite. And you find yourself thinking, "If I just worked a little more, I could have that."
Many of us have also had the experience over the past few years of discovering that we can't quite seem to hang on to our old lifestyle as well anymore. Things used to be in reach, and now they are slipping away, as the dollar is steadily become worth less. It's not really that things are more expensive. It's that the dollar is becoming worth less. And you find yourself thinking in response to that, as well, "If I just worked a little more, I can hang on to the lifestyle I used to have."
And so you find yourself doing verse 2. You wake up earlier, to sneak in another hour of work at sunrise. You skip breaks. You work late, well into the evening. Do this long enough, and you'll start to view sleep as an enemy, and not as a gift from God (and that's the point of the "certainly," I think, and how to understand the connection between what God says about sleeping, and what he says about work). You'll feel like your body is betraying you, getting tired and sore, while you keep grasping for what's just out of reach. And you'll find that your work becomes so hard, and so difficult, that it is best described by using a different Hebrew word-- the one used to describe a woman giving birth. Work becomes painful, hard labor. Now, if you come home one night, and you tell your wife, "Work today was so hard, it was like giving birth," I'm not sure it will go well for you. It's one thing to think that. That language is biblical. But those are the kind of thoughts you should keep on the inside.
So what the psalmist/God says in verse 2, is that if you embrace this lifestyle of all-out work, that it's pointless.
Why? And what's the connection to verse 1? How do we solve this puzzle?
In verse 1, what determined if something was pointless or not, was whether or not God was partnering with you.
When/if we carry that idea down from verse 1, we end up saying something two things (maybe three, actually, but I'm not sure-- I think there's also a subtle little thing about bread in here. Embrace this lifestyle, and what do you end up eating at the end of the day? It's still the same bread everyone else eats):
(1) It's pointless to ruin your life by working incredibly long hours, because God won't partner with you if you do that.
God will help you, up to a point. He will partner with you in building your house, and in protecting it. But God isn't going to partner with you in ruining your own life. If you embrace this lifestyle, you'll find out that you are going alone, without God's help. And that's pointless, because you need God's help.
(2) It's unnecessary to ruin your life by working incredibly long hours.
God expects people to work hard. And I think God is perfectly okay with people working more than 40 hours a week. Even 50 hours a week, or 53, many people handle perfectly fine. And during harvest, you do what you have to do to get the crops in before the snow hits.
But there is a point at which this lifestyle can only be called "pointless." When every week feels like harvest, something is off. God expects people to work, but not that hard. And those of you who have worked to the point of absolute exhaustion, maybe to where you have panic attacks, maybe to where you consider walking away from your wife and your kids, and starting over, maybe even to where you feel slightly suicidal, know that there is a point at which it's pointless.
God will partner with you, and provide with you, and protect with you, without you ruining your life. And I'm not at all settled on what exactly God did to curse the ground because of sin (Genesis 3:27), or if the ground is still even cursed (I think the best way to translate Genesis 8:21, is to say that God isn't continuing to curse the ground; cf. Numbers 11:25 "to not continue to do something"; Genesis 38:26), but whatever God did, the end result isn't so terrible that human lives are completely ruined by work. That's not what God wants.
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HALOT:
2. to continue to do, carry on doing (? hif. 3): a) with inf. Gn 8:12; b) with ?? with inf. Gn 38:26 Lv 26:18 Nu 32:15 Dt 5:25 20:8 Ju 8:28 13:21 1S 7:13 15:35 27:4 2S 2:28 2K 6:23; ????? ???????? and they did not do it again Nu 11:25 (? rd. with Vulg., Tg. ??????? they did not stop).
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Let's reread verse 2:
(2) Pointless/empty [it is] for you--
the ones rising early to stand;
the ones delaying rest;
the ones eating the bread of their hard/painful work.
The psalmist leaves it up to you, as you sing this song, to decide whether or not you are being addressed. How do you know when you've become a verse 2 kind of person?
