Unless the Lord builds the house, it’s in vain.
[Psalms 127]
The prayer of Moses written in Psalms 90:10 of the Bible says, “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.” When I think about the days of our seventy or eighty years and their pride is labor and sorrow, I also meditated on the words of Ecclesiastes 1:2 - “’Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher, ‘Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.’” It is a world of labor and sorrow for a lifetime, a life that goes too quickly to finish after doing nothing but vain and vain. So I ask again the question, “How should I live?” In the meantime, I thought about the teachings of Psalms 127. As a result, I have to acknowledge and confess that a truly meaningful life is possible only in the Lord. Any work or labor outside of the Lord is meaningless. In other words, all our labor outside the Lord is in vain and vanity of vanities. Only when the Lord is with us and He works in and through us, that labor is never in vain.
This is what the psalmist said in Psalms 127:1 – “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” Solomon, as we know it, is the king who built the Jerusalem Temple (2 Chron. 2:1-5:1). His father, King David, wanted to build the temple, but God refused and told him that his son, King Solomon, would build the temple in Jerusalem. Solomon, who had such experience in building the temple, said in Psalms 127:1 that “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain” is a meaningful confession. The reason is because when we build a temple and dedicate it to the Lord, there are a lot of difficulties when we listen to what the church members say, mainly pastors and building committees. Building the temple has never been so easy. Also, as we have heard and known, how many churches have been put to the test due to the building of the church, and disputes have arisen within the church. Listening to the news on Friday last week, I saw the groups of people who lived in two low-income apartments near owned by a big church and six Korean Town Labor Solidarities holding press conferences after all legal procedures for demolition were completed. At the press conference, when the church's attempt to demolish the two low-income apartments and expand the church's parking lot, the tenants of those two apartments, who would lose their right to live, opposed the demolition of the apartments. Of course, these difficulties can be called external factors. But internal problems and conflicts are more serious in church construction. Therefore, building a church cannot be done without God's help. In Psalms 127:1, King Solomon said, “Unless the Lord builds the house ….” Here, “the house” refers to “the temple” (Park). Therefore, we have no choice but to admit that unless the God of King Solomon builds the temple, the labors of those who build it are in vain. The church is the Lord’s church. It is absolutely not a single individual or group church. Therefore, the Lord's church must be established by the Lord as in Matthew 16:18, the word of promise that we are holding onto. We are the Lord's tools as simply “builders”. Just as architects use tools when building houses, when the Lord builds up the church that is the body of the Lord, we are just His tools. Therefore, we just need to obey the word of the Lord who builds His church. If the Lord tells us to do this, we just need to say “Yes” and do so.
Solomon not only built the temple in Jerusalem, he was also a great king who ruled the nation of Israel wisely and well. The reason why he didn’t ask God for riches and honor but for wisdom was to rule God's people well. So God gave him not only wisdom, but riches and honor. Therefore, King Solomon did a great job of completing the temple in 7 years and the palace in 13 years with the wisdom that God gave him. For such a large construction business, wood and stone have been imported from outside through international diplomacy. But contact with the Gentiles ended up allowing him to import the Gentile religions. Not only that, but the excessive mobilization of national labor and tax collection has made people and their subordinates resentful (Internet). As a result, as we know, King Solomon violated the word of God and committed the sin of idolatry, serving the gods of the Gentiles. This King Solomon said, “… Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain” (v. 1). This word means that the rise and fall of the country will only be made according to God's will (Park). God is the God who builds and destroys the kingdom (Jere. 1:11). This God established the kingdom of Israel in the days of King David and King Solomon. But he tore it to Israel in the north and Judah in the south during the time of Rehoboam, because of King Solomon's sin. Only when this God is the true watchman and protects and guards His church and His kingdom, can the church and the kingdom stand firmly. Without this work of the Lord, our human labor is in vain (Ps. 127:1).
Look at Psalms 127:2 – “It 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.” Here, King Solomon is saying that no matter how hard a person doesn’t pray with a heart of trusting in God and obey His words, no matter how hard, day and night, painstakingly labor, business and work, he will not achieve true success (Park). Therefore, he recommends that we must work with full trust in God and obey His word so that we are not in vain in our labor day and night. In other words, we must work with faith. Those who work with faith are those whom God loves, and God gives them sleep. Here, Dr. Park says that the word that God gives to His beloved even in his sleep can be interpreted in three ways: (1) The first interpretation is that God gives physical sleep to His beloved. (2) The second interpretation is that it refers to the spirit of trust and rest in God. (3) The third interpretation is that those who trust God and love Him, God will accomplish their plan even while they are sleeping. I think all three interpretations are valid. God gives not only physical sleep to those whom He builds, but also rest for their souls. In addition, God allows our plan work while we are asleep. Also, God gives blessings of children to those whom He loves. Look at verse 3: “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.”
In recent news, there is still news about Nadia Schulman, who has become a global hot topic for the birth of 8 twins. In addition to 8 twins, she already has 6 more children who had been born through in vitro fertilization (IVF). She is a single mother who divorced in January last year, has no financial power, and is living with government support. She is now asking for $2 million to sell her story as a book to raise 14 children (Internet). The last news I heard was that the house of her parents, where she lived, could also be foreclosure. At first, everyone was surprised to hear that she had eight twins. But the more they learn about the twins’ mother through the news, the more they were surprised. In addition to being single, she already gave birth to six children by means of in vitro fertilization. And the reason why she gave birth to eight twins was because she loved babies so much. I wonder if this can be referred to as a blessing of children. The blessing of children mentioned in Psalms 127:3 is the a reward that God gives to the family. This is the saying that God gives children by grace to the married couple He establishes. We don’t receive children from God because we deserve it. It was received as a gift through the grace of God. Also, Solomon said that the children of the young are like arrows in the hand of a warrior (v. 4). The children born to young parents reach their peak when their parents grow older. They can naturally help parents and be a shield to protect their homes when their parents begin to weaken. The children well-bred by the parents are like arrows. So the parents, together with their grown-up children, protect their homes from enemies. Homes with many healthy children are not easily destroyed by external enemies. In this respect, a family with many healthy children is a happy family. The children give their parents sense of security, like arrows filled in a quiver. These parents have nothing to fear like the warrior with enough arrows (Internet). Also, this parents will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate (v. 5).
The lesson God teaches us in Psalms 127 is that our physical home or spiritual home, the church, or nation, is in vain unless the Lord builds it. Also, it teaches us that as the Lord builds it, God must give the gift of children as the reward, not through human strength. The truly blessed family, the blessed church, and the blessed kingdom are the family, the church and the kingdom that the Lord builds. May our family, our church we serve, and the United States and our home country South Korea be the truly blessed family, church and nations.
Wanting to participate in the Lord’s building ministry of Victory Presbyterian Church,
James Kim
(Looking at the Lord-centered family and the church with faith)