Unless the Lord Builds the House

[Read Psalm 127]

There’s a pretty stark—bleak—picture painted in this passage, yet I think it paints a pretty clear picture of our world today. This passage paints the picture of people living Sleepless, Anxious Lives. They are going to bed late. They are getting up early. The time they are awake is spent worrying and then they go to bed and worry some more, struggling to sleep. They’re worried that someone in their family will be hurt. They’re worried they may lose their job. They’re worried they aren't doing enough. So, they work, work, work, work, and worry, worry, worry, worry. Charles Spurgeon responds to this picture with, “I envy not your life of inquietude” (92).

As I was preparing for this sermon this week, I was listening to a couple of high level executives talk about all of this work and worry in the world—in their own lives. Remember, these are some of the most successful people in the world. And to put this in better perspective, as far as I know, they are both atheists—they don’t believe in God. So, they’re having this conversation about how much people are working—just grinding it out—and about how people are constantly anxious—worried about how to get ahead or make it another day. They said that they’ve figured out that all of the worry and anxiety and sleepless nights probably only help us gain 10% in our lives—10%. And they followed that up by pointing out that we could get rid of all our worry and anxiety and by giving up 5-10% of our life outcomes. That’s a pretty important reality. 

Then they had this amazing conversation between a couple of atheists where they said, “What would my life be like if I believed that my destiny was my destiny to have? What would my life be like if I already knew that the success or the family or the financial aspirations—or whatever—if that was there? Just imagine what it would be like if I knew that the outcome was predestined? How would I behave? How would that change my daily experience of the things and the challenges and the concerns and the worries and stuff that I have?” Isn’t that amazing? We have a couple of atheists dreaming about how much comfort they would have in their life if they knew someone was in control of it all. They even used the word “predestined.” If they knew it was all predestined, it would provide them supreme levels of comfort and peace and would significantly reduce their anxiety and their sleepless nights and overworking.  

I think we fall into this trap of the sleepless, anxious life because we realize we can waste our life. There’s something deep down inside us that realizes we can waste our life and we fear wasting our life. So, we work and work and work and worry and worry and worry about whether we’re wasting our life. 

And our passage this morning doesn’t immediately provide comfort for us because it teaches us that we CAN waste our life. The most repeated word in this passage is “vain”—meaning “meaningless” or “pointless” or to say it another way “wasted.” We’re told that we can “…labor in vain…stays awake in vain…[and that] It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil…” (Psalm 127:1–2, ESV). That’s clear from this passage. It’s clear that you can spend your days working hard and waste it all. It’s clear that you can work late into the night and get up early the next morning and it will all be pointless. It’s clear that you can live an anxious life—a life of anxious toil—never enjoying your food or your life because you’re always working, and it can all still be meaningless, pointless, wasted.

One of the main points of this passage is to remind us that our efforts and our work don’t amount to as much as we think they do. We’re told that we can work 20 out of 24 hours in the day and it won’t actually change anything. We’re told that we can constantly be worrying about the next thing that needs to happen or whether things will work out, and none of that will actually change anything. The only thing that will result from all of these sleepless nights and anxious toil and frantic work is a pointless, meaningless, wasted life. 

This points out an uncomfortable reality in each of our lives. We claim to be Christians—we claim to be worshipers of the One True God—but we often live like atheists. We often live like the world depends on us. We live like everything depends on our strength and our wisdom and our strategies. We live like there is no God who is ruling and reigning over the universe—ruling and reigning over our lives. We live like the God we worship doesn’t watch over us in such a way that not a hair can fall from our head apart from His will. We live like atheists. And because we’re living like atheists, we begin to live sleepless, anxious lives—meaningless, pointless, wasted lives. 

The solution is to live like a Christian in the world—to live by faith each and every day in our Sovereign God who rules and reigns over the world and who watches over us in such a way that not a hair can fall from our head apart from His will. We need to live like the Lord is the one who does the building and the watching and the growing. That’s the flipside to this passage. That’s the flipside to the meaningless, pointless, wasted life—to live like God is the one building and watching and growing. 