There's maybe four ways:
(1) when work feels like giving birth
(2) when your praise and thanks to God feel flat, and you can't wait to be done with the pilgrimage, and get back to the fields.
(3) when you're deliberately short-changing yourself, for how much sleep you get. Again, some people need more than others. But if you go through life tired, AND you're setting an alarm every day for 5 am...
(4) when you lose your sense that God is working with you, because He isn't working with you.
So let's just make this really practical, and offer some nuance here. The psalmist isn't telling you that you can only work 52.5 hours per week. He's not saying that everything you work above a particular number is pointless or sin. I'm hoping no one hears me, and thinks I sound legalistic. And those of you who know my hours, probably know this.
I think we'd also all agree that everyone can handle different levels of work. As you get older, you become less capable of sustaining that level you could when you were 20.
And we'd also probably all agree that there are seasons, when you have no choice. A tax expert will work 70 hours/week during tax season. An associate in a law firm will work 80 hours/week until they make partner. During harvest, a farmer will be out combining until 9.
And I should also say that many people find, after a period of adjustment, that they can handle quite a bit more than 40 hours per week. Work perhaps becomes "toil" after 45 hours a week, but it doesn't resemble giving birth until you hit about 54 hours/week.
Everything that I've said can be carefully qualified, and given perspective. And I don't think the psalmist is setting out rigid guidelines here. What the psalmist is doing, is encouraging you to stop, and think about your life, and whether or not you've embraced something pointless. Do you hear yourself in verse 2, or not? Does God see you as a verse 2 person, or not?
And if you hear the psalmist's words, and decide, somewhat awkwardly, "That's me," what's the solution?
The solution, depends in part on what the underlying problem is. I think people ruin their lives with work for two reasons-- either because they're chasing a lifestyle, or because they're anxious.
(1) Chasing a lifestyle:
If you've turned your work into something resembling giving birth, because you're chasing a lifestyle, I'd say this:
All of us make different amounts of money. We have different amounts of wealth. Some of us drive nicer vehicles than others-- some of us don't have a car. Some live in apartments. Some in houses. Some in really nice houses. Some of us go on vacations across the U.S. Some go on cruises.
And some of you who have less things, or not as nice things, want a more upper class lifestyle. You want the nice pickups and boats. You want the traveling-down-to-Arizona-in-the-winter lifestyle. But with what you make, you can't.
If you have a job with flexible hours, or if there's a part-time job opening for a night shift, you find yourself thinking, "I can work more, and buy those things. I can have my preferred lifestyle."
And I think what the psalm is teaching, is that's a mistake. The amount of money you make naturally lends itself to a particular lifestyle, and you'll be happier not ruining your life working, and being content with what you have. And as inflation keeps worsening, and the dollar steadily becomes worth less, you sometimes start to have to cut out things, and simplify life. That's painful, giving stuff up. But again, I think the psalm teaches, it's pointless to embrace a lifestyle where work becomes like giving birth. No trip to Paris is worth 6 months of giving birth. No pickup is worth 3 years of giving birth.
So the solution, for some of you, is simply to stop chasing. Detail your 20 year old pickup, fix those small problems it has that you live with, but they annoy you, and fall back in love with it. Tell your wife and kids they can't have everything. Make hard financial decisions, because that's easier than giving birth.
(2) Out of anxiety:
Now, others of you have turned work into something resembling giving birth because of anxiety. Every month things cost more; every month you save less. And you are stressed, and anxious.
Perhaps, the word that some of you need to hear, is that you actually need to work a little more. 35 or 40 hours a week, might need to become 45 or 50. The most common way I've seen God provide for people, is by giving them opportunities to work more. God usually provides by giving opportunities to work, and not through a check in the mail. In my experience, there's a place above 40 hours, and below 53, where "work" becomes "toil," but it's not yet giving birth. You might need to enter that place, especially if you need to pay credit card debt off.
The other thing you might need to hear, if you are stressed and anxious, is verse 1. God is perfectly willing to partner with you, to work alongside you, to protect alongside you. So seek Him, not just for spiritual things, but for everyday help.
