The Lord's Inheritance

Scripture

Psalm 127 NKJV

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. 1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep. 3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

Solomon and the house

2 Samuel 7:10–16 NKJV

10 Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the Lord tells you that He will make you a house. 12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come 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 his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

When an artist paints a picture, he first creates the canvas.

The background of the canvas of redemption is the creation and the fall of man.

But now the painting continues to take shape. Psalm 127 is part of the canon of scripture, and not intended to stand by itself.

This is one of the “Psalms of Ascents” to be sung by the pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem for one of the feasts. Jerusalem, the city of the great king.

Psalm 89:24–29 NKJV

24 “But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him, And in My name his horn shall be exalted. 25 Also I will set his hand over the sea, And his right hand over the rivers. 26 He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.’ 27 Also I will make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth. 28 My mercy I will keep for him forever, And My covenant shall stand firm with him. 29 His seed also I will make to endure forever, And his throne as the days of heaven.

This in itself is the culmination of prophecy from the Garden. The seed of the woman, crushing the head of the serpent - undoing the ruin and bondage that is now on creation

The seed is through Noah, then through Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah,

And now David and Solomon.

Pilgrims are heading to Jerusalem, singing this song “to Solomon” or “from Solomon” or “for Solomon”.

The first level understanding is clear. It is God that builds the house, that guards the city. Without God’s care, no amount of effort can provide for us, can make us safe, can bring us together in fellowship.

We can try to build Babel - which we talked about a few weeks ago, but it will always fail. For only God can restore creation and the kingdom that he created mankind to rule over.

Babel has bricks and mortar. Abraham has the promise of God.

So the centuries pass - and then God makes his promise to David. I will build you a house.

Once again, God rebukes David for the same reason he rebuked Abraham - YOU are going to restore the kingdom? You are going to bring about the promise?

No - only I will. But here is the promise, David. I will build for you a house, a lasting dynasty that will never be taken away..

Only when you remember that God alone builds the house and builds the kingdom can we sleep at night.

“Thus”, the Hebrew reads; in this way, he gives his loved ones sleep.

The inheritance

In the next verse, it seems like an abrupt switch. He was talking about building houses and cities and legacies, and now he is speaking of children.

In verse 3, he speaks of children as the heritage of the Lord. The word Heritage is an inheritance. The Hebrew has the word “of” which can either mean that the inheritance belongs to the Lord, or that the inheritance comes from the Lord and belongs to the parents, nation or ?

I think that the only interpretation consistent to the context is that the inheritance belongs to the Lord.

Moses said so:

Deuteronomy 4:20 NKJV

20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.

Deuteronomy 9:29 NKJV

29 Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.’

Solomon repeated it:

1 Kings 8:51–53 NKJV

51 (for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of the iron furnace), 52 that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. 53 For You separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be Your inheritance, as You spoke by Your servant Moses, when You brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”

And then, in a fascinating Psalm - this “inheritance” belongs to David’s son, the anointed one, who is also the Son of God and has the attributes of God himself:

Psalm 2:8 NKJV

8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

He closes the Psalm like this:

Psalm 2:12 NKJV

12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

This Son, who is the anointed one, that is, the heir to the throne of David, is also the one in whom we are to put our trust - that is, God Himself.

So - put it together.

God delivers Israel from Egypt by signs and wonders, by the blood of the passover, and with a mighty arm.

They are now “his people” - his inheritance.

But he seeks an obedient people, which they prove to be not (Isaiah 59)

So he comes himself, he takes on himself the flesh of David, of the seed of Abraham, and is obedient unto death - thereby earning the right to ask God for the nations of the earth, to take them as his inheritance.

He united us to himself by the Holy Spirit. He is the seed of David, the seed of Abraham, the fulfillment of the prophecies. He is the champion, like Goliath, acting for his people, conquering sin, casting out the ruler of this age, an drawing all nations to himself - his children, his inheritance.

Hebrews 2:13–15 NKJV

13 And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.” 14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

The children are his church, so he shares in our blood that he might redeem us and make us his own, his inheritance.

In the Old Covenant, barrenness was a curse and a hardship. When God closed the womb, it was almost as if God had cast the family out of his inheritance.

To be barren was a horrible trial, for God’s promise was through the seed of the woman.

But God works through barrenness frequently in the scripture. How many godly women were “barren” by the decree of God.

Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, it is a repeating theme.

Because just like Abraham, all of us need to be taught again and again - that which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Isaiah 54:1–8 NKJV

1 “Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not labored with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord. 2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, And strengthen your stakes. 3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left, And your descendants will inherit the nations, And make the desolate cities inhabited. 4 “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. 5 For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. 6 For the Lord has called you Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, Like a youthful wife when you were refused,” Says your God. 7 “For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you. 8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the Lord, your Redeemer.

He brings the barren children. The impotent and barren church is narrowed down to one - This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased. the champion

He, in his obedience, suffered and died that he might bring many children to glory.

Behold, he says, I am the children you have given me.

Happy is the man whose quiver is full of them!

In the New Covenant, the genealogies disappear. After Jesus, there are none. In the New Covenant, Matthew begins with Abraham; Luke begins with Adam, the Son of God...

And they both end in Christ, and there are no more. Astounding.

It is because salvation does not come through the flesh. We vow to raise our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but it is God alone who shows mercy on whom he will.

Jacob and Esau illustrate this.

This is why this is important:

jesus said John 5:39

John 5:39 NKJV

39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

And now many are suffering under reproach, pain, suffering, abandonment - thinking that God has called them to do their part in the kingdom by having a “quiver full of children”

But there are no examples of this in all of scripture - where large families were actually a blessing.

There is no command to “be fruitful and multiply” after Jesus came into the world.

Children are still a blessing of God, but they are never linked to the salvation of the world.

That will always only be the gospel. Children are not a reward for good works - that verse alone cannot apply to sinful men and women.

Only to Christ, who merited salvation for his people, the right to plunder the kingdom, the inheritance of the nations.

The command - “be fruitful and multiply and have dominion” is fulfilled in Christ. Now he plunders the kingdom.

For we do not build the house by a quiver full. Only God builds the house, guards the city, builds the kingdom.

And only here can we sleep at night.