Psalm 127

Psalm 127:title–5 ESV

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon. 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. 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. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalms through the Centuries: A Reception History Commentary on Psalms 73–151, Volume Three (Psalm 127: A Song about Security in the Home (i))

Psalm 127 is richly layered because its interpretation is so dependent upon the context of the reader—whether Jewish or Christian, male or female, ecclesiastical or political, liturgical or secular, or interested in family or state. It provides another good illustration of the way in which reception history tells us as much about the context of the interpreter as the psalm itself.

Believer’s Bible Commentary (Psalm 127: God in Everything)

There is a saying, “Little is much if God is in it,” but the reverse is also true, “Much is nothing if God is not in it.” And that’s what this Psalm says: unless our activity is ordered and directed by the Lord, it is a waste of time and energy. We can set out on projects of our own, even in Christian service; we can build vast organizational empires; we can amass statistics to show phenomenal results; but if the projects are not vines planted by the Lord, they are worse than worthless. “Man proposes but God disposes.”

Believer’s Bible Commentary (Psalm 127: God in Everything)

The psalmist chooses four common activities of life to illustrate his point. They are house construction, civil defense, general employment, and family building.

127:1 There are two ways to build a house:

One is to move ahead with plans based on one’s own knowledge, skill and financial resources, then ask God’s blessing on the completed structure.

The other is to wait until the LORD has given unmistakable guidance, then move ahead in conscious dependence on Him. In the first case, the project never rises above flesh and blood.

In the second, there is the thrill of seeing God working through the marvelous provision of needed supplies, through the miraculous timing and sequence of events, and through the converging of circumstances that would never happen according to the laws of chance. It makes all the difference in the world to be building with God.The second illustration of the futility of human effort without God is in the area of security: Unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. This does not mean we should not have a police force or other protective agencies. Rather it means that ultimately our security lies in the Lord, and unless we are really depending on Him, our ordinary precautions are not enough to keep us safe.

127:2 In our everyday employment, it is futile to work long hours, earning one’s living through anxious toil, unless we are in the place of God’s choosing. Please don’t misunderstand. Throughout the Bible we are taught to work diligently to supply our own needs, the needs of our family, and the needs of others. This Psalm does not encourage people to sit around all day drinking colas and sponging off friends. But the point is this—if we are working in independence of God, we don’t really get anywhere.

Haggai describes the situation very well:You have sown much, and bring in little; you eat, but do not have enough; you drink, but you are not filled with drink; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes (Hag. 1:6).

On the other hand, if we are really yielded to the Lord and living for His glory, He can give us gifts while we are sleeping which we could never obtain through long, weary hours of labor without Him. That seems to be the meaning of the clause, “For so He gives His beloved sleep,” or as Moffatt translates it, “God’s gifts come to His loved ones, as they sleep.”

127:3 The fourth and final illustration has to do with building a family. And children are one of the gifts of God. “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD; the fruit of the womb is a reward.”What is said about children presupposes that they have been brought up in a home where the Lord has been honored and obeyed. They have been brought up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

127:4 “Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.” When parents become old, they can depend on godly children to fight for them as a warrior, and also to provide for them as a hunter does with his bow and arrows.

127:5 “Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them!” In spite of the torrent of modern propaganda against large families, God pronounces a blessing on the man who has a quiver full of children. But once again it is assumed that they are believing children, members of the household of faith. Otherwise they could be an enormous heartache rather than a blessing.“They shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.”

F. B. Meyer reminds us that contending armies of a besieged city would meet at the gate. So the thought here is that a man’s children defend him in civil or legal matters so that he does not suffer loss or injury. They see that justice is done.The Psalm is a tremendous unfolding of the word of the Lord through Zechariah, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6). There is such a danger that we depend on the power of the dollar or on human ingenuity. But the Lord’s will is not accomplished in that way. It is by His Spirit that we build for eternity. It is not what we do for God through our own resources, but what He does through us by His mighty power. All we can produce is wood, hay, stubble. He can use us to produce gold, silver, precious stones. When we act in our own strength, we are spinning our wheels. When we bring God into everything, our lives become truly efficient. Carnal weapons produce carnal results. Spiritual weapons produce spiritual results.

The psalm isn’t teaching that those who fail to depend on the Lord will fail to put bread on the table (millions of godless workers testify that one can work and provide without depending on God). The emphasis isn’t on temporal results but on the eternal kingdom value of one’s labor. If you don’t depend on the Lord and order your life around his Word, you can live an insignificant life.

Psalm 127. No “house” is well built, securely guarded, or provisioned without God. Without divine favor, all human effort is “in vain … in vain … in vain.”

R. E. O. White, “Psalms,” in Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, vol. 3, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995), 395.