Verse 3-5 are most easily understood as advice to young, newly married men:
(3) LOOK! A share/portion/inheritance/heritage from Yahweh, sons [are];
a reward, the fruit of the womb [is].
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BDB, says that originally this word means something like "gift." It also sometimes means:
2. portion, share: a. assigned by God, Is 54:17 ? 37:18; 127:3;"
ME: Also, 2 Samuel 20:1; 1 Kings 12:16; Job 31:2; often in Joshua 13:28, 15:20, etc.
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Young, newly married men tend to enjoy their wife's womb. But they are often a little scared of the fruit of that womb. They're not sure if they are ready to be a dad. They're not entirely convinced they want to be a dad.
And so the psalmist gives encouragement to young husbands, on how to view the possibility that what they are doing will somehow, mysteriously, lead to having kids.
God/the psalmist says, sons in particular, are a gift, or share, or portion-- something like that-- from God. The fruit of the womb isn't something to be feared; it's a gift.
The psalmist then goes on, verses 4-5, to give a concrete example of how sons are a reward from God.
(4) Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, thus [are] the sons of the youthful ones/parents.
(5) Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them;
they (the dads) will not be shamed when they speak with enemies at the gate (Deut. 21:19; 25:7; *Hans-Joachim Kraus).
When a man has his kids while he is still young-- when he's still "youthful"-- his sons will grow up quickly enough that they will become his strength and weapon. A warrior with many sons, is truly heavily armed. That dad isn't one that people will mess with, or try to take advantage of. That dad is someone who will be treated with respect, and who will get the justice that he's due.
If my dad was at the gate, speaking with enemies, he'd feel much better about that situation if my brother was there with him. We are grown up enough, that we can be of real value to him as he gets older. We aren't in nursery, getting diapers changed, when we are needed as muscle.
When you're a young man, newly married, you're probably going to find yourself struggling with the enormity of what you've taken on. You'll want to provide for you and your wife. You'll want to protect. And you'll maybe look at your budget, and the money going in and out, and tell yourself, and tell your wife: "We can start having kids in a couple years."
God/the psalmist sounds like your mom, or your mother-in-law. God says, "There's a benefit to having kids sooner than later. Don't wait too long. And don't be afraid to have more than 2."
Now, when we read this today, we might find ourselves wondering where daughters play in to all of this. Sons are gift from God. Sons are a man's inheritance. Sons are who you want beside you at the city gates.
What about those of us who mostly have daughters?
When your daughters start bringing home boys, you'll find yourself torn. You'll want your daughter to find someone who is strong, and capable, and hardworking. You'll want her to find someone who will provide for her, and protect her, with God's help.
But when your daughter first brings home that guy, you'll also want to be able to put some healthy fear into him, so that he knows he needs to treat your daughter with respect and honor. And if that young man can bench press more than you, or do more pull-ups, you'll perhaps find yourself casually mentioning your gun collection, and the deer you shot 200 yards away, without it even knowing you were there. You'll do something, in all seriousness, to show him how serious you are about treating your daughter well.
But later on, if that strong young boyfriend becomes a husband, you'll be grateful for his strength. In a perfect world, that son-in-law becomes part of your collection of arrows, and makes you into a mighty warrior. But son-in-laws are more of a wildcard. And even a great son-in-law usually can't compete with a son.
That maybe seems sexist, or patriarchal, or unfair to son-in-laws, or something. But when the chips fall, it's good to have a grown up son by your side. And it's even better, the psalmist says, to have lots of sons.
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I feel like I've offered you a year's worth of applications this morning, at least by my normal standards, but before I wrap up, I'd like you to consider something half-hidden in verse 1.
The psalmist assumes that there is a way to live all of life in total partnership with God, on a very real, practical, day-to-day level. There's a way to live, where the pivot from working the fields, to praising God in the temple, doesn't feel like a pivot at all. All of life can be lived with God, in partnership with God.
