Psalm Steps> Psalm 127, “Faith or Futility” Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
There’s an old German saying: “An Gottes Segen ist alles gelegen”, or “Everything depends on God’s blessing. In Edinburgh, Scotland, the city seal reads in Latin, “Nisi Dominus Frusta”, i.e. “Without the Lord, Frustration.” This motto appears on all city documents. Both of these sayings ought to be inscribed where we work.
To these mottos we add, “Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labor in vain.” Benjamin Franklin quoted the opening words of Psalm 127 in a challenge to to the Continental Congress, adding, “Do we imagine that we no longer need God’s assistance? The longer I live the more convincing proof I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men…without His concurring aid we shall proceed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.”
Solomon, the author of this psalm, did some building of his own; viz. the Temple in Jerusalem. Psalm 127 reflects his observations about the vanity of life apart from God found in Ecclesiastes. He knew that, without the right priorities, his work was in vain. Unless God blesses our efforts, unless He is a part of what we’re doing, our labor is worthless. All of life is meaningless—if we leave God out of the picture. We have choices: faith or futility; self-reliance or trust in God. Self-reliance ends in despair, while trusting the Architect of our home leads us to find purpose and meaning in our lives and livelihood.
One day Henry Ford was driving in the Michigan countryside when he came upon a man whose Model T had broken down. The guy was bent under the hood trying to figure what was wrong. Mr. Ford stopped and asked if he could take a look. In a few minutes, he had the car running. The grateful owner said, “I’m amazed at your ability; you fixed my car so easily.” Ford replied, “I ought to be able to fix it, because I’m the one who designed it.” The same is true with God—He designed us, and He can fix whatever’s wrong with us.
Unless God does the building, the effort is useless. People pour their energies into useless aspirations. R.C. Sproul writes that “useless is the word I hate the most. I don’t mind working hard, foregoing pleasures, but not if my efforts are useless. If you say what I do is useless, you’re saying that I am useless, that somehow I don’t count.”
A car commercial posed some pointed questions: “Why do you work so hard? Why do you start early and stay late? Why do you care?” These are good questions. Unfortunately the answer given was, in order to buy a luxury car. Our hard work is without value if all we get out of it in the end are material possessions. Our culture tends to exalt human effort and temporal rewards. I saw a bumper sticker on a yacht which stated, “He who dies with the most toys, wins.” Those who die with the most toys are simply dead—and may be spiritually dead, if all they’ve trusted in is material prosperity.
The focus of Psalm 127 is on people, not things. Our relationships, how we touch the lives of others, is infinitely more significant that the possessions we accumulate. Nonetheless, people drive themselves to exhaustion, then wonder why. Or they give up, figuring “What’s the use?” We shouldn’t want to be workaholics or dropouts.
God makes our work meaningful—He gives us job satisfaction. We can go to work on Monday morning with eager anticipation, if we’ve taken the time to consider how Biblical values ought to impact our work. We are successful in God’s eyes when we labor for His glory, and by His strength. This may take some restructuring of our priorities. God wants us to trust Him for promotion, for job security, and for a sense of accomplishment. He also wants us to become sensitive to the spiritual needs of our co-workers.
Our desire to do meaningful, satisfying work, to make a difference, is evident in the number of job applications the CIA have received since the September tragedy. They normally get 600 a month, but since Sep 11 they’ve been receiving over 600 a week.
Paul gives similar counsel to the Colossian church: “Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward and the Master you are serving is Christ” (3:23-24). Each of Paul’s letters ends with practical instructions on how we can participate in God’s work.
In verse 2 we find a promise to those who work for God’s credit—they will be able to rest, because they leave the results of their labor in God’s hands. We slumber with a quiet conscience, with contentment and security. We can buy sleeping pills and an expensive mattress, but only God can give us rest.
Solomon shifts from building a house to the people in that house, verses 3-5. He is presenting a principle—that if the family prospers, the nation will prosper.
Not everyone is married with children, but we’re all part of families. How we touch the lives of others is more important than any other accomplishments. What will we be known for? What legacy will we leave? Our legacies will hopefully be seen in the personal relationships we’ve formed and developed. Our faith transforms us from consumers who use work to get things, into people who find in their work a means of investing their lives in others. When I look back on my military career, it’s the people I met along the way that I recall the most.
I’ve been reading Jack: Straight from the Gut, the autobiography of Jack Welch, recently retired CEO of General Electric, one of the most admired business leaders in the world. What is the secret of his success? The people who shaped his life. The most influential person in his life was his mother, who showed him that learning from losses teaches us how to be winners. Leaders want to get the best out of their workers. This is a skill Jack Welch learned from his church-going parents, not from some business textbook or seminar. The son of Irish immigrants, he gained his confidence and competitive edge within his home. Of growing up in Salem, Mass he says, “I wasn’t born with a silver spoon. I had something better—tons of love.”
Relationships are important. At a church conference, a speaker asked a sequence of questions, and asked people to raise their hands to answer: “How many of you can to Christ through the direct influence of a TV ministry? A book? A Christian website? A pastor? A family member? A friend? Few hands went up until the last two were mentioned. Evangelism is a personal matter of investing our lives in others. As we build relationships, we are able to share our faith effectively.
Solomon concludes by pointing out the blessing of children; they are a “heritage from the Lord…a reward from Him”, vs. 3. He goes on to compare children to arrows, vs 4. As a soldier needs weapons, so we need our children as protection from alienation in our later years. I’ve heard people quote this verse to prove that God wants us all to have big families; I’ve even heard this used to condemn birth control. Anyone who’s witnessed the miracle of birth knows that the size of our families is in God’s hands. Every child is a blessing and gift from God. The simple fact of life exceeds anything we can engineer, control, or explain. We simply trust the design of God’s providence.
It’s been said that being a parent is like being a “good host to a stranger” (Peterson). We may think our children are like us, but they are their own persons. We are their caretakers, entrusted with the task of leading them to wisdom by giving them roots and wings. We ought not blame ourselves for their problems, nor claim for ourselves their successes. James Dobson advises parents to give children the time and freedom to discover themselves, even if they appear not to be searching. Children come into our lives to receive our hospitality, become friends, and then depart to continue their journeys. We may be tempted to be possessive of them, and it’s hard to give them freedom in a harsh world; we want to shield them from danger and evil. But our children do not belong to us; they belong to God, and the growth of a family is God’s work. His blessing on society begins with His blessing on the family, the basic unit of society. If families are neglected and decline, society will decline.
We are a success-driven society. Sadly, some people climb up the ladder of success only to discover they’re on the wrong ladder. Success Inc. magazine conducted a survey called “What Workers Want”. Under the category of success, they asked, “Which one of the following would most give you the feeling of success in your life?” The number one answer, with 62%, was “Happy family life.” Money, prestige, and fame, all came in with meager numbers. That’s encouraging, but now we need to live those values!
We should heed this “Song of Solomon.” Things fall into place when we have the right priorities. If we try to “build the house” we will fail. When the Lord does the building, we’ll be able to “contend” with anything and everything.