Faithlife Study Bible Psalm 127

127:title–5 This wisdom psalm—meant for passing along wise teachings—shows how God is involved in all aspect of life. Rather than contrasting the way of the wicked with those who follow God—commonly called the “two ways” motif—it focuses on Yahweh’s provision in terms of protection (vv. 1–2) and progeny (vv. 3–5). The psalm may have been originally composed for a king, though its contents make it applicable to all of Yahweh’s people. Psalm 127 is part of the pilgrimage psalms (Pss 120–134), intended to be used during pilgrimage to Jerusalem (see note on 120:title).

127:1 No task succeeds apart from God’s will. While building a dwelling is the literal meaning here, a house could also refer to a household or family, connecting this verse to verses 3–5.

Faithlife Study Bible Psalm 127

127:2 In this verse and v. 1, the psalmist seems to be speaking to the people who are troubled and restless.

he provides for his beloved in his sleep The psalmist may describe people as a collective group here, or he may be urging the people to accept the king’s role as Yahweh’s chosen leader. If the people trust Yahweh and His representative (the king), they can rest at ease.

Faithlife Study Bible Psalm 127

127:5 the gate The Hebrew text here uses the word sa’ar, which may be literally rendered “gate.” In time of war, gates were the weak spots in city walls, and therefore the location of much of the armed conflict when a city was attacked. However, a king with many subjects is able to protect his city gates.

Verse 1 is straightforward and contains a simple Hebrew parallelism. Unless the Lord builds, we labor in vain; unless the Lord guards, we stay awake in vain. The psalm, then, warns against the danger of overconfidence. In the words of Jesus, “You can do nothing without me” (John 15:5).

Solomon himself serves as a warning to us. He ruined the kingdom through his pride, self-reliance, and rebellion. We must be on guard against such sins.

The psalm isn’t teaching that those who fail to depend on the Lord will fail to put bread on the table (millions of godless workers testify that one can work and provide without depending on God). The emphasis isn’t on temporal results but on the eternal kingdom value of one’s labor. If you don’t depend on the Lord and order your life around his Word, you can live an insignificant life. Kidner asks, “The house and the city may survive, but were they worth building?” (Psalms 73–150, 441). You may build “a monument of futility” (Piper, “Don’t Eat”). You play the fool if you try to build a home or guard a city apart from the Lord.

So what are you building, and what are you protecting? In these efforts, realize your need for the Lord in order for your work to be significant and fruitful. We may apply this idea in a variety of ways:

• Unless the Lord adds to the church, we evangelize in vain.

• Unless the Lord teaches the class, we prepare in vain.

• Unless the Lord guides the ministry, we serve in vain.

• Unless the Lord restores the family, we counsel in vain.

• Unless the Lord blesses the writing project, we compose in vain.

• Unless the Lord expands the business, we market in vain.

• Unless the Lord protects us on the mission field, we travel in vain.

• Unless the Lord guards us in the urban centers, we secure ourselves vain.

• Unless the Lord watches over our children, we care for them in vain.

• Unless the Lord looks after the church, we pastor in vain.

Don’t live an overconfident life. It will prove disastrous. Instead, live with constant reliance on the Father. And enjoy the fact that he’s with you. Every day we believers get to live like a kid with his father on take-your-kid-to-work day! Every day we get to labor in view of God, by the power of God, for the glory of God. That’s what makes our work meaningful and significant.

Depend on the Lord instead of Worrying and Overworking (127:2)

While verse 1 warns against overconfidence, verse 2 warns against overwork—that is, working without resting physically and spiritually in the Lord. One way we can express a failure to depend on the Lord is by working in our own strength and working slavishly, with anguish and anxiety. The psalmist is teaching us to find a healthy rhythm between hard work and grateful rest.

Some people play the sluggard—failing to work hard. That’s unacceptable. The psalmist isn’t speaking against getting up early and working hard. He’s addressing the problem of being enslaved to one’s work and working without a proper trust in the Lord and a proper goal of glorifying the Lord.

The person who never sleeps, but is a slave to work, is a candidate for great anxiety, ulcers, and panic attacks. These are some of the many results of a failure to rest in God. Worry involves a lack of faith, a lack of dependence on God. So remember this: every night when you have an opportunity to rest (after a good day’s work), you have the opportunity to express your trust in God. He continues to work while we rest.

Believers should remind themselves of three truths when they go to bed: (1) we aren’t God (cf. Ps 121:4); (2) we need God; and (3) we are loved by God. Regarding the third lesson, the text tells us, “He gives sleep to the one he loves.” Every day you have the opportunity of laboring for God’s glory by God’s power and then resting in God’s love when the day is done—all of this through Jesus Christ.

Or, as verses 1–2 together teach, you can play the fool, build futile monuments, become a slave to work and wealth, experience constant unrest, and end up saying like Solomon, “Absolute futility. Everything is futile” (Eccl 1:2). The words of Ecclesiastes 5 remind us that working for God’s glory and resting in God’s love is better: “The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep” (Eccl 5:12).