For some of us, this partnership is something we are only vaguely aware of, at best. We finish our day, and remember to thank God at the end of it for keeping us safe, and helping us. But we maybe didn't think about Him much, as we did it. We weren't aware of Him, unless something almost catastrophic happened, but didn't. Then God gets a "Thank you God!" As He should, don't get me wrong.
But I think God holds out to us a different way of partnering with God. If you draw incredibly near to God, God will draw incredibly near to you. He will come so close, and be so real, that you can live all of life in constant awareness of his presence, and help. You can have the sense, at any given moment, that God is giving you his help. He's giving you the words to say to the customer or coworker. He's guiding your emails and phone calls. He's giving you the wisdom to stop, and be smart, and lift heavy things by bending your knees, and keeping the natural curvature of your back.
We are used to the idea that God partners with us in ministry. That God works with us, through his Holy Spirit, to empower us to be brave, and tell people about Jesus. Or that God empowers us through his Holy Spirit to build up the church in different ways.
But that same filling with the Holy Spirit, and the same empowerment, and same skill, is available to us to help us live successfully in ordinary life. God will partner with you to make the harvest go well. And God will partner with you to serve Him and his church.
All of my life with God, can look like me putting in a starter. God can steer me to the right youtube video, guide my hands, and help me to see potential dangers. He anointed me, filled me with his Holy Spirit, to install a starter, because I sought Him, and sought his help.
So as you journey up to Jerusalem to worship God, and thank him, for his goodness, and faithfulness, or as you drive on your way into church, what does God want you to sing about?
(1) About how life works best, when it's lived with God. Seek Him, and His presence, and His partnership, not just in "spiritual things," but in all of ordinary life.
(2) About how God doesn't want you to destroy your life to squeeze a little more out of it. God doesn't want that, and He won't bless that. At times, like during harvest season, or tax season, the thing you do to make a living might turn from work, to toil, to something resembling giving birth. And that's ok. But as a lifestyle, that's not what God wants. God is more kind and loving than that.
(3) About how children are a blessing, and gift, from God. Many husbands feel the pressure of providing and protecting, and they're not sure how kids fit into that. Many husbands like their wife's womb, but they are kind of scared of the fruit of that womb. And so God offers an encouragement-- as children grow up, they become your strength. And the sooner you have them, the sooner you'll find yourself becoming a well-armed warrior.
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It's tragic noting how society has fallen apart since Leslie Allen wrote his commentary on Psalms (while a professor at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Page 181 in Psalms 101-50:
"The modern reader of Ps. 127 finds himself detached from its cultural setting and so perchance from its message. Living as he does in days of overpopulation and birth control, he needs to appreciate the rigors of ancient society in constant need of replenishment against the ravages of disease, war and famine. Living as he may in a more secure and just society, in which he enjoys peace, freedom and lawful order guaranteed by a fair police force and judiciary, where urban alert systems and friends at court are unnecessary, the psalm's immediate impact upon him will be lost."
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Translation:
(1) A song for the ascents. Of/for Solomon.
If Yahweh isn't building a house, pointlessly/emptily (Exodus 20:7; 23:1) they have toiled -- the ones building it. ["pointlessly" is focused here and next 2 lines; exact same word in v. 2, but hard to translate it nicely]
If Yahweh isn't guarding a city, pointlessly/emptily he has stayed awake-- the watchman.
(2) Pointless/empty [it is] for you--
the ones rising early to stand;
the ones delaying rest;
the ones eating the bread of their hard/painful work (Proverbs 5:10; 14:23; used of pregnancy labor in
Genesis 3:16).
Certainly (Proverbs 11:19; Joshua 2:4; *Goldingay) He gives to his beloved, sleep.
(3) LOOK! An inheritance from Yahweh, sons [are];
wages/reward, the fruit of the womb [is].
(4) Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, thus [are] the sons of the youthful ones/parents.
(5) Blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them;
they (the dads) will not be shamed when they speak with enemies at the gate.