We read, “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.” (Psalm 127:1, ESV). It doesn’t matter how much you work, if the Lord is not blessing your work you are wasting your time and your life. You can work 24 hrs a day 7 days a week and still waste your life if the Lord isn’t blessing your work. He is the one who builds. You can also stay up late every night worrying about what may happen, trying to watch over your family and your business and your job and your life. And if the Lord isn’t watching over those things, then it’s all wasted time and energy and worry—it won’t change anything. The Lord is the builder and the watcher.

Once we understand this truth, and once we allow this truth to embed itself in our souls, it will change us in two ways. First, it will force us to be grateful for our life and the things that God has given us. It forces gratitude because we finally realize that the things we have are gifts from God—not because of our own work. The fact that you have a good life is not because you earned it and built it with your own two hands—no matter what you think. You have a good life because the Lord built your life and blessed the work of your hands and watched over your life. So, stop thinking that it was all up to you and give thanks to God. Live a life of gratitude and thankfulness to God. Anything good in your life has come from him. 

The second response must be humility. This truth must humble us. It forces us to recognize that we’re not as big of a deal as we think we are and our work isn’t as powerful and effective as we think it is. We need to stop acting in pride—living like everything depends on us. We need to acknowledge our weakness and inability and be humbled—then live humble lives with the understanding that God is the one who builds a house, a life, and everything else. 

There’s also an important reminder for us as a congregation in this. It wasn’t that long ago that this church was really struggling. We’ve come a long way and we’ve still got a long way to go. Yet, we need to remember that the long way we’ve come is only because the Lord built this church and blessed our work. We better not try to take the credit for it, but should respond to the Lord in gratitude and thankfulness for what He has done. On the other hand, when we see the long way we need to go, we must not fall into the trap of sleepless, anxious toil trying to build the church in our own strength and wisdom. We must never try to build the church like atheists—not trusting our God. If we do that, all of our work and sleepless nights and anxiety will be pointless and we will have wasted our efforts. Rather, we must humbly do the work God has asked us to do, and trust Him to produce fruit from our efforts.

These truths must change the way we work in the world and throughout our day. It’s important to notice that this passage is not telling us to stop working and just “trust God.” No, that’s not the point. I love this line by an old theologian, “The Holy Spirit is not the patron of lazy and inert men; but he directs the minds of those who labour to the providence and power of God.” (Wolfgang Musculus (87)). The point is not to become lazy in the name of faith, but to work hard while we trust in the providence and power of God. It’s about working hard by faith. And that prevents us from falling into the trap of sleepless, anxious living. Rather, when we work by faith, we work hard with tranquil, quiet, restful minds. It’s about doing all that you can do and trusting God to bless that work and trusting God to do all of the things that you cannot do. That leads to the opposite of sleepless, anxious work. It’s peaceful, restful, diligent work. 

That’s why we read the next part of this passage: “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.” (Psalm 127:2, ESV). He gives his beloved sleep. Sleep is a gift from God. Rest is a gift from God. And he gives us these gifts because he loves us and hasn’t designed us to live sleepless, anxious lives but restful, peaceful lives. 

Have you ever wondered why God made us this way—why God has created us so that we would spend 1/3 of our lives dead to the world? I mean, think about it. 1/3 of your life you will be lying unconsciously in bed, mouth open, and probably a little drool running out the side of your mouth. Why would God waste so much time? Couldn’t he have created us so that we would be able to stay away 24 hours a day? Can you imagine how productive we would be then? Could you imagine the work we could do for God and his kingdom then? Wouldn’t that be great? 

Yet, when we think and act this way, we act like sleep is not a gift from God but a curse from God. God didn’t mess up when he designed us this way. Sleep is not holding us back from accomplishing all of God’s purposes. Sleep is not a curse that prevents us from getting all of the things done that God wants us to get done. Sleep is a gift from God. So, accept it as a gift and use it like a gift and enjoy it like a gift. 

One of the reasons why God gives us sleep is to remind us that we are not God and that the world goes on and keeps functioning while we lay there drooling in our bed. The world doesn’t stop moving for you because it doesn’t need you. You go to sleep each night and wake up the next morning and nothing has fallen apart because you’re not in control of the world. Our rejection of sleep is really another attempt to reject our creatureliness and an attempt to take the position of God—the only one who neither slumbers nor sleeps. Sleeplessness is prideful and sinful because it’s a rejection of our creaturely reality and it’s a rejection of a good gift from God. So, go to sleep and enjoy it. 

To add to this truth, there’s another way to understand/translate this passage and I think the Psalmist wanted it to be understood in both ways. The ESV translates this, “he gives to his beloved sleep” but it could also be translated “he gives to his beloved while they sleep.” And that’s another powerful reminder. Not only does the world NOT fall apart when you go to sleep, but while you sleep God keeps on giving to you and blessing you. It’s another reminder that God doesn’t need you to accomplish his work. He can go on blessing the world while you’re dead to it. So, again, this must stir us to gratitude and humility. 

And this all leads to the application of these principles at the end of this Psalm. This all applies to the way we raise our children and build our homes. Children are also a gift—a heritage from the Lord—and we must see them that way. We must never live or act like children are a curse or a hindrance to our mission or calling in the world. They ARE your mission and calling in the world. I’ve watched too many people neglect their families trying to “earn a buck” or “change the world.” I’ve watched too many people neglect their families for sleepless, anxious toil. That’s foolishness, meaningless, a wasted life. If you want to change the world, raise your family—pour into them and develop them and disciple them and raise them up in the Lord. That’s how you’re going to change the world. 

That’s why this passage calls our children arrows. They are weapons to be used in our warfare against Satan’s kingdom. As we raise children in our home, we are to be straightening them so they fly straight and sharpening them so they can do damage to Satan’s kingdom in the world. That’s our task as parents. We’re not supposed to hold onto them forever, trying to keep them in our quiver forever. That’s not the point of an arrow. We’re to make this arrow as effective and efficient and deadly as possible, aim them at a target, then let go and shoot them into the world. That’s how you will change the world. 

And if you do this, you will not be put to shame. It says that someone who raises their children this way, “He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” (Psalm 127:5, ESV). There are some who worry that if they invest too much in their family and neglect their career that they will be put to shame—they will be looked down upon for not going “all in” for the company. That’s not true. If you pour into and invest and equip your family and shoot them out into the world as weapons, you will not be put to shame and everyone will actually see it—even your enemies. You know what will put you to shame, neglect your family and treat them like a curse. That will bring shame upon you. 

Yet, in the midst of all this strong language, we can’t forget the primary point of this passage: The Lord is the one who builds our house. It’s the Lord who has given you children as a blessing—you actually didn’t make that happen. It’s the Lord who helps us straighten and sharpen them as arrows. It’s the Lord who helps us equip them and train them in righteousness. It’s the Lord who helps us aim them and then shoot them out into the world. In the same way that we must not do our work in the world with sleepless, anxious toil, we must not raise our families that way either—that’s how an atheist lives. We must raise our families by faith, trusting that the Lord is building our house and blessing the work of our hands. 

That’s the calling for each one of us—no matter where we find ourselves in life, even if we don’t have a family of our own. We are called to work each day by faith in Jesus Christ. We get up in the morning and head off to work by faith—trusting that God is the one who blesses our work and builds the city—so we work restfully and peacefully. We come home from work and raise our children by faith—trusting that God is the one who builds our home and sharpens our arrows—so we raise our children restfully and peacefully. Then, we go to bed ON TIME by faith—trusting that God will continue to work and will continue to bless while we’re dead to the world—so we lay our head on the pillow restfully and peacefully, trusting that God has blessed our work and built our house, trusting that he will do it again tomorrow.