Depend on the Lord for Blessing on Your Family (127:3–5)

Solomon goes on to affirm that children are gifts (“heritage”) from God. So we should see children as a blessing (v. 3). God graciously gives children, and they should be viewed as a blessing, not a burden. The text is clear that children come “from the LORD.” They are expressions of favor, “a reward.” While we must not make idols out of our children, we most certainly should treasure them and thank God for them. They are visible reminders of God’s love and mercy toward us.

Our culture doesn’t have a high view of children, so this psalm is important. It reminds us of God’s perspective on kids.

See children as a source of protection (vv. 4–5). Solomon goes on to say that children also protect the family (especially “sons” in this context). Like “arrows” (weapons), they defend the family. Solomon essentially says, “Godly sons will watch your back when you get older.” This is especially true if the kids are born when the parents are young. When the parents reach middle age, the kids will be old enough to provide support. Therefore, parents are “happy” or blessed if they have a “quiver” full of children (v. 5). The more kids, the more likely the practical protection. Children may also provide parents emotional protection from the threats of loneliness and abandonment (VanGemeren, “Psalms,” 795).

Further, in verse 5 Solomon adds that because there is strength in numbers, the father will also be able to confront his “enemies at the city gate,” where justice is carried out. He can triumph without shame. The once-small boys will grow up to become strong men and will provide legal or social protection. Having children to bless you in these ways is certainly a great gift from the Lord.

Older people around the world are often vulnerable. Violent men prey on widows regularly in impoverished, unjust societies. They physically assault the defenseless widow and seize her property. Other aging men and women suffer from loneliness and abandonment, having no children to visit them. One of the responsibilities given to the church is to care for widows (and more generally, for all the vulnerable of society), especially those in our local churches. We must honor the elderly as if they were our mothers and fathers and ourselves their sons and daughters, providing the protection and care they need (1 Tim 5:1–16).

Daniel L. Akin, Johnny M. Hunt, and Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Psalms 101–150, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2021), 215–218.

U. Reliance on God. 127:1–5

THEME: The folly of human effort that does not rely on the Lord.

This is the center psalm of the Little Psalter, containing the fifteen Songs of Degrees. It is the only one ascribed to Solomon; in fact, only one other psalm (72) is ascribed to him. We may read the superscription either as A song of degrees for Solomon (AV) or “A son of degrees of Solomon.” The form of the Hebrew is the same in either case. Henry, Gill, Spurgeon, and others feel that David was the author and that the psalm was written for Solomon his son. But Calvin, Edwards, Scott, Hengstenberg, Alexander, and others follow the Chaldee and Vulgate editions in understanding the psalm to be a hymn “of Solomon.” Solomon wrote one thousand and five songs (cf. 1 Kgs 4:32). Perhaps this is one of them.

It is apparent that the point of this psalm is that all human effort that does not rely on the power and goodness of God is useless. The psalmist deals with four aspects of human life: social (vs. 127:1a), civic (vs. 1b), business (vs. 2), and domestic (vss. 3–5). In each of these there is a clear and unmistakable emphasis on the necessity of reliance upon God.

127:1. Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it. In order to prove that all our efforts are fruitless if God is not in them, the psalmist begins with the metaphor of a house. A house built without the blessing of the Lord is a house built upon the sand. In everything we undertake we must begin by seeking the blessing of the Lord God.

Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Turning from social to civic life, the psalmist advances that the unseen watchman of every city is Jehovah Himself. The constant vigilance of a sentinel is without reward if he watches alone.

2. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows. It must be noted that the psalmist is not counseling against early rising (cf. 63:1). His intent is to show us that nothing is accomplished by rising early or staying up late simply to fret about real or potential problems. Being eaten up with envy when others receive a promotion and we do not is to eat the bread of sorrows. It is just as vain as building a house without the Lord’s blessing.

3. Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD. Here is another mode of building up a house, i.e., raising a household or family. The reason a man builds a house is to build a home. Children are a heritage that Jehovah must give. Given this biblical perspective on children, it is little wonder that the people of God always abhor abortion. The fruit of the womb is his reward. God gives children, not as a penalty, but as a privilege.

4–5. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. If parents have acted as good stewards of God’s gift to them, children born to young parents are a great source of comfort and protection in old age. Fighting men are happy when their strength and swiftness are gone, and yet their arrows fly straight to the target. Likewise, children can be the extension of our lives, doing what we could never do, in our sunset years. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. As the old German proverb says, “Many Children make many prayers, and many prayers bring much blessing.” They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. A man is particularly fortunate if his sons support him in the city gate in his old age. This is where persons generally congregated and business was transacted. A stalwart and well-bred son could represent his father well in such transactions and prevent unscrupulous men from taking advantage of a man of age. Recognized as a gift from God and raised in a Christian home, children are a blessing indeed.

AV Authorized Version

Edward E. Hindson and Woodrow Michael Kroll, eds., KJV Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1994), 1162–1163